Again in October, we mentioned the 2022 HP Envy 16 handed its legendary Apple and Dell rivals as our high decide amongst premium laptops for content material creators. However these elite desktop replacements got here roaring again, with the 16-inch Apple MacBook Professional receiving an ideal five-star score and Editors’ Alternative honors in January 2023, due to a mighty M2 Max processor (and a ridiculous 96GB of RAM and 4TB of storage that pushed our assessment unit to $5,299). A $2,499 config of the Dell XPS 15 adopted with its personal Editors’ Alternative award in Could. Now, HP has put the most recent silicon right into a refreshed Envy 16 (begins at $999.99; $1,749.99 as examined) that scores excessive in worth as a advantageous choice for productiveness, creativity, and average gaming. Nevertheless, the Envy seen right here has a comparatively low-resolution show and is no less than a pound obese, shedding its Editors’ Alternative laurels to what preceded it this yr.
Priced Under Final 12 months
Costs for the 2023 Envy 16 begin at $999.99 at HP.com for a unit with a thirteenth Technology Intel Core i5 processor, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive, Home windows 11 House, and Intel Arc A370M graphics. Three screens can be found: a 2,560-by-1,600-pixel IPS non-touch panel; a contact display with the identical pixel depend ($40 extra); and an OLED contact display with a 2,880-by-1,800-pixel decision ($170 extra). The final is a step down from the 4K OLED panel provided on final yr’s mannequin, however all three shows now refresh at 120Hz as an alternative of final yr’s 60Hz refresh charge. This could visibly enhance your after-hours gaming.
The reminiscence and storage ceilings are 32GB and 2TB, respectively, with Core i7 and Core i9 CPUs and an 8GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU heading the improve listing. Our check unit was a $1,749.99 Greatest Purchase configuration (mannequin 16-h1023dx) with the beefy Core i9-13900H (six Efficiency cores, eight Environment friendly cores, 20 threads), the GeForce RTX 4060, 16GB of RAM, a 1TB SSD, and the two,560-by-1,600 contact display.
Measuring 0.78 by 14.1 by 9.9 inches and weighing 5.17 kilos, the Envy 16’s Pure Silver aluminum chassis is just not a lot heavier than the big-screened MacBook Professional (4.8 kilos). Nevertheless, it’s kind of portly in contrast with the 16-inch Samsung Galaxy Book3 Extremely (0.64 by 13.9 by 9.8 inches; 3.9 kilos) and downright ponderous subsequent to the Acer Swift Edge 16 at solely 2.6 kilos.
The Envy 16 feels glossy and durable, with virtually no flex if you happen to grasp the display corners or press the keyboard deck. HP’s laptop computer display bezels are skinny on the perimeters and virtually as skinny on the high and backside. (The corporate claims an 88.7% screen-to-body ratio.) Whilst you’ll discover no fingerprint reader right here, the webcam gives IR face recognition for Home windows Whats up logins.
A USB 3.2 Sort-A port joins an audio jack and microSD card slot on the laptop computer’s left aspect. On the correct are one other USB-A port, an HDMI monitor port, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and the facility connector. In the meantime, Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth deal with wi-fi hyperlinks.
Trying Sharp for Zoom Calls
This laptop computer’s brightly backlit keyboard forgoes a numeric keypad in favor of top-firing speaker grilles on both aspect. It suffers from HP’s trademark association of the cursor arrow keys in a careless row (hard-to-hit, half-height up and down arrows stacked between full-size left and proper) as an alternative of the right inverted T, Nevertheless, it wins factors for offering devoted House, Finish, Web page Up, and Web page Down keys on the far proper as an alternative of constructing you pair the Fn and arrow keys.
The highest-row keys like Escape and Delete are puny, however the keyboard has a handy guide a rough (if shallow) typing really feel. The laptop computer’s giant, buttonless touchpad glides and faucets easily and is a lot large enough for multi-finger gestures, although it has a flat, hole click on.
HP included a 5-megapixel webcam that captures well-lit and colourful pictures with minimal noise or static. It data in resolutions as much as 2,560 by 1,440 pixels (16:9 facet ratio) or 2,592 by 1,728 pixels (3:2 facet ratio). Plus, the HP Presence app throughout the MyHP software program suite can blur your background or change it with a picture file of your alternative. The app does this in a method that is sharper and more practical than most webcam utilities I’ve seen. Much more, the app gives backlight and low-light adjustment, and it allows the digicam to comply with you when transferring throughout the body if teamed up with an extra USB exterior digicam.
The Envy’s sound is surprisingly softer than anticipated given the top-firing audio system, unable to fill a room even at high quantity, although the audio is easy and clear as an alternative of harsh or tinny. Its bass is modest at finest but it surely’s straightforward to make out overlapping tracks. Bang & Olufsen Audio Management software program gives AI noise cancellation for voice calls, in addition to music, film, and voice presets; together with an equalizer with bass, treble, and dialog boosters.
