HP Envy x360 15.6-inch 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop – the affordable mid-range gaming machine

The mid-range 2-in-1 offering from HP comes with a healthy choice of processors from both the CPU divide, AMD and Intel. The good people at HP has even included the HP digital stylus that supports Windows Ink for good measure.

We have seen the HP Envy x360 convertible laptop in our previous post. Here, we look at the bigger sibling, with 15.6-inch display. While the 13.3-inch models are powered by AMD Ryzen processors, the 15.6-inch is available with Intel Core i processors or AMD Ryzen processors.

The HP Envy x360 convertible laptop 15.6-inch display is the mid-range alternative to the premium HP Spectre x360 range also available with 13.3-inch or  15.6-inch display. What the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch has is the dual drive configuration marrying a fast 128GB Solid State Drive with a spacious 1TB Hard Disk Drive, giving its users both performance and storage.

But if you prefer performance over space, there are the single 256GB or 512GB Solid State Drive options. See configuration table below. The convertible laptop can be had with Intel Core i7 or Core i5 processors or the cheaper and more affordable AMD Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 5 processors. You can find a performance comparison chart of the different processors at the bottom of this article.

The processor and configuration options available with the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch convertible.

CPU	Graphics	Memory	Storage
Intel Core i7-8550U	NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4GB	16GB	128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Intel Core i5-8250U	NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4GB	8GB	128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Intel Core i5-8250U	NVIDIA GeForce MX150 4GB	8GB	256GB SSD
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U	AMD Radeon Vega 10	8GB	256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
AMD Ryzen 7 2700U	AMD Radeon Vega 10	8GB	512GB SSD
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U	AMD Radeon Vega 8	8GB	128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
AMD Ryzen 5 2500U	AMD Radeon Vega 8	8GB	128GB SSD

Configuration Table: HP Envy x360 processors and storage options

Being the mid-range device, you are going to miss out on 4K display and premium rose gold accent but the laptop is far from being a slouch. The chart topping spec comes with Intel® Core™ i7-8550U (1.8 GHz base frequency, up to 4 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 8 MB cache, 4 cores), 16GB memory and the dual drive arrangement (1TB HDD and 128GB SSD).

That’s not all, it also comes with NVIDIA GeForce MX150 discrete graphics with 4GB graphics memory, dual Bang & Olufsen tuned speakers, fingerprint reader, Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixel display, Fast Charger, Backlit keyboard and Active Stylus included. Even with all that power, the laptop still manages up to 12.45 hours of battery life.

HP Envy x360 on Amazon

The Core i5 and i7 models are available in sandblasted tinted anodised finish in natural silver while the AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 models are also available in sandblasted tinted anodised finish but in dark ash gray. We veer towards the dark ash finish for that mysterious and stylish look, see image and gallery below.

HP Envy x360 on Amazon

The Core i5-8250U (1.6 GHz base frequency, up to 3.4 GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology, 6 MB cache, 4 cores) with 15.6-inch display is our favourite. With 8GB memory and 256GB SSD storage, it offers a balance of price to performance. The model is also equipped with NVIDIA® GeForce® MX150 (4 GB GDDR5) and HP Tilt Pen Stylus making it the perfect all round machine. The supplied HP stylus with pressure sensitivity enables you to sketch, blend, write as well as navigate on your device with precise control and accuracy.

If you are looking to save some money with near equal performance, choose the AMD Ryzen 5 2500U model with 13.3-inch or 15.6-inch display. Processor performance is just as good as the Core i5 model based on the PassMark CPU performance benchmark (see chart).

For connectivity and ports, both AMD and Intel models enjoy dual band AC WIFi and Bluetooth 4.2. Physical ports present include one USB Type-C and three USB 3.1 type A port. For video output there is a single HDMI 2.0 port as well as a DisplayPort 1.2. There is a full size SD card reader on the right edge and the Intel version benefits from a fingerprint reader on the power button.

• 1 USB 3.1 Type-C™ Gen 2 (Data Transfer up to 5 Gb/s, Power Delivery, DisplayPort™ 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge)
• 2 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (1 HP Sleep and Charge)
• 1 HDMI 2.0
• 1 headphone/microphone combo

Being a 15.6-inch device, HP has offered a full size backlit keyboard with numeric keypad to the right. This meant the touch pad is offset, positioned off-centre to the left. Both Intel and AMD models also benefit from HP Wide Vision HD Camera with integrated dual array digital microphone. This offers support for Windows Hello facial recognition and Cortana voice assistant

Dimensions and Weight: 18.9 x 246 x 359 mm (H x W x D) 18.9mm thin, 2.14 kg

Battery Life: Intel models up to 12 hours and 45 minutes. AMD models up to 11 hours.