ENVY 2-in-1 15.6" Touch-Screen Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5 - 8GB Memory - AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 - 128GB Solid State Drive - HP Finish In Dark Ash

Positive - Dark Ash color looks great, USB -C, HDMI, microSD card slot, Not so heavy, touch screen is responsive, backlit keyboard, numeric keys on keyboard, Bang & Olufsen speakers sound good. Negative - Trackpad is not smooth enough, 128 GB SSD is to low at this price point (256GB would have been reasonable)

First of, this laptop is very sleek and stylish. Definitely attracts attention. The speakers on this thing are crisp and clear also loud! Lacks a little base but it's excellent sound quality. The screen is very vibrant colors are saturated enough for my liking. But viewing conditions under sunlight that's when the screen starts to suffer so don't use it outdoors. Performance very responsive. The Ryzen 5 processor from AMD does an excellent job in handling many programs open at the same time. Paired with 8 GB of RAM multitasking on this thing is smooth and fluid. This computer handles some decent gaming and light video editing ntoo thanks to its Vega 8 graphics card. Guys this laptop is a steal I highly recommend it.

I love my computer. I love that its a touch screen. I bought programs to write and it makes me excited to do it. My kid loves it too.

The laptop was nice at first, but somewhat heavy, so if you look for portability, keep searching. The screen was nice and the speed was mediocre. It did keep up with multitasking without back screens or lags. I purchased this model in 2018 and it lasted me until 2021. The hinge on the laptop popped out of place a day after warranty and I did not attempt to contact geek squad due to the expiration. I called numerous laptop repair centers, but each charged $600.00 or more to fix the hinge. After searching this model, I have discovered that many buyers experienced the same problem, which looked identical to the pictures below. I contacted hp about a possible recall, but the company denied the issue and offered a discount. I have had better communication with other brands and in my opinion hp did not value customers enough due to how large the brand has become. In the end, I was able to get three years of daily use with this laptop, so if you value you convenience this may be the laptop for you. If you value longevity keep looking!

One thing I do want to point out before I do get on with my review. When you are using a Notebook computer, regardless of brand or manufacturer, always use it responsibly and on a hard flat surface. Do not use your Notebook on soft material like carpet or a comforter/blanket or especially on your lap. The industry moved away from calling them Laptop as they can get quite hot and can in some instance cause harm. This can and will restrict and prevent proper airflow throughout the Notebook. This will lead to increased heat, potential discomfort if used on your lap. Proper airflow not only keeps it cool, but also prolongs the life of your several hundred or several thousand dollar investment. If you must use it on your lap, please think about buying a Cooling pad with a large single fan or multiple fans, you’ll only be doing yourself and your Notebook Computer a favor. Now on to the good stuff. For about the last 10 years the Notebook market hasn’t really had anything noteworthy from the AMD side. That changes now. Enter the Ryzen CPU’s for mobile. They offer not only just the CPU, but also a Vega GPU. There’s are very capable chips and can handle a good deal of work and play. This particular model features a Ryzen 5 2500U 4 core, 8 Thread CPU with a Vega 8 GPU with 8 Cores. The screen is a Full HD 1080p Glass screen with touch capability. It responds incredibly well to all touch and supports multi-touch gestures such as pinch to zoom. My only issue with the screen is the colors. They don’t really pop, and don’t look all that special. They seem very muted and dull. From what I have seen, the 13” model of this HP doesn’t have this issue to as great an extent and seems to hold up better. The Keyboard is very nice and very responsive. It’s also quite clicky and has very good tactile feedback. It doesn’t have a cheap feel to it at all. The touchpad is your basic touchpad. It’s nothing revolutionary or game changing. It offers your typical experience and supports gestures as well similar to the touch screen. I do wish though that there was more than 8GB of RAM and especially more than just 128GB of storage for the installed SSD especially given the huge decrease in cost for drives between 240-500GB. I did look up to see if this is replaceable by the average person, but it is not and requires a good deal of knowledge and from what I can determine would in fact void the warranty. One option that can be had is if you really need additional space would be to add a SD card to it. There are some out there that can reach speeds of about 200Mb/s. Though this is only about 1/3 of the speed of the installed SSD, it’s still one way to achieve more storage at a compromise. The other option would be to purchase an external SSD, though these can be expensive, it is a viable alternative if you don’t always need it with you or keep it at home or the Office and stationary. For performance, I really had no issues with the notebook at all. It’s plenty fast, it runs a variety of games, even modern titles. Given that this is on the lower-mid side of Graphics performance you’re not going to be running the latest titles with the highest of settings. Compromises will need to be made, such as a lower resolution or lower visual fidelity. If you don’t care too much about the look of a game and just want to enjoy the story, than this kind of system would be right for you. For things outside of Gaming, like office work or even just browsing the internet and watching cat video’s all day, this will still be more than enough and then some. The screen is plenty large and having 1920x1080 as the resolution certainly helps with having plenty of information on the screen at once. When I was using two Windows side by side it was handled really well especially for two different tasks such as researching in one window and typing up a document in another. Battery life was actually much better than I could have anticipated. I’ve tested numerous Notebooks and their batteries and the average of playing a DVD was typically enough for most movies, usually around 2-3 hours. As this lacks a DVD drive, that does reduce the amount of overhead and need for more moving components. I want to say I saw about 3-5 hours of just general use such as web browsing, watching video’s online and some light gaming. I would say if you’re planning on gaming on it with the High Performance Windows Power Plan you can expect around 2-3 hours, possibly less. It depends on what it is you’re playing and the intensiveness of it. If you’re just using it to watch Netflix or something, you can probably get 3 or more hours out of it. I have to say, I really like the aesthetic of this Notebook. There’s not super weird markings on it aside from some form of a calligraphy styling bit of artwork along the hinge of the Notebook’s display. The rest of the HP Envy is kind of a muted bronze/copper color which I really like and this carries all the way around the unit. Even the new HP logo is more modernized and very sharp looking. The sound is also very good. It doesn't sound overly tinny and does have some depth to it. It's definitely loud enough to use in private and watch a movie on or maybe with a couple of friends, but it's not going to be near as good as a dedicated pair of speakers. Using something like a bluetooth speaker can certainly overcome that limitation. The notebook does get quite warm, not hot to the touch or such, but just warm enough to make it where you don’t want to use it on your lap without something underneath it like a cooling pad or some other hard surface especially for an extended period of time. On a desk it still did get quite warm but I never noticed any throttling or reduced performance. I do appreciate the fact that across the entire bottom of the HP there is venting that extends from one side to the other that is about 1.5” in width to help give additional airflow. Overall, I think it’s a fantastic Notebook and definitely a step up for HP in the quality department compared to the time I was employed with them. You will certainly be pleased with this product. If you find that the 15.6” screen is a bit much for you, the 13.3” version of this model will certainly please just as well.

