In addition to all of that, we also can’t forget about the incredible 16-inch OLED touch display with a resolution of 3840 x 2400. You wouldn’t know it from looking at the new Envy 16, which is HP’s second-best consumer model formally, falling between more inexpensive Pavilions and premium Spectres. A desktop replacement that can be used for both gaming and creating video is offered with a powerful Intel Core i9 processor, a stylish OLED display, and extras like a 5-megapixel webcam. Although it isn’t particularly cheap or light, and its midrange Nvidia graphics engine won’t satisfy serious gamers, 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. also you will learn our article on HP Envy 16 review.
HP Envy 16 review: Design
Just a little smaller, the HP Envy 16-inch resembles the HP Envy 17-inch in appearance. It has a clean, appealing design and only comes in the colour Natural Silver. Although I would have liked to see more colour possibilities, similar to the Acer Spin 5, the 88.7% screen-to-body ratio and sleek design give it a professional appearance, if not quite a unique one. Although we didn’t spend much typing on the Envy 16, from my little experience with it, the keyboard felt solid and long-lasting. But at 2.3kg, the laptop is fairly heavy and might be a little cumbersome to use as a portable computer. Anyone who is now working a hybrid schedule will find this news to be a little depressing. A good 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
When compared to the 2020 Envy 15, HP hasn’t altered the keyboard’s feedback or feel. While Envy keyboard users won’t experience any issues, we would have loved a typing experience more akin to the heavier and more pleasant keys of a Spectre 15 or EliteBook model. There are two small yet noticeable external alterations. 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 click pad is bigger than the one on the previous Envy 15 model (12.5 x 8 cm vs. 11.5 x 7.5 cm). The surface is nearly texture less, 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. The click pad would have been simpler to operate if there had been a stronger, more gratifying click.
Display
The 16-inch 16:10 4K OLED touch display, as previously said, might be one of the best screens this year. It is breathtaking to look at. While the brightness is a little on the dim side, the colour accuracy and depth are almost flawless, and the blacks are quite deep. It is undoubtedly something fans of the Adobe Suite should value given that it can handle the entire Adobe colour range. The HDR capabilities are also well used. This means that watching Netflix or 4K YouTube videos become a visually luscious 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. Additionally, a built-in software allows you to modify the audio settings for input and output devices, including EQ settings and noise cancellation. On the HP Envy 16, laptop input moves a little bit forward and backward. First of all, using it is just as easy as using its predecessor, both for pressing buttons and gliding fingertips across the touchpad. With a few tweaks like an emoji key, the keyboard layout continues 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 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. With a 5 MP webcam that features AI-based bright and low-light settings, auto-framing, noise reduction, and dual-array microphones with noise reduction, the hybrid work experience is amazing. (You can also turn on noise cancellation for the speakers.) The microphones 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. you can read our article on HP Envy 16 review.
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. Other systems with the same RTX 3060 GPU as the Envy 16 sit between these two bookends. Our first test is PCMark 10, which evaluates how well a computer performs in common computing tasks like online browsing, video chatting, and office productivity tasks. All of these laptops are more than capable of running standard office software. Although we would have predicted that the Envy 16 and the other Core i9-based laptop in the Acer Predator Triton would have placed first and second, respectively, and not behind the trio of laptops powered by the Core i7-12700H CPU, the Envy 16 was extremely competitive with this very competitive group, scoring over 7,000. 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. The Envy 16 is well suited for tasks including image processing and other media creation with a result north of 2,000.
Battery life
A lot of power flows through the HP Envy 16 when you take into account the svelte and portable body in addition to the performance specifications. The battery life is therefore not optimal. The Envy 16 can last for around 8 hours under typical use with a medium loudness and screen brightness. We were able to use the laptop for six and a half hours via our video loop test, while the PC Mark 10 Battery test gave us eight hours and twenty minutes. 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. also you will check our article on HP Envy 16 review.
HP Envy 16 review: Heat
Even when a desktop is idle and there are no open apps, the surface temperatures are still extremely warm. Hot spots can reach 33 C in these circumstances on both the top and bottom, as opposed to only 26 C on the ThinkBook 16 G4. 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 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. On the HP website, it is frequently discounted to $1,180. 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, as we said at the beginning of the article. 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
Despite having a screen that is 0.4 inches smaller than the Envy 16’s, the Dell XPS 15 OLED has received excellent reviews, including our own. It is also almost a pound lighter. But it also has a GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU that is somewhat slower, a screen that is marginally lower in quality, a shorter battery life, and a subpar 720p webcam. With the HDMI and USB-A connectors that the Dell is missing, the HP is $400 less expensive, and its base model is a great deal with a nice 2.5K, 120Hz display. (Dell’s Inspiron 16 Plus and Lenovo’s Yoga 7i 16 are respectable rivals, but none has an OLED option.)
