HP’s Envy 16 is a desktop replacement that can be used for both gaming and creating video. It has an Intel Core i9 processor, a stylish OLED display, and extras like a 5-megapixel webcam.
The Dell XPS 15 is an excellent all-around performer that costs hundreds less. It truly impresses to the point where it unseats the XPS 15 as our Editors’ Choice winner among high-end creative laptops.
HP Envy 16 review: Design
The HP Envy 16-inch laptop is a great option for people who are looking for a smaller laptop that still has all the features of a larger laptop. It has a clean, appealing design and only comes in the colour Natural Silver. The 88.7% screen-to-body ratio and sleek design give it a professional appearance, if not quite a unique one. ..
The Envy 16 is a laptop that has a solid keyboard and is long-lasting. However, it is heavy and might be cumbersome to use as a portable computer, which may be discouraging for people who are now working a hybrid schedule. ..
A great port location was made. A microSD card reader, 3.5mm audio jack, and USB-A with a latch that must be pulled down to input anything are located on the left side. On the right, there is a power jack, one USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports. For people who wish to play games in a hotel room or for photo and video editors, this is more than enough.
Keyboard and touchpad
HP has not changed the keyboard’s feedback or feel, which is disappointing for those looking for a more comfortable typing experience.
HP has made two small but noticeable alterations to the design of their laptops. The first is that a “System Event Utility” function, which is essentially a Quick Launch key for HP Command Center, Omen Gaming Hub, myHP, and HP Palette, has replaced the F12 key’s previous secondary use. Second, the F1 key’s secondary purpose now opens a window for choosing emoticons and GIFs, just like on the most recent Pavilion. ..
The new Envy 15 laptop has a larger click pad than the one on the previous model (12.5 x 8 cm vs. 11.5 x 7.5 cm). The surface is nearly textureless, smooth, and only slightly sticky when gliding at slower speeds, enabling more precise clicks. The click pad’s response, on the other hand, is quite silent and soft, giving it a spongy feel. ..
Display
The 16-inch 16:10 4K OLED touch display is one of the best screens this year. It is breathtaking to look at, with great colour accuracy and depth. While the brightness is a little on the dim side, it handles the Adobe Suite well. ..
The HDR capabilities of the new TV are well-used. This means that watching Netflix or 4K YouTube videos become a visually stunning experience. The same is true for games like Dirt 5 and Rollerdrome, which can support 4K resolutions with a few graphic settings adjustments. The simple yet useful HP Display software is available to users who want to adjust their visual appearance. The inbuilt Bang & Olufsen speakers produce rich, clear audio that can be rather loud.
The HP Envy 16 laptop has a built-in software that allows you to modify the audio settings for input and output devices, including EQ settings and noise cancellation. Additionally, the laptop has a touchpad that moves a little bit forward and backward. The first thing you’ll need to do is use the keyboard layout to continue to be best in class. Unfortunately, HP eliminated the fingerprint reader, leaving only webcam, pin, and password as secure login choices.
HP Envy 16 review: Audio
HP has increased the number of speakers on the Envy 16 from 2 to 4, placing two tweeters on either side of the keyboard and two woofers on the front bottom. The speakers are tuned by Bang & Olufsen to produce rich sound quality with deep bass, and the system sounds fantastic as a whole. The included Bang & Olufsen Audio Control software is quite poor and doesn’t even have an automated mode, and there isn’t any Dolby Atmos spatial sound. Therefore, you must manually select from a menu of speech, movie, and music presets, or play about with a manual EQ. There are no options that are gaming-focused. ..
The HP EliteBook x360 1020 G5’s 5MP webcam features AI-based bright and low-light settings, auto-framing, noise reduction, and dual-array microphones with noise reduction. The microphone and webcam are both located in the top middle of the display bezel, and in the optimum setup, both may be switched on and off using separate function buttons on the keyboard. A semi-funny Enhanced Lighting programme from HP is also included; it adds a software-based light ring effect. ..
