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HP Envy 15 Notebook Review

All-rounder. The Envy belongs to the group of 15.6-inch all-rounders. The computer does not lack processing performance. However, the display of the notebook is not convincing.

For the original German review, see here.

The Envy 15-k203ng is a Broadwell upgrade of the Envy 15-k010ng we reviewed in 2014. Apart from a powerful Core i7 processor, the notebook also houses a GeForce GTX 850M graphics card. So, computer games are not a problem. Our review will reveal whether the new processor is advantageous or disadvantageous.

The Envy is priced at about 950 Euros (~$1013). So, it is significantly more expensive than competitors like the Acer Aspire VN7-571G-754H (about 730 Euros, ~$778, without Windows OS). The Asus N551JK-CN166H costs about as much as the Envy. Because of its quite high price, representatives of the Aspire VN7-591G series and the Lenovo Y50 series also belong to the competitors.

Since both Envy models reviewed by us have the same design, we will not cover case, connectivity, input devices and speakers here. Information about these is available in our HP Envy 15-k010ng review.

HP Envy 15-k203ng (Envy 15 Series)
Processor
Graphics adapter
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M - 4 GB VRAM, Core: 1084 MHz, Memory: 900 MHz, DDR3, ForceWare 347.52 (9.18.13.4752, Optimus
Memory
12 GB 
, DDR3, dual channel, two RAM slots (both occupied)
Display
15.60 inch 16:9, 1920 x 1080 pixel, AU Optronics, TN LED, glossy: no
Mainboard
Intel Broadwell-U PCH-LP (Premium)
Storage
Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB, 1000 GB 
, 5400 rpm, 880 GB free
Soundcard
Realtek ALC290 @ Broadwell PCH-LP High Definition Audio Controller
Connections
1 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 1 HDMI, 1 Kensington Lock, Audio Connections: Audio combo, Card Reader: SD, 1 Fingerprint Reader, Sensors: brightness sensor, accelerometer
Networking
Realtek RTL8168/8111 Gigabit-LAN (10/100/1000MBit/s), Broadcom BCM43142 (b/g/n = Wi-Fi 4/), Bluetooth 4.0
Optical drive
hp DVDRW GUB0N
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 26.7 x 384.5 x 260.2 ( = 1.05 x 15.14 x 10.24 in)
Battery
41 Wh Lithium-Ion, 14.8 V, 2580 mAh
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64 Bit
Camera
Webcam: HD web cam
Additional features
Speakers: stereo, Keyboard: Chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, Cyberlink Media Suite 10, Cyberlink YouCam, Dropbox 25 GB, McAfee LiveSafe-Internet Security (trial version), MS Office (trial version), 24 Months Warranty
Weight
2.34 kg ( = 82.54 oz / 5.16 pounds), Power Supply: 453 g ( = 15.98 oz / 1 pounds)
Price
949 Euro
Note: The manufacturer may use components from different suppliers including display panels, drives or memory sticks with similar specifications.

 

Display

HP equipped the Envy with a matte 15.6-inch display with a native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels and a brightness of 285.8 cd/m². Basically, the brightness is good, but a 950-Euro (~$1013) notebook should perform better. Contrast (381:1) and black value (0.78 cd/m²) are not convincing. Again, HP should do better for this price point.

271
cd/m²
315
cd/m²
291
cd/m²
273
cd/m²
297
cd/m²
287
cd/m²
267
cd/m²
268
cd/m²
303
cd/m²
Distribution of brightness
AU Optronics tested with X-Rite i1Pro 2
Maximum: 315 cd/m² (Nits) Average: 285.8 cd/m²
Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 297 cd/m²
Contrast: 381:1 (Black: 0.78 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 11.14 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5
ΔE Greyscale 12.16 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
51.2% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
57% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
79% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
55.1% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 3.13

The colors are not pleasing, either. In state of delivery, the average color shift is 11.14. Such high values are usual for the budget segment. A value smaller than 3 would be desirable. In addition, the display is bluish.

CalMAN - ColorChecker
CalMAN - ColorChecker
CalMAN - Gray levels
CalMAN - Gray levels
CalMAN - Color saturation
CalMAN - Color saturation

The built-in display is a TN type. So, the viewing angles are narrow. The notebook can be used outdoors - as long as the sun does not shine on the display too brightly.

