When it comes to premium laptops, HP’s Envy series is right up there with the very-best. HP’s Envy notebooks offer the same powerful hardware as its Spectre series, while maintaining a relatively reasonable price without too many compromises to build quality.
The latest entrant to the Envy series is the new HP Envy 14 (2021), which is outfitted with powerful 11th Gen Intel hardware as well as optional dedicated Nvidia graphics. Our HP Envy 14 model was equipped with an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, a dedicated Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage. However, can the powerful on-paper hardware behind the HP Envy 14 (2021) deliver in the real world? Let’s find out!
Design
In terms of design, the new Envy 14 boasts a thin and light profile. The notebook’s aluminium chassis feels quite sturdy, while the “Natural Silver” colour lends it a subtle yet stylish look. The lid of the laptop has the HP logo in the middle and looks rather ordinary. There’s zero flex on the display thanks to those sturdy hinges on the back.
As compared to most 14-inch thin and light laptops, the Envy 14 is a little larger and thicker. But that is down to the 88 percent screen-to-body-ratio and thin bezels on either side of the screen. The notebook also has a slight raised palm rest on the bottom and a heating vent above the keyboards. Because the Envy 14 is slightly thicker, you do get a little more room for cooling. Overall, the Envy 14 opts for a more minimalist look with a solid build that feels premium.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard on the Envy 14 (2021) is one of the best in its class. The keys have a nice tactile and click feel when typing and gaming. Additionally, I also found the spacing between the keys to be more than sufficient, which makes it quite comfortable to type on.
The keyboard also comes with two levels of backlighting. The touchpad features Windows Precision drivers and is quite responsive. The touchpad has clicky buttons and was accurate for the most part. I didn’t face any issues while using the touchpad.
Webcam and Audio
The notebook also boasts a 720p webcam with a physical camera shutter, which is quite serviceable for video calls. The keyboard has buttons to toggle the camera shutter and open up the HP Command Centre as well as a fingerprint reader. The new Envy 14 packs bottom firing speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen that can get quite loud at maximum volume. The Bang & Olufsen software also features several music presets and an equalizer if you want to customise the sound to your liking.
Connectivity
The new Envy 14 also has a good number of ports for a 14-inch notebook. On the left, you get a USB 3.1 Type-A, a USB Type-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support, an HDMI output, and an audio jack. There’s a microSD card slot and another USB Type-A port on the right. Other connectivity options include Bluetooth and Wi-Fi 6. Even though it is quite rare, I wish the Envy also had an Ethernet port.
Display
For the display, the Envy opts for a 14-inch WUXGA (1080p) IPS panel with an anti-glare coating. The display offers 400 nits of peak brightness, which is well-above the 300 nits category average. The screen also comes with 100 percent sRGB, which makes it ideal for creators.
The viewing angles of the display were pretty good and the tall 16:10 aspect ratio only served to enhance the viewing experience. The anti-glare feature and high-level of brightness shows its worth in bright outdoor conditions. The display is excellent for watching movies and pretty decent for some casual gaming.
Performance
Since we’re on the topic of gaming, let’s take a look at the Envy 14’s performance. The HP Envy 14 (2021) is powered by an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU paired with 16 GB DDR4 RAM and 1TB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD. Our model came with a dedicated Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q graphics card.
I found multitasking on the Envy 14 to be a non-issue. I had around 10 tabs opened on Chrome along with MS Word and Raid: Shadow Legends (Android Game), opened simultaneously and had zero lag issues. The laptop ran everything pretty smoothly. In terms of benchmarks, the Envy 14 scored 5,613 points in Geekbench’s multi-tasking test and 1,610 points in the single-core test.
The Envy 14’s dedicated GPU can handle gaming as well. I ran Overwatch and Counter Strike: Global Offensive on medium settings without any hitches. The Envy 14 managed to hit the 60Hz threshold without much effort. I was also able to run Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War on low settings in multiplayer mode.
However, the laptop did get too toasty for comfort after hitting the 90-minute mark. But it is worth noting that this isn’t a gaming laptop and over 90 minutes of competitive gameplay in Call of Duty was quite impressive. When it came to multitasking, the laptop ran relatively cool. When it comes to performance, the Envy 14 (2021) pretty much ticks all the boxes and exceed expectations in some areas, particularly gaming.
Battery Life
The Envy 14 packs a 63Wh battery, which HP claims can deliver up to 17 hours on a single charge, depending on your usage. However, I got around seven to eight hours of regular work, which involved multitasking between Chrome and Microsoft Word, which is just about average for a 14-inch laptop. But the Envy is packing heat with a discrete GPU, so I’d say eight hours of battery life on a single charge was pretty good.
Verdict
The HP Envy 14 (2021) model we reviewed featured a starting price of Rs 1,34,300 on Amazon India, which is definitely on the expensive side. However, there is no doubt that the new Envy 14 delivers on its promise of performance. It is an excellent laptop for creators, retrofitted with powerful hardware and an above-average display. And if you need a break from the grind, then the Envy can also handle casual gaming.
Additionally, the comfortable keyboard and almost-all-day battery life makes it ideal for everyday work. It would be far from my first choice for gaming, but the fact that you still have the option to game on a productivity-focused machine is impressive in itself. There’s definitely room for improvement in the display and battery life areas, but overall, the Envy 14 is an excellent laptop and very easy to recommend.
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