Latop gaming doesn’t always come at an expensive price. Some laptop or notebook manufacturers provide even the release of several variants or series at once, accommodation for those who want to play games but with a budget that is not too expensive. Hewlett-Packard (HP), for example, presents the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 line which has many hardware configurations.
Starting from chipsets with Intel Core-i5, to the option of NVIDIA RTX series graphics cards, HP provides many choices according to user needs. I also had the opportunity to try one of the variants of the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (2020), and use it in about two months. Overall, the impression I get is quite positive.
But of course, with some drawbacks. Again, the price is also indeed cheaper than the HP OMEN 15 series that we have reviewed. However, some of these shortcomings may not be a problem for Gizmo friends. How are the features overall? Here is the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (dk1064TX) review .
Design
Unlike the HP OMEN 15 that we reviewed previously, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 has a design that has a stronger gaming accent. It can be seen from the side corners, the top to the bottom of the screen that is not common when it is opened. The color itself is still the same, Shadow Black with a matte finish made of polycarbonate.
This material is strong enough for everyday use. It’s not easy to scratch, it’s just that it’s quite easy to imprint fingerprints and get dirt. It doesn’t look very dirty when it’s dirty, but cleaning it requires a little extra effort. You can’t just clean it with a single wipe.
The dimensions are also quite large. The thickness is up to 2.34cm, with a laptop weight of 2.33 kilograms. Plus the charger is also quite large and weighs in the range of 500 grams, bringing both of them to almost 3 kilograms. Obviously, not a portable laptop that is comfortable to carry everywhere or put in a 14-inch backpack along with other items.
A few complaints are in the vent on the lower body. For outdoor use or semi-outdoor rooms that have a lot of thin dust, this part will get dirty easily as if it absorbs dust into it. I didn’t experience the same thing when using the HP OMEN 15. It didn’t interfere with performance, indeed. But I think I need to mention it here.
Screen
From OMEN to HP Pavilion Gaming 15, my eyes continue to be spoiled by the high refresh rate in its class, aka 144Hz. A luxury that will feel lost when returning to a 60Hz screen laptop. The panel used is IPS with full HD resolution. Color coverage is 45% NTSC, with a brightness of 250 nits. Slightly underexposed for outdoor use.
The top, left and right bezels are quite thin, but the bottom side is still quite thick and tall. It could be an advantage because it feels more fitting in the eye, but the dimensions are getting bigger. And it can’t be opened to 180 degrees yet, so flexibility isn’t the greatest. At the very least, the high refresh rate and color reproduction are pleasing to the eye.
Ports and Connectivity
In addition to gamers, this laptop is also suitable for content creators. The reason is, the ports provided on both sides of the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 are complete. On the right, there are 2 5Gbps USB-A ports, a DC-in (charging port) and an audio combo jack. The rest are placed on the left; HDMI, USB-A 5Gbps supporting HP Sleep & Charge, RJ-45 port, USB-C and SD card reader.
The USB-C port of this HP gaming laptop supports USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4 up to 10Gbps. However, this port cannot be used to charge laptops, even if you use a 65W GaN adapter. As for connectivity, it supports Wi-Fi 6 with Intel AX 201 (2×2), and Bluetooth 5.0 support which is more power efficient with wide coverage.
Performance
The variant that I am reviewing this time is not the fastest variant. The chipset used is a quad-core Intel Core i5-10300H, with a base frequency of 2.5GHz which can be increased to 4.5GHz with Intel Turbo Boost. Paired with 8GB DDR4 RAM (one chip) plus a 512GB NVMe M.2 SSD.
Using this laptop for browsing needs, opening Office applications, Spotify and several other photo editing applications at the same time happens quite instantly and smoothly. The temperature is also quite maintained, and the fan noise tends to be quiet, not too active.
What is special and makes this laptop relatively cheap is the graphics card it carries. Not the Ti series, but using NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB GDDR6. This graphics capability is quite high, where I can run Genshin Impact & The Sims 4 with the default high graphics settings smoothly, even when using battery mode. Of course it will be smooth to play other AAA games.
HP also provides a special application called HP CoolSense. This application functions to regulate CPU performance and fan rotation, when the laptop is being carried or placed in an unstable or stationary position such as on a table. In total there are two fans at the bottom, which can blow air through a special hole in the rear body.
Gaming Features & More
There are no special gaming features on the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 other than the OMEN Gaming Hub application that I mentioned above. This app automatically curates the games that I have installed on my laptop. Other extra features include a desktop wallpaper gallery, AI coaching to help League of Legends players, and remote play with special conditions.
For the keyboard, the backlit light only has one color, which is green. But at least it’s still very helpful for typing in low light conditions, where the light level can be adjusted to two levels. There are no complaints either for the keyboard and touchpad that already support the Windows Precision Driver.
This laptop also has a separate power button from the keyboard. The two Bang & Olufsen speakers are quite good, and are very enough to accommodate gaming without additional earphones or speakers. The front camera, although not superior, has a very wide viewing angle and is classified as quality. Perfect for video calls.
Battery
Not for those of you who are looking for a laptop with a long battery life. Yes, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 does have a larger battery capacity than conventional laptops. Its capacity reaches 52.5 Wh 3-cell, and HP claims up to 9 hours of use to play videos. For my daily use, less than half the duration.
My use is relatively light, opening a few browser tabs from Microsoft Edge, the Word application and editing photos. With battery saver mode and 75-85% brightness, it only reaches a maximum of 4 hours. And to charge, it took a little more than 2 hours to reach 100%, or -+40% within 30 minutes of charging.
Conclusion
Want to have a laptop with a fairly strong gaming display, high NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 graphics capabilities, and a 144Hz screen? HP Pavilion Gaming 15 can be an ideal choice. The retail price is $1.108, including Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019 worth $117.
Some of the drawbacks are in the battery life, as well as the dimensions which are quite large. But again, the name is also a gaming laptop. This situation is very common and natural to find in competitor products. So if it’s not a problem for Gizmo friends, please make this laptop the main consideration.
HP Pavilion Gaming 15 (dk1064TX) specifications
General
| Device Type | Laptops |
| Models / Series | HP OMEN 15 2020 |
| Released | July 14, 2020 |
| Status | Available |
| Price | $1.108 |
Platforms
| Processor | Intel® Core™ i5-10300H (2.5 GHz base frequency, up to 4.5 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB L3 cache, 4 cores) |
| VGA (Graphic Card) | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2060 with Max-Q design (6 GB GDDR6 dedicated) |
| RAM (Memory) | 8 GB DDR4-2933 SDRAM (1 x 8 GB) |
| Storage | 512 GB PCIe® NVMe™ M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
Body
| Dimensions | 36 x 25.6 x 2.34 cm, 2.23kg |
| Display | 15.6″ diagonal FHD, 144 Hz, IPS, anti-glare, micro-edge, WLED-backlit, 250 nits, 45% NTSC (1920 x 1080) |
| Battery | 3-cell, 52.5 Wh Li-ion, up to 9 hours video playback, 200W smart AC power adapter |
Connectivity
| Webcam | HD WideView Vision Camera |
| Bluetooth | 5.0 |
| Wi-Fi | 802.11 ax |
| NFC | – |
| I/O Interface | 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-C® 10Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort™ 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge); 1 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (HP Sleep and Charge); 2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate; 1 HDMI 2.0; 1 RJ-45; 1 AC smart pin; 1 headphone/microphone combo; 1 multi-format SD media card reader |
Other
| Audio | Audio by B&O; Dual speakers; HP Audio Boost 1.0 |
| Features | Acid green backlit keyboard, dual array digital microphone |