** The Good ** HP must have listened to feedback, because the HDD is gone! Sure, this version comes with a 128 GB SSD, but I’ll take a low capacity SSD over a large HDD any day. The smaller capacity drive could be an issue for some people. After removing unwanted software and running updates, I only have a little over 54 GB of free space on the drive. If you work primarily in the cloud you’ll be fine, otherwise I would recommend swapping out the stock drive for something bigger or keep an external drive with you for work/school. The Ryzen 5 2500U with mobile Vega 8 completely crushes Intel’s integrated graphics. You’re still going to want to pick up a laptop with dedicated graphics (with at least a GTX 1050) if you want to do any real gaming. For light gaming, this is a decent option if you keep your expectations in check. I don’t play too many games, but here are the results from the games I currently play: -- Fortnite: mid-30s FPS at 1080p with medium settings -- Skyrim Special Edition (no mods): mid-40s FPS at 720p with low settings -- Guild Wars 2 (PoF): high-20s to low-30s FPS at 720p with low-medium settings -- Hearthstone: runs flawlessly at max settings What’s the point of a 2-in-1 if you don’t actually use tablet mode? Paired with a decent Bluetooth stylus (I’m using a Wacom stylus), I love using the Envy in “tablet” mode, but only when it’s sitting on a desk/table. A 2-in-1 this large does not make for a very comfortable tablet experience if you just plan to hold it for long periods of time. If you keep it to a table/desk/lap/whatever, then it’s great! The touchscreen is very responsive. I have sworn off buying paper notebooks, everything goes into MS OneNote. If you’re a student, and don’t mind a larger laptop, the Envy x360 paired with a stylus will help keep your notes clean and organized. The speakers are pretty good for a laptop, but I would still recommend using headphones if you’re watching videos or playing games. They can get pretty loud before you start getting sound distortion. I prefer to use the speakers when I’m making Skype calls with my family. Speaking of the Skype, the webcam can just “okay” (I’ve never been impressed with laptop webcams). Battery life is pretty good for a laptop of this size. While HP claims you can get up to 10 hours, I’m not getting that amount from my usage. I’m getting around 7 hours with the screen brightness around 50%, I usually have a bluetooth mouse connected, and listen to streaming music with headphones. Your mileage will vary. What makes the battery a positive of the laptop is how quickly it charges. I was able to go from 20% to full in a little over an hour. ** The Bad ** The screen does not get as bright as I would like. This was a pretty common complaint from last year’s Envy, so it’s a bummer that it wasn’t addressed for the 2018 Envy. Images, movies, games, and colors still look pretty good for “only 1080p”, but you might not want to work near a window on a sunny day. The trackpad, while responsive, feels rather small for a 15” laptop. There feels like a lot of wasted space below the keyboard that could be used for a much larger trackpad. HP still uses Synaptics drivers, but that doesn’t bug me enough to be a deal-breaker. ** Conclusion ** This is a really solid choice for a mid-range laptop for productivity. Don’t let the Radeon Vega sticker fool you, this isn’t a true gaming laptop, but you will be able to play more casual games compared to Intel’s integrated graphics on similar priced laptops. Even though this is a mid-range laptop, it looks and feels like a much more expensive laptop than it really is, thanks to its all aluminum build and really excellent keyboard. The touchscreen is very responsive and Windows Ink works great if you want to draw or keep all your notes organized in the cloud. With the smaller drive, working in the cloud will be ideal unless you want to carry around an extral drive or swap out the current 128 GB SSD.

