HP Envy 13 (2021) Review

Verdict

The HP Envy 13 ( 2021 ) is an low-cost laptop with high-end quality, packing Intel ’ s latest processors and a gratifyingly uncompromising aluminum design. It besides has the bonus feature of a discrete Nvidia GPU, giving it the edge over rivals when it comes to gaming and content creation .

Pros

• Affordable price compared to rivals
• Dedicated GPU provides decent gaming performance
• Fantastic aluminium build quality
• Comfortable keyboard for typing

Cons

• Plastic trackpad feels cheap
• Loud fans can be distracting
• Intel chip lags behind AMD and Apple alternatives

Availability

• united kingdom RRP : £899.99
• USA

  Reading: HP Envy 13 (2021) Review

  RRP : $ 899.99

• Europe RRP : €999.99

Key Features

• display : 13.3-inch 1920×1080 IPS

• central processing unit : Intel Core i5-1135G7

• aries : 8GB DDR4

• Graphics : Nvidia GeForce MX450

• storage : 512GB SSD

• Dimensions : 307 ten 195 x 16.9 millimeter

• slant : 1.3kg

Introduction

The HP Envy 13 is a laptop to consider if you want something that looks nice but doesn’t cost a terrifying amount.
It ’ s a little like the MacBook Air in this respect. not cheap, not top-end, and not a badly calculator to live with day-in, day-out. And as you might hope, the HP Envy 13 actually costs a lot less than a MacBook Air .
There ’ s only one major criticism. Like the last generation, the 2021 HP Envy 13 has a credit card touchpad alternatively of a glass one .
HP may have chosen to stick with fictile to keep an obvious built quality gap between the Envy and pricier Spectre series. Or, precisely as likely, to keep costs low .

Price and Availability

I ’ megabyte reviewing the 2021 version of the HP Envy 13. It has an Intel 11th CPU. If you see that processor generation when shopping, you know we ’ ra talking about the same laptop .
This is the £899/ $ 899/€999 HP Envy 13 with a Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM and the Nvidia MX450 GPU. The 512GB SSD tops off what is a good value package .
There ’ second besides a £1199/ $ 1199/€1499 Envy 13 with a Core i7 CPU, 1TB storage and 16GB RAM. While that ’ s a well-priced upgrade, the theme of paying £1200 for a formative touchpad laptop doesn ’ metric ton sit down well .

Design

• Aluminium design feels premium and sturdy
• Weighs just 1.3kg, making it easy to carry around
• Keyboard is great, but trackpad is plastic

The Envy 13 is HP ’ s mid-range ultra-portable laptop. It doesn ’ t have a 360-degree hinge like the Envy x360, or quite the lapp design flashiness as the Spectre serial .
But if you ’ re after a portable bring car, I don ’ thymine think you ’ ll girl either. The HP Envy 13 still looks and feels bang-up .
All its body panels are silver aluminum, which makes it seem a set decent than some of the magnesium alloy laptops you might pay importantly more for. Magnesium trades away much of the metallic find of metallic element for lower weight unit, and I ’ megabyte not always convinced it ’ s a worthy trade for everyone .

The HP Envy 13 international relations and security network ’ t precisely heavy either. It weighs 1.3kg, and the manipulation of a widescreen display and small-ish scren borders keep its footprint little .
There ’ mho something about timbre all-aluminium laptops like the HP Envy 13 that remind you of their timbre each time you sit down to work at them. The more substantive build quality factors are all well. besides. Its filmdom is stiffly and the keyboard doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate bow under finger pressure .
If I didn ’ t recapitulation laptops for a living you could tell me this was HP ’ s top-end laptop design and I ’ d believe you. It ’ s not all that attention-getting, but this does not make it unattractive .
It has more connections than a MacBook excessively. You get two life-size USB ports, a microSD slot, earphone jack and one USB-C. This is not a Thunderbolt slot, it ’ s a more ordinary USB with 10Gbps bandwidth alternatively of 40Gbps. But it does offer DisplayPort 1.4 patronize, letting you use it to plug in a 4K 120Hz filmdom, or two 4K monitors at 60Hz .

