HP Envy x360 (15-w001na) review

The Envy x360 has a large 1TB hard disk, but there’s no room for an optical drive. There’s a gigabit Ethernet port, two USB3 ports and a USB2 port, as well as an SD card reader and a 3.5mm headset jack. The laptop’s power button is on the side and is flush with the chassis and right at the back of the keyboard, so is difficult to press if you’re switching the device on in laptop mode.

Its 2.2GHz, dual-core Intel Core i5-5200U processor powered the Envy x360 to an overall score of 34 in our benchmarks, including a strong 71 in the single-core image editing test. It’s a decent score and bang on what we’d expect from this processor, which is particularly impressive given that it’s housed in a very thin chassis that’s just 24mm thick when closed, so the processor doesn’t have much space to dissipate heat. The chassis only gets a little warm when the processor is under load, and the fans don’t get overbearingly loud, which is a testament to the cooling system HP has installed. Unfortunately, this power has an effect on battery life, which is reasonable if not spectacular; 4h 52m is some way short of the 6h 12m achieved by the Toshiba Satellite Radius 15.

The laptop doesn’t have a dedicated graphics chip; 3D tasks are handled by the onboard Intel HD Graphics 5500. Very basic games are within the reach of this laptop, but not a lot else. For example, popular card-battling game Hearthstone runs fine with minimal stuttering. The laptop’s speakers are loud and clear, and sound quality barely changes no matter which laptop mode you’re using.

The HP Envy x360 is a decent little machine for £600, although when you consider that it costs more than significantly more powerful general-purpose laptops and weighs nearly as much to boot, it’s a very hard sell indeed. As far as 15.6in convertible laptops go, it’s not expensive, but it doesn’t offer anything outstanding in the way of screen, performance, design or battery life.

The Toshiba Satellite Radius 15, meanwhile, has better build quality and design, a much better screen and longer battery life for £100 more. For many this will be too much of a price jump, but if you’re going to buy a large convertible laptop it should offer something special, and it’s the Toshiba, not the HP, that does just that. For other laptop options check our regularly-update Best laptops and buying guide.