HP Envy 13 – An Above Average Notebook that Offers Great Value for Money!
The HP Envy 13 is here to make your choices tougher. This model is one of the rarest all-round notebooks that may not be as powerful as the Dell XPS 13 and Apple MacBook but the 13-inch system does offer tremendous features and pixels for the money.
HP’s multimedia-oriented Envy series has grown reliable over the years but one could not bank on them for excellent overall scores. With a configuration of Intel Core i5-6200U, powered by a 4 GB RAM and featuring a QHD-IPS panel, the starter Envy 13 model is priced reasonably and is inexpensive compared to rivals.
Features to Boot, Performance to Experience
The HP Envy 13 is a slim, lightweight notebook backed with a comfortable keyboard and good enough speakers that also sports a fingerprint sensor that gets the user right into Windows in a trice. The laptop does not have a pretty good battery and it has a tendency to give up on performance during charging. But it does have specifications that make it a pretty good notebook.
In recent times, especially with respect to Windows laptops, quality has become affordable. The top companies like Dell, HP and Asus have now offered great laptops with strong aluminium and carbon fiber construction with a pricing of less than $1,000.
The HP Envy 13 enters the competition now and with a competitive pricing, it is at loggerheads with the best notebooks in the business. It has a no-compromise configuration as part of its hardware with a 2.3GHz Intel Core i5 processor, a terrific 8GB of memory, a magnificent 128GB of solid-state storage and a marvellous 1080p screen. It’s one of the thinnest notebooks in the market and as per analysts might or might not pose threat to the big competition.
The Demarcating Attributes that Stand Out and Anomalies that Stick Out
There’s a lot to love in the new HP Envy 13, especially the sensitive fingerprint sensor that provides hassle-free entry into Windows and one can assure you here that it is smart and responsive too.
It is great for typing too. One can rely on the well-spaced backlit keyboard that makes writing a breeze while the glass touchpad is intuitive without being overpowering. The extra-wide mouse surface makes some impediments as the thumb does touch the pad inadvertently, Two-finger scrolling is jerky sometimes but not many problems in this case.
The sound on HP Envy 13 come from the incredible Bang & Olufsen-branded speakers that are brilliant and detailed in their sound output. With a sonic field for projection, these speakers can make distinct sounds that reverberate like no other.
Design and Accessibility of HP Envy 13
Though the Envy’s design is reminiscent of an Apple laptop, the differences are many. The dark black bezel part of the laptop highlights the screen, and a matte finish never produces distracting reflections. Also the laptop lifts up to a fantastic typing angle all the time.
- The performance is at par of laptops featuring 15-watt Core i5 processors and is fast enough for reasonable tasks although the loophole comes in when the notebook is being charged.
- The system gets slower than ever abruptly and performance issues crop up drastically. This is a major downside of the system.
- The laptop this thin yet can adjust a full-sized HDMI port in it along with SD card reader that can accommodate good memory cards.
- It also features 3 USB 3.0 ports and 3.5mm headset jack although the drives are a bit tight to eject.
The Envy 13 is surely a quality laptop that is priced at $800. But with several worthy competitors at that price range and slightly above, one might opt for something better than the Spectre or even the overhauled Macbook due for launch next month.
Dhruvil is a Writer & Marketeer for Nimblechapps, joined in December 2014, based out of Sydney, Australia. He has worked briefly as a Branding and Digital Marketing Manager before moving to Australia. At Nimblechapps, he worked on Social Media Marketing, Branding, Email Marketing and Blogging. Dhruvil studies Business at University of Western Sydney, and also handles Operations for the company in Australia.