HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: A strong performer

Some folks argue that tech firms have began overusing the phrase “Pro” of their merchandise lately, particularly with computing gadgets. The “pro” is being closely marketed for its superiority over reasonably priced choices. For me, the “pro” has at all times been shorthand for “creative professionals.” It could also be a distinct segment product section, however it’s more and more turning into vital for manufacturers, given artistic professionals spare no bills in shelling out extra for the top-end {hardware}. Although HP’s new Envy 14 is primarily focused at creators, its beginning value of Rs 1,04,999 ensures the widening of this section that was as soon as thought-about unique to legacy prospects. Here is my evaluation of the HP Envy 14 after utilizing it for every week.
HP Envy 14 (2021) value in India: Rs 124,999 (as reviewed)
HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: Design and aesthetics
Featuring a unibody silver steel chassis with clear strains, the Envy 14 is quite a bit totally different from HP’s ‘Spectre’ lineup of notebooks that generally really feel a bit excessive for my style. I discovered the Envy 14 extra tasteful the best way it has been designed, with out compromising on the construct high quality and aesthetics. Although not an ultra-thin pocket book, I can simply toss this machine right into a bag with out concern. The pocket book weighs 1.49 kg, and contemplating the Envy 14 is a high-performance machine, it’s fairly slim and light-weight. Connectivity ports are strong for a pocket book that will likely be utilized by videographers, photographers, and graphics designers. Each aspect of the Envy 14 encompasses a USB-A Gen 3.1 port. The machine additionally has a full HDMI, a microSD card reader, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and one Type-C with a full Thunderbolt 4. On the within, connectivity is dealt with by WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0.

The Envy 14 has a shiny show with correct particulars and colors. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: Display and audio system
You gained’t discover a 4K decision right here, however the 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200p), IPS, anti-glare show feels spacious and shiny. Productivity customers may even respect the laptop computer’s 16:10 show in comparison with the extra media-focused 16:9 side ratio. Thanks to HP Display Control, customers can select calibrated presets when they’re doing artistic work, like enhancing a video or picture.
Brightness peaks round 400-nits, which is appropriate for indoor and out of doors use. The show additionally covers 100% of the sRGB coloration gamut, which suggests colors have unimaginable punch. I’m not an knowledgeable in show tech, however I discovered Envy’s non-touchscreen greater than acceptable for fundamental picture enhancing, workplace work, or watching movies. Above the show is a 720p webcam, which is surprisingly good. The intelligent half is the HP Enhanced Lighting characteristic which makes use of the show as a hoop mild to artificially brighten your face throughout video calls.
The audio system within the Envy 14 are superb. The Bang & Olufsen-branded audio system are loud and clear, and I skilled it firsthand whereas enjoying Dirt 5 on this pocket book. They lack bass, nonetheless. I’ve attended two Zoom calls all through the week, and audio high quality was high-quality on calls.
The Envy 14’s keyboard and trackpad are high-quality. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: Keyboard and trackpad
Typing on the keyboard feels nice. The keyboard is crisp and bouncy. Keys are well-spaced and aren’t cramped they usually have a superb quantity of journey. The two-level backlighting is shiny and appears nice in low-light. I additionally favored devoted buttons on the keyboard to allow bodily shutter to the webcam and mute the microphone. There can be a devoted button for HP Command Center, which helps you to optimise system efficiency. There can be an built-in fingerprint reader on the keyboard, which I discovered to be correct. The precision trackpad is responsive, though massive however not sufficiently big.
Performance was as passable as we might anticipate from the top-end Windows laptop computer. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: Performance and battery
The Envy 14 is a workhorse that may deal with nearly something that you could throw at it. It’s noticeably sooner in day-to-day use and seems like an excellent improve for somebody who needs an entry-level “pro-level” workstation-equivalent laptop computer to fulfill the productiveness wants, on this case, artistic professionals. My evaluation unit not solely options an eleventh gen i7-1165G processor from Intel, but it surely additionally has 16GB of RAM, 1 TB PCIe NVMe TLC SSD and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (largely present in lower-tier however premium gaming laptops). During testing, the Envy 14 dealt with multitasking throughout a spread of functions and with loads of tabs open within the background. Although not significantly designed to be a gaming laptop computer, because it consists of the Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti (Max-Q) graphics card, I used to be in a position to run Dirt 5 at 40 frames per second. That mentioned, the laptop computer will get heat after an intense gaming session.
The Envy 14 achieved shut to eight hours of battery on my net searching take a look at, and that’s a powerful rating, contemplating it’s powered by a Core i7 processor. This ought to be capable to get via most of a workday so long as you aren’t video enhancing, or enjoying video games.

I discovered the Envy 14 extra tasteful the best way it has been designed, with out compromising on the construct high quality and aesthetics. (Image credit score: Anuj Bhatia/Indian Express)
HP Envy 14 (2021) evaluation: Should you purchase it?
The HP Envy 14 is a purposefully designed laptop computer that caters to somebody who’s into graphic design, enhancing photographs and movies. I’m not the goal person of the Envy 14, as a result of I solely want a low-end machine that may run an internet browser and Google Docs. HP will get plenty of issues proper with the Envy 14 to make a “pro” pocket book extra accessible. The indisputable fact that HP managed to pack plenty of premium options in a extra compact 14-inch chassis is spectacular. However, it’s nonetheless an entry-level “pro” pocket book and the competitors on this area is getting stiff