If the lower price of the HP Omen 16 appeals to you and you prioritize gaming or other performance-intensive tasks, its likely stronger graphics capabilities and processing power make it a compelling choice. On the other hand, if you value a more premium build quality, better screen versatility, and potentially longer battery life for tasks like note-taking, presentations, or other professional uses, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 may justify its higher cost. Keep in mind, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 also offers a touchscreen with stylus support, adding to its appeal for creative professionals. However, it may not match the Omen in raw performance, especially in gaming. Consider what you’ll commonly use your laptop for to determine which trade-offs are acceptable for your needs and budget. 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 HP Omen 16
Very good for gaming and AI
Advantages of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Very good for general use
Very good for software development
Very good for content creation
Very good overall build quality
Good portability
Key differences
General Use
7.7/10
8.3/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
338.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
8.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
6.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
7.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for general use, while the HP Omen 16 is good.
PerfectRec’s General Use Score takes into account the many different features of the laptop that make it more or less suitable for general productivity, web browsing, streaming, video calls, and running a wide variety of apps and programs.
Content Creation
7.8/10
8.4/10
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for content creation, while the HP Omen 16 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
7.6/10
8.2/10
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
8.0/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is very good for software development, while the HP Omen 16 is good.
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.
Screen Quality
7.6/10
7.9/10
16.1in
SIZE
14.4in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
2400 x 1600
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
120Hz
338.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
503.0 nits
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a better screen than the HP Omen 16 for general use, engineering and design, content creation, and software development.
For general use, the HP Omen 16's screen has good resolution and brightness, making it clear and easy to view, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 provides an even sharper and brighter display, enhancing the user experience. When it comes to engineering and design, both laptops offer strong color reproduction critical for precision work, but the Surface Laptop Studio 2 has a slight edge in displaying a wider range of colors more accurately. However, for gaming and 3D applications, neither laptop excels due to their limited refresh rates, which can affect the smoothness of fast-moving visuals, despite their decent resolution and panel types.
Battery
6.0 Hours
8.0 Hours
The HP Omen 16 has 6 hours of battery life. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has 8 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
Fair
Good
16.1in
SIZE
14.4in
5.4 lbs
WEIGHT
4.4 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.8in
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has good portability, while the HP Omen 16 has only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.
Build Quality
7.4/10
8.5/10
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 has very good build quality, while the HP Omen 16 has good build quality.
PerfectRec’s Build Quality Score incorporates case materials, display and keyboard flex, hinge quality, and overall reliability.
Cost
$1,100
$3,300
$500
$1,000
$1,500
$2,000
$2,500
$3,000
$3,500
$4,000
The HP Omen 16 has a price of $1,100 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 costs $3,300.
Although they have very similar scores, PerfectRec considers HP Omen 16 to be very good for gaming and AI, while the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 is good.
The HP Omen 16 excels in gaming and 3D applications thanks to its high screen refresh rate of 165 Hz and a powerful Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU, which offers fluid visuals and fast render times. Whereas the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2, also equipped with the Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU for high-performance graphics, offers less screen refresh rate at 120 Hz but compensates with a higher pixel density for sharper screen quality.
Engineering and Design
8.4/10
8.7/10
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
9.0/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
7.5/10
16.0 GB
RAM
64.0 GB
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 and HP Omen 16 are both very good for engineering and design.
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.
Give feedback
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How the HP Omen 16 and the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 compare to other laptops
"The Omen 16 has proven to be a fairly good mid-range gaming laptop with all-around improvements compared to the Omen 15. The high overall performance level across all use cases, the long battery life, and the good FHD display constitute the main advantages of this HP laptop. The main drawbacks are the faulty touchpad (one-off?) and the high latencies that can be observed even after just opening the browser. Furthermore, the useless, preinstalled 30-day trial versions of various software also fall under the category "unnecessary"."
"The new Surface Laptop Studio with its foldable display is supposed to replace the old Surface Book and the overall impression is good after our review. The build quality and the materials are top-notch, the performance utilization of the two components is solid and the device does not show any major flaws in terms of display or speakers, either. The folding mechanism leaves a sold impression as well, but it remains to be seen how it will hold up over the years. The so-called presentation mode is also not ideal since it covers the whole keyboard."
Get a great deal on the HP Omen 16 or the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
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.
About Microsoft
Microsoft is an American technology corporation. Microsoft is best known for their Windows operating system and Surface laptop series. The Surface Laptop is their standard notebook offering, while their Surface Go, Surface Pro, and Surface Studio are their 2-in-1/tablet offerings in order of increasing capability. Although Microsoft charges a premium price tag for their laptops, buyers can expect a well integrated and packaged device since Microsoft develops the Windows operating system.
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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