The Envy outdoors
The Envy outdoors
HP Envy 15-k203ng
TN 1920x1080
HP Envy 15-k010ng
TN 1920x1080
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
IPS 1920x1080
Asus N551JK-CN166H
IPS 1920x1080
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
TN 1920x1080
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
IPS 3840x2160
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
IPS 1920x1080
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
IPS 1920x1080
Display
-10%
7%
22%
-34%
18%
12%
4%
Display P3 Coverage
55.1
49.35
-10%
63.2
15%
67.3
22%
35.98
-35%
64.5
17%
66.9
21%
61.5
12%
sRGB Coverage
79
71.8
-9%
80.6
2%
96.7
22%
52.8
-33%
94.5
20%
84
6%
78.1
-1%
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage
57
51.1
-10%
58.9
3%
69.4
22%
37.28
-35%
66.2
16%
61.4
8%
57.1
0%
Screen
8%
43%
39%
-8%
49%
32%
22%
Brightness middle
297
343
15%
320
8%
323
9%
227.1
-24%
301
1%
317
7%
299
1%
Brightness
286
330
15%
283
-1%
312
9%
221
-23%
303
6%
319
12%
299
5%
Brightness Distribution
85
84
-1%
83
-2%
83
-2%
85
0%
87
2%
87
2%
77
-9%
Black Level *
0.78
0.75
4%
0.32
59%
0.38
51%
0.722
7%
0.3
62%
0.46
41%
0.54
31%
Contrast
381
457
20%
1000
162%
850
123%
315
-17%
1003
163%
689
81%
554
45%
Colorchecker dE 2000 *
11.14
9.72
13%
5.31
52%
7.4
34%
10.13
9%
3.15
72%
5.79
48%
5.96
46%
Greyscale dE 2000 *
12.16
11.24
8%
4.73
61%
6.24
49%
10.04
17%
3.94
68%
5.01
59%
5.52
55%
Gamma
3.13 70%
2.3 96%
2.36 93%
2.98 74%
2.15 102%
2.35 94%
2.35 94%
2.29 96%
CCT
12217 53%
11010 59%
5980 109%
8098 80%
10438 62%
6855 95%
7347 88%
5831 111%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)
51.2
46
-10%
52.9
3%
69
35%
34.26
-33%
61
19%
55
7%
51
0%
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)
94.4
Total Average (Program / Settings)
-1% / 3%
25% / 33%
31% / 34%
-21% / -15%
34% / 41%
22% / 27%
13% / 17%

* ... smaller is better

Performance

The Envy 15-k203ng is an all-round notebook with size of 15.6-inches. Its processing performance is sufficient for everyday tasks, and it can also run computer games. Our test device is priced at about 950 Euros (~$1013). There are also other models with Haswell and Broadwell processors available.

Processor

The Envy houses a Core i7-5500U dual-core processor (Broadwell) with a base clock of 2.4 GHz. Thanks to Turbo the clock rate can increase to 2.9 GHz (two cores) and 3 GHz (one core). The Turbo is used in mains operation and on battery, although it is used a bit more intensively in mains operation. Regardless of the power source, the CPU clocks at 2.9 GHz in the single-thread tests of the Cinebench benchmarks, while it runs the multi-thread tests at 2.7 to 2.9 GHz (mains operation) and 2.7 to 2.8 GHz (on battery), respectively. So, the notebook delivers slightly better results (Cinebench R11.5: 2.87 points vs. 3.02 points) in the multi-thread tests in mains operation.

