HP Victus 15.6", Ryzen 5 7535HS, 16GB, 1TB SSD, Radeon RX 6550M, Silver

A budget gaming laptop that gets the important stuff right: 144Hz screen, 1TB SSD, 16GB RAM. It's heavy and the reliability scores are iffy, but for the price, it's a fair deal.

The RX 6550M sits at the 75th percentile in our GPU database, which translates to 'strong' in plain English. It'll handle most esports titles at high frame rates and newer AAA games at medium settings without breaking a sweat. The 144Hz display actually matters here because the GPU can push enough frames to make it worthwhile. The Ryzen 5 7535HS is more middle-of-the-pack at the 54th percentile, but it's got 6 cores and 12 threads, so multitasking and light content creation won't feel sluggish. The 1TB NVMe SSD at the 80th percentile is a genuine highlight, fast boot times and plenty of room for a game library.

The Victus sits in an awkward middle ground. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 and Lenovo Legion 5i both offer better build quality, better GPUs, and better reliability, but they'll cost you more. The MSI Prestige is lighter and more portable but sacrifices gaming performance. If you want pure gaming performance per dollar, the Victus holds its own. If you want a laptop that feels premium and will last, the Legion 5i is the safer bet. The MacBook Pro M4 Max is in a completely different universe, don't even bother comparing them unless you're doing serious creative work.

At around $1,059 to $1,129 USD, this is a fair deal but not a steal. You're paying for the 144Hz panel, the 1TB SSD, and the 16GB of DDR5 RAM. If you can find it closer to the lower end of that range, it's a solid buy. If it creeps toward $1,100, you should start looking at what else is out there.

The HP Victus 15.6 is a budget gaming laptop that gets the fundamentals right without pretending to be something it's not. The one thing to know: you're getting a 144Hz display, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD in a package that won't melt your wallet. It's not going to win any beauty contests or benchmark crowns, but for the price, it's a surprisingly honest machine.

The Ryzen 5 7535HS and Radeon RX 6550M combo is a solid mid-range pairing. HP's marketing claims it beats the Intel i5-13420H and RTX 3050, and while we'd take those comparisons with a grain of salt, the real-world performance backs up the general idea. This is a laptop for people who want to play games at 1080p without spending MacBook money.

If you're looking for a portable laptop you can toss in a backpack and carry all day, this isn't it. At 3.35kg, it's a desk-bound machine. Go get an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a MacBook Air instead. Also, if you're planning to play the latest AAA games at high settings for years to come, the 4GB VRAM will frustrate you. Save up for something with at least 8GB of VRAM.

The HP Victus 15.6 is a solid budget gaming laptop that nails the essentials: fast display, decent GPU, plenty of RAM and storage. It's not flashy, it's not light, and the reliability numbers give us pause. But if you want a 1080p gaming machine that won't embarrass you and won't empty your bank account, this is a reasonable choice. Just don't expect it to feel premium.