Top 5 Reasons to BUY or NOT buy the HP Envy 13!

This time we have chosen the mid-range ultrabook HP Envy 13 for the purposes of our article. Here are the summarized top 5 reasons for and against the device.

You can check all available HP Envy 13 configurations here: http://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-envy-13-13-ad000/

4 reasons to buy HP Envy 13

1. Unconventional, appealing and simplistic design (+ lightweight and portable)

The Envy 13 features a sharper and sophisticated design that resembles the higher-end Spectre series. It is also pretty portable – tipping the scale at just 1.25 kg and measuring at 14 mm in height. What’s more, the laptop manages to fit in these dimensions with just one plastic element – the bottom. Everything else is made of aluminum.

2. A good set of I/O including two USB-C 3.1 connectors supporting DisplayPort

If you usually work at a desk, then you will certainly appreciate the decent variety of ports. The left side comes with a standard USB 3.0 port, 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-C 3.1 (Gen 1 with DisplayPort support), and a microSD card reader. On the right, you will notice another USB-A 3.0 connector, USB-C 3.1 (Gen 1 again with DisplayPort support) and the DC charging port.

3. Decent IPS display with wide sRGB coverage and high contrast

The image quality is also pretty good thanks to the IPS display that offers 89% sRGB coverage and high contrast ratio – 960:1. However, if you want to make the most of your visual experience, we recommend installing our custom profiles that further improve the color accuracy.

4. Long battery life

HP Envy 13 certainly stands out with its battery life which is among the main selling points here. The runtimes in the web browsing and video playback test are more than great – you get 661 minutes and 430 minutes respectively on a single charge making the ultrabook one of the most enduring 13-inch notebooks we’ve tested.


1 reason NOT to buy HP Envy 13

1. The display uses aggressive PWM from 0 to 99% brightness (our Health-Guard profile fixes that)

Our main complaint about the device is the presence of PWM across all brightness levels except for the maximum one. On top of that, the pulsations are considered “aggressive” due to the low frequencies (1 kHz) at which the display flickers. Therefore, we suggest turning the brightness to maximum or installing our Health-Guard profile.


The best competitors

If HP Envy 13 is not the right choice for you, we recommend checking some other alternatives such as the ASUS ZenBook UX310, the Lenovo Ideapad 720s or the Acer Aspire S 13 which may even suit your needs better.

All HP Envy 13 configurations

 

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments