We test the graphics inside all laptops and desktops with two DirectX 12 gaming simulations from UL's 3DMark: Night Raid (more modest, suitable for laptops with integrated graphics), and Time Spy (more demanding, suitable for gaming rigs with discrete GPUs). I only spent a short amount of time with the HP Envy x360 15.6-inch laptop at a press event, so won’t be reviewing the product in full here. Instead, this is hands-on that focuses on the design and specs of the device, rather than its performance and battery life. Price and Availability

HP Enhanced Lighting: Adds a virtual light ring on the screen to improve lighting during video calls. Battery life is another area where the HP Envy x360 15 (2021) excelled. With a 51WHr battery, we expected it to make it through at least a full workday on a single charge and found it did a little bit better than that, making it just over 13 hours in our PCMark 10 battery test. This is a little under five hours longer than the ThinkBook 14s Yoga and about 20 minutes longer than the HP Spectre x360.The keyboard includes buttons to mute the microphone and disable the webcam, as well as the fingerprint reader (replacing the right Control key) and a special key to launch the HP Command Center software, which lets you prioritize favorite apps' network bandwidth; activate a Focus Mode that dims the display except for the active window; and choose balanced, quiet, or performance modes depending on your tolerance for cooling-fan noise. (I ran our benchmark tests in performance mode, except for the battery test in balanced mode.) Looking at the CPU options, the choice between i5 or i7 processors gives users the option to upgrade to a more powerful CPU for larger workloads, such as content creation, while the i5 variations would be perfect for productivity. There are also two options in terms of GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2050 laptop GPU or Intel Iris Xe. OMEN Gaming Hub: Lets you access your installed games, HP rewards, and picture gallery. It also lets you see system information like CPU and GPU usage and temperatures, optimize the PC, and change the power profile. The one area where the Envy x360 15 fell short was in single core performance, where it scored 300 to 400 points less in Geekbench, PCMark 10, and other CPU single-core benchmarks against the Spectre and the ThinkBook 14s Yoga. That isn't unexpected though, since Intel processors typically do better in single core performance but – as was the case here – AMD's Ryzen processors blow their rival's Intel chips away by 2,000 to 3,000 points whenever multi core processing or integrated GPU performance is measured.

The Envy x360 15 offers a strong selection of ports, but you miss out on Thunderbolt 4 support because of the AMD chipset. The two USB-C ports support a display and high-speed data, however, and there's also an HDMI port for connecting to an external display. With a pair of USB Type-A ports in addition to the USB-C ports, you won't need to hassle with an adapter to connect your devices. You also get an SD card slot, which is not usually found on a mainstream laptop. A nice surprise on the 2021 model is its full sRGB touchscreen which comes very well calibrated without any end-user tinkering. Such a feature is uncommon on convertible laptops especially at this price range. Our other three benchmarks focus on the CPU, using all available cores and threads, to rate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 uses that company's Cinema 4D engine to render a complex scene, while Geekbench 5.4 Pro from Primate Labs simulates popular apps ranging from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine learning. Finally, we use the open-source video transcoder HandBrake 1.4 to convert a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p resolution (lower times are better).After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop into airplane mode.) In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the Blender Foundation short film Tears of Steel Tears of Steel—with screen brightness set at 50% and volume at 100% until the system quits. Windows MobileMark 18 Battery life will vary depending on various factors including product model, configuration, loaded applications, features, use, wireless functionality, and power management settings. The maximum capacity of the battery will naturally decrease with time and usage. See https://bapco.com/products/mobilemark-2018/ for additional details. It absolutely holds its own against the more expensive 2-in-1's running an Intel Core i7-1165G7, like the HP Spectre x360 15 and the Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga, beating them both in several areas like multicore performance, and costing much less as well. PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance suites developed by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark). The PCMark 10 test we run simulates different real-world productivity and content-creation workflows. We use it to assess overall system performance for office-centric tasks such as word processing, spreadsheet work, web browsing, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storage subtest that we use to assess the speed of the system's boot drive. Both yield a proprietary numeric score; higher numbers are better.