Cinebench R10 Rendering Single 32Bit
4672
Cinebench R10 Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit
9773
Cinebench R10 Shading 32Bit
6398
Cinebench R15 CPU Single 64Bit
120 Points
Cinebench R15 CPU Multi 64Bit
289 Points
Cinebench R15 OpenGL 64Bit
71.8 fps
Cinebench R15 Ref. Match 64Bit
99.6 %
Help
Cinebench R15
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
289 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
261 Points -10%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
323 Points +12%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
490 Points +70%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
653 Points +126%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
657 Points +127%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
272 Points -6%
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
120 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
108 Points -10%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
130 Points +8%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
125 Points +4%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
136 Points +13%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
137 Points +14%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
119 Points -1%
Cinebench R11.5
CPU Multi 64Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
2.79 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
2.8 Points
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
3.5 Points
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
5.29 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
7.1 Points
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
7.22 Points
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
2.92 Points
CPU Single 64Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
1.35 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
1.25 Points
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
1.46 Points
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
1.46 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
1.53 Points
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
1.53 Points
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
1.35 Points
Cinebench R10
Rendering Multiple CPUs 32Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
9773 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
8662 Points -11%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
10668 Points +9%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
14329 Points +47%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
19521 Points +100%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
19497 Points +99%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
9148 Points -6%
Rendering Single 32Bit (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
4672 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
4109 Points -12%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
4773 Points +2%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
4999 Points +7%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
5058 Points +8%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
4975 Points +6%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
4527 Points -3%
Geekbench 3
32 Bit Single-Core Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
2884 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
2656 Points -8%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
3252 Points +13%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
3246 Points +13%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
2646 Points -8%
32 Bit Multi-Core Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
5982 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
5323 Points -11%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
12211 Points +104%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
12251 Points +105%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
5301 Points -11%
Sunspider - 1.0 Total Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
101.7 ms *
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
123.1 ms * -21%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
88.3 ms * +13%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
96 ms * +6%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
84.4 ms * +17%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
113.7 ms * -12%
Mozilla Kraken 1.1 - Total (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
2278 ms *
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
2558 ms * -12%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
2168 ms * +5%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
2009 ms * +12%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
1985 ms * +13%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
2321 ms * -2%
Octane V2 - Total Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
14294 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
12442 Points -13%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
15140 Points +6%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
16207 Points +13%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
16853 Points +18%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
13750 Points -4%
Peacekeeper - --- (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
2749 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
2446 Points -11%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
3019 Points +10%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
2698 Points -2%

* ... smaller is better

System Performance

The system works smoothly and we did not face any problems. The results in the PCMark benchmarks are good, too. The Envy cannot stand out against notebooks like the Aspire VN7-571G-574H, which comes with a slightly weaker processor. Computers like the Aspire VN7-591G-77A9 with a quad-core CPU and a faster GPU perform better than the Envy.

PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2
3130 points
PCMark 8 Creative Score Accelerated v2
3491 points
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2
4153 points
Help
PCMark 8 - Home Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
3130 Points
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
3729 Points +19%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
3086 Points -1%
Lenovo Y70 DU004HUS
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
3096 Points -1%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
3096 Points -1%
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
3099 Points -1%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
3113 Points -1%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
3291 Points +5%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
3603 Points +15%

Storage Devices

Owners of the Envy will not run out of storage space quickly. The built-in Seagate hard drive has a capacity of 1 TB and works at 5400 rpm. The transfer rates measured by us are within the normal range of a 5400 rpm hard drive. Although HP charges about 950 Euros (~$1013) for the Envy, the computer only comes with a conventional hard drive. This is insufficient. The laptop should feature an SSD as system drive in addition to the conventional hard drive.

Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
Transfer Rate Minimum: 2.5 MB/s
Transfer Rate Maximum: 106.1 MB/s
Transfer Rate Average: 80 MB/s
Access Time: 17.6 ms
Burst Rate: 269.1 MB/s
CPU Usage: 3.3 %

Graphics Card

The Envy features a graphics switch (Optimus). Intel's HD Graphics 5500 is used for everyday tasks and on battery. Nvidia's GeForce GTX 850M graphics card is responsible for demanding applications like computer games. The graphics units are switched automatically, but manual selection is also possible. The GeForce belongs to the upper mid-range GPU class, and its base clock is 902 MHz. Thanks to Turbo, the clock rate can increase to 1084 MHz. The results of the 3DMark benchmarks are not surprising. The HP computer performs slightly better than competitors like the Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H, since it features a slightly more powerful processor.

3DMark 11 Performance
3961 points
3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score
50365 points
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score
9461 points
3DMark Fire Strike Score
2579 points
Help
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
3961 Points
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
3829 Points -3%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
3912 Points -1%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
4255 Points +7%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
5061 Points +28%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
5210 Points +32%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
5124 Points +29%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
1905 Points -52%
3DMark
1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
50365 Points
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
42551 Points -16%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
47901 Points -5%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
61456 Points +22%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
84568 Points +68%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
82813 Points +64%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
108034 Points +115%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
30990 Points -38%
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
9461 Points
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
8259 Points -13%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
8783 Points -7%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
9818 Points +4%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
13255 Points +40%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
15550 Points +64%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
16111 Points +70%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
4307 Points -54%
1280x720 Sky Diver Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
8665 Points
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
8154 Points -6%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
8340 Points -4%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
11750 Points +36%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
11663 Points +35%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
3740 Points -57%
1920x1080 Fire Strike Score (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
2579 Points
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
2391 Points -7%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
2632 Points +2%
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
2675 Points +4%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
3517 Points +36%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
3733 Points +45%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
3630 Points +41%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
946 Points -63%

