The top 7 HP devices we’ve tested

The HP Envy 16 is one the best HP laptops we’ve reviewed in recent years. Our tests showed it to offer speedy performance for content creators, making it a suitable alternative to the MacBook Pro for those on a budget.

The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i7-12700H and Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, and so can breeze through tasks such as video editing and casual gaming, seeing superior scores than even the Dell XPS 15.

Battery life is excellent too, lasting 8 hours and 42 minutes despite packing a power-hungry graphics chip. The wide connectivity options are great too, as is the webcam quality which is handy if you frequent video calls.

The 16-inch screen has a pleasingly high resolution at 2560 x 1600, resulting in sharp imagery. But the mediocre colour coverage can’t quite match the MacBook, making the latter the better option for those dealing with colour-sensitive work. But it’s important to remember that the HP Envy 16 is significantly cheaper than the MacBook Pro, and so is still worth considering if you’re on a tight budget.

Reviewer: Mike Jennings
Full review: HP Envy 16 (2022) Review

The HP Pavilion SE 14 rather came out of nowhere to become one of the very best budget laptops around. Some of its looks is reminscent of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3 but offering competitive power at a lower price, though it does give up some ground on quality of the display.

Above all else, the Pavilion SE 14 is astounding value for money. For less than £500, HP provides a 13th generation Intel Core i5 chip alongside 8GB RAM. It’s a potent combination for such a reasonably priced machine, offering up a ton of headroom for plenty of productivity work and multitasking. You’ll be able go tab-wild with this machine in a browser.

A cheaper laptop with a good amount of power? You may be concerned how the thermals are handled here, well we never noticed the fans get overly loud and it didn’t get uncomfortably warm either.

The HP Pavilion SE 14 is impressively portable, largely down to its plastic design. Of course, this means it doesn’t feel at all luxurious, but it measures an impressive 1.4kg and 17.9mm. The keyboard quality hasn’t been deprioritised either, making for a solid all-round performer.

Reviewer: Alun Taylor
Full Review: HP Pavilion SE 14 review

The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook (2023) is a fantastic alternative for those who aren’t too fussed about the Windows compatibility found on the Dragonfly Pro (2023). Not only is it substantially cheaper – by around £400 – but it comes with the same swish and mature design that you’ll be very proud to whip out of your laptop bag. 

The keyboard comes with RGB backlighting which gives it a little more personality, even if it isn’t inherently geared towards gaming – cloud or otherwise. The keyboard is lined with a pair of Bang & Olufsen speakers which we felt offered a good separation of audio channels. The sound was detailed with a certain amount of nuance and plenty of discernible bass when not turned up to the maximum volume.  

Another feather in the cap of the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is that it is Intel Evo certified. This means that it has undergone a number of tests concerning battery, performance and load-up times, making it easier for consumers to spot capable laptops without needing to run through all the specs themselves. We thought the performance was top-notch, aided by the 12th-gen Intel Core i5 processor. Unless you’re engaging in some serious multitasking then it offers more than enough power, especially for a Chromebook. 

In the same vein as its Windows counterpart, it comes with a fantastic 14-inch display. It actually beats out its sibling by having a 1200 nits screen, which is quoted as being the brightest display ever found on a Chromebook. The Quad HD+ resolution (2560×1600) meant that we could watch HD content without any hiccups, with the added benefit of being able to engage in photo editing. 

If you’re looking for a ChromeOS-based device but don’t want to skimp out on power, the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is by far your best option. If you want to look at some other options then make sure to check out our best Chromebook roundup, but all-in-all, this laptop offers up an immense amount of power and a screen that’s large enough to work on and bright enough for watching TV. 

Reviewer: Chris Smith
Full Review: HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook (2023)

The HP Dragonfly Pro (2023) is the ultimate MacBook contender and a very compelling option for Windows enthusiasts who are looking for a productivity champion in or out of the office. This laptop has a sleek and mature design, although its 1.55kg weight does make it a little cumbersome to take out on the go. It comes with a full-sized keyboard which we found to be responsive, with a reassuring spring and deep enough travel for those split-second corrections. 

The display sits at 14-inches and comes with touchscreen support. Despite its fondness for picking up fingerprints, the touchscreen was capable and made scrolling through work documents and files a breeze. It also boasts a multitouch option, meaning you can swipe, zoom, tap and pinch to navigate the device with ease. 

In our tests, we found that the display is capable of hitting up to 400 nits and was more than capable of being used outside on sunny days. Thanks to the 60Hz refresh rate, we were even able to play some games via cloud streaming, with Forza Horizon 5 looking very crisp and vibrant. 

Our model came with an AMD Ryzen 7 7736U CPU. While this is based on the older Zen 3+ platform – meaning that it’s not next-generation – we found that it worked very well during day-to-day tasks. The integrated 12-core AMD Radeon 680M GPU also allowed for some graphical tasks to be achieved, like moderate photo editing and aforementioned cloud gaming. This gives the Dragonfly Pro a lot of versatility, allowing users to sit back and play triple-A games after a long day of work without needing to switch devices.