At 4.2 pounds (1.9 kilograms), the Envy x360 15 feels heavier than it should, likely a result of the extra layers needed for the touch display found on all two-in-ones. The 3-pound Lenovo Yoga 7i makes a better option for daily commutes with its 14-inch, 16:10 display. A smaller, lighter two-in-one also has a more natural feel in tablet mode. The Envy x360 15 looks comically tall and narrow when held in portrait mode as a tablet. It's also too heavy to hold with one hand and tap, swipe or sketch with the other hand. One last note on the Envy x360 15 as a tablet: A pen is not included. We test Windows systems' relative graphics muscle with two gaming simulations, 3DMark and Superposition. The first has two DirectX 11 subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, suitable for mainstream PCs with integrated graphics and higher-end gaming rigs respectively. The second uses the Unigine engine to render and pan through a detailed 3D scene at two resolution and image quality settings with results measured in frames per second (fps); 30fps is usually considered a fair target for smooth animation while avid gamers prefer 60fps or higher. The HP Envy x360 15.6-inch 2-in-1 laptop is the latest in the x360 lineup, joined by the HP Spectre x360 13.5-inch 2-in-1 laptop. It can be found with either AMD or Intel processors, although we’ll focus on the Intel model here.Next is Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully threaded to make use of all available processor cores and threads. Cinebench stresses the CPU rather than the GPU to render a complex image. The result is a proprietary score indicating a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads. A no-frills convertible laptop with insanely fast processor performance and a well-calibrated full sRGB touchscreen. It's a better deal than the HP Spectre if you don't mind missing out on GeForce GTX graphics or Thunderbolt. The HP Envy x360 15.6-inch laptop is a super-sleek device with a very professional look. Both the touchpad and the keyboard proved responsive and easy to use, as did the touchscreen, whether I was using my finger or the HP Tilt Pen. There were no signs of any tearing or glitching while scrolling through articles or typing via the on-screen keyboard. Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing benchmark, in which we put a stopwatch on systems as they transcode a brief movie from 4K resolution down to 1080p. It, too, is a tough test for multi-core, multi-threaded CPUs; lower times are better. In accordance with the Microsoft Silicon Support Policy, HP does not support or provide drivers for Windows 8 or Windows 7 on products configured with Intel or AMD 7th generation and forward processors

In contrast to the dim, 16:9 display, the webcam received an upgrade in this year's model. Gone is the grainy 720p webcam of yore, and in its place is a 5-megapixel camera that can capture 1440p, 30fps video. It produced a crisp, well-balanced picture with accurate color and skin tones. The webcam is also an IR cam, so you can sign in to Windows simply by placing your face in front of the laptop. This year's model supports the IMAX Enhanced aspect ratio of 1.9:1, which shows a bit more of the top and bottom of a cinematic image and is mostly available for Marvel movies on Disney+. I can't imagine who would choose a 1080p rather than a 4K or other high-res laptop display for watching IMAX content, but the feature is available if you want it. Actual battery Watt-hours (Wh) will vary from design capacity. Battery capacity will naturally decrease with shelf life, time, usage, environment, temperature, system configuration, loaded apps, features, power management settings and other factors. The AMD-powered 2021 Envy x360 15 is essentially a leaner and faster version of the Spectre x360 15. Owners would be skipping out on a few luxuries like the gold trims, diamond-cut corners, faster SD reader, Thunderbolt support and IR camera, but core characteristics like keyboard tactility, colors, and chassis quality remain strong. For the core home or office user, those missing features might not mean all that much when the system is already so fast and lightweight. The Yoga and Envy finished first and second, landing on either side of the 13-hour mark. That's impressive stamina for a desktop replacement (even the last-place Spectre did fairly well, though its 4K screen is a battery drain). Getting through a full day of work or school will be no problem.We were also surprised to see how well the HP Envy x360 15's Radeon graphics handled both benchmarks and real-world use. No, you really won't be able to run the best PC games on the Envy x360 15, natively, and without issue, but we've played Valheim with worse specs, for sure. HP Support Assistant: Lets you access information on how to repair and diagnose issues. Also contains guided troubleshooting via a virtual assistant.