HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nf test: our full opinion –

Has the world become a little too accustomed to HP’s presence in the laptop market? Strangely, this historic brand is not necessarily the one you think of first when you have to count the most famous and popular brands in the world of laptops. And yet, it is one of those which make the biggest sales in volume.

How to explain it? Perhaps considering the 14-inch HP Envy x360 for the year 2024. An ultrabook and transformable configuration that is more than solid, but which also expresses very well the line observed by the manufacturer for so many years.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfTechnical sheet

The machine is on loan from HP for this test.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfDesign

Do you like gray metal on a laptop that weighs 1.39 kilograms and has a maximum thickness of 1.69 centimeters? Overall, do you like… any laptop from the last five years? Apart from the HP logo, which is also very pretty, it must be admitted that nothing particularly stands out on this configuration.

Unlike other manufacturers like HP or Asus who today seek to be easily recognizable at first glance, the HP Envy x360 14 absolutely seeks to blend into the crowd. Even considering its 2-in-1 capabilities, its hinge allowing it to fold on itself to create a tablet, it sends no signal of originality.

And that’s not a problem. The build quality is there, and the general rigidity of the chassis is reassuring for its ability to withstand the hassles of everyday life. Or to put it another way: it is an efficient laptop PC, which above all seeks to please as many people as possible. And that’s perhaps the hallmark of HP, whose name is known to everyone thanks to the B2B market: its PCs don’t make waves and can withstand bad weather without worry.

Keyboard and touchpad

The touchpad of this HP Envy x360 14 is somewhat… perplexed. On the one hand, the primary letter keys are excellent, with real activation distance and satisfying bounce, even if they sacrifice typing discretion for that. On the other hand, the special Ctrl/Shift/Space keys clearly have different switches, much softer and much less comfortable. Typing is therefore truly comfortable on 4 out of 5 keys on average, a rhythm to which you do not completely get used to on a daily basis.

The touchpad is of good quality, with a comfortable diagonal and a soft, but clear click. But accustomed to glass surfaces today, we must admit that the coating seems “basic” considering that we are still on the Envy range.

Connections

On the left, we find a USB A 3.2 Gen 1 port, an HDMI 2.1, as well as two USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 ports. On the right, we find a second USB A 3.2 port as well as a combo jack port.

Considering the intended target, this is a very good connection which will allow as many people as possible to do without the slightest dongle.

Webcam and audio

We are entitled to a 5 megapixel webcam which is very nice on paper, but here it is: the HP Envy x360 14 clearly does not manage post-processing. The result is an extremely noisy and dull image, which is terribly disappointing.

The audio experience is… not so bad? The two speakers, placed on the bottom of the device, do not have a particularly glorious rendering and the slightest notion of stage is completely absent. But here it is: the work is correct, better than the majority of entry-level products, but not particularly up to par with current trends. A big “boop”.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfScreen

The HP Envy x360 14 benefits from a 14-inch diagonal OLED panel supporting a maximum definition of 2880 x 1800 pixels, with a maximum refresh rate of 120 Hz set to dynamic by default. This is a touch screen with a glossy coating.

Under our probe and with the DisplayCal software, we find coverage of 171% of the sRGB space by volume for 121% of the DCI-P3 space. Maximum brightness is measured at 409 cd/m², which makes the computer very difficult to read in direct sunlight due to its glossy coating linked to its touch functionality.

The average color temperature is raised to 6240K, a bit too warm without being too far from the NTSC standard at 6500K. The average delta E00 is measured at 1.58, excellent, with a maximum difference of 6.77 on blue tones. In use, the panel remains pleasant to the eye, but the numerous reflections of the HP Envy x360 14 make its use a little more frustrating than we would like.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfSoftware

HP still does not hesitate to pre-install everything it needs from McAfee and bloatware like advertising for Dropbox in notifications, like many others. As always: uninstall everything right out of the box.

In addition to support for presence detection features, we find the usual HP software universe. This one is still quite simplistic, and only refers to basic Windows functionalities the vast majority of the time without further ado. But above all, we still see multiple applications that deserve to be brought together into one, while somewhat calming the insistence on communication around paid support. Here again, we sense the B2B orientation of the brand.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfPerformances

The HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nf is powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS, an 8-core SoC for 16 threads that can reach a turbo frequency of 5.1 GHz. It is supported by 16 GB of LPDDR5 RAM at 6400 MT/s, and 1 TB of PCie 4.0 storage space.

Benchmarks

Under Cinebench 2024, we find a multi core score of 626 points for a single core score of 94 points. The multi-core score is disappointing, while this SoC can exceed 1000 points without any problem. In single core however, we are in the right niches for the use of this SoC.

The graphics part, which is the same as that integrated into a ROG Ally X or a Lenovo Legion Go, is still very effective for this format with a score of 2278 points. To help run games at 1080p at medium or low, or to boost photo/video production a little, it will always be useful.

On the NPU side, nothing very interesting. The score of 149 points is terribly low compared to current generations who have an additional zero to this score. That being said, the use of AI still remains to be defined, and the lack of power on this specific point is not yet particularly a problem.

Finally, PCIe 4.0 storage offers us the average performance of this connection. Nothing really fun or bad about it: we are in what we expect, no more and no less.

Cooling and noise

The cooling of the PC is very well managed. We don’t exceed 48°C on the chassis, when the fans can barely be heard. Seeing the maintained performance of the SoC, we understand that HP has favored silence over performance, even in the most advanced mode.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfAutonomy

The HP Envy x360 14 integrates a 590 Wh battery, recharged via a 65W power supply using a USB-C port and the PowerDelivery standard.

For office use, with the screen set to 50% brightness, we managed to get between 7 and 8 hours of use.

In 2024, it is difficult to justify this autonomy which seems stunted compared to the new models. It’s not that bad, but it’s definitely disappointing for a relatively modern device priced at some newer products offering 10+ hours in the same format.

HP Envy x360 14-fa0000nfPrice and availability

The HP Envy x360 14 is already available in France, priced at 1299 euros for this test configuration.