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Intel Evo Laptops from HP: A Complete Review
Tom Gerencer
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March 2, 2023
The Intel® Evo™ platform is an exciting game changer in the laptop market, bringing higher benchmarks for micro-mobility, speed, and processing power to your workflow. The upgraded components are integrated to work together seamlessly, making your computing for work and play easier in dozens of big ways.
If you’ve heard about this newly redesigned laptop platform and you’re sold, you may be wondering about the top Intel Evo badge-bearing devices on the market. We’ll give you a quick refresher on the platform’s features, then dive right into the best Intel Evo laptops from HP. Spoiler alert: our device of choice is the popular HP Spectre x360 convertible laptop.
What does Evo mean?
Evo is Intel’s new platform for laptop PCs. It’s not a new chip, it’s a groundbreaking standard for chips, graphics, screens, connectivity, and other features. Evo devices create a smooth, delightful computing experience.
Minimum specs for Intel’s new Evo platform include 11th Generation Tiger Lake Core™ i5 and Core i7 processors, with as much as double the clock speed of previous-gen chips. They also deliver up to 2.7x faster photo editing as well as super-sharp Iris® Xe and Iris Plus graphics.
The redesign doesn’t stop there, though. Evo devices carry a new base level of 8GB of memory. They’re also vanishingly thin and light, with a 15 mm or slimmer chassis for easy mobility. They support exceptionally fast speeds for Zoom calls, and ramp up the speed of web browsing, Google Drive, MS Teams, and OneDrive work.
FAST CHARGE, FAST WAKE, SPEEDY PROCESSING
Beyond the incredibly fast Intel processors and light-speed photo and video editing, Evo laptops up the ante in several other ways. They deliver significantly faster charging, up to 20% more battery life, and wake from sleep in less than 1 second, so you can get more work done in short bursts without waiting.
Intel Evo laptops can also handle everyday tasks 20% faster than non-Evo devices. Gamers love them because they crank out double the frames-per-second (fps) rates on popular games like Far Cry New Dawn and Borderlands 3. Not only that, WiFi 6 speeds of 9.6 Gbps deliver up to 250% faster internet connections.
1. HP Spectre x360 convertible laptop
The top contender on the Intel Evo block is the HP Spectre x360 convertible. This device has everything, like its stunning magnesium chassis in natural silver, Poseidon Blue, or Nightfall Black. It sports a lightning-fast Tiger Lake Intel Evo processor that edits video at a rapid pace.
The hugely popular x360 form factor lets you switch from laptop to tablet to tent mode to media mode with a quick flip of the screen. The high-performance HP Spectre x360 weighs less than 3 lbs, too, and has a mega-portable 11.75 x 8.67 x 0.67-inch chassis.
WUXGA+ DISPLAY OR BETTER
The base-level 13.5-inch diagonal WUXGA+ display on this model delivers widescreen, ultra-extended graphics at 1920 x 1280 resolution. Brightness starts at an eye-friendly 400 nits, all the way up to a sunlight-readable 1,000 nits. You can step the visuals up a notch, too, with an optional 3K2K (3000 x 2000) OLED panel.
All HP Spectre x360 models come with edge-to-edge touch displays that make them feel like the big sister to your favorite smartphone. You can add optional BrightView and anti-reflection tech if you plan to work under the bright, blue sky. You also get powerful Intel Iris Xe Graphics backed by 8GB or 16GB of onboard memory to deliver unprecedented visuals.
This isn’t strictly an Evo gaming laptop, but the HP Spectre x360 can crank out up to 60 fps for gaming. Stream your favorite shows at up to 8K, and send content to as many as 4 HDR displays at once.
EXTREME POWER, EXTREME CHOICE
The HP Spectre x360 broadens your options with both 13-inch and 14-inch models. You can take your pick of Intel Core i5 or Core i7 processors, with four cores of computing power to remove the lag-time from your online workflows. The i7 chip can reach astounding speeds up to 4.7 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost.
For storage, start with the base 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), or take it all the way up to the eye-popping zone with an ultra-efficient 2TB NVMe M.2 SSD. Then, don’t fear working in the dark thanks to the full-sized island-style backlit keyboard. With its comfy key travel, you won’t mind working long hours, either.
LOTS OF PORTS, TOP-NOTCH CONFERENCING
The HP Spectre comes packed with even more goodies, like 2 Thunderbolt 4 Type-C ports and a Type-A USB port to keep you connected to and your external devices (while powering them). You’ll get to a 50% charge in 45 minutes too, thanks to HP Fast Charge technology.
To round the picture out, an HP True Vision 720p HD IR camera with dual microphones serves up a “being there” feel. Four speakers underpinned with Audio by Bang & Olufsen create deep, living room hi-fi sound. And for connectivity, a WiFi 6 connection and wider viewing angle make conference calls a breeze.
