Verdict
The battery could also be small and the show colourless, however this low cost HP Laptop computer 14 continues to be a well-balanced and inexpensive all-rounder. It has the most recent technology Intel silicon and an awesome webcam as well.
Execs
- Superb worth
- Newest thirteenth technology Intel CPU
- Spectacular keyboard and audio system
- Biometric safety
Cons
- Mediocre battery life
- IPS show is colourless
- Virtually not possible to improve
- Kind-C port doesn’t assist energy or video
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Fingerprint reader and Full HD webcamGood high quality webcam and biometric safety for underneath £500. -
Twin front-facing audio systemThe audio system are loud and tuneful, superb for watching movies or listening to music. -
IPS showSports activities an IPS panel that lacks spectacular colors, however performs higher than a TN panel.
Introduction
In case you are available in the market for a price range laptop computer, you’ll want to be ready for some elements of it to be fairly wretched. Fortunately, HP thinks the impecunious laptop computer purchaser deserves higher and has delivered the sub-£500 HP Laptop computer 14 to market with no obvious deficiencies.
All of the fundamentals are nicely lined, and there are a number of options, like a fingerprint reader and a 1080p webcam, that you’ll seek for in useless on some costlier laptops. There’s a quirk within the naming conference I’d prefer to clear up, all indicators level to this HP Pavilion SE 14 laptop computer at Currys being the very same as this HP Laptop computer 14 however there’s a small variation in mannequin quantity. The specs and {hardware} are similar, making it a sound technique to get this laptop computer within the UK.
Design and Keyboard
- Plastic however nonetheless good and well-made
- The keyboard is stable and wise
- Plastic touchpad has no foibles
You don’t get a excessive design for this form of cash, however the HP Laptop computer 14 continues to be a sensible and enticing laptop computer with no sharp edges and no creaks or groans while you manhandle it. The lid is stiffer than many I’ve encountered, and the hinge feels very sturdy. When you get it in your fingers, you’ll be able to inform that it’s made largely from plastic, however it nonetheless feels fairly stable. Additionally it is eminently moveable, weighing 1.4 kg and measuring 323.7 x 215 x 17.9mm.
For an inexpensive and cheerful laptop computer, the HP Laptop computer 14 has a good choice of ports with two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 knowledge ports (one on either side), a Kind-C port, once more 3.2 Gen 1 spec, an HDMI 1.4 video output and a 3.5mm audio combo jack. The Kind-C port doesn’t assist charging or DP Alt Mode video, so you have to to maintain the small 45W DC charging brick available.
The keyboard solely has one design flaw: the ability button is a part of the principle format and sits between the Delete and Print Display screen buttons, which is hardly superb. On the plus facet, the F1 key opens the Home windows emoji menu, which is extra handy than typing Win + > everytime you wish to ship a fast thumbs up. The deck shouldn’t be fully inflexible, however it’s important to press fairly firmly within the center to note what little flex there may be.
The keycaps are produced from a rough-feel gray plastic, which I choose to the sleek silver affairs typically discovered on HP’s cheaper residence laptops. The white graphics are very clear, which is helpful on condition that there’s no backlight, although I’d have been stunned to seek out one at this worth level.
Given the value worth, I used to be stunned to discover a fingerprint reader conveniently located on the precise of the keyboard deck under the cursor keys. Biometric safety isn’t given in laptops on this worth bracket, so kudos to HP for becoming it to the HP Laptop computer 14.
Getting contained in the HP Laptop computer 14 includes eradicating the 2 rubber strips that act as ft and canopy two of the six screws holding the bottom plate and getting fairly brutal with the plastic finding clips, a typical characteristic of HP laptop computer design. Since taking a knife to evaluation samples and doing everlasting harm is mostly frowned upon, I left nicely alone.
If you happen to rip the ft off and wrestle the plastic clips free, you’ll be able to apparently entry the 2 SODIMM slots and the one SSD bay, however I can’t vouch for that. It’s moot if getting the bottom off is so troublesome that it’s going to discourage most homeowners from endeavor primary upgrades or important cleansing.
Like many individuals, I’ve two telephone chargers mendacity round that might simply cost the HP Laptop computer 14, so utilizing a Kind-C port to cost and making the 45W energy brick an non-obligatory additional can be an apparent inexperienced transfer. From spring 2026, Type-C charging on laptops will be mandated by EU law, so it will be good to see main laptop computer makers anticipate this.