The HP Envy 13 has, a far as I can tell, a keyboard and touchpad very exchangeable to the last Envy 13 model. Its keys are of a more hard supreme headquarters allied powers europe than most, but this is a reasonably traditional keyboard, all for the better .
There ’ s a beneficial total of cardinal locomotion, control resistor and a firm samara backplate, which makes the keyboard feel more fixed. typing is fast and the level of feedback to your fingers is dear .
This is the kind of keyboard I like to see in an ultra-portable laptop. You can type retentive essays on the HP Envy 13 comfortably, more indeed than on enough of much more expensive models .
The keyboard has a two-level white LED backlight for typing in dimmed rooms excessively, and one recessed ‘ cardinal ’ is actually a fingerprint scanner .

Its touchpad is less of a sure-fire hit. HP had to use a fairly short launching pad in the Envy 13 because the laptop ’ mho footprint is therefore small, and offers extra width as a sort of consolation .
The shape and size is fine for this kind of laptop, but the surface is credit card preferably than textured glass. While it is a hearty exercise of the plastic kind, it merely does not have the fluent, non-juddery feel slide of glass .
This may seem a little topic, but it ’ sulfur something that affects every interaction you have with the HP Envy 13, without a mouse plugged in anyhow. It ’ s the one thing I would change in this laptop .

The HP Envy 13 has two Bang & Olufsen branded speakers, and they are solid if not class-leading. You get a adequate stereo double and there ’ s some bulk in the lower mid rate to avoid excessively sparse a strait, but bass is inactive pretty inadequate .
These speakers aren ’ thyroxine powerful-sounding, but do at least have a small heat .

Screen

• The HP Envy 13 features a 1080p resolution
• Screen is bright enough for outdoor use
• Contrast is excellent, but colour accuracy isn’t perfect

You see the first signs the HP Envy 13 international relations and security network ’ t an ultra-expensive laptop in its shield. But even these demand a trained eye .
This is a 1080p 13.3-inch screen, distinctive for a sub-£1000 laptop. A 4K filmdom would look sharper, but the upgrade is arguably not worth it for most, given a higher resolution besides has a major effect on battery life. merely the MacBook Air finds a big comfortable middle-ground, with a 1600p solution
Colour is that mid-range “ order ” I was talking about. The HP Envy 13 has 100 % ( well, 99.8 % ) coverage of the sRGB discolor standard, but only hits a reasonble 79.3 % of DCI P3 and 74.7 % of Adobe RGB .
What does this mean ? It gives you a adept idea how dear the color accuracy is for a display. While sRGB is the traditional standard for laptops, the richer DCI P3 is fast becoming the standard for high-end phones, laptops and tablets. Its colours run deeper, for a richer, more punchy image .

You need to pay more for broad gamut color, though. The MacBook Air doesn ’ t have it either. And, personally, I ’ thousand entirely satisfied by the Envy 13 ’ s coloring material coverage. This is helped by very good ( for an IPS screen door ) contrast of 1675:1 .
Brightness is more than meet for outdoors use, with a bill of 423 nits. I wrote separate of this review sat in the park, legs folded with the HP Envy 13 resting on a backpack. Pins and needles were a trouble, but seeing what I was writing was not, despite the glossy surface .
A glossy finish is ineluctable here as the HP Envy has a glass-topped touch screen .

Performance

• Intel i5 chip does for job for basic productivity tasks
• Nvidia GPU allows for entry-level gaming performance