This machine just turned into the "blue screen of death" after a normal Windows October 2020 update. No more warranty. Not an easy issue for a typical user to fix. HP Support no longer covers. This is an unfair business practice. A two-year-old laptop is no longer working because of a mandatory software update. Lost all my files. Big mistake.

The HP Envy 2 in 1 AMD Ryzen laptop is a device for users who want the performance of a fast laptop that will satisfy their everyday needs without leaving any processing power on the table. Like with any HP Envy, this 2 in 1 is almost ready to use right out of the box. The initial setup only takes a few minutes. In my opinion, I believe that the HP Envy with the AMD Ryzen 5 processor is for the on the go user; student, people that work on the road or for the people that are new to acclimating to the 2 in 1 laptop environment. If this is your first time using a 2 in 1 then there’s nothing to feel intimidated about. In fact, I believe that you will quickly adjust and eventually wonder how you managed to get along without it. Each time you open the laptop, you’re going to be amazed at how fast it ‘wakes up’ and uses your face to gain excess to your profile. If facial recognition isn’t your thing then you can still use a password or create a PIN code. In laptop form, the Envy will do what you could always do with a laptop. I think the user will enjoy using the touch screen to gain immediate access to whatever link or tab instead of using the touchpad. The touchpad is responsive but I found myself having to go into the settings to lower the sensitivity because when I typed, the cursor would move to a different area of the paragraph when lightly touched. However, I do wish that HP would update their Number Lock button so that the user would know as to whether or not the num lock was on or off much like the Caps Lock key. Where I found the Ryzen 5 processor to be faster was when I would open the Xbox game app from the tiles menu. Compared to the Intel core i7 8th Gen, the Ryzen 5 was several seconds faster. You can stream games from your Xbox One to your Envy but there is some visual quality lost when doing this but at the same time, this eliminates the player’s need to occupy a television that someone else might want to use. What about if you want to use the Envy for gaming directly from the laptop? Unfortunately, if you’re looking for a gaming laptop, this isn’t the device to satisfy that desire. A lot of the System Requirements for games like State of Decay 2, Shadow Of War etc fell short for what was necessary for those games. That’s not to say that you can’t play games on the Envy but you will have to be aware of what games will push the processor to its limits without compromising an enjoyable experience. The Envy in tablet form provides a beautiful 1080 resolution viewing experience when watching Netflix, HBO, a movie from your iTunes collection or any preferred streaming service. The 15-inch screen is definitely accommodating when it comes to enjoying entertainment. As I mentioned before, the touchscreen is responsive for those moments when you might need to pause quick. Also, in tablet form, the Envy allows an accessible option for digital artists or notetakers that want to use an Active Pen or Passive Stylist on the touchscreen. It’s pretty amazing when you realize all the options that a 2 in 1 really has to offer. To some, the 128GB Solid State Drive might be low in 2018 but I see this as an affordable option for those middle of the road users that are seeking a solid computing experience without excessive power and a ton of memory that would be wasted on them. Hewlett Packard knows how to make gorgeous 2 in 1 laptops. The sharply backlit keyboard, the compact and slim design is always a sight to behold.