The Specs -
CPU - AMD Ryzen Ai 9 365 Processor (50 TOPs of NPU)
Graphics - AMD Radeon 890M
RAM - 32GB LPDDR5X running at 7500 MHz
Display - 14” 2.2K (2240 x1400) ips display with a 16:10, 300 nits peak brightness, 60hz panel
Storage - 1TB M.2 NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD
Network Communications - WiFi 7(802.11be) (2x2) + Bluetooth 5.4
Battery - 68WHrs, 4-cell Li-ion
Ports -
Right Side - 2 USB-C (40gbs) ports
Left Side - 3.5mm headphone jack, USB-A (10gbs)
The ports are sufficient but it would have been nice to have USB-C ports on both sides for versatility and I think HP should have included an HDMI port or SD card slot.
Weight and Power brick -
The unit comes in at approximately 3.4lbs (3.366lbs) and once you add the power brick, total weight is approximately 4lbs (4.002lbs). The power brick itself looks and feels like quality materials were used and gives you approximately 9ft 5in of distance from a power source. The cords are awesome and are perfect in my book. Feels nice, easily moveable, flexible and has a nice soft texture to it.
Unboxing Experience -
The HP box looked great and opening it was straightforward and efficient. The presentation of the laptop inside its box, the unwrapping, and the initial unveiling retained the natural excitement of receiving a new laptop and wanting to use it. The unit itself was light and felt well built. The unit did not have a slippery feel to it and had a more slightly textured aspect to the finish. Opening the laptop was a little stiff and would not fulfill a windows user's dream of one handed opening.
First impressions -
I like the laptop and think the size is perfect. Picking it up feels good and the laptop doesn’t really have any flex on the unit (screen, body, keyboard) and as its light, it's easy to grab with one hand to move to another location confidently.
The keyboard and trackpad are great. The keys, to me, are a perfect blend between mushy and clicky and the layout is very comfortable. The letter print on the keys are big and look great. The trackpad is responsive and the clicking aspect is good. Overall, I’d label it above average and a great experience.
System responsiveness is excellent. There are no complaints as the laptop is smooth. During everyday tasks such as opening and using office documents, surfing zillow for dream homes, checking in on facebook, and opening a ton of tabs in a web browser for comparison shopping, the laptop is a pleasure to use. Fans stay silent but the system can get slightly warm. During normal use with this laptop, you definitely can use it in any setting (counter, desk, on lap, on lap with pillow) without worrying too much about ventilation or excessive heat.
Fans and heat can be a little loud if you do use the laptop for anything such as gaming or more intensive productivity tasks. The fans can be noticeable but not in an embarrassing way. Macbook users may raise an eyebrow at you in a library. Heat wise, you are looking at approximately 86F around the middle of the keyboard (T, Y, G, H, keys) while doing most tasks with approximately 31 decibels. In games or more taxing productivity tasks, those temps will hit around 101F or more with fans hitting around 36 decibels. The heat becomes a little noticeable on the keyboard after 5-10 minutes of intensive tasks. On the bottom of the unit, I registered 107F as a high which was around the center where the vent holes were. I ran CPU-Z stress test, and played Kingdom and Castles (a sim like game) and fan noise maxed out at around 46 decimals with temps registering the same high as before.
The screen situation is its biggest let down. Why HP decided to release this awesome laptop but then intentionally cripple it with a poor display panel (2.2K at 300 nits) that has a 60Hz refresh rate is beyond me. Having one of choices would be okay but all three (lower resolution, low brightness, low refresh rate) I think is a tragedy. One might overlook this display issue but at this price point ($1500) the word dull or drab I think is appropriate when comparing what other manufactures offer. On a positive note, the screen is a touch screen
The web camera quality is pretty good for a windows laptop I’d say. The image looked “enhanced” and you would still want to pay attention to angels and the light in the room in order to look your best. The audio quality is, I think, sufficient. In comparison mode you might think the sound being produced isn’t as good as it could be but it certainly isn't bad.
There wasn't any battery drain during sleep mode when I tested it. There were a few times in which I’d close the lid overnight and come back in the morning and it was at the same percentage as I had left it at. HP did a fantastic job I think in that regard.
For a battery test I ran basemark web 3.0 (full screen brightness, using the balanced plan and not altering any other system settings) to get a feel about how long this machine could last in more demanding situations. I got 4hrs. 27min. This obviously is a much more draining task than just doing light web browsing, listening to music and some productivity tasks. I was pretty surprised by the result and have no doubt that this laptop would easily make it all day with normal workloads. Also something I think is worth mentioning is that fact that the fans never kicked on during the test.
I found the HP software a little bit on the bloated side. I counted at least 8 different HP branded software apps that perform some sort of functions and enhancements. It does offer an OMEN hub which I didn't care for but does offer some info on your system. Definitely not as good as something that Asus offers.
In conclusion -
This laptop is great and I really want to love it. I found myself liking it the more I used it. It has a perfect size, great keyboard and the power it has is fantastic. I was amazed that under load, the fans were not louder. I do find it really hard to shake the display choice HP went with. For a laptop, the screen in my book is very important and HP didn't seem to care about it. At $1499, I think there are some shortcomings when you compare this to other products. To name a few, you don't get great port selections, the power cord can only plug in on one side, the keyboard gets a bit warm during normal use and almost hot during intensive tasks and I am disappointed, mainly on principle, that HP didn’t offer a better screen for this laptop. Other than that, it is a great laptop in so many areas.