HP's Envy lineup got a spring cleaning today with updates to four of the popular laptops with Intel 12th Gen and AMD Ryzen processors along with some intriguing new audio and video enhancements for video conferencing or chats.
The Envy x360 13 and 15 are the versatile 2-in-1 members of the Envy family, the former still holds a spot atop both our best college laptops and best 2-in-1 laptops, so needless to say we are extremely interested to find out if the next generation can live up to their predecessors.
The more traditional clamshell Envy 16 and Envy 17 on the other hand are looking to correct some of our complaints from the previous generation with new processors that should dramatically improve the performance and battery life that we found lacking.
All four laptops are available today, alongside the new HP Spectre lineup, so here's a closer look at the latest additions to the HP Envy family.
HP Envy x360 13 (2022)
The HP Envy x360 13 has to be the headliner of this show as HP's claim of up to 20.5 hours of battery life is certain to elicit its titular sin in some other laptops. That's the handiwork of the Intel Evo platform, which we've seen work some battery life miracles before, but we'll leave it to the capable hands of our Laptop Mag Battery Test to reveal how close HP is to delivering on that promise.
The majority of the updates to the Envy x360 13 are happening on the inside, which is just fine with us, the last two models have stuck to a nearly identical design and it's still the most premium looking laptop that starts for under $900. At 11.8 x 8.5 x 0.63-inches and 3.04 pounds (2.95 pounds for the OLED model) the new x360 13 has a slightly larger footprint than its predecessor (12.1 x 7.7 x 0.7-inches) and is negligibly heavier (2.9 pounds).
The biggest hardware updates include the Intel 12th Gen CPU, with either a core i7-1250U or core i5-1230U, the addition of a 2.8K touchscreen OLED display option and a vastly superior HP True Vision 5MP IR camera.
That last bit is particularly welcome news as the 720p webcam without IR was one of the few pain points of the previous model. HP made improvements on the camera software front too with HP GlamCam delivering Auto Frame to keep you centered and Enhanced Lighting to help adjust to the ambient lighting in your setup.
The 2.8K OLED touchscreen is a welcome change from last year's 4K option as that resolution is an unnecessary battery drain on a laptop this size and even the base display got a nice bump up from 1080p to 1920 x 1200 with a 2560 x 1600 option in the middle.
The port selection remains strong with 2 Thunderbolt 4 USB4 Type-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, a microSD card reader and a 3.5mm headphone/mic combo jack.
If you have the HP Envy x360 13 from last year you shouldn't lose too much sleep over this update, but if you are in the market now, the new model is available today at HP.com or BestBuy.com for that same fantastic $899 starting price.
HP Envy x360 15 (2022)
Beyond its larger 15.6-inch display the Envy x360 15 gets a bit of a power boost compared to its popular sibling. This includes a number of additional Intel 12th Gen CPU options, but most notably the top end Core i7-1260P, the new series between the power saving U and power flexing H series. AMD fans will appreciate the AMD Ryzen 7 5825U or 5625U options.
While it may not be a graphics powerhouse, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 in the Envy x360 15 will also let it do some casual gaming and speed up some content creation tasks.
Other specs match up with its sibling with a maximum of 16GB of RAM and 1TB of storage, if you need more you'll have to pay up for the Spectre lineup.
Interestingly the larger 15.6-inch model has lower resolution options with either an IPS or OLED 1920 x 1080 panel or a QHD (2560 x 1400) IPS display. Happily it does get the same HP True Vision 5MP IR camera with all of the same software enhancements.
At 14.13 x 9 x 0.73 and 3.99 pounds (3.75 pounds OLED) the x360 15 isn't as portable as its sibling, but for a 15.6-inch convertible it holds up pretty well.
One benefit of that added size is a few more ports. It matches the two Thunderbolt 4 with USB 4 Type-C, two USB Type-A and headphone/mic combo jack of its smaller sibling, but adds a full-size SD card reader and an HDMI 2.1 port.
The HP Envy x360 15 is available starting today starting at $849 for the AMD model at HP.com or BestBuy.com and $899 for the Intel-powered variant at HP.com or BestBuy.com.
HP Envy 16 (2022)
Despite not being the largest member of the Envy lineup, the HP Envy 16 is the most powerful with up to an Intel Core i9-12900H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU and 32GB of RAM. It's also one of the first laptops to offer Intel's new discrete Arc GPU. While it won't touch the best high-end gaming laptops, the Envy 16 should meet the needs of many gamers and content creators.
All of that power should have no problem pushing around the pixels on the base 120Hz WQXGA (2560 x 1600-pixel) IPS display, which is also available multitouch-enabled. If you want even more screen real estate you can pop for the top-of-the-line UHD+ (3840x2400) OLED multitouch panel, which drops to 60Hz, but boasts a solid 500 nits of brightness according to HP. The audio performance may be able to match that beautiful display with quad speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen and tweakable with HP Audio Boost.
Like its more flexible siblings the HP Envy 16 gets the new HP True Vision 5MP IR camera that should spruce up your video conferencing and as a bonus gives you hands-free sign on via Windows Hello.
That big display and all those powerful components keep the Envy 16 out of the thin and light category as it weighs in at 5.12 pounds for the Arc model and 5.27 pounds for the RTX 3060 variant. The two models feature the same 14.1 x 9.9 inch length and width, but the RTX 3060 is slightly thicker at 0.78 inches to 0.75 inches for the Arc model.
Port selection is good with two Thunderbolt 4 with USB 4 Type-C, two USB Type-A, a full size SD card reader, HDMI 2.1 and a headphone/mic combo jack.
The HP Envy 16 is available today at HP.com starting at $1,399.
HP Envy 17 (2022)
Last up is the biggest of the new Envy models, the Envy 17. From a performance standpoint it is nearly identical to the HP Envy x360 15 with up to an Intel 12th Gen Core i7-1260p CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 GPU, but it does get a 32GB RAM option.
That big 17.3-inch display starts at a somewhat disappointing 1080p IPS panel with 300 nits of brightness, but you can splurge for a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160-pixel) panel that bumps up to 400 nits of brightness. You don't get that big display without a big laptop to go with it, so the 5.5 pound weight and 15.7 x 10.2 x 0.77-inch frame won't come as a surprise.
Port selection mirrors most of its siblings with two Thunderbolt 4 with USB 4 Type-C, two USB Type-A, a full size SD card reader, HDMI 2.1 and a headphone/mic combo jack.
The HP Envy 17 is available today starting at $1,099 at HP.com and BestBuy.com.
