HP Envy 13-ad000 (2017) Review

The laptop market is quite ambiguous that it becomes very difficult to make a choice on a beautiful, affordable, easy-to-use and commercially affordable product. For those who have had any experience with HP Envy 13-ad000 (2017), it is no news that this machine is such a product. Like its name “ENVY” implies, most brands envy this product due to its performance, durability, and appearance. Here, I will be looking at this ultra-slim metal beauty.

Specifications

This evaluation will concentrate on the performance of its CPU because the difference between this version and other versions of Envy 13-ad000 is the CPU. The endurance and cooling system of this machine is also two other aspects of this product that has changed, the remaining features are pretty much the same as what we got in the older version.

The Intel eight generation Core launched recently and the HP ENVY 13 got this upgrade pretty fast. Since the Intel eight generations of Core is still relatively new, some software tests cannot be carried out. This HP ENVY 13 is equipped with i7-8550U processor and it is the first batch of products with the eight generations Core and it is considered to be a top model.

CPU Performance

The eighth generation Core i7-8550U was built using the 14nm process technology and the core code Kaby Lake R, using four cores, eight threads design. This CPU clocks 1.8GHz has a Core frequency up to 4.0GHz, 3 8MB cache, and a TDP of 15W. This is a substantial upgrade from the previous CPU’s we have seen in the ENVY 13 having four cores and three caches which will significantly increase its performance.

Testing was carried out using the CINEBENCH R15 on the CPU single-core. Please note that the multi-core performance of the theoretical test, the results are for reference only. In the CINEBENCH R15 test, the multi-core processor obtained 480cb while the single-core got 151cb. From this data set, the i7-8550U performance can be described as a blast. The single core achieved results close to i7-4770K 165cb while the multi-core performance reached the gaming laptop used in the seven generations HQ processors.

Compared to the previous generation (i7-7500U), i7-8550U can be described as a comprehensive product. In the CINEBENCH R15 test, i7-7500U got 329cb and 145cb multi-core and single core performance respectively. Although the single core performance increased by only 4%, the multi-core performance skyrocketed by 46% and it is quite obvious that the core number doubled the effect.

The CPU-Z Benchmark test was compared side by side with the results obtained from the i7-2600K model. From the results, the i7-8550U single-core recorded 383.8 while the multi-core score got 1450. This result is comparable with that of the i7-2600K. Note that the i7-2600K model is a desktop processor, thus you can imagine the ultra-slim HP ENVY 13 hosting a processor whose performance is comparable to the desktop i7 processor.

GPU Performance

Since the multi-core performance of the i7-8550U doubled relative to that of its predecessor, it is easy to assume that its power consumption will also increase. To address these issues, the temperature and battery life was subjected to a special test.

In order to analyze the HP ENVY 13 hardware performance and temperature rate, a double limit test was used. Here, the Geeks3D FurMark and ADIA64 system stability test procedures for 30 minutes. The Geeks3D FurMark was set to 1080P resolution, 8X MSAA and the system stability test program set the pressure of CPU and GPU.

After 30 minutes of limit test, the CPU temperature was stable at about 79-degrees and the GPU temperature was about 67-degrees. Considering the temperature pattern, even if the performance of the HP ENVY 13 reaches a game level, the CPU full load temperature is still less than 80-degrees. This shows that although the i7-8550U performance doubled, the HP ENVY 13 has an excellent cooling system, thus the maximum temperature at top performance is still very normal.

In terms of the battery life, the HP ENVY 13 has a battery capacity of 51.4Wh. Large batteries naturally have a long life and this battery was subjected to the PCMark 8 battery life assessment test. The entire process was carried out using default settings. The brightness and volume were set at 75%, the Wi-Fi was connected and there was no human interference. The final power life is 5 hours and 30 minutes. Enhanced lighting should give results between 4-5 hours. The 5hours 30 minutes performance of this laptop is perfect and when its performance is converted to normal travel use, it can go for about a day.

Finally, the HP ENVY 13 performance significantly improved relative to other versions. Thanks to its powerful cooling system and enough battery capacity, the improved performance does not reduce the total experience, which is commendable.

Premium Design & Exquisite Screen

Here, we will discuss other major highlights that comes with the HP Envy 13-ad000.

• Premium Design: The HP ENVY 13 comes with the unique champagne gold color. It has a 3.06mm narrow frame design thus its body is comparable to a fashion magazine and it can easily fit into a girls bag. This machine has a metal fuselage design, exquisite workmanship and a CNC diamond polishing which highlights its high-value texture. In terms of thickness and weight, the HP ENVY 13 commands respect. The thickest part of the fuselage is only 13.95mm and it weighs just 1.23kg which is lighter than most laptops in the market. The small appearance or the HP ENVY 13 makes its portability comparable with that of a tablet.
• 72 % High-quality NTSC Screen: In addition to the 3.06mm narrow border, the ENVY 13 screen quality is of the mainstream high-end level of light. On the Spyder5 test, the screen color gamut reached 91% of the sRGB coverage, 68% NTSC, 71% Adobe RGB, and its brightness peaked at 298nits.
• Nvidia GeForce MX150 GPU: The MX150 GPU is believed to be similar to the GeForce GT 1030 GPU for desktop thus having this GPU on a laptop is perfect. The game performance of this GPU was tested using the new 3DMarkFire Strike Extreme test and it received 1283 points. This result means that you can fight on the entry level game. Its operation on the “LOL” is also good thus this GPU should work just well for mainstream online games.
• Unique Design: When you open the screen of the HP ENVY 13, the shaft part will hold up the fuselage and the rubber pad will prevent scratching. The keyboard brings a more comfortable input experience and the bottom gap on the keys can increase the amount of air that goes into the machine thus improving the cooling efficiency. The backlit keyboard keeps you going even in dimly lit rooms or aboard red-eye flights. With an illuminated keyboard, you can type comfortably in more environments. This design obviously serves two purposes.
• Fast Hard drive & Multiple Interfaces: The HP ENVY 13 uses Intel 360GB 4-channel PCIe 3.0 SSD with a continuous reading speed of up to 1862MB/s. It takes this beauty only 8 seconds to boot which means that it does not experience any form of lagging. The HP ENVY 13 sports a very fast 2 × Type-C 3.1 interface and it also has another 2 × USB3.1, one of which supports shut down charging. SD card slot and 3.5mm headphone microphone port are also available.

Product Summary:

The HP Envy 13-ad000 (2017) with upgraded eighth-generation Core CPU has proven to possess maximum performance. High performance usually comes at a cost which is “low battery life” but this is not the case with the HP ENVY 13 which retains a 5 hours 30 minutes battery life and good temperature on high performance. The general design of the HP ENVY 13 can best be described as “premium”. Coupled with its powerful CPU and GPU performance, it easily satisfies the portability and performance that a user desires. This machine has proven that thing and light laptops don’t have to come with limitation. It is remarkably sleek but remains exceptionally powerful. The bottom-line is that the HP Envy 13-ad000 (2017) is lean, sculpted and equipped with top quality hardware that takes on about anything that you need right from intense gaming to long hours of professional usage.

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