If what you are looking for is an inexpensive powerhouse, the HP Envy X360 15 is arguably the best out there. Like the 13-inch version, the 15-inch version comes with the fabulous Ryzen 5 AMD CPU and GPU, as well as a stunning design that will leave you spell-bound.
HP served us a laptop capable of handling almost every task you throw at it, including gaming. It also has a lovely design, a good keyboard, decent battery life, and an excellent looking 15-inch display. You can customize the PC, adding more memory and storage for an additional cost. However, the basic configuration still went head-to-head with PCs that cost double its price.
The HP Envy X360 15 is a 2-in-1 laptop, which means the hinge can rotate at a 360-degree angle to work as a tablet. Though the Spectre lineup is viewed as HP’s top-tier PC for consumers, the Envy is almost as good with its latest versions, and they cost way less. The Envy also comes with similar processor options like the premium PCs.
The significant difference is in the finish and fit, but the price range makes it worthwhile to forgo these factors.
Design
The Spectre lineup has the most beautiful designs in HP laptops. Although the Envy cannot match it for design, it harbors some similar details from the Spectre. It shares the premium materials, the neat subtle detailing like the logo, the slim profile, the speaker cutouts, and the hinge callout.
The design has a highly functional layout. The keyboard is fitting and compliments the layout, and the touchpad is massive along with a Numpad – which is a rare occurrence on 15-inch PCs.
The design is excellent and doesn’t look complacent because it is budget-friendly. The keyboard has a fingerprint option, which is not something common with laptops in this price range.
Display
Often than not, laptops with a big screen struggle to keep the weight light. Although the Envy X360 15 is not a heavy laptop, weighing only 4.5 pounds. The weight is in line with most 15-inch touchscreen PCs.
The display is not the best you will get from HP but is quite decent. It has a 15.6-inch diagonal WLED-backlit IPS touchscreen display. The resolution is 1920 by 1080 pixels full-HD, but the brightness is not the best, and the color doesn’t pop as much as we would have liked. However, it has crisp text, and the display is fantastic in a dark environment.
Performance
A huge part of why the Envy X360 15 functions significantly is the processor. The model we reviewed has a Ryzen-5 4500U, 256GB of a solid-state drive, and an 8GB memory. Although the CPU was meant to go up against Intel’s Core i5, it raises its performance compared to the Core i7. Could the processor make it a best selling laptop in it’s category this year. We will find out later.
It works smoothly for everyday activities like streaming and surfing the web. It seamlessly handles multiple Chrome tabs, photo edits, zoom calls, and file transfers. No lad was recorded during these activities.
The Integrated Graphics from AMD are even more remarkable. The GPU can handle light gaming and performs impressively for integrated graphics. However, the video editing performance wasn’t top-notch.
Keyboard and Touchpad
HP added some hotkeys to the Envy 360’s keyboard. The keyboard now includes kill switches for the webcam and microphone. The F4 button controls the keyboard’s backlight, and there are other shortcut functions assigned to other buttons.
The keys and quiet and firm, with a comfortable ad smooth texture. The typing experience is similar to that of the HP Dragonfly.
The touchpad has enough room, and the movement is smooth. HP also included a Numpad, which is not common in laptops of this caliber.
Battery Life
The battery life is good. It averaged almost right hours when set at 200 nits of brightness, running fans and powered up. Overall, the battery life should get you through a day’s job.
Connectivity
HP managed to load up some ports that you don’t get to see in laptops s slim as this. The Envy X360 15 has two Type-A USB ports, one microSD slot, one Type-C USB port, but it doesn’t have the Thunderbolt 3 option.
Final Verdict
The HP Envy X360 15 is a powerhouse, and it comes at a reasonable cost. However, it has a few drawbacks like the display’s brightness level, the troubles with video editing, and the not-so-sturdy hinges. However, it punches above its weight in terms of all-round performance. It stands out above the rest in its price range without a doubt.
