Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison: HP Omen 16 vs. Acer Nitro 5

If you’re in the market with around Rs 1.30 lakh to invest in a premium gaming laptop and are seeking the best bang for your buck, then our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison is just what you need. Today, we delve deep into two standout models in this price bracket – the HP Omen 16 and the Acer Nitro 5 16-inch gaming laptop. Our aim is to juxtapose these powerhouses in every conceivable aspect to help you pinpoint the optimal 16-inch gaming laptop within the Rs 1.30 lakh range.

What heightens the intrigue is the uncanny resemblance in their specifications. Both machines are equipped with the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS APU, the Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM, 16GB DDR5 memory, and a captivating 165Hz 16-inch display. Priced at Rs. 1,25,999, the HP Omen seemingly offers a more economical choice compared to the Acer Nitro 5 16-inch which is tagged at Rs 1,29,999. This naturally begs the question: Does the Acer Nitro 5 justify its steeper price or will the HP Omen 16 emerge as the superior option despite its lower cost? Let’s unravel the mystery.

HP Omen 16 Overview

The HP Omen 16 is a notable gaming laptop, emphasizing its advanced cooling performance. Powered by the AMD Ryzen 7840HS processor, it competes effectively with other gaming laptops in thermal efficiency. The device features a colour-accurate display and a commendable keyboard.

Its design is sleek, housing powerful internals like the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, ensuring a seamless gaming experience. The laptop also offers a variety of ports for easy connectivity. Its redesigned structure includes a “trunk” at the rear for efficient exhaust and cable management. The display boasts an FHD 16:9 aspect ratio with a 165Hz refresh rate. 

HP Omen 16 Specifications

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (up to 5.1 GHz max boost clock, 16 MB L3 cache, 8 cores, 16 threads)
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 with 6 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM
Display: 16.1″ display with IPS, Full HD 1920 x 1080 display with 165Hz refresh rate
Memory: 16 GB of DDR5 system memory
Storage: 1 TB PCIe Gen4 SSD

Acer Nitro 5 16-inch Overview

The Acer Nitro 5 AN16-41 is a powerful gaming laptop that stands out in the competitive market. Driven by the AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS octa-core processor, it promises high-speed performance and multitasking capabilities. The laptop is equipped with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 graphics with 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. The 15.6″ FHD IPS display offers a 144Hz refresh rate. The laptop also boasts a 512GB SSD and 16GB of DDR5 RAM.

The laptop’s design is both stylish and functional. The NitroSense key provides quick access to the NitroSense application, allowing users to monitor and manage system performance and cooling. In terms of connectivity, the Acer Nitro 5 offers a range of ports, including HDMI 2.1, USB 3.2 Gen 2, and more. The laptop also features Killer™ Ethernet E2600 and Wi-Fi 6.

Acer Nitro 5 16-inch Specifications

Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840HS (up to 5.1 GHz max boost clock, 16 MB L3 cache, 8 cores, 16 threads)
Memory: 16 GB DDR5-5200 MHz RAM 
Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD
Display: 40.9 cm (16.1″) diagonal, FHD (1920 x 1080), 165 Hz IPS display
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU (8 GB GDDR6 dedicated)

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison: HP Omen 16 Vs Acer Nitro 5 16-inch – Design And Build Quality Comparison

Firstly, both laptops in our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison have a very understated look. From a first glance, it is difficult to tell that they’re full-fledged powerful gaming laptops. But look at the massive charging bricks each laptop has and you realise that these machines are indeed packing some serious punch. In terms of construction, hard plastic is still the material of choice in both these laptops, similar to other gaming laptops.

The surface of both laptops is non-glossy, so they both hide fingerprints decently well. But it is the HP Omen 16 which has a proper matte finish as opposed to a “powder-like” coating on the Acer Nitro 5. The trackpad is one area that catches a lot of fingerprints. However, the HP Omen 16’s trackpad still manages to contain the fingerprints well and keep the surface smudge-free compared to the one on the Acer Nitro 5, which catches fingerprints fairly easily.

Moving on to the hinge quality, it is a tie. The HP Omen 16 did have a poor-quality display hinge in the past but now that problem has been rectified. The Acer Nitro 5, on the other hand, continues to have a solid hinge with a smooth operation. HP Omen 16 also comes with a lid cutout, to help you easily lift the laptop’s lid but the Acer Nitro 5 doesn’t get one. However, it is still easy enough to open the former’s lid as well.

Since both laptops pack some powerful components, nearly identical to be specific, they are lined up with air vents. You can find air vents on the side and on the back of the laptop. Both gaming laptops feature a vent placed adjacent to the keyboard but it works differently in each of them. On the HP Omen 16, the vent works as an additional air vent to cool the laptop. But it houses an additional speaker on the Acer Nitro 5 instead.

Now, overall, if I had to say which laptop feels more solid in terms of overall build quality I wouldn’t choose at all. Because both, the HP Omen 16 and the Acer Nitro 5 are built really well. And HP especially has done a great job in overcoming the build-quality issues that plagued its laptop last year.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison: HP Omen 16 Vs Acer Nitro 5 16-inch – Display Comparison

Both laptops come with a display that supports 165Hz but the similarities mostly end there. The Acer Nitro 5 has a 16:10 aspect ratio screen with 1920 x 1200 maximum resolution support and Nvidia G-Sync support. It also has a really impressive 505 nits of peak brightness, which is one of the highest in its class. Even in a lit-up office room, the screen overpowers the surrounding light for an immersive viewing experience.

Moreover, the laptop also has 98% sRGB and 73.4% DCI-P3 colour space coverage. Meaning, that most of the content that you watch on YouTube will have a wide gamut of colours. Additionally, the laptop’s display is not just super bright but also highly accurate with a Delta E value of just 1.9 in the sRGB colour space, making the Acer Nitro 5’s display suitable for content creation as well. 