The HP Laptop computer 14 is EPEAT Gold registered, and HP declare that it’s produced from recycled supplies reminiscent of “aluminium, ocean-bound plastics, and water-based paints,” however it doesn’t go into any particulars concerning what share of the content material is recycled. The packaging is made totally from cardboard with no styrofoam, which makes for simple recycling.
Show and Sound
- FullHD 14inch IPS with huge viewing angles
- Acceptable brightness however lacks color
- Good audio system and a fair higher webcam
At this worth stage, probably the most you’ll be able to anticipate from a laptop computer show is that it’s moderately brilliant, 1,920 x 1,080 in decision and IPS, the latter a hurdle the Asus Zenbook 15 I lately examined fell at, due to a low lease TN show.
The HP Laptop computer 14 does higher than the Zenbook due to an IPS panel that helps huge viewing angles with none trace of chromatic shift. Most brightness is an affordable 267nits, which, when mixed with a matte end, does an excellent job of retaining reflections at bay. Most black luminance registered at 0.2nits, leading to an excellent distinction ratio of 1270:1.
Vibrant, the display shouldn’t be, masking simply 58.1% of the sRGB gamut, 40.5% AdobeRGB and 41.5% DCI-P3. The Delta E color accuracy was a reasonably woeful 5.4, which implies anybody with a educated eye will be capable to sport that issues are out of whack. It simply seems to be like the colors are muted and uninteresting to the remainder of us, however once more, it’s not unacceptable for a price range laptop computer.
The speaker system performs nicely. The utmost quantity measured in opposition to a pink noise supply at a 1mn distance was a stable 74.8dB(A), and the sound high quality was good, with an affordable quantity of bass and loads of element and house. Even at most quantity, there was no distortion, making listening to music a nice expertise.
I used to be shocked to find that the webcam is a extremely succesful 1080p affair that produced a pointy and fairly vibrant picture even in less-than-perfect lighting situations. I’ve encountered a lot worse on laptops that price way more. The digital camera additionally has a bodily privateness shutter to stop undesirable distant surveillance.
Efficiency
- Raptor Lake Core i5 has ample energy for on a regular basis duties
- Gaming functionality shouldn’t be as dangerous as you’d anticipate
- No points with fan noise or overheating
The HP Laptop computer 14 is constructed round an Intel Core i5-1335U processor with 8GB of DDR4 RAM and Intel’s built-in Xe graphics answer. The 1335U is a 10-core chip with two efficiency cores, a most turbo increase velocity of 4.6GHz and a regular TDP of 12W. It’s not what you’d name a stump-puller, however it has greater than sufficient poke for on a regular basis residence and enterprise duties.
The Cinebench R23 scores of 5,950 multi-core and 1,684 single-core are nothing to get broadly enthusiastic about, however they’re each near the form of scores you’d anticipate to see from a 2020 Eleventh-generation Tiger Lake Core i7-1185G7 chip which provides you a sign of the efficiency strides that Intel has made within the final two years.
The HP Laptop computer 14 didn’t appear as hopeless at gaming as anticipated. Clearly, you gained’t be enjoying Cyberpunk 2077 on it, however the boomer shooter that everybody is at the moment speaking about, Turbo Overkill, ran comfortably at 40fps as soon as I’d set the decision to 720 x 1,280 and lowered some element settings from Excessive to Medium. The much less demanding Critical Sam 4 in the meantime ran at 58fps at 1,920 x 1,080: You possibly can’t ask for extra from an affordable laptop computer with a U-series processor and no dGPU.
The SSD contained in the HP Laptop computer 14 is a Samsung-made 512GB PCIe 4 unit that achieved common sequential learn and write speeds of three,595MB/s and a pair of,580MB/s, respectively. All of these information are somewhat spectacular when on the worth, you usually find yourself with a 256GB PCIe 3 drive from a producer you’ve by no means heard of.
The Realtek RTL8852BE wi-fi card helps Wi-Fi 6 however solely over the two.4Ghz and 5GHz wavelengths and Bluetooth 5.3. The absence of 6GHz Wi-Fi was hardly sudden, and the community efficiency was in any other case totally passable.
