A comparison of specs, key information, reviews, and best pricing from top retailers
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Omen 16
Company ProductName Specs











Katana 15
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Advantages of the HP Omen 16
  • Good overall display quality
  • Good battery life
  • Very good speakers
  • Very good keyboard
Advantages of the MSI Katana 15
  • The MSI Katana 15 has no clear advantages over the HP Omen 16.

Key differences

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Screen Quality

7.6
Omen 16
Katana 15
6.8
16.1in
SIZE
15.6in
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
338.0 nits
BRIGHTNESS
258.0 nits
The HP Omen 16 has a better screen than the MSI Katana 15 for general use, gaming and AI, engineering and design, and software development.

Battery

6.0 Hours
Omen 16
Katana 15
4.0 Hours
The HP Omen 16 has 6 hours of battery life. The MSI Katana 15 has 4 hours of battery life.
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Key similarities

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General Use

7.7
Omen 16
Katana 15
7.7
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
338.0 nits
DISPLAY BRIGHTNESS
258.0 nits
6.0 Hours
BATTERY LIFE
4.0 Hours
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
6.7/10
PORTABILITY SCORE
6.9/10
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 are both good for general use.

Gaming and AI

8.0
Omen 16
Katana 15
8.0
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
165Hz
REFRESH RATE
144Hz
Yes
SUPPORTS DLSS
Yes
Yes
MUX SWITCH / ADVANCED OPTIMUS
Yes
7.0/10
FAN NOISE SCORE
7.0/10
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 are both very good for gaming and AI.

Engineering and Design

8.4
Omen 16
Katana 15
8.2
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
8.5/10
OVERALL GPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 are both very good for engineering and design.

Content Creation

7.8
Omen 16
Katana 15
7.7
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
IPS
DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY
IPS
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 are both good for content creation.

Software Development

7.6
Omen 16
Katana 15
7.3
9.6/10
OVERALL CPU SCORE
8.9/10
16.0 GB
RAM
16.0 GB
1920 x 1080
RESOLUTION
1920 x 1080
8.5/10
KEYBOARD QUALITY SCORE
7.5/10
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 are both good for software development.

Portability

Fair
Omen 16
Katana 15
Fair
16.1in
SIZE
15.6in
5.4 lbs
WEIGHT
4.9 lbs
0.9in
THICKNESS
0.9in
The MSI Katana 15 and HP Omen 16 both have only fair portability.
The most portable laptops are small, thin, and light.

Build Quality

7.4
Omen 16
Katana 15
7.2
The HP Omen 16 and MSI Katana 15 both have good build quality.

Cost

$1,100
Omen 16
Katana 15
$1,149
Product imageProduct image

$400

$600

$800

$1,000

$1,200

$1,400

$1,600

$1,800

The HP Omen 16 has a price of $1,100 and the MSI Katana 15 costs $1,149.

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How the HP Omen 16 and the MSI Katana 15 compare to other laptops

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Spec Comparison

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HP Omen 16MSI Katana 15
HP Omen 16MSI Katana 15

GENERAL

Price
$1,100
$1,149
Release Date
May 1, 2023February 1, 2023
Overall Dimensions
14.5'' x 10.2'' x 0.93''14.1'' x 10.2'' x 0.98''
Weight
5.4 lbs4.96 lbs
Width
14.53"14.13"
Depth
10.21"10.2"

INTERNAL

Processor
Intel i7-13700HXIntel i7-13620H
RAM
16 GB16 GB
DDR Memory Version
55
RAM Slots
22
Storage
512 GB1024 GB

BATTERY

Battery Life
6 Hours4 Hours
Battery Capacity
83 Wh53.5 Wh

SCREEN

Diagonal Size
16.1"15.6"
Display Technology
IPSIPS
Resolution
1920 x 10801920 x 1080
Refresh Rate
165Hz144Hz
Display Brightness
338 nits258 nits

RELIABILITY, APPEARANCE & ACOUSTICS

Build Quality Score
7.4/107.2/10
Portability Score
6.8/106.9/10
Gaming Laptop Appearance
YesYes
Premium Business Laptop
NoNo
Fan Noise Score
7/107/10

HARDWARE FEATURES

Keyboard Quality Score
8.5/107.5/10
Speaker Quality Score
8/107.5/10
Webcam
1080p720p
Fingerprint Reader
NoNo
Backlit Keyboard
YesYes
Number Pad
YesYes

CONNECTIVITY

USB Type-A
23
USB-C ports
21
USB-C Charging
YesNo
Display Outputs
32
Thunderbolt Version
4N/A

Shopping

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HP Omen 16

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Christian Hintze | October 2021
"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"."

MSI Katana 15

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Dig into reviews and images

NotebookCheck

Christian Hintze | March 2023
"The MSI Katana 15 B12 combines a Gen12 CPU with an RTX 4050, which is actually not a bad idea for a budget gamer. The CPU is anything but bad and the GPU in the Katana 15 proves to be significantly more efficient than last year's models. However, our main point of criticism for budget gamers is the price: while you can get budget laptops with RTX 3060 from around US$800, you pay a whole US$1,499.99 here! The efficiency advantages of the RTX 4050 do not justify this price premium."

Get a great deal on the HP Omen 16 or the MSI Katana 15

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 MSI

MSI, also known as Micro-Star International, is a Taiwanese technology corporation. MSI is known for their wide range of gaming devices. Their series include the entry-level Cyborg/Thin and Sword/Katana series, the mid-range Bravo/Delta and Crosshair/Pulse series, and their high-end Vector, Raider, Stealth, and Titan GT series. At every performance level, MSI offers a variety of devices with varying balances between performance, battery life, weight, and price, making them a solid option to consider at every price point.

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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.

By the numbers

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48,640
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Recommendations made
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About the laptop team

Joe Golden, Ph.D

CEO and Laptops Editor
Joe is an entrepreneur and lifelong electronics enthusiast with a Ph.D in Economics from the University of Michigan.

Jason Lew

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Jason is a staff expert and software engineer that has been making laptop recommendations for 7 years and moderates one of the largest laptop subreddits.

Chandradeep Chowdhury

Staff Expert & Software Engineer
Chandradeep is a staff expert and software engineer and expert in televisions and monitors. He’s been making monitor recommendations for ten years.

Craig Russell

Laptops Expert
Craig is a UK-based laptops expert. Craig works in IT, where he recommends and supports laptops and PCs for clients and has been recommending laptops on Reddit for five years.

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