On the other hand, the HP Omen 16 comes with a traditional 16:9 aspect ratio screen which supports 1920 X 1080 maximum resolution. Just like the Nitro 5’s display, the one of the HP Omen 16 also features an anti-glare coating. In terms of brightness, the HP Omen 16’s display has a peak luminance of 303 nits, which is less than its competitor.

Furthermore, the display has 98% sRGB and 75% DCI-P3 colour space coverage. Likewise, in terms of colour accuracy, the HP Omen 16 also fares really well with an even better Delta E score of 1.5, probably the highest in its class. 

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison: HP Omen 16 Vs Acer Nitro 5 16-inch – Gaming Performance Comparison

It is always really fascinating to see how two laptops perform, especially if they have identical specifications. In such cases, cooling takes on a massive role as all the other factors are determined by the same. So to thoroughly test both these laptops in our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison, I ran gaming benchmarks multiple times.

In the synthetic benchmark tests, both laptops showcased competitive performance, but there were some noticeable differences. Starting with the Cinebench R20 results, the HP Omen 16 (assuming it’s the first set of numbers) slightly trailed in the 1-Thread test with a score of 682 compared to the Acer Nitro 5’s 690. However, it took the lead in the n-Thread test, scoring 6897 against the Nitro 5’s 6488.

The Cinebench R23 results were neck and neck in the 1-Thread test with scores of 1764 and 1765, respectively. Yet, the Omen 16 again outperformed in the n-Thread test, registering a score of 17681 compared to the Nitro 5’s 17051.

In the WinRAR benchmark, the Omen 16 achieved a higher resulting KB/s of 21253, surpassing the Nitro 5’s 19898. The 7-Zip benchmark revealed mixed results: while the Omen 16 dominated in the compressing GIPS with a score of 74.263 against the Nitro 5’s 63.691, it fell behind in the decompressing GIPS, scoring 89.314 compared to the Nitro 5’s impressive 113.771.

I also made ran all these tests one by one, without any downtime, to ensure that I pushed these gaming laptop’s cooling performance to the limit. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU powering both laptops has 140W TGP and 8GB GDDR6 VRAM. Furthermore, the Acer Nitro 5 comes with Nvidia Advanced Optimus which automatically switches between the iGPU and the discreet graphics chip.

Meanwhile, on the HP Omen 16, you only get a MUX switch which requires you to manually change between the iGPU and the dGPU and requires a restart every time. But the end result in both cases is the same.

Keeping that in mind, here are the gaming benchmark tests that I ran on the HP Omen 16 and the Acer Nitro 5. During these benchmarks, I kept both laptops in performance mode. I kept the fans in auto mode because the FPS gain was merely of 1 or 2 FPS at most. And lastly, I kept all these benchmarks at high graphics prest at 1080p resolution.

As you can see, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 works amazingly well in both laptops delivering 100+ FPS in many titles. However, there can only be one winner and the HP Omen 16 is the one. While it just bests Acer Nitro 5 in games like Dirt 5 and Metro Exodus, it outright beats the HP Omen 16 by a noticeable margin in games like Gears 5, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and AC Valhalla.

However, there is one outlier in this performance test. The Acer Nitro 5 beats the HP Omen 16 in Ray Tracing performance. Both in the Metro Exodus RTX test and in 3D Mark’s Port Royale test, the Acer Nitro 5 beats the HP Omen 16. However, the performance difference isn’t too much.

In the Crystal Disk Mark SSD speed test results, the Acer Nitro 5 again trumps the HP Omen 16 by a small margin. But such a small difference would be hardly noticeable in a real-world scenario. Also, HP Omen 16 comes with 1TB SSD storage space while the Acer Nitro 5 comes with a 512GB SSD stick.

One major issue that I also have to highlight with the Acer Nitro 5 is the vibrations. Acer boasts ultra-fast cooling fans in the Nitro 5 gaming laptop. But these fans are so loud and produce so much vibration that playing games for an extended period on the Acer Nitro 5 becomes a tiresome affair. And that’s the case when I keep the fans on the auto mode.

Because if I turn the fan speed to maximum the fan noise and the subsequent vibration generated can majorly spoil your gaming experience. That is not the case on the HP Omen 16 where the fans are still pretty loud but they don’t produce pestering vibrations on the chassis.

As a further note, I’d like to remind you that the laptops I tested were not review units but instead units purchased from Amazon. So it’d be that my specific model has the vibration issue and I’d reach out to Acer for any clarification and update this article accordingly. However, for the time being, the issue remains so I have to report it.

Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison: HP Omen 16 vs. Acer Nitro 5 16-inch – Verdict

In the realm of premium gaming laptops, the HP Omen 16 and Acer Nitro 5 16-inch both stand out as formidable contenders in our Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Comparison, especially for those with a budget of around Rs 1.30 lakh. Both laptops are powered by the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU and offer impressive specifications, ensuring top-notch gaming performance.

The HP Omen 16 shines with its advanced cooling, sleek design, and slightly superior gaming performance in several titles. On the other hand, the Acer Nitro 5 boasts a brighter display, better ray tracing performance, and Nvidia Advanced Optimus. However, it’s worth noting the vibration issue with the Nitro 5’s cooling fans, which might be a concern for some gamers. Ultimately, the choice boils down to individual preferences and priorities.

Whether you value display quality, storage space, or cooling efficiency, both laptops have their strengths and weaknesses. But if you’re looking purely from a gaming performance perspective, the HP Omen 16 easily comes out on top and when you consider that it costs Rs 4,000 less at Rs 1.25 lakh compared to the Acer Nitro 5 which will set you back Rs 1.29 lakh.