HP Envy x360 15 laptop review: a convertible made for multimedia
Construction
The HP Envy x360 15 doesn’t reinvent the convertible concept. That’s why we deserved an anodized aluminum frame that features a hinge that allows the screen to be flipped all the way.
Glossy logo on matt surface, nice classic. ©Digital
Opening the screen reveals a tone-on-tone gray keyboard, always with the same pitfall: enabling the backlight in daylight makes the characters on the keys unreadable. The keyboard is surrounded by perforations that suggest the presence of speakers, especially with the Bang & Olufsen silk screen located directly below it. This isn’t the case, as the speakers are housed under the chassis; we will have the opportunity to return there.
The loudspeaker grille is dummy. ©Digital
On the typing side, there’s nothing to complain about, the touch is pleasant, with good feedback from the keys. There are some ergonomic quirks such as the < character located next to the "left arrow" key.
The touchpad is similar to the keyboard, with smooth glides and well calculated Windows gestures. The sinking of physical clicks is visible, but limited.
The keyboard becomes unreadable in daylight with the backlight on. ©Digital
Connection complete. There are no less than two USB-A (10 Gb/s) ports, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a card reader, an HDMI socket, and a mini-jack combo. But the distribution of ports is impractical, since the USB-C charger is placed on the right side of the PC, as is the HDMI cable; not the most practical for lefties who use a mouse.
the most used connection is to the right of the keyboard. ©Digital
The Envy x360 15 has an Intel AX211 chip which delivers wifi 6E at 2400 Mb/s and Bluetooth 5.2. As for the webcam, HP has made an effort, with a Windows Hello-compatible 2560×1440 px sensor offering absolutely flawless rendering in good lighting. On the other hand, there is no magic in the dark, the rendering is then noisy. Note that the hotkey to the right of F12 activates the cache in front of the sensor.
To ensure component cooling, HP uses two fans that blow through a radiator positioned between the two hinges. Under our thermal camera, and after a good 30 minutes of video encoding, the keyboard didn’t exceed 40°C. Hot spots are located on the Q, S, and D keys. The Envy x360 15’s sound pollution remains limited (34.1 dB) when only its processor is used. In video games, with GeForce RTX 2050 activation, the Envy cranks up the volume (40.3 dB recorded). Hence extreme caution in office automation, even unheard of, but less so during video game sessions.
contained temperature. ©Digital
Components are accessed by removing 4 screws then removing the shell; this last operation is very painful and takes your time so as not to damage the covering that holds it in place. Inside, apart from the processor, all components are removable, from the battery to the RAM modules; a pleasant surprise when you see that the repairability index is only 5.6/10.
The two memory slots are located under the aluminum cover. ©Digital
Show
The Envy x360 15-eu0009nf provided by HP features an Intel Core i7-1255U processor, a low-power processor with a hybrid architecture (2 P-cores + 8 E-cores). Coupled with 16 GB RAM and GeForce RTX 2050 only 35 W.
The HP Envy x360 features a low power Core i7. ©Digital
Equipped with this, the Envy x360 15 gains a performance index of 95. It sits between the Ryzen 5 5500U (88) from the previous version of the Envy x360 15 and Ryzen 7 6800U (117) from Acer Swift Edge.
In practice, the Core i7-1255U maintained its frequency at 2.67 GHz for the P Core and 2.05 GHz for the E-core, with an average TDP of 26 W during our encoding. We saw no decrease in frequency (slowdown) under these conditions.
As for gaming performance, the onboard 35W GeForce RTX 2050 is nearly halved compared to the 60W Honor MagicBook 14 model. So if it’s possible to play Assassin’s Creed Valhalla at 36 fps on Honor with detail set to maximum and FSR on, Envy x360 15 asks to set detail to “medium” with FSR on to get 44 fps.
Even application performance that utilizes the Ampere RTX 2050 architecture has decreased. Thus, the rendering time of our test video under Premiere increased by 17%, the rendering time of our scene under Blender by 63% and the filter application under Photoshop by 31%.
The 1024 GB Samsung SSD offers more than enough speed for the Envy x360 15’s intended use (3180 MB/s read and 1740 MB/s write).
Screen
The Envy x360 15-eu0009nf is equipped with a 15.6-inch Samsung Oled panel featuring 1920×1080 px. Due to their convertible function, the plates are provided with a tactile coating for use as tablets.
Unfortunately, the OLED panel is an option on the Envy X360 15. ©Digital
This OLED panel sports a delta E of 4.1, slightly above the ceiling of 3. We noted deviations in all the colors that were measured, without really going out of line, which is a good thing. We tried correcting the colorimetry with the integrated software, but it didn’t work and applying the profile didn’t change the final rendering.
The rest of the measurements are pretty precise, with a temperature of 6444 K, perfect blacks, and a nearly instantaneous response time; these last two measurements become intrinsic characteristics of OLED.
Maximum brightness is 380 cd/m² and 595 cd/m² in peak HDR. The value is correct, but the reflection of the slab will not allow it to be enjoyed outdoors, the reflected light level is 47.5%.
audios
Despite the incredible perforations on each side of the keyboard, the speakers are nicely nestled under the chassis at the front. Problematic locations where the lower arm covers the speaker and modifies rendering, such as the surface a laptop PC rests on.
The speakers are tilted down. ©Digital
When listening, the rendering seems muffled, with a pronounced “boxy” effect. The mids are overrepresented, while the vocals are squashed. Switching to Bang & Olufsen’s audio software helped nothing and rendering got worse if you disabled it.
The audio output of the Envy x360 15 saves the day with its high output rating (260 mVRMS) capable of driving high impedance headphones. Other measured values are above average, with high dynamics, low distortion and controlled crosstalk.
| HP Envy X360 2022 | Average PC tested | |
|---|---|---|
| output level | 260mVRMS | 155mVRMS |
| Distortion + Noise | 0.007% | 0.014% |
| dynamic range | 105dB | 100dB |
| Cross chat | -66dB | -64dB |
Mobility / Autonomy
The HP Envy x360 15 occupies an area of 35.9 x 22.9 cm and is 1.86 cm thick. Conventional template for a 15.6-inch laptop, knowing it weighs 1.66 kg to add 446 g of charger. It can fit in a bag, as long as it fits, but a USB-C charger will probably stay in the house given its size.
The charger is somewhat impressive with its detachable power cord. ©Digital
In video playback, the Envy x360 15 lasted 6 hours and 24 minutes (Netflix under Chrome, screen at 200 cd/m²). The relatively average independence is explained by the limited battery capacity (51 Wh) and the presence of a dedicated graphics card.
With 6 hours and 24 minutes of video playback, the HP Envy x360 15 isn’t very autonomous. ©Digital
