The HP Envy 14: A Premium Ultrabook That Balances Work and Play
The HP Envy 14 is a powerful and stylish Ultrabook designed to meet the demands of professionals and creative individuals alike. Launched as part of HP’s refresh of its premium Envy line, this device promises a blend of sleek design, powerful performance, and long battery life. But does it live up to the hype? In this comprehensive review, we delve deep into the HP Envy 14’s design, specifications, performance, and battery life to determine if it’s worth your hard-earned money.
Design: A Blend of Style and Substance
The HP Envy 14 boasts a sophisticated design, eschewing flashy aesthetics for a more subtle elegance. The aluminum chassis is sturdy, giving the lid and base a premium and rugged feel. The single silver finish covers most of the body, with a sharp contrast provided by the bezel around the full-HD+ display. Sharp angles throughout the laptop, including the rubber feet underneath, add a touch of modernity. Despite its 14-inch form factor, the Envy 14 offers a decent selection of ports, including two USB 3 (Gen1) Type-A ports with ‘HP Sleep and Charge’, HDMI 2.0, a Thunderbolt 4 (Type-C) port, a microSD card slot, a DC charging port, and a headphone jack. Notably, you can also charge the laptop via the Type-C port.
The chiclet keyboard is a joy to use, featuring well-spaced keys that offer a comfortable typing experience. Three levels of white backlighting illuminate the keys evenly, making late-night work sessions less of a strain on your eyes. The placement of the fingerprint sensor in place of the right Ctrl key takes some getting used to, but it’s a welcome security feature. The generously sized glass trackpad is responsive and accurate, making navigation effortless.
Specifications and Software: Powerful Performance Packed in a Compact Package
The HP Envy 14 is built on Intel’s Evo platform, which guarantees a certain level of performance, efficiency, and features. The variant we tested features a powerful Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of soldered DDR4 RAM, a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD, and a discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU with Max-Q optimization. This combination makes the Envy 14 a true powerhouse, capable of handling demanding tasks with ease.
The 14-inch IPS display boasts a full-HD+ resolution and a 16:10 aspect ratio, delivering crisp visuals and vivid colors. Slim borders on three sides create a modern and immersive viewing experience. The Envy 14 also features Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers for a rich and detailed audio experience. For video calls, a 720p webcam with a software-based camera disable feature offers privacy and security. Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 ensure seamless connectivity.
The Envy 14 ships with Windows 10, though you can upgrade to Windows 11 during setup. Pre-installed trial programs and a full license for Microsoft Office Home & Student 2019 add value to the package. HP’s own suite of applications allows for customizing sound, display, battery profiles, and system settings. An especially neat feature is HP Enhanced Lighting, which creates a virtual ring light on the screen to help brighten your face during video calls.
Performance and Battery Life: Workhorse Capabilities That Don’t Break a Sweat
In day-to-day usage, the HP Envy 14 effortlessly handled casual tasks, such as browsing the web and working on documents in Chrome. It remained cool and quiet, with minimal fan noise. Occasional background tasks, such as Steam updates, did result in slightly increased fan activity, but overall, the Envy 14 remained comfortable to use on the lap. While its compactness is impressive, the Envy 14 weighs in at just over 1.5kg, which can feel a bit heavy for prolonged use.
Benchmarks confirm the Envy 14’s impressive performance. It scored a strong 5,548 in PCMark 10 and 7,790 in 3DMark Fire Strike. The SSD performance was particularly remarkable, with sequential read speeds averaging 2.65GBps and random write speeds at a solid 1.75GBps.
While not designed as a gaming laptop, the dedicated Nvidia GPU enables smooth gameplay at high settings for games like Fortnite. Heavier titles like Control were playable at the ‘High’ setting with an average framerate of around 26fps, but lowering settings resulted in a smoother experience. The Envy 14 handled intensive tasks well, with heat primarily concentrated on the bottom, avoiding discomfort on the keyboard or palmrest.
The 4-cell, 63.3WHr battery promises up to 17.5 hours of video playback. In real-world mixed usage, including work in Chrome, Slack, streaming videos, and casual browsing, we consistently achieved 8-9 hours of runtime on a single charge—remarkably good for a Windows laptop of this size. Surprisingly, the Battery Eater Pro score was significantly lower at 1 hour, 22 minutes, highlighting the difference between demanding benchmark tests and real-world usage.
Verdict: A Powerful and Portable Premium Ultrabook With Minor Considerations
The HP Envy 14 variant we tested (EB0021TX) was priced at Rs. 1,24,999 at the time of this review. While expensive, it offers a more compelling value proposition compared to its rivals. The Dell XPS 13 is similarly priced but has half the SSD capacity and lacks a discrete GPU. The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Carbon, another Intel Evo-powered Ultrabook, is priced lower with comparable specs and a QHD display, but again, lacks a dedicated GPU.
The HP Envy 14 provides a remarkable balance of portability, performance, and battery life, making it a compelling choice for those seeking a premium Ultrabook that can manage demanding work and even handle some light gaming. However, a couple of things to keep in mind: the Envy 14 is a bit heavier than some other ultrabook options, and opening the lid can require a bit more effort. The webcam’s quality is also underwhelming, especially in low light.
Overall, the HP Envy 14 should top your list if you’re searching for a premium Ultrabook that can juggle work, play, and still provide enough battery life to last a full workday on a single charge.
Pros:
- Powerful Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor
- Dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti GPU
- 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD for fast storage
- Long battery life
- Comfortable keyboard
- Bright and sharp 14-inch display
- Stylish and durable aluminum chassis
- Good selection of ports
- Cons:
- Heavy for a 14-inch laptop
- Opening the lid requires a bit of effort
- Webcam quality is underwhelming in low-light
