This is the HP Envy 15 – a laptop with a 4K OLED display, RTX graphics card, less price than the competition, and a cool cooling system that we will especially focus on! But this sea of advantages and several pitfalls.
First, let’s go over the characteristics. The display is 15.6 inches, which runs in 4K resolution. But the most important thing is that there is an AMOLED matrix from Samsung, and a touchscreen display.
Inside is a 10th generation Intel Core i7 six-core processor (10750H, 2.6 GHz – 4.8 GHz). Responsible for the graphics is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 graphics card in the Max-Q design. 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. There is a slot for a second SSD, the RAM can also be expanded.
It should be said right away that this is the maximum configuration, but there are simpler versions: with an FHD IPS screen, a Core i5 processor and a GTX 1650 or 1660.
Complete set:
- Display – IPS, 1920 × 1080, AMOLED, 3840 × 2160
- CPU – Intel Core i5 10300H, Intel Core i7 10750H
- GPU – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti MAX-Q, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q
The laptop is compact (357.9 x 236.8 x 18.4 mm), but not light (2.14 kg). This is due to the metal case and the large battery 83 Wh
What about the ports? Check out: two USB-A, two Thunderbolt 3, HDMI and a Micro SD slot. True, for some reason you cannot charge the laptop via USB-C. But in general, everything is ok too!
But probably everyone is asking for an exorbitant cost for this? Still, OLED display, RTX, compact body and so on.
Yes, it is not cheap. In Moscow, the maximum grade now costs from 140 thousand dollars. But all the competitors of this laptop with much weaker graphics, and most often without an OLED display, are much more expensive: from 180 thousand to infinity. Those. everyone who needs such power in a compact case will not find anything cheaper.
But there must be some catch? Let’s just say there are 3 drawbacks, and where you least expect them. And we’ll start with the display …
Display
When you open a laptop with an OLED display for the first time, it’s kind of a special WOW. All familiar interfaces and applications look so much cooler and juicier!
The OLED screen is fantastic here. 400 nits brightness, true deep blacks, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and factory calibrated. Plus, with a diagonal of 15 inches, 4K resolution makes the picture very clear.
This display is a godsend for anyone editing video. Because today we watch videos mainly from smartphones with AMOLED displays. And we make vidos mainly on IPS monitors. But what often happens is that what looks good on IPS just looks awful on OLED. This laptop solves the problem of smartphone mastering.
Plus, the display supports HDR video, which is generally a killer feature for a content maker. And especially for viewing!
But, I promised flaws. And I have one. The matrix from Samsung, which is now installed in all laptops with OLED, has one ailment – the uneven gray color or the MURA effect.
In short, on white or gray, if you look closely, you can replace the fine grain, as if the color has a paper texture. It is not very noticeable, and after 10 minutes you get used to it. But, it is worth considering this when buying.
Just like all AMOLEDs – PWMIT display. But there is good news, it starts to do this only at brightness less than 50%.
Overall, I would give the display a 9 out of 10! HDR-enabled movies and games look really cool on it. I directly recommend.
Keyboard
The next controversial point is the keyboard. There are a couple of problems here.
First, due to the fact that the keys are gray and the letters are also gray, readability suffers. It also uses inexpensive plastic.
Secondly, the display off button is located rather strangely, right in front of the DELETE key. This arrangement will take some getting used to.
And also there is no right Ctrl on the keyboard. Instead, there is a fingerprint scanner for authorization in Windows. There is nothing criminal here, just take this into account.
The rest of the keyboard is pleasant enough. It also has an excellent touchpad with Windows Precision drivers, no complaints.
Sound and camera
I was also pleased that there is a mechanical webcam shutter, which is closed with a separate button.
The quality of the camera and microphones is typical for laptops.
The speakers in the laptop are generally excellent. Not a MacBook, of course, but Windows are definitely some of the best.
Battery
Well, the most obvious drawback. With a sufficiently capacious battery (83 mAh), the laptop does not last very long. It will last about 6 hours of surfing the net. And this is less than that of competitors. Maybe it’s not the final drivers that are to blame and this will be fixed with updates, or maybe the OLED display is very gluttonous. Unclear. I hope the autonomy will eventually grow, because it is obvious that the laptop is capable of more. Moreover, in other aspects, the laptop just shines.
Cooling
And now I’m talking about cooling. One would assume that such a compact and powerful laptop would get very hot under load, but this does not happen.
In standard operating mode, the CPU does not heat up above 61 degrees Celsius, in performance mode, the temperature does not rise above 85 degrees Celsius, and the GPU does not heat up above 71 degrees. And this is an amazing result.
But where does this magic come from?
The fact is that the laptop is not cooled here due to heat pipes, which we are used to seeing in most laptops. A much more expensive and efficient system based on an evaporation chamber stands here.
Evaporation chambers solve this problem. It is like one large flattened heat pipe in which fluid circulates over all surfaces and heat is removed over the entire surface. Therefore, the phase transition occurs much faster.
In addition, the pressure in the evaporation chamber is specially reduced so that the liquid begins to boil much earlier. For example, water begins to boil at a temperature of 50 degrees.
As a result, the evaporation chamber allows to reduce the area of the radiator in comparison with heat pipes, while maintaining the same efficiency.
The presence of such a cooling system in the laptop made it possible to squeeze the maximum performance out of it. The laptop clicks 4K projects in Adobe Premiere Pro and doesn’t even get hot.
Surprisingly, HP has made the perfect gaming laptop for those who don’t fit the design of conventional gaming laptops and need a high-resolution display with a wide color space.
First of all, I started CS: GO as usual and rejoiced: in Full HD the laptop runs at a frequency of about 200 frames per second, and in quiet moments I saw a result of 400 FPS. At the same time, Cyberpunk 2077 for some reason did not boot, apparently you need to wait for some kind of update. I also played DOOM: Eternal which is stable at 30 FPS.
Conclusion
Among the main advantages of the model: a stunning HDR AMOLED display, cool design, materials and workmanship, a powerful graphics card and efficient cooling. And, of course, the price, which is significantly lower than competitors.
Cons: display graininess. average autonomy, a keyboard with some flaws, and there is no USB Type-C charging, which is strange. In some cases, you need to wait for driver and software updates.
All in all, HP has got a cool laptop for editing, 3D rendering, and, oddly enough, gaming. Take a closer look at this model; in principle, it has no competitors in its price segment.
Pros HP Envy 15 (2020):
- Bright UDH AMOLED display
- Premium materials and build
- RTX 2060
- Efficient cooling system
- Upgradeable RAM + SSD
- Many ports
- Mechanical camera shutter
- Competitive price
Cons of HP Envy 15 (2020):
- Display grain
- Average autonomy
- Ergonomics of the keyboard
- No USB-C charging.