HP’s contact glass catches room reflections, however the 16:10 facet ratio show makes for huge viewing angles and respectable distinction. Its colours aren’t tremendous vivid however wealthy and well-saturated, and the white backgrounds are clear as an alternative of grayish or dingy. (Nevertheless, the display does not tilt again so far as I might like.) The panel’s brightness is okay and particulars are sharp, with no pixelation across the edges of letters.
Testing the 2023 HP Envy 16: A Artistic Confrontation
For deeper testing, we selected top-shelf laptops for inventive apps to run via our benchmark comparisons, led by the 15.6-inch Dell XPS 15 and 16.2-inch Apple MacBook Professional. Two others match the HP’s 16-inch display measurement however go for OLED know-how: the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Extremely and the light-weight, AMD Ryzen 7-based Acer Swift Edge 16, the one entrant to undercut not solely the Envy’s weight however its worth at $1,499.99.
Productiveness and Creation Checks
We run the identical normal productiveness benchmarks throughout each cellular and desktop methods. Our first check is UL’s PCMark 10, which simulates a wide range of real-world productiveness and workplace workflows to measure total system efficiency and likewise features a storage subtest for the first drive.
Our different three benchmarks give attention to the CPU, utilizing all out there cores and threads, to charge a PC’s suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon’s Cinebench R23 makes use of that firm’s Cinema 4D engine to render a fancy scene, whereas Geekbench 5.4 Professional from Primate Labs simulates standard apps starting from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine studying. Lastly, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to transform a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p decision (decrease occasions are higher).
Lastly, we run PugetBench for Photoshop by workstation maker Puget Methods, which makes use of the Artistic Cloud model 22 of Adobe’s well-known picture editor to charge a PC’s efficiency for content material creation and multimedia purposes. It is an automatic extension that executes a wide range of normal and GPU-accelerated Photoshop duties starting from opening, rotating, resizing, and saving a picture to making use of masks, gradient fills, and filters.
That Core i9 certain packed a punch in these checks. It did not overpower the muscular M2 Max-equipped MacBook Professional, however the Envy aced these benchmarks, greater than doubling the 4,000 factors in PCMark 10 that signifies wonderful productiveness for routine duties like these of the Microsoft 365 or Google Workspace suites. Whereas the HP Envy 16 topped just one different check in our Cinebench rundown, it proved greater than sufficient power for photograph or video modifying.
Graphics, Gaming, and Workstation Checks
We check Home windows PC graphics with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark, Evening Raid (extra modest, appropriate for laptops with built-in graphics) and Time Spy (extra demanding, appropriate for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs).
Moreover, we run two checks from the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5, which stresses each low-level routines like texturing and high-level, game-like picture rendering. The 1440p Aztec Ruins and 1080p Automobile Chase checks, that are rendered offscreen to accommodate completely different show resolutions, train graphics and compute shaders utilizing the OpenGL programming interface and {hardware} tessellation respectively. The extra frames per second (fps), the higher.
Although the Envy 16 is neither a cellular workstation nor a gaming laptop computer, we added one benchmark apiece from our checks for these classes. PugetBench for Premiere Professional runs via a wide range of operations in Adobe’s standard video modifying app; the comparability chart reveals inventive methods from MSI and Gigabyte and workstations from HP and Lenovo. F1 2021 is a racing simulation sport with a built-in 1080p benchmark, run at max picture high quality with Nvidia’s DLSS anti-aliasing; the chart contains a number of mid-priced gaming rigs.
Once more, the M2 Max’s built-in graphics have been gargantuan, however the GeForce RTX 4060 is by any measure a potent, game-worthy GPU. The HP proved a near-workstation-class video modifying and CGI rendering platform, and it landed someplace between the entry-level and midrange gaming laptops in our F1 benchmark. These extra checks assist display that the Envy 16 is a wonderful all-around desktop substitute, lacking a number of minor marks that its rivals did not this yr (significantly in display high quality).
Battery and Show Checks
We check laptop computer battery life by enjoying a domestically saved 720p video file (the open-source Blender film Tears of Metal) with show brightness at 50% and audio quantity at 100%. We be sure the battery is totally charged earlier than the check, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.
Moreover, we additionally use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Home windows software program to measure a laptop computer display’s shade saturation—what share of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 shade gamuts or palettes the show can present—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per sq. meter).
After all, Apple’s MacBook Professional is in a category of its personal so far as battery life is anxious, however the HP Envy 16 confirmed stamina extra acceptable for an ultraportable than a desktop substitute, and its display is a lot brilliant. Nevertheless, the bottom show examined right here was quick on each decision and shade depth in contrast with many rivals (are you able to say OLED?).
Verdict: One of many Greatest Bargains, However Not One of many Greatest Screens
We won’t fault the 2023 HP Envy 16 for being behind the silicon occasions, not with a screaming thirteenth Gen Intel Core i9 and Nvidia’s revved-up GeForce RTX 4060. Plus, the step as much as a 120Hz show turns what was already a first-class inventive laptop computer into a reputable entry-level gaming rig. However we want it weighed much less, and if we have been configuring one we might step all the way down to a Core i7 CPU and splurge on the non-obligatory OLED panel. That, we predict, can be a greater match for the dominant Dell XPS 15.
