Although it offers a combination of style and utility, the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 laptop has serious drawbacks in several areas that could affect how appealing it is in general. Upon initial observation, its streamlined and contemporary style is striking, presenting a sophisticated metallic gray finish. The environmentally friendly and attractive Envy x360 is housed in an aluminum chassis that is composed of 50% recyclable metal. The Glacier Silver and Meteor Silver color choices offer a bit of individuality to the mix, while the construction quality seems sturdy. With a dark metallic gray appearance that exudes professionalism and style, our review item was delivered in Meteor Silver.
The design of the keyboard and touchpad of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 is harmonious. Many function keys are incorporated into the keyboard’s design to simplify routine operations like changing the screen’s brightness and volume. For customers who often work with media controls, the addition of a dedicated Copilot key offers a convenience factor. Nonetheless, there is a small annoyance with the power button being in the function key row as opposed to being isolated in a more noticeable spot. When reaching for nearby keys, this arrangement may result in unintentional key presses. The tactile feedback on the keyboard improves the typing experience while it still manages to stay responsive and pleasant.
Its 3.3 x 5.1-inch touchpad, which has a smooth, almost matte texture, adds to the general usability of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1. It provides accurate tracking and good responsiveness, which facilitates simple and effective laptop interface navigation. Because of its inconspicuous and dependable performance, the design of the touchpad guarantees that it will always be a vital component of the user experience.
In terms of display quality, one noteworthy feature of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 is the ability to upgrade to a 2880×1800 OLED panel, which offers a noticeable improvement over the standard 1920×1200 IPS display. This OLED update, which costs an extra $150, was part of our evaluation unit. A significant improvement over the 300 nits of the base panel, the OLED display has a maximum brightness of 500 nits.
This increased brightness, combined with the higher resolution, results in sharper and more vibrant visuals. The OLED panel covers 136% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, delivering impressive color accuracy and depth. This makes it particularly well-suited for tasks requiring precise color representation, such as photo and video editing. However, despite its advantages, the OLED panel’s performance still falls short when compared to some competitors in terms of overall brightness and color accuracy.
Connectivity-wise, the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 has a basic range of connections that ought to satisfy the majority of customers. An HDMI port, two USB Type-C ports—one of which can be used for charging—and a headphone jack are located on the right edge, while two USB Type-A ports and a headphone jack are located on the left. Users who need more connectivity options can add a USB hub or docking station to their setup, but this selection of ports provides for a variety of peripheral connections. In comparison to a basic USB hub, a docking station could provide a more complete solution for laptop users who regularly link their device to external monitors.
The audio performance of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 is another area where it makes a positive impression. The speakers deliver clear and balanced sound, suitable for a variety of audio experiences, from watching movies to listening to music. While not the loudest speakers on the market, they provide adequate volume and sound quality for most casual uses. Tracks like Khalid’s “Saturday Nights” and “Free If We Want It” by Nothing But Thieves demonstrate the speakers’ ability to handle a range of musical genres with a well-rounded sound profile. The balance between bass, mids, and highs is generally pleasing, though there are certainly other laptops that offer superior audio performance.
However, when it comes to gaming, the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 reveals its limitations. Equipped with an integrated GPU, it struggles with more demanding games and applications. For instance, while it can handle lower-spec games with some degree of success, it falls short when tasked with modern, graphics-intensive titles. Benchmarks illustrate this struggle: the Envy x360 scored 4616 on the 3DMark FireStrike test and averaged only 25 fps in Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm.
This performance is notably inferior to competitors such as the HP Spectre x360 14 and the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9, both of which offer better graphics capabilities and smoother gameplay experiences. In practical testing, games like Horizon: Zero Dawn and Death’s Door further highlighted these limitations. Horizon: Zero Dawn, while a few years old, remains demanding on hardware. The Envy x360 managed to run the game on low graphics settings, but with noticeable frame drops and an average of just 22 fps. Similarly, Death’s Door, an indie title with vibrant graphics, struggled to maintain performance at higher settings, requiring adjustments to resolution and frame rate to achieve a playable experience.
An overview of the HP Envy x360 2-in-1’s capabilities can be seen via performance benchmarks. Following competitors such as the HP Spectre x360 14 and the Lenovo Slim 7i Gen 9, the laptop received scores of 2,305 on the single-core Geekbench 6 test and 8,697 on the multi-core test. In the HandBrake video transcoding test, the Envy x360 took 11 minutes to convert a 4K video to 1080p, which is a huge delay when compared to its competitors. This further demonstrates the smartphone’s performance difficulties. The HP Spectre x360 records 1,362 MBps, while the Lenovo Slim 7i records 1,534 MBps. The Envy x360 records 901 MBps, which is slower than both devices’ file transfer speeds. These disparities in performance demonstrate how difficult it is for the Envy x360 to complete tasks requiring a lot of horsepower or
A key factor contributing to these performance issues is the variant of the Intel Core Ultra 7 processor used in the HP Envy x360 2-in-1. The Envy x360 is equipped with the Core Ultra 7 155U, which has fewer cores and threads compared to the Core Ultra 7 155H found in some other laptops. This difference in processor variants impacts overall performance, resulting in slower benchmark results and less effective handling of demanding tasks.
A decent but not particularly long battery life is offered by the HP Envy x360 2-in-1. It performed marginally worse than the premium laptop average of 10 hours and 3 minutes, lasting 9 hours and 49 minutes on our battery life test. For an average workday, this is plenty, but while using the device for longer periods of time or on heavier duties, users might need to recharge. With respect to battery life, this performance puts the Envy x360 in the middle of the pack; it provides respectable endurance without taking the lead.
A 5MP infrared webcam with an integrated privacy shutter, the HP Envy x360 2-in-1 webcam functions well for video conferences and video conversations. Enhance lighting and video quality with the support of Windows Studio Effects and HP Enhanced Lighting. Ideal for both personal and business video conferences, the webcam produces a smooth, non-grainy image and the integrated microphone effectively records audio while blocking out background disturbances.
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