Among the many people working from home, the creative professionals (and creative consumers) need tools that can work from both home and on the road. In addition, many of these people want a laptop that can be used not just for working, but also for playing. Many of the creative professionals in the past used Apple Macbooks, but Apple has lagged on technology and has made controversial decisions on such basic features as keyboards and I/O ports. In the meantime, Windows 10 PCs have become more competitive and more stylish. Also, Windows PCs are a much better choice for video games.
The latest addition to Windows PC lineup geared towards creative professionals comes from HP with the introduction of a new Envy series of laptops and ZBook mobile workstations. The HP Launch was a virtual event because of the ongoing quarantines and, unfortunately, I haven’t had an opportunity to test the new laptops, but they are impressive. I hope to follow up with a hands on review later.
Great Design And Great For Designing
The new Envy laptops range in size from 13-inch to 17-inch displays and include regular laptops and Envy x360 2-in-1 convertible hinge versions. Availability of the various products varies and ranges from April to June. Most of the configurations have up to an Intel 10th generation Core microprocessor and offer Nvidia GeForce graphics. The exceptions are the Envy x360 13 convertible with the AMD Ryzen 4000 Series Mobile Processors with integrated Radeon Graphics and the Envy x360 15 which offers either an Intel Core processor with optional Nvidia GeForce MX330 graphics or AMD Ryzen 4000 Series Mobile Processors with integrated Radeon Graphics.
The best balanced machine is the Envy 15 on features, size and performance. All the Envy line gets a new “minimalist” design with a sleek aluminum chassis and HP’s signature diamond-cut design. In addition, the Envy line gets a layer of glass on top of the touchpad which gives it a smoother touch. The Envy 15 supports up to the 10th Gen Intel Core i9 (H-series) processor, up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 and up to 32GB of DDR4 Memory. HP rounds out the design with up to a two TB PCIe SSD and RAID 0 (2xSSD) storage and Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 for connectivity.
HP Envy 15 Laptop
HP
The Envy 15 also makes an excellent gaming PC because it offers an advanced thermal design with a vapor chamber and two 12-volt fans. HP has also incorporated Nvidia’s Max-Q design technology into the HP Dynamic Power, which can dynamically allocate power between the CPU and GPU depending on workload.
One of the outstanding options with the Envy 15 is a drool-worthy 4K OLED display. The display is VESA certified DisplayHDR True Black and it features 100% DCI-P3 color gamut and 100,000:1 contrast ratio with nominal 400 nits brightness (maximum brightness is around 600 nits in sunlight). The trade off with the OLED display is that it can draw more power depending on image. The regular AMOLED display has pixel dimming to achieve high contrast ratio. You can also connect to up to three additional displays.
HP Envy 15 OLED Display Specs
HP
While HP listed battery life for the Envy 15 at up to 16.5 hours, actual battery life will vary depending on options.
The HP ZBook goes to 11
The flagship HP creator laptop is the ZBook. HP will offer a new version called the ZBook Create, in addition to the new ZBook Studio. These laptops take the 15-inch form factor to new heights. It’s also VR ready, which is challenging in a 15-inch notebook. The key differences between the Studio and the Create are the CPU and GPU options. The ZBook Create includes Nvidia GeFore RTX graphics family, while the ZBook Studio includes the professional Nvidia Quadro 5000 series graphics. With a superior cooling, the ZBook Create can support the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, Nvidia’s highest performance ray tracing consumer graphics platform while still maintaining a sleek form factor.
ZBook Studio/Create 15
HP
One of the key features of the ZBooks is the HP DreamColor display with a built-in colorimeter for automatic self-calibration, 100% sRGB and Adobe RGB for accuracy, and is capable of displaying over a billion colors which gives professional-quality rendering for smoother shading and more consistent gradients. The display supports 600 nits in DreamColor and 1000 nits Sure View, great for viewing in any environment. With a far superior display, HP out-guns the Apple Macbook Pro 16 and the Dell Precision 5540.
The two ZBook mobile workstations updates will come later in summer. Prices for the ZBook Create and Studio were not announced.
HP Envy Pricing And Availability
HP announced that the HP Envy 17 is available now at HP.com with a starting price of $1,099.99. The device is also available for purchase from Amazon, Best Buy and other US retailers. In early May, the Envy 13, Envy 13 x360, and the Envy x360 15 will be available. The Envy 13 has a starting price of $999.99. The Envy x360 13 has a starting price of $699.99. And, the Envy x360 15 has a starting price of $699.99 for the AMD SKU and $849.99 for the Intel SKU. You will have to wait until June for the HP Envy 15, with a starting price of $1,349.99.
