HP gaming laptop with Nvidia RTX 3060 just crashed to $999 — that’s $550 off

(Image credit: HP)

Some of the best laptop deals you can find right now come courtesy of Best Buy, and I've just spotted another killer discount. This time the electronics retailer has made a powerful gaming laptop surprisingly affordable.

Right now, the HP Omen 16.1” laptop is on sale for $999 at Best Buy. That’s a massive saving of $550 compared to its regular list price of $1,549. But be quick, this is a limited-time deal that is set to expire in less than 24 hours (1 a.m. ET on Friday, Feb. 24 to be exact).

The HP Omen 16 was created to rival the Razer Blade 15 and Asus ROG Zephyrus M16, and while it doesn’t quite surpass those two models, it’s still a candidate as one of the best gaming laptops you can buy. For starters, I really appreciate its low-key look. Several gaming machines opt for an angular design festooned with RGB lightning, but I'm partial to a more subtle aesthetic that is a little less shouty.

Of course, the main selling point of any gaming laptop is its internal components, and this HP Omen 16 doesn’t disappoint in this area. Underneath the slick Mica Silver casing, you’ll find an AMD Ryzen 7 6800H processor paired with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. There’s also 16GB of RAM — more than enough for blockbuster gaming — and a 512GB SSD for storage. The included SSD is arguably a little small considering the bloated install size of many modern games, but one of the best external hard drives will nullify this potential problem.

This HP laptop also sports a 16.1-inch FHD display with a 144Hz refresh rate for consistently smooth gameplay. It also boasts AMD SmartShift and AMD Smart Access Memory features — these two technologies aim to maximize the laptop’s resources for improved performance when you need it most. And there’s also HP’s own Omen Tempest Cooling to keep your machine from overheating even when playing graphically-demanding titles.

When it comes to ports, you’ll find the expected assortment of USB connectors here. There are three USB-A and two USB-C, plus there’s an HDMI 2.1 port for hooking up the laptop to a larger display or dedicated gaming monitor. There’s also a full-sized keyboard with four independent RGB lighting zones and Windows 11 pre-installed as standard. It's an impressive spec sheet overall, apart from the 720p webcam. I would have preferred a 1080p offering.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for a laptop with even more power, this Acer Nitro 5 with Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti has been slashed $600 off at Amazon. And our pick for the best gaming laptop you can buy, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14, is still on sale for $1,099 at Best Buy, which is also a $550 discount.

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Rory is a Senior Entertainment Editor at Tom’s Guide based in the UK. He covers a wide range of topics but with a particular focus on gaming and streaming. When he’s not reviewing the latest games, searching for hidden gems on Netflix, or writing hot takes on new gaming hardware, TV shows and movies, he can be found attending music festivals and getting far too emotionally invested in his favorite football team.