QUICK SPECS LIST:
- Intel Core i5 and i7 processors
- Windows 10 Home 64
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- 16GB Intel Optane memory
- 13.5-inch diagonal, WUXGA+ Touch display
2. HP ENVY laptop
At a lower price point than the HP Spectre x360, the HP ENVY Intel Evo laptop unleashes plenty of great Evo features. Under the hood, both the 13-inch and 14-inch models pack Intel Core i7 Evo chips, capable of top speeds up to 4.7 GHz. The 4 cores in each chip can easily handle even heavily multithreaded apps and games. They also speed up processor-intensive tasks, like real-time video editing.
The HP ENVY packs in a healthy 16GB of memory, too. That’s plenty for running powerful creative apps like Adobe Photoshop, Premiere, and AutoCAD. You won’t want for storage, either. The included 256GB SSD drive is roomy enough to store 20+ HD movies or 25,000 songs.
GORGEOUS INTEL IRIS Xᵉ GRAPHICS
The Intel Iris Xe Graphics in the HP ENVY are orders of magnitude beyond what you’ll find in most non-Evo laptops. Xe delivers more detail for gaming, watching, and viewing, by leveraging Intel’s new AI engine to zap the wait-times in your favorite work and play flows. The Xe architecture is optimized for low-power operation, extending battery life and making your PC run cooler.
The 13.3-inch diagonal Full High Definition (FHD) display delivers crisp 1920 x 1080 resolution, cramming about 2 million pixels into an astoundingly small space. The result is sharper video and gameplay, powered by a low-voltage WLED backlight to keep you up and running longer without hunting for an outlet.
FULL-SIZED KEYBOARD, HD WEBCAM
Your fingers will have plenty of room to move as you create on the full-size, backlit keyboard with a natural silver finish. And when it’s time to work remotely, an HP Wide Vision 720p HD camera will show your best side from any angle. A camera shutter keeps you and your workspace safe from curious characters, and dual-array digital microphones help get your points across with crystal clarity.
The HP ENVY serves up lots of power and connection options thanks to its 3 USB ports. One is a Thunderbolt 4 Type-C port that supports a blistering 40 Gbps signaling rate, for either data, power, or driving a display. The other 2 are SuperSpeed USB Type-A ports; the most common USB socket type.
Two of those ports can even charge external devices while your computer sleeps. All in all, this is a massive amount of machine at a comfortably-low price point.
QUICK SPECS LIST:
- Intel Core i7 processor
- Windows 10 Home 64
- Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics
- 16GB memory
- 256GB SSD storage
- 13.3-inch diagonal FHD display
3. HP ENVY x360
The HP ENVY x360 laptop blends the budget-friendly price point of the HP ENVY with the wow-getting form factor of the HP Spectre Evo PC. Use it as a laptop when you’re writing drafts or editing spreadsheets. Then flip the screen around for tablet mode. You can also flip to tent or reverse the panel for easy conferencing or streaming.
The processors and integrated graphics in the HP ENVY x360 are customizable. Choose an Intel Core i5 chip with 4 powerful cores and an 8MB cache, up to a Core i7 processor with boost speeds up to 4.7 GHz.
For gamers, the integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics gets you closer to the visual muscle of discrete graphics cards for several popular titles. In some titles, Xe graphics performance even beats their dedicated GPU counterparts.
13-INCH AND 15-INCH HP ENVY MODELS
If your focus is on portability, you’ll appreciate the HP ENVY x360’s 13-inch model. But if you prefer a bigger on-the-go screen, the 15-inch version may be your device of choice. Both come with the super-fast connectivity of WiFi 6 with a 50% performance boost over WiFi 5.
There are plenty of ports here, too, with 2 USB-A ports and 1 USB-C port. The USB-C feeds power, so if you want to add an Evo core gaming keyboard kit, you won’t be playing in the dark.
CRISP FHD AND UHD DISPLAY OPTIONS
The 13-inch HP ENVY x360 model comes with an impressive FHD display, with an eye-friendly 1920 x 1080 resolution. The 15-inch version lets you choose between an FHD, IPS panel, and a stunning 4K Ultra High Definition (UHD) UWVA AMOLED screen.
IPS is short for in-plane switching, a technology that uses parallel liquid crystals to deliver richer, truer colors. UWVA or ultra-wide viewing angle lets you see more of the screen from more angles, giving you more freedom of movement during conferencing and streaming. And AMOLED serves up the same sharp viewing experience you’ll get from a high-end smartphone.
QUICK SPECS LIST:
- Intel Core i5 or i7 processor
- Windows 10 Home 64 or Pro 64
- Intel Iris Xᵉ Graphics
- 8GB to 16GB memory
- 256GB to 1TB SSD storage
- 13.3-inch to 15.6-inch diagonal FHD or 4K UHD display
Summary
HP’s lineup of ultra-powerful Evo PCs delivers all the eye-popping specs of the Evo platform, in a choice of sleek, smart laptop designs. The HP Spectre x360 maxes out the memory and screen resolution in the popular convertible x360 form factor.
The HP ENVY and the HP ENVY x360 offer all the tantalizing graphics, memory, and other features of the HP Spectre, but at a more budget-friendly price point. Any of these devices is sure to take your computing into new horizons of convenience and affordability.
