HP Envy x360 review: Sleek convertible that complements on-the-go lifestyle

For a convertible ultrabook, the HP Envy x360 has a capable hardware that makes it a decent performer in its segment. It can be used either as a daily productivity driver or an entertainment device

The Envy x360 (Ryzen 5) is a convertible notebook from the stable of American information technology brand Hewlett-Packard (HP). The notebook has a lightweight design with a thin metallic profile that makes it an ultrabook designed for people who are always on the move. Priced at Rs 77,990, the notebook is a premium offering with a balanced mixture of style and substance.

Design

The Envy x360 is a full-fledged ultrabook, and not a tablet with detachable keyboard support. It has a flip-to-open design with a display that moves all the way to the back. The display lid is strong, thanks to a metallic chassis that doesn't bend or twist easily. The 360-degree nature of the lid makes it convenient to use the device in different modes – laptop, stand, tent and tablet.

The ultrabook’s power key, which doubles up as screen-lock button in tablet mode, is located on the left side of the chassis. There is a dedicated set of volume rocker keys on the right that comes handy in tablet mode. The notebook has a Band & Olufsen-tuned quad-speaker system placed on top of the keyboard, under an X-designed micro-holes mesh. From the design perspective, the speakers’ placement might add up to the overall profile, but they don't do justice to the ultrabook’s convertible design, especially in tent, stand and laptop mode.

Display

The Envy x360 has a vivid 13.3-inch fullHD touchscreen panel with thin bezels on the left and right sides, but a huge one on the top and bottom. It is covered with Gorilla Glass for protection against accidental scratches. Though the screen is a regular unit, it looks sharp, vivid, and has satisfactory brightness to keep it legible in bright outdoor use.

The screen has touch and stylus input support. The stylus comes bundled with the package. It is a battery-powered module, so it feels a little heavy. As for utility, the stylus can be used to annotate or scribble using Windows Ink-compatible apps such as sticky notes, sketchpad and screen sketch. Even the Windows default Edge browser has digital inking supports, which makes the Stylus a great value addition to the overall package.

Keyboard and touchpad

The ultrabook’s chicklet keyboard has big buttons with optimal key travel. The keyboard is backlit for ease of use in dim or dark environments. The keys are well spaced and key travel distance is satisfactory.

The touchpad below the keyboard has a wide rectangular design, but it is short in length. Nevertheless, it works seamlessly and supports all Windows 10 gestures. The touchpad area is optimal, if not big. The touchpad does not have any sort of demarcations, but it has a left and right key on the lower side. 

Performance

For a convertible ultrabook, the HP Envy x360 has a decent performance, if not class leading. Powered by AMD Ryzen 5 with Vega 8 graphics, the ultrabook handles everyday operations with ease – including working on spreadsheets, documents, browsing internet, multimedia streaming, graphics, etc. Boot time and data transfer speed are also fast, thanks to built-in solid state drive (SSD).

Intensive work loads such as video editing, graphic designing and gaming are also not beyond this machine’s prowess. But these things put a bottleneck on the performance and slow down the machine to a point where it becomes difficult to operate. Therefore, it is not advised to use this machine primarily for such use cases.

While the overall performance is decent, the machine’s on-battery time is just satisfactory. The machine works for around six hours on-battery while doing regular tasks. This is the best on-battery time that the machine can achieve, far less than the advertised 11-hour on-battery time. The battery charging time is also not great. Though it has a fast charger, it still takes couple of hours to charge the notebook’s battery to full capacity from zero.

Verdict

From sleek metallic profile to touchscreen with stylus input support, the Envy x360 (Ryzen 5) is designed to deliver best of both the worlds -- laptop and tablet. For a convertible ultrabook, the machine has a capable hardware that makes it a decent performer in its segment. It can be used as a daily productivity driver or an entertainment device. However, in both cases, its sub-par on-battery time might hinder its utility.