Overall, the HP Dragonfly Pro offers a compelling proposition that hits a ton of high notes for a productivity device. It’s the perfect alternative to a MacBook Air M2 or a Surface Pro 9, boasting a fantastic touchscreen and enough power for both work and play.

Reviewer: Chris Smith
Full Review: HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

The HP Chromebook x2 11 runs with the formula of a device from a rival company and surpasses it in every way. The laptop hybrid it outshines is the excellent Lenovo Chromebook Duet. Both are top budget picks but the HP is the cream of the crop.

The design is a huge part of what makes this Chromebook x2 11 so good. Despite its low price, the tablet portion of this machine feels of high-end quality, being comprised of sandblasted aluminium. The keyboard and rear cover don’t feel quite as fancy but perform admirably. The keys provide remarkably good travel and satisfying tactility for such a thin cover. The full design package of the HP Chromebook x2 11 is stunning compact, making it ideal for students or those wanting a device for basic tasking around the house.

The performance of the Chromebook x2 11 suits those needs too. Combined with ChromeOS, the Snapdragon 7c provides enough power for casual computing. You can watch movies and videos, as well as get work done in multiple Chrome tabs. This device never gets particularly warm or loud either, making it a refreshingly calm user experience. You’ll be using it for a full day with no stress too, lasting over 8 hours in our battery test.

As a media consumption device, the HP’s capabilities are backed up by a pleasingly detailed QHD display. It isn’t the biggest at 11-inches but it gets plenty bright and offers vibrant colour. Though, the audio is fairly basic.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full Review: HP Chromebook x2 11 review

If it’s a powerful HP gaming laptop you’re after, look no further than the HP Omen 16 (2021).

The AMD combo of a Ryzen 7 5800H processor and a Radeon RX 6600M GPU provided solid performance at the laptop’s native 1440p resolution and even speedier FPS rates at 1080p. There’s enough speed on offer for pretty much any mainstream game, but it’s worth noting the RX 6600M GPU inside lags behind its Nvidia counterpart, the RTX 3060, which is fitted to similarly priced laptops from Dell, for instance.

On the front of the processor, the Ryzen 7 5800H offered impressive performance in the benchmarks, and powered this HP Omen 16 (2021) with ease. In addition, 16GB RAM offered good speed, and the 512GB SSD is positively snappy.

The display is on the larger side for a laptop, offering a 16.1 inch screen, complete with a QHD (2560×1440) resolution, which is a boost compared to more conventional 15.6-inch 1080p options. We found colours to be accurate and the contrast to be superb with a colorimeter in hand.

Gaming laptops aren’t going to be the best for battery life, and sure enough, the Omen 16 (2021) lasted for just 94 minutes in our testing – that’s about average compared to other gaming laptops. In a work test though, it mustered up six and three quarter hours, which is excellent for such a powerful machine. You may need to reach for a lead though to get through the last knockings of a working day, but for the most part, it’s got decent endurance.

Reviewer: Mike Jennings
Full review: HP Omen 16 (2021) review

The HP Victus 16 (2021) should be a great option if it’s more of an affordable gaming laptop that you’re after.

The white model we had in for review looked excellent, with a different colour offering sitting it apart compared to more non-descript rivals from the likes of Lenovo and Dell. The all plastic frame does lead to some rattle however, and the build quality is perhaps a little middling. The port selection is okay, with a selection that involves USB-A and USB-C, as well as an SD card reader, Ethernet and HDMI out.

The Victus 16’s keyboard offers a snappy and quiet keypress, which is better than the softer, mushier keys we’ve tested on other laptops, although there isn’t any RGB lighting, and some of the keys are a little close together.

Its 16.1-inch display offers some extra width which is nice to have, and the Full HD resolution provides reasonable detail, although its sRGB colour coverage is poor. At least the 1714:1 contrast ratio means colours at least have some depth to them. The competition from the likes of Dell and Lenovo was also plagued with iffy displays, which is a case in point as to why spending more will get you more for gaming laptop displays especially.

The components inside offer some good mid-range options with a Ryzen 7 5800H processor from AMD and an RTX 3060 GPU from Nvidia. The pair offered good pace when testing games, with frame rates in AAA titles ranging from 60-80fps at 1080p. In addition, the processor on offer provided some excellent performance in our benchmarks, offering speedy results that means the Victus is capable of not only gaming but also other intense workloads such as editing photos and videos.

We found the battery life here to be decent for a gaming laptop, with 90 minutes of charge while gaming, and 7 hours in our office work benchmark, which is impressive for such a powerful laptop.

Reviewer: Mike Jennings
Full review: HP Victus 16 (2021) review