The HP Pavilion Plus 14: Sleek Style Meets Solid Performance
HP is aiming for a sweet spot with the Pavilion Plus 14, a laptop tailored for both professional productivity and enjoyable entertainment. This sleek and portable machine boasts a premium exterior crafted from all-metal, a captivating high-resolution display, immersive Bang & Olufsen speakers, and the power of Intel’s latest 12th-generation mobile CPUs. Adding to its appeal, HP emphasizes the Pavilion Plus 14’s status as their thinnest Pavilion laptop yet, making it a tempting choice for those constantly on the move. But does this laptop hold up to the hype, or is it just another pretty face? Let’s dive into the details and discover whether the Pavilion Plus 14 deserves a place in your workspace.
HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14: Price and Variants
HP offers a limited selection of pre-configured Pavilion Plus models in India. The variant reviewed here is the Pavilion Plus Laptop 14 (eh0021TU), priced at Rs. 79,999 on HP India’s website. This configuration packs an Intel Core i5 CPU, integrated graphics, a 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM. Available in silver, it has a warm gold (eh0025TU) variant too.
If you crave a more powerful setup, the only other Indian option is the Pavilion OLED 14 (eh0024TU). This model boasts an Intel Core i7 CPU, a 2.8K display, onboard graphics, a 1TB SSD, and comes with a price tag of Rs. 93,999.
HP also offers non-Plus Pavilion models in India, slightly more affordable due to their full-HD resolution displays, but with similar configurations to the Pavilion Plus equivalents. Globally, the Pavilion Plus series offers customization with discrete GPUs, reaching up to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050.
HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14 Design
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is a sleek and professional-looking laptop, especially in this silver color. Its build quality is exceptional, thanks to the extensive use of aluminum for the lid, base, and keyboard area. The display boasts excellent protection against external forces; no pixel warping was noticeable even under pressure applied to the back of the lid. However, this all-metal construction contributes to a noticeable weight in the lid, making it prone to wobbling when open, even with minimal disturbances like a ceiling fan.
The display is a major highlight of the Pavilion Plus 14. It’s a 14-inch IPS panel with an anti-glare coating and a 2240×1400 pixel resolution. This higher-than-full-HD resolution delivers significantly sharper visuals and text compared to conventional displays of the same size. The refresh rate is the standard 60Hz. The display features slim bezels on the left and right sides, with slightly thicker bezels on the top and bottom. A 5-megapixel webcam sits above the display.
The keyboard is a joy to use, with well-spaced keys that offer satisfying, crisp feedback. The function (Fn) keys are slightly smaller than the standard keys, but this wasn’t a major issue during usage. However, a design flaw lies in the final column of keys — Delete, Home, Pg Up, etc. These keys are positioned towards the right edge, beyond crucial keys like Backspace and Enter. This layout led to frequent accidental keystrokes, mistaking Pg Dn for Enter and Home for Backspace. HP could have benefited from a bit more spacing between these final two columns.
The trackpad is generously wide, with a square cutout on its right for a convenient fingerprint sensor. Port selection is impressive for a 14-inch laptop. The right side features two SuperSpeed USB Type-C ports (10Gbps, DisplayPort 1.4), an HDMI 2.1 video output, and a USB Type-A (5Gbps) port. The left side holds another full-sized USB Type-A port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot. The underside of the laptop houses cutouts for the Bang & Olufsen speakers (one on each end) and a large, perforated air vent spanning almost the entire base. The exhaust vents are strategically positioned in front of the display’s hinge.
HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14 Specifications and Software
The Intel Core i5-12500H CPU powering the HP Pavilion Plus 14 packs a total of 12 CPU cores, consisting of four performance cores and eight efficiency cores. This H-series CPU outperforms its P-series counterpart with a greater L3 cache and a higher base TDP of 45W (compared to 28W). Indian variants of the Pavilion Plus 14 are restricted to the CPU’s integrated GPU, based on the Intel Iris Xe graphics architecture.
The 16GB of DDR4 RAM is soldered to the motherboard, meaning it’s not swappable or upgradable. While this move aids in achieving the laptop’s slim profile, it limits potential upgrades or repair options should the RAM encounter issues down the line. Thankfully, the 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD is upgradable.
