CES 2024 is pumping out a wave of new laptops, CPUs, and exciting tech that we'll see flow in throughout the year. I've reviewed many an HP Omen gaming laptop, including the Transcend series, and I've walked away less than impressed. But that doesn't mean I don't have hope in these jaded bones.
HP is elevating the new Transcend 14 & Transcend 16 as upper mid-range gaming laptops, but will their price reflect what you get? Right now, the Transcend 14 starts at $1,599 and the Transcend 16 will start at $1,899. The former will be available for pre-order on Jan. 8, 2024, while the latter will be available on Jan. 10, 2024.
Here's what we know so far.
We're on the scene in Las Vegas to check out the latest tech at this year's CES 2024 showcase. Be sure to tag along on our CES 2024 journey by following Laptop Mag on TikTok, Twitter/X, Instagram, Flipboard, and Facebook for the most up to date hands-on impressions and news coming from the convention floor.
CES 2024: HP Transcend 14 / 16 specs & features
You can stuff the Transcend 14 and 16 with a billion and one components to gas up the price, but we're not going to talk about that right now. Let's talk about what could make these gaming laptops special — mid-range (anything between $1K to $2K).
Kicking off with the Transcend 14 and all you get for that $1,599 starting price. It'll come with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU with 6GB of VRAM, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. At that price point, the GPU is severely lacking, but let's continue.
HP offers a 14-inch, 2.8K OLED display clocked at 120Hz with 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and up to 500 nits of brightness. Okay, I'm starting to see where that money is going. However, a sharp and high-refresh rate display isn't very useful when you don't have a GPU capable of taking games to those heights.
What catches my attention, despite that, is HP's battery life claims, which climb up to 11 hours and 30 minutes of battery life. That's a boastful claim for a gaming laptop, but that might just save the day for this machine if it's accurate.
Moving on to the Transcend 16, for $1,899, it offers the same specs except for the Intel Core i7-14700HX CPU. For $300 more, having comparable specs isn't a good sign. To add to that unfortunate fact, the base display is 16-inch, 1920 x 1200, clocked in at 165Hz with 100% RGB color gamut and up to 400 nits of brightness. Why is this gaming laptop worse and cost more? 2 inches of screen real estate does not seem worth it. HP also claims it can get 10 hours and 30 minutes of battery life, which is incredible if true, but it's still worse than its 14-inch sibling.
The Transcend 16 seems DOA looking at specs alone, but I'm willing to give it a chance when it comes through our lab. However, the Transcend 14 has a lot going for it, especially for the price.
We're excited, but we'll see where this piece of tech lands in the lab. For news, rumors, and updates on everything CES 2024 related, and all things tech, follow Laptop Mag on Twitter, Facebook, and Flipboard for the latest word as it arrives.
