The Apple MacBook Air is less expensive, more portable, and has a longer battery life, which makes it well-suited for general usage and tasks that are not overly demanding. Its performance is sufficient for most day-to-day activities, and its silent, fanless operation makes it ideal for quiet environments. On the other hand, the HP Omen 17, while more costly and heavier, offers substantially better performance for 3D rendering, machine learning, and engineering tasks, thanks to its powerful processor and graphics card. If you require a laptop that can handle intensive gaming, or demanding professional software, and don't mind the extra weight and reduced battery life, the HP Omen 17 is a better choice. Give Feedback
this description is based on the product variant with some specs and product variant with some specs. At the time of writing, the variant with some specs cost some dollars and the variant with some specs cost some dollars.
Advantages of the Apple MacBook Air (2020)
Best in class overall build quality
Very good portability
Excellent battery life
Best in class speakers
Best in class keyboard
Advantages of the HP Omen 17
Very good for engineering and design
Excellent for gaming and AI
Very good for content creation
Key differences
Gaming and AI
6.2/10
9.0/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
No
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
No
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
10.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The HP Omen 17 is excellent for gaming and AI, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is only fair.
PerfectRec’s Gaming and AI Score strongly emphasizes graphics processing capability, while also taking into account other factors that impact suitability for gaming and AI work.
Engineering and Design
7.3/10
8.8/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
3.9/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
9.8/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The HP Omen 17 is very good for engineering and design, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
PerfectRec’s Engineering and Design Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for graphic design and 3D rendering work.
Screen Quality
7.5/10
7.9/10
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
60Hz
REFRESH RATE
165Hz
395.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
350.0 nits
The HP Omen 17 has a better screen than the Apple MacBook Air for general use, gaming and AI, and software development.
The MacBook Air's display offers vivid colors and high resolution, which makes it appealing for everyday tasks and detailed engineering work, but its lower refresh rate limits its effectiveness for 3D applications where fast image updates are crucial. The HP Omen 17 provides a larger screen with higher brightness and resolution for a more immersive general-use experience and sufficient color accuracy for engineering and design, but despite its gaming-oriented branding, the display's poor refresh rate falls short for high-speed gaming and 3D rendering. These differences highlight the need to choose a laptop based on the primary activities you'll be engaging in, balancing between visual fidelity for productivity and color-sensitive tasks, and the performance required for fast-paced, interactive 3D environments.
Battery
15.0 Hours
3.5 Hours
The Apple MacBook Air has 15 hours of battery life. The HP Omen 17 has 3.5 hours of battery life.
Battery life estimate is based on a mix of common use patterns. More portable and higher performing laptops tend to have less battery life.
Portability
Very Good
Fair
13.3in
SIZE
17.3in
2.8 lbs
WEIGHT
6.1 lbs
0.6in
THICKNESS
1.0in
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has very good portability, while the HP Omen 17 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
10.0/10
7.4/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has best in class build quality, while the HP Omen 17 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,000
$1,700
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) has a price of $1,000 and the HP Omen 17 costs $1,700.
The HP Omen 17 and Apple MacBook Air (2020) are both good for general use.
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good for general use due to its lightweight design, strong battery life, and high-quality screen, making it very portable while offering silent operation and a vibrant display. In contrast, the HP Omen 17, with its larger screen, superior CPU and GPU, and more RAM, caters well to general use through enhanced performance capacities, though it is not as portable and has a shorter battery life.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.0/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers HP Omen 17 to be very good for content creation, while the Apple MacBook Air (2020) is good.
PerfectRec’s Content Creation Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for photo editing, video editing and other content creation tasks.
Software Development
7.7/10
7.7/10
6.0/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.6/10
8.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
2560 x 1600
RESOLUTION
2560 x 1440
9.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.5/10
The Apple MacBook Air (2020) and HP Omen 17 are both good for software development.
PerfectRec’s Software Development Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for software developers.
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How the Apple MacBook Air (2020) and the HP Omen 17 compare to other laptops
"The Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry is a very good, but too expensive daily MacBook. The new MacBook Air M2 is undoubtedly once again a very good mobile companion, but we are still a little bit disappointed on a very high level, which is definitely connected with the increased price point. The new chassis is extremely slim and the front edge is no problem during typing, but the bezels are pretty wide for a modern device and in addition with the vertical space required for the notch, the new Air has larger footprint than some Windows rivals."
"The HP Omen 17 (2022) gaming laptop has a stylish case and hardware with lots of potential. The HP Omen 17 is a fairly unobtrusive gaming laptop. A material combination of plastic and metal gives the case a high stability and a quality surface feel. The unspectacular design is pleasing and is hardly indicative of the laptop's high performance potential. The Intel Core i7-12700H in particular is able to perform well once again. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is also strong in the gaming notebook. Demanding games run smoothly in Full HD resolution. The HP Omen 17 is a good gaming laptop that delivers partly excellent performance. But even at this performance level, cheaper alternatives are available."
Get a great deal on the Apple MacBook Air (2020) or the HP Omen 17
About Apple
Apple, an American technology company, is one of the world’s largest company in terms of market capitalization. Their MacBook laptops feature a slim, minimalistic design, class-leading battery life, and premium display and speaker quality. In 2020 Apple switched from using Intel processors to their own silicon chips which have excellent performance and efficiency. The macOS operating system is the second most widely used OS, after Windows.
About HP
HP, also known as Hewlett-Packard, is an American technology company that develops personal computers and computer peripherals. In the laptop industry, HP is known for its entry level Essential series laptops, its mid-range Pavilion, Envy, and Victus series, and high-end Omen and Spectre series, in addition to its business-oriented EliteBook, ProBook, and Dragonfly series laptops. HP laptops generally undercut other mainstream competitors in terms of price, placing itself as the value-oriented mainstream brand.
This information was produced and vetted by the PerfectRec laptops team. We are a product research and recommendation organization that meticulously reviews and evaluates the latest laptop information and makes it digestible for you.
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Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.
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Staff Expert & Software Engineer
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