The Pavilion Plus 14 also boasts 2×2 MIMO antennas for the Wi-Fi 6E module and Bluetooth 5.2, ensuring seamless wireless connectivity. The laptop houses a built-in 3-cell, 51Wh battery and comes with a compact 90W USB Type-C power adapter, ideal for travel. HP claims a weight of 1.4kg for the Pavilion Plus 14, but the actual weight of the reviewed unit was slightly less.
The laptop arrives with Windows 11 Home and a selection of bundled software, including Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021 and a 30-day trial of McAfee LiveSafe. HP further sweetens the deal with its own software suite, which includes HP Command Centre, Omen Gaming Hub, HP Pallete, HP Audio Switch, and HP Smart. These programs allow you to monitor and fine-tune various aspects of the laptop. A dedicated key (F12) provides quick access to HP’s main programs.
HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14: Performance and Battery Life
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 served as the author’s work laptop for several weeks, also being used for extensive movie and TV show viewing. The overall experience was highly positive. The laptop consistently remained cool and quiet, making it comfortable to use on the lap for extended periods. The lid opens to a wide angle, facilitating use in various positions. The high-resolution display enhances the visual experience with sharper and crisper images compared to a standard full-HD display. The display’s brightness and color reproduction are excellent. While the keyboard’s lettering is slightly difficult to see at the lowest backlight setting during the day, it’s best to use the highest setting or turn it off completely.
The Pavilion Plus 14 performed remarkably well in benchmarks, surpassing, at times, laptops equipped with P-series Core i7 CPUs. In Cinebench R20, it achieved scores of 631 and 4,103 points on single and multi-core tests, respectively. The PCMark 10 score was 5,443 points. Graphics performance was lower, as expected, even compared to the Iris Xe GPU in the LG Gram 14, which ran a Core i7-1260P CPU.
The Pavilion Plus 14 registered scores of 1,357 and 12,974 points in 3DMark’s Time Spy and Night Raid test suites, respectively. SSD performance was exceptional. In SiSoft Sandra’s File System test, the Pavilion Plus 14 achieved sequential read and write speeds of 5.85GBps and 1.75GBps, respectively. While random read and write speeds were lower, they still surpassed average performance.
In real-world tests, the Pavilion Plus 14 compressed a 3.24GB folder of assorted files in just 2 minutes and 43 seconds. Rendering the BMW test scene in Blender took 5 minutes and 28 seconds, significantly faster than the LG Gram laptop. Encoding a full-HD AVI file to 720p MKV took 49 seconds. Due to the laptop’s focus on general usage and the Indian configurations lacking dedicated GPUs, intensive gaming wasn’t attempted. However, casual titles from the Microsoft Store, such as Asphalt 9: Legends, should run smoothly.
The 5-megapixel webcam on the Pavilion Plus 14 delivers excellent image quality with minimal noise even in low-light environments. Video recording is available at up to 1440p resolution. HP’s Enhanced Lighting app is a valuable addition, creating a virtual ring light on the display with customizable intensity and color temperature. The stereo speakers produce decent sound, further customizable with the B&O app.
HP claims a battery life exceeding 11 hours for the Pavilion Plus 14, but real-world usage yielded significantly lower results. Typical battery life hovered around five hours with a mixed workload including work (Slack and Chrome), entertainment (streaming Netflix videos in Chrome), and standby time. This is a considerable shortcoming, making it challenging to complete a full workday without a charge. The Battery Eater Pro benchmark yielded disappointing results, lasting only 1 hour and 31 minutes. Testing the device with Windows 11’s latest update, which promises battery optimizations, did not result in any notable improvement in actual battery life or Battery Eater Pro results.
Verdict
The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is a visually appealing and well-built laptop, suitable for general work and potentially for creative professionals. Its sharp display, compact body, comfortable keyboard, and robust specs are compelling reasons to consider it. The price tag of Rs. 79,999 seems reasonable given the overall package, but if the high-resolution display isn’t a necessity, consider the Pavilion 14 models with nearly identical specs but a full-HD display, and a significantly lower price. Battery life is the primary weakness of the Pavilion Plus 14, and the fixed RAM might be a dealbreaker for some.
