Performance: Overall this laptop's performance was good, below that of many other models but still powerful enough for tasks such as email, word processing, web browsing, and streaming movies. Compared to other tested laptops, it was fast for common tasks such as web browsing and video conferencing. Applications start up quickly. It was fast when composing documents with images, calculating large data spreadsheets, and running other productivity tasks, and it was slow for manipulating images, editing videos, and calculating simulations.
Battery Life and Weight: This laptop is a fair choice for traveling. Battery life lasted 13.5 hours in a light load of web browsing tests, and 9.25 hours in a heavier load of 4K video playback tests. Results were notably longer than many similar laptops, under a workload of mixed use. At 2.2 lbs, this laptop is lightweight for a laptop of this size category.
Ease of Use: Some features of the keyboard, touchpad, and labeling, were well-designed, and were comfortable or convenient to use. The keyboard has large keys and was comfortably sized. Its high contrast letters were easy to read, and the backlighting can be useful in dark rooms.
Display: The display quality was very good overall. Colors were accurately reproduced, realistic, and natural looking. The laptop's display was brighter than most and it's anti-reflective, a plus for viewing in a brightly lit room or outdoors. The display has a wide viewing angle, especially important if more than one person needs to see the screen at a time, say, for a video or presentation. Its display has better contrast than on most other tested laptops.
Useful features and attributes on this model include: The spacious [1] plenty of room for storing your music, photos, and movies. This laptop has a full-size HDMI port and full-size DisplayPort for connecting to a TV or monitor.
Downsides: There is no memory-card reader, so you'll need to buy an external reader or connect your digital camera directly to this laptop to transfer photos. Based on results of a CR member survey, HP laptops of a similar price to this model stood out as being meaningfully worse than typical for experiencing certain problem areas such as swelling batteries, and slow startup speed.