I've been searching for a budget gaming laptop that I could recommend to shoppers in the $800 range. I was hoping that the HPVictus 15 would be one of Best Buy's most popular products.
I have been playing on the Victus for the past few days and it is not the slam dunk I was hoping for. The low price is attractive and will be even more so if you can find it on sale, but our test model is not delivering the frame rates that I would hope to see from a modern gaming laptop. It doesn't mean that the Victus is a bad purchase, just that you should go in with realistic expectations.
There is a design for the Victus. The review unit is almost completely black with a simple V on the lid, which picked up a mess of fingerprints quickly. It is more of a device that could be brought to the office than a device that will not be left in the basement. It is not a lightweight device, weighing in at just over five pounds.
There's a man named Victor.
There is a power port on the left side.
On the right is a list of things.
Most of the things you will probably need are included in the ports, including a charging port. Even though Thunderbolt 4 isn't required at this price point, there's no Thunderbolt 4. The only thing I have to say about it is that it's the touchpad. It picks up fingerprints easily and has a stiff click.
Most of what you need is included in the ports.
The performance of the laptop is what matters. I think my results in that area are acceptable. I don't think the bang for your buck is as good as it could be.
The Victus screen has a maximum resolution of 144 hertz. After I bumped the graphics down to medium, the game achieved a respectable 78 frames per second.
If you plan to play these titles a lot, you should look for a better graphics card. Red Dead Redemption 2 had an average of 38 and 45 frames per second. Cyberpunk averaged only 39 frames per second at Medium and 24 frames per second at Ultra. The good news is that the Victus 15 can run Elden Ring at 45 frames per second at maximum settings and 60 at medium settings.
You can see those fingerprints.
From above, the vents look nice.
Unless I was playing a video game, the fans weren't audible.
There is always the battery. The lifespans we have been getting from this generation of Intel gaming laptops have not been good. I used to work for two hours and 19 minutes a day. You can expect less when you play a video game, as I did for an hour and 13 minutes.
I think a two-hour battery life will rule out the gaming laptop as a primary driver for some people. You might not be able to make it through a full movie if you don't have a power source. For price-sensitive shoppers, buying a secondary portable device for non- gaming use cases may not be realistic.
There is a laptop that can game.
The HP Victus 15 is an $800 computer that can play games. It's enough to recommend it if you see it on sale.
It is worth looking at other options. The price for the Victus 15 with an RTX 3050 is $969 but is on sale for $697 as of this writing. Dell's G15 with an even more powerful RTX 3050 Ti is also available for just $100 more than my test model. If you can find a good discount, or are willing to buy used, there are lots of options for close to this price that can really nailAAA games.
If you are in a position to do so, you can get more gaming power for less money, because this is a budget laptop with budget laptop frame rates.
Monica Chin is a photographer.
There are six letter keys with 0.06 inches between them. The keys are illuminated. There are indicator lights for Caps Lock, Power, F11/touchPad, and F5/microphone. The power button and volume keys are less than an inch in length. The keys are grey with white text. In my testing, the speakers averaged 75 decibels. A single hand can open the lid. It can be moved back to its original position. The screen has a high resolution. I tested it with an 1190:1 contrast ratio. There is a device that displays information. The force that depresses the touchpad is firm and dedicated. Clicking through several menus is required for setup to happen. TheVictus doesn't support fingerprints or facial logins.
The accessibility menu is included in Windows 11. A screen reader is included in Windows 11. Third-party screen readers are supported by it. There is a list of compatible software on Microsoft's website. Speech recognition and voice typing are supported by Windows 11. There are color filters that can be toggled with Windows + C and contrast themes that can beggled with Alt + Left Shift. Under Personalization, standard dark mode and custom colors are available. The size and color of the caption can be changed. There is a keyboard that can be remapped. It is possible to support sticky keys. There is a keyboard on the screen. Touchpad settings can be used to adjust the size and speed of the scurvy. Eye control is supported by Windows 11. The snap layout feature is accessible by hovering over the Maximize button.
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