HP Envy 15 Archives - Exhibit Tech

Ultrabooks aren’t new in the portable computing device game, and HP is constantly spoiling us with options. One such option is the new HP Envy 15 x360. It perfectly fits between the budget pavilion series and the flagship spectre series of laptops. It starts at ₹92,000, but let’s see if it can justify that hefty price and who it’s for.

Design:

HP has always nailed design, if there’s anyone that competes with the Macbook’s design without blatantly copying them, it’s them. The Envy has a premium metallic finish on the chassis and a glossy screen supported by reassuring hinges. It also passed our 1 hand lift test. Unlike the competition, the included zenvo rechargeable pen fits snugly onto the right side of the frame in its dedicated space using magnets. From the trackpad placement to the tactile keyboard, everything is perfect. The keys are backlit and sized perfectly. Secondly, the 360 degree hinge allows for a lie flat usage scenario. The rechargeable pen is cherry on top for presentations and smooth scrolling. Port Selection is decent but could’ve been better, the only reason I say that is because the 2 type C thunderbolt ports are on the right side, which causes slight hindrance while plugging it in. You get USB-A, USB Type-C, 3.5mm jack, HDMI and an SD card reader.

Display:

4K is the new 1080p

The 15 inch 1080p display is enough but a 4K or atleast QHD offering would have helped set the Envy apart from its competition easily. You can however, get an AMOLED by paying more but then you end up in last year’s spectre territory. That being said, the IMAX Enhanced tuning really helps create an immersive content viewing experience when paired with the B&O speakers. Since the display is touch enabled and the hinge allows for a 360 rotation, the Envy also doubles up as a tablet. Speaking of using it as a tablet, the IR enabled webcam is really crisp, one of the best ones in a windows machine. HP also offers a physical shutter for the camera to create a sense of privacy.

Performance:

This ultrabook does great at what ultrabooks are expected to do and this one even manages to perform decently at tasks that a high performance laptop does best. Essentially, the 13th gen Intel Evo i5-1335U is great at handling multitasking and processor intensive tasks but combined with the Iris Xe graphics I feel it’s not the best for gaming or video editing. The ideal workload for this machine is for apps that have high CPU and high RAM usage but low GPU usage, coding for instance or even the common 20+ tabs open at the same time while making a PPT whilst watching Netflix workload. The speakers deliver crisp and loud audio although no Windows laptop can ever compete with the Macbook’s speakers, which even manages to deliver decent bass with the aforementioned aspects. Allow me to knit-pick for a moment but ultrabooks are all about convenience and nothing screams convenience like a fingerprint scanner, which the Envy misses out on. However, windows hello face recognition partially makes up for this. Oh well, maybe next year’s model will have it.

Battery Life:

Best I’ve seen in an HP. Basic web browsing and content consumption can easily be done for 8-9 hours without plugging in. HP has managed to pack a 55 Wh battery in this slim chassis which makes it one of the few windows machines with exceptional battery life. It also supports fast charging via both thunderbolt ports so you can carry a lighter USB PD charger as an alternative to the bulky type-C 65W adapter that comes in the box.

Verdict:

Anybody who’s top 3 priorities from a work machine are: Portability, a touchscreen display with a pen and good battery life should keep the HP Envy 15 at the top of their list. For folks who want more in terms of performance, I suggest looking at other work horses. For everybody else including avid content watchers and college students, it doesn’t get better than this, unless of course you start looking at the Spectre series.

Rating: ★★★★

Hewlett Packard, or HP as it is most commonly known, has always been the go-to brand for style, functionality and reliability. Among its wide range of laptops is the latest Envy 15, which targets the professional users such as video editors, creators, and graphic designers. While it is loaded with top-notch specs, it does have its share of shortcomings. Will the HP Envy 15 make your colleagues green with envy? Find out.

Aesthetics and first impressions:

One glance at the HP Envy 15 is enough to conclude that it is indeed a professional laptop and it carries that badge with pride. Thanks to its aluminium build in a silver-metal finish, the laptop oozes subtlety and elegance. That is complemented by the stylish chrome HP logo on the display lid, while the slim bezels on the top and sides of the 15.6-inch full HD IPS display panel further enhance the sleekness of the laptop.
The bottom bezel, however, takes away some of the glamour with its rather large design. The backlit keyboard is flanked by speaker grilles on both sides (From Bang & Olufsen, particularly) that give out quite decent audio output, while the arrow keys are accompanied by a nifty fingerprint scanner. The touchpad is also quite smooth (more on that later).

Two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3 support, a full-size HDMI 2.0 port, a USB-A 3.1 port and a microSD card reader constitute the left side of the laptop. The right side houses a headphone jack and another USB-A 3.1 port. All this is housed in a sleek case measuring 14.1 x 9.3 x 0.7 inches (LxWxH) and weighing 2.14 kg. This does seem like a lot, but it can be seen as a compact design if you consider the specs it comes loaded with.

Video and Audio:

As mentioned above, the laptop gets a 15.6-inch full HD (1920×1080 pixels) IPS, anti-glare display. Its 60 Hz refresh rate might not be in the same league as 144Hz screens, but the display is clear, crisp, and colourful nevertheless. Most colours on-screen pop out vibrantly, but it isn’t too abrasive to the eye.

HP has added a 720p webcam to the mix, which does its job as it should but is nothing to ponder over. However, the highlight of the webcam is the external shutter and microphone mute keys on the keyboard. Coming to the B&O speakers, a decently stereo surround sound can be experienced, though an immersive experience is not guaranteed.

Hardware:

I can safely say that the HP Envy 15 gets one of the best keyboards to work on. Comfortable, intuitive and well-lit, the keyboard looks as pleasing as it is to work on. The trackpad also does its job well and there is hardly anything to complain about here. If you had to be nitpicky, you could wish for a bigger trackpad, but that will only be an occasional woe rather than a regular complaint. The keys are not only well-spaced, but the back-lighting also ensures that every individual key can be clearly seen. The layout is overall quite symmetrical and pleasing to the eye.

Internals:

Armed with an Intel Core i7-10875H CPU, Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q GPU, 16GBDDR4 RAM and 1TB NVMe SSD, the laptop can take on anything that you throw at it. Be it heavy files, complex designs or intense gaming, there is nothing that the HP Envy 15 can’t handle. However, the laptop isn’t immune from heating, which it does after a while of extensive usage. It isn’t unmanageable, however, and can be overlooked as well. For the average commercial user, this laptop will fulfil all purposes and will still have the capacity for more. Nevertheless, it could offer a better performance had it been equipped with better internal components such as an Nvidia RTX series graphics card or 32GB of RAM.

Should you go for it?

Priced well above the Rs 1.50 lakh mark, the HP Envy 15 is not a casual buy for sure. But if you are willing to invest that kind of money, you will definitely be pleased with the outcome. There is not much that is left to desire for after owning an Envy 15, but that is only if you are a jack of all trades. Purpose oriented buyers such as gamers or professional video creators might want something more from it, but the Envy 15 will still carry all the tasks given to it diligently.