I have the mid-range adaptation of the HP Envy 13, and it offers the best balance of price and performance for most people. It has an 11th gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and a high capacity 512GB SSD .
The Intel Core i5 is clocked a little slower than the higher-end Core i7 chipset found in the Dell XPS 13, equally well as the Ryzen 7 CPU in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7. But for the kind of basic productivity jobs to which a reduce and light laptop is well-suited, it ’ s not going to make much difference .
HP Envy 13 (2021)Dell XPS 13 (2021)Lenovo Yoga Slim 7ProcessorIntel Core i5-1135G7Intel Core i7-1165G7Ryzen 7 4800UGeekbench 5 (single core)133415481142Geekbench 5 (muli core)427956876757PCMark 105143480251593DMark Time Spy190316571364
The HP Envy 13 puts the budget where the non-techy herd can appreciate it most distinctly, and that ’ s to be celebrated. first, this laptop has an Nvidia MX450 graphics chipset .
Let ’ s compare this to the Intel Xe graphics of the main processor, which is already army for the liberation of rwanda more potent than what you ’ five hundred get in most slender laptops from former generations. In 3DMark ’ second Time Spy test the Nvidia MX450 scores 66 % higher than the Intel Xe .
This is besides an indication of the kind of gaming performance you can expect. The Witcher 3 runs nicely at 1080p with Medium graphics settings. You can even use ‘ High ’ graphics if you can stomach some frame rate drops into the 20s .
We ’ rhenium looking at PS4-beating performance here, which seems impressive for a laptop not made specifically for gaming. performance is besides exchangeable to the ‘ classic ’ introduction level Nvidia GTX 1050 graphics card .

Under strain the HP Envy 13 ’ mho fans make a largely innocuous noise, a changeless “ fffft ” of publicize preferably than sounding as though the laptop is about to take off. It doesn ’ t take besides a lot for the fans to engage, though. A couple of browser active windows and a charge download can do it at times, but it does run silent when dealing with something very unhorse, like writing a document .
The HP Envy 13 international relations and security network ’ triiodothyronine excessively loud under heavy strain, but you may end up wishing the fans wouldn ’ thyroxine start-up thus easily. It does seem to run placid when on battery power, because the laptop ’ second processor is restricted to prolong load, which in turn reduces the sum of heat generated .
The SSD is a reasonably fast, if not up-to-date, with understand speeds of up to 1708MB/s and writes of 967MB/s. There are much faster SSD in read/write drag race tests like this, but it performs absolutely well in a daily context .

Battery

• Battery lasted for 12 hours in our benchmark tests
• AMD and Apple chips provide better battery efficiency

The HP Envy 13 has a 51Wh battery, like to the capacity of the Dell XPS 13 ( 52Wh ) .
HP claims 10-hour battery life, or 16 hours 45 minutes when streaming television. I found it lasts 12 hours 15 minutes when streaming video recording over YouTube, suggesting HP ’ s numbers refer to a much lower screen brightness than our 150cd/m standard .

silent, this shows the general 10-hour figure is accomplishable if you don ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate give the HP Envy 13 anything besides taxing to do. It ’ randomness what I ’ d regard normal stamina for a laptop like this. You ’ ll see better results from the Lenovo Yoga 7 Slim, which has a larger battery and an AMD Ryzen processor, or the MacBook Air .
MacBooks are presently unbeatable for battery biography under significant try, thanks to their ultra-efficient Apple M1 CPUs. The HP Envy 13 will last around three hours under heavy load, which is not flush close to a MacBook. still, I ’ five hundred be felicitous to use the HP Envy 13 as my everyday work personal computer .

Conclusion

The HP Envy 13 ( 2021 ) is a great respect laptop that features a ace build quality and competent performance, despite costing perceptibly less than the likes of the Dell XPS 13 and Apple MacBook .
It lacks some of the more expensive features found elsewhere, such as a glass trackpad, high-resolution display and a convertible design, but it covers all of the basics sol well that it ’ sulfur hard to complain .
As an add bonus, it packs a discrete Nvidia GPU that ’ s more mighty than the integrate graphics found with other ultrabooks. This means you can play the likes of Fortnite on your lunchbreak, albeit with scale back graphics settings .
The entirely major exit is that the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 can be purchased for a similar monetary value and boasts a better CPU performance and battery life sentence. Although HP inactive has the upper hand when it comes to the GPU grunt .

Best Offers

Should you buy it?

