HP Envy 15 laptop review: A capable machine for creativity

The HP Envy 15 performance laptop has been placed as a machine for creativity, but with the specification options available, it could also make for a decent gaming machine.

This 2020 model that we reviewed had the 10th Generation Intel Core i7 10750H processor and combined with the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 graphics card, this makes for a good PC for creativity and is portable as well.

Apart from some impressive specifications, the striking aspect of the Envy 15 is the minimalist design and aluminium body. The body feels very solid and with no sign of flexing. The keyboard layout is neat with upward firing speakers placed on either side.

The touchpad has a nice and gentle click and feels pretty responsive. The keyboard includes a fingerprint reader on the right side (next to the alt key). The backlit (two levels of brightness) keys are comfortable to type for long hours. The top row includes the backlighting on/off, mic mute and the usual multimedia keys. One great feature of the Eny 15 is the camera shutter. The press of a key closes the camera lens and this is a great feature to maintain privacy.

One side of the machine has the charging socket, USB Type-A port, HDMI port, two Type-C Thunderbolt ports and a microSD card reader. The other side has another Type-A port, a vent and an audio-out socket. The Envy 15 features a 15.6-inch screen with an 82.6% screen-to-body ratio. The Full HD display is simply brilliant and colours were very natural while watching 1080p and 4K content. Many creative people often use large external monitors for work, but the Envy 15 display is good enough for tasks on the go.

The bottom has the main vent with a riser that allows for heat to be expelled from the machine. HP has also incorporated into the Envy 15 what the company calls a ‘vapour chamber’ for cooling.

Performance

With the Core i7 processor, the GTX graphics card and 16 GB RAM, playing games was no problem at all and using photo editing software like Photoshop was a breeze. With the specifications this machine has and with a solid-state drive, handling several RAW files at the same time was smooth as well.

The battery is an 83 Wh Li-ion polymer one and comes with fast charging. The battery easily lasted the whole day with light tasks. However, being a performance machine, battery life will depend on the tasks it is used for.

The HP Command Center can be used to tweak the performance of the laptop. Obviously, pushing the machine will mean more heat is generated, but it was tolerable. The fans were not particularly noisy when they turned on. The Bang and Olufsen speakers that are placed on either side of the keyboard are great to listen to. The mid and high frequencies really shine. The high frequency detail of musical instruments in a track is particularly noticeable. Even at full blast, there is no hint of distortion.

Any quibbles? The weight might be a bit of a problem if one has to carry it around a lot.

The Envy 15 we reviewed with the 15.6-inch FHD screen, 1 TB SSD and 16 GB RAM is priced at Rs 1,49,999. Other configurations are also available.