Software program
- Loads of bloatware, however it’s all simply eliminated
- The 2 HP management panels are pointless
Open up the All Apps listing, and also you’ll discover at least 9 HP apps listed, starting from HP Audio Centre to HP System Occasion Utility, plus the MyHP and Omen Gaming Hub management panels. For the common person, all bar the primary, are just about ineffective. Having gadget administration apps like MyHP and the Omen Gaming Hub on a laptop computer this primary is pointless as there aren’t any settings to handle.
Together with the inevitable anti-virus package deal (McAfee on this case), there’s a choice of apps from Dropbox, Adobe, Reserving.com, ExpressVPN, LastPass and the Alexa app. These can all be deleted simply sufficient.
Battery Life
- Six hours 10 minutes within the PCMark 10 Workplace benchmark
- 41Wh capability can solely be stretched to this point
Regardless of how environment friendly the processor is, you aren’t going to get a stellar run time from a battery capability of simply 41Wh. I anticipated between 5 and 6 hours from a cost, so the 6 hours 10 minutes consequence from the PCMark 10 Workplace battery check was on the higher finish of my expectations. It’s attainable to eke out 7 hours in case you are very cautious, however even 6 hours isn’t a nasty consequence for a small, low cost laptop computer.
Newest offers
Do you have to purchase it?
In order for you an awesome worth laptop computer for underneath £600
As a package deal, it has few flaws, providing good efficiency, first rate battery life, a tuneful sound system and a show that, if not good per se, is nice sufficient for the value. The high-quality webcam and fingerprint scanner have been sudden options on a laptop computer at this worth.
In case you are after a excessive stage of display high quality and upgradeability
The show is drab and makes any content material look dreary and uninteresting. The problem in gaining access to the within additionally counts in opposition to it. Upgrading the RAM and storage and cleansing the followers are primary upkeep jobs that shouldn’t require particular abilities or instruments or inflict everlasting harm.
Remaining Ideas
For £550, there actually is nothing critically improper with the HP Laptop computer 14. Efficiency is nice, and it’s a classy and well-made little bit of equipment. The show might be higher, however that’s extra a case of getting what you anticipate for the cash somewhat than getting greater than you anticipate.
The plain competitors for the HP Laptop computer 14 comes from Acer’s Aspire vary of price range laptops, and we’ve lately reviewed the Aspire 3 and Aspire 5. The Acer sells for the same worth to the HP Laptop computer 14 however solely has a 256GB SSD and a low-rent TN show. Given the selection, I’d take the brand new HP in a heartbeat.
For a general-purpose laptop computer for on a regular basis residence, college, or work use, the HP Laptop computer 14 ticks all of the packing containers and will present a number of years of dependable service due to the latest-gen Intel processor. It’s only a disgrace that HP has made accessing the internals so unnecessarily troublesome.
How we check
Each laptop computer we evaluation goes by means of a sequence of uniform checks designed to gauge key issues, together with construct high quality, efficiency, display high quality and battery life.
These embody formal artificial benchmarks, scripted checks, and real-world checks.
We used as our most important laptop computer for a minimum of per week.
Examined the efficiency by way of each benchmark checks and real-world use.
We examined the display with a colorimeter and real-world use.
We examined the battery with a benchmark check and real-world use.
FAQs
Completely. For the cash (£550 on the time of writing), the Laptop computer 14 is a good little general-purpose laptop computer with an up-to-date Raptor Lake CPU and an honest quantity of RAM and storage. The webcam and audio system deserve particular reward, and it’s a really well-balanced package deal.
Sure. This vary sits on the backside of the HP laptop computer lineup, under the mid-range Envy sequence, and high-end Spectre sequence. These machines don’t look or really feel as low cost as their worth tags counsel making them good worth purchases.
Trusted Evaluations check knowledge
PCMark 10
Cinebench R23 multi core
Cinebench R23 single core
Geekbench 5 single core
Geekbench 5 multi core
Geekbench 6 single core
Geekbench 6 multi core
3DMark Time Spy
CrystalDiskMark Learn velocity
CrystalDiskMark Write Velocity
Brightness (SDR)
Black stage
Distinction ratio
sRGB
Adobe RGB
DCI-P3
PCMark Battery (workplace)
UK RRP
CPU
Producer
Quiet Mark Accredited
Display screen Measurement
Storage Capability
Entrance Digital camera
Battery
Battery Hours
Measurement (Dimensions)
Weight
Working System
Launch Date
First Reviewed Date
Mannequin Quantity
Decision
Refresh Price
Ports
Contact Display screen
Convertible?