You should buy if you want some high-end style at under £1000 :
The review specification of this HP Envy 13 costs £899. That is not bum, but is calm less than what you would have to pay for a Dell XPS 13 or MacBook Air, by a meaning margin .
You shouldn’t buy if you want premium features:
The HP Envy 13 lacks a looking glass trackpad, has a basic screen resolution and can ’ t be folded up like a tablet. It covers the ultrabooks basics well, but don ’ t expect any illusion features .

Verdict

The HP Envy 13 ( 2021 ) is an low-cost laptop with high-end choice, packing Intel ’ s latest processors and a gratifyingly uncompromising aluminum design. It besides has the bonus have of a discrete Nvidia GPU, giving it the edge over rivals when it comes to gaming and content creation .
Trusted score

FAQs

Does the HP Envy 13 have a touchscreen? The HP Envy 13 has a standard capacitive touch screen, although is differently a reasonably conventional laptop invention. Is this a hybrid laptop? This laptop does not have a 360-degree hinge. Its hinge motion is actually pretty restrictive even by the standards of convention laptops. Check out the HP Envy x360 for the hybrid version. Does the HP Envy 13 support a stylus? The HP Envy 13 does not support one of HP ’ s active voice styluses. You can use a passive stylus, but it won ’ t have the imperativeness sensitivity you get with a dedicate stylus. The Envy x360 is better for digital artwork, as it supports a smart stylus. Can you use the HP Envy 13 outdoors? The HP Envy 13 has a fairly bright shield, handy for use outdoors, but the glossy screen surface means you will placid notice reflections. Can it play Fortnite? This laptop is actually one of the better slender and light models for gaming as it has Nvidia MX450 graphics. Fortnite runs fine, although you will need to play around with the graphics settings for best performance results.

Specifications

‹

UK RRP

USA RRP

EU RRP

CPU

Manufacturer

Screen Size

Storage Capacity

Front Camera

Battery

Size (Dimensions)

Weight

ASIN

Operating System

Model Number

Resolution

Refresh Rate

Ports

GPU

RAM

Connectivity

Colours

Display Technology

Screen Technology

Touch Screen

Convertible?

Bin capacity

Dell XPS 13 ( belated 2020 )
£1399
–
€1528.00
Intel Core i7-1065G7
Dell
13.4 millimeter
512GB
Widescreen HD ( 720p )
52 Whr
199 ten 296 adam 14.8 MM
1.2 KG
B08F9F6533
Windows 10 home
XPS 13 ( 9300 )
3840 x 2160
60 Hz
2x Thunderbolt 4, earphone jackfruit and MicroSD-card slot
Intel Iris Xe
12GB
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 and Bluetooth 5.1
platinum silver medal
liquid crystal display
–
Yes
No
litres
HP Envy 13 ( 2020 )
£850
–
–
tenth Generation Intel Core CPU
horsepower
13.3 Inches
512GB
HP Wide Vision 720p
51 Whr
195 x 307 ten 16.9 MM
1.3 KG
B0877LM5ZH
Windows 10 home
–
1920 ten 1080
60 Hz
USB-C, microSD circuit board proofreader, earphone jack and 2x USB-A
Intel Iris Plus Graphics
8GB
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth
Natural Silver
–
information science
Yes
No
litres
HP Envy 13 ( 2021 )
£899.99
$ 899.99
€999.99
Intel Core i5-1135G7
horsepower
13.3 Inches
512GB
720p
51 Whr
307 x 195 ten 19.9 MM
1.3 G
B08RWR2Z98
Windows 10
–
1920 ten 1080
60 Hz
1x USB-C, 2x USB-A, microSD and earphone jack
Nvidia GeForce MX450
8GB
Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0
Natural Silver
liquid crystal display
information science
Yes
No
–
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Trusted Reviews’ Test data

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PCMark 10

Geekbench 5 single core

Geekbench 5 multi core

3DMark Time Spy

CrystalDiskMark Read speed

CrystalMarkDisk Write Speed

Brightness

Contrast

sRGB

Adobe RGB

DCI-P3

Battery Life

HP Envy 13 ( 2021 )
5143
1334
4279
1903
1708 MB/s
967 MB/s
423 nits
1675:1
99.8 %
74.7 %
79.3 %

12 hour
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