Graphics
The GeForce RTX 3060-equipped average laptop in our database performs in terms of graphics roughly 5% slower. Users are not likely to notice the shortfall because it is so slight. Users will receive more than twice as much raw graphics performance when switching from the less expensive Arc A370M option to the GeForce RTX 3060. As explained in our System Noise section, using Balanced mode instead of Performance mode reduces graphics performance by 6% for significantly quieter fans.
Performance
Our fully loaded HP Envy 16 test machine has a 2TB SSD, 32GB of RAM, RTX 3060 graphics, and an Intel Core i9-12900H processor. The Core i9-12900H is a 45-watt mobile processor from Intel’s Alder Lake H family. It has 20 working threads overall, six performance cores, eight efficiency cores, and Intel’s unique hybrid architecture combining performance and efficiency cores. We gathered a variety of additional laptops for content creation as well as gaming laptops with midrange RTX GPUs, ranging from the Asus VivoBook Pro 15 and MSI Katana GF76 with RTX 3050 Ti graphics to the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro with RTX 3070 graphics.
Acer’s new Envy 16 laptop is one of the most powerful laptops on the market. It has a powerful RTX 3060 GPU and a Core i9-8950HK CPU, making it one of the most powerful laptops on the market. The Envy 16 was able to score over 7,000 in PCMark 10, which is very competitive with other laptops that have a Core i7-12700H CPU. ..
Our HandBrake benchmark uses the free video encoding tool HandBrake to transcode a 30GB MKV file into an Android tablet-friendly format in order to evaluate a laptop’s capacity to withstand crushing CPU loads over an extended period of time. The Envy 16 placed in the top half of the chart but lagged far behind the other Core i9-based laptops, the Core i7-based Lenovo Legion 5 Pro, and the Ryzen 7 6800H-powered Acer Nitro 5. The next test is Cinebench, which also uses a lot of CPU power but renders a complicated 2D scene quickly. The Envy 16 also finished near the top of our Cinebench list.
Battery life
The HP Envy 16 is a great laptop for people who want a lightweight and portable device that has performance specifications that are above average. However, the battery life is not as good as it could be and it can last for around 8 hours with a medium loudness and screen brightness.
HP offers its Command Center app in addition to Windows 11 options to help optimize battery life. For bicoastal flights, the Envy 16 should be suitable. Charging takes a little under two hours and has a several ways of charging. The two USB-C connectors can also be utilized to charge the Envy 16 in addition to the charging port. Additionally, you will check our article on HP Envy 16 review.
HP Envy 16 review: Heat
The ThinkBook 16 G4’s surface temperatures are extremely warm even when there are no open apps, and the hot spots can reach 33 C on both the top and bottom. These same locations can reach over 45 C when operating at high loads. Although the bottom can be irritating for the skin, the palm rests continue to be fairly cool. ..
Configuration options
HP offers the Envy 16 laptop at a number of merchants. Depending where you browse, certain configurations might not be in stock. On HP.com, the entry-level HP Envy 16 starts at $1,400. With that, you’ll get a standard 16-inch UHD+ display with 120Hz refresh rate, a 12th Generation Intel Core i5 H-series processor, Intel A370M Arc graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD.
The HP model they gave me is normally $1,809, but right now it’s only $1,700. That contains a 12th generation Intel Core i7-12700-H processor, 16GB of RAM, Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics, and a 1 TB SSD. In our case, the display has been upgraded to an OLED with a resolution of 3840 x 2400. You can upgrade this computer’s specifications to include a Core i9-12900H processor, Nvidia RTX 3060 graphics, 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD, and a WQXGA 120Hz panel if you really want a lot of power. You’ll need to budget $2,600 or $2,380 if it’s on sale for that.
Conclusion
The Dell XPS 15 OLED is a great laptop for people who want a powerful laptop with a great screen. It has received excellent reviews, is almost a pound lighter, and has a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU that is slightly slower than the Envy 16’s. However, it has a lower quality screen, shorter battery life, and a subpar 720p webcam. ..
The HP Inspiron 16 is a great deal with a 2.5K, 120Hz display. It’s less expensive than Dell’s Inspiron 16 Plus and Lenovo’s Yoga 7i 16, but it has an OLED option.