Gaming Performance

The Envy performs well in computer games. Most current games run in HD resolution (1366x768 pixels) and you can usually select medium to high quality settings. The native Full HD resolution of the screen can only be used in a few games. However, the gaming performance is not impressive in view of the price point. The Aspire VN7-571G-574H (without Windows OS) is about 220 Euros (~$234) cheaper and achieves almost identical frame rates. The gaming performance of the about 170 Euros (~$181) cheaper Lenovo Y50-70 59428452 (without Windows OS) is even better thanks to its GeForce GTX 860M GPU.

low med. high ultra
Tomb Raider (2013) 214.4 112.1 65 31.1
Tomb Raider
1366x768 Normal Preset AA:FX AF:4x (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
112.1 fps
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
116.1 fps +4%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
163.7 fps +46%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
156.6 fps +40%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
36.2 fps -68%
1366x768 High Preset AA:FX AF:8x (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
65 fps
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
67.5 fps +4%
Lenovo IdeaPad Y50
GeForce GTX 860M, 4700HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
97 fps +49%
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
104.6 fps +61%
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
95.7 fps +47%
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
21.3 fps -67%

Emissions & Energy

System Noise

The system noise of the Envy is always audible while idle. This is once again due to an HP specific BIOS option called "Fan Always on" being enabled. If it is disabled, the fan sometimes falls silent. Certainly, the fan has harder work under load. As a result, the noise level increases to 44.8 dB - a normal value in view of the performance. At least the CPU and GPU do not throttle.

Noise Level

Idle
33.4 / 33.4 / 33.4 dB(A)
DVD
37.6 / dB(A)
Load
42.1 / 44.8 dB(A)
  red to green bar
 
 
30 dB
silent
40 dB(A)
audible
50 dB(A)
loud
 
min: dark, med: mid, max: light   Voltcraft sl-320 (15 cm distance)

Temperature

The Envy during the stress test
The Envy during the stress test

The Envy behaves differently in the stress test (Prime95 and Furmark run for at least an hour) in mains operation and on battery. In mains operation, the processor clocks at 2.5 at 2.6 GHz and the graphics core uses the maximum clock (1084 MHz). On battery, the CPU works at 2.4 to 2.6 GHz and the clock rate of the CPU hovers between 550 and 810 MHz. You do not have to worry about excessive heating. Even during the stress test, the Envy only exceeds 40 °C in two measurement segments. In terms of temperature increase, the Envy is on par with its Haswell sibling.

Max. Load
 36.8 °C
98 F
35.8 °C
96 F
24.5 °C
76 F
 
 38.4 °C
101 F
43.3 °C
110 F
23.8 °C
75 F
 
 30.1 °C
86 F
30 °C
86 F
26.4 °C
80 F
 
Maximum: 43.3 °C = 110 F
Average: 32.1 °C = 90 F
23.5 °C
74 F
29.9 °C
86 F
43.2 °C
110 F
24.3 °C
76 F
27.2 °C
81 F
39.8 °C
104 F
25.6 °C
78 F
26.6 °C
80 F
32.6 °C
91 F
Maximum: 43.2 °C = 110 F
Average: 30.3 °C = 87 F
Power Supply (max.)  46.2 °C = 115 F | Room Temperature 21.5 °C = 71 F | Voltcraft IR-360
(±) The average temperature for the upper side under maximal load is 32.1 °C / 90 F, compared to the average of 31.2 °C / 88 F for the devices in the class Multimedia.
(±) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 43.3 °C / 110 F, compared to the average of 36.9 °C / 98 F, ranging from 21.1 to 71 °C for the class Multimedia.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 43.2 °C / 110 F, compared to the average of 39.1 °C / 102 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 22.8 °C / 73 F, compared to the device average of 31.2 °C / 88 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 30.1 °C / 86.2 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.8 °C / 83.8 F (-1.3 °C / -2.4 F).

Power Consumption

The maximum power consumption of the Envy is a good 10.5 Watt while idle. The Haswell sibling is only slightly better. Under load the Envy is relatively frugal. With 67.3 Watt, it needs significantly less energy than comparable computers like the Aspire VN7-571G-574H (79.8 Watt) during the stress test. The power consumption is also lower than its Haswell sibling's (72.1 Watt).

Power Consumption
Off / Standbydarklight 0.1 / 0.3 Watt
Idledarkmidlight 5.4 / 9.9 / 10.6 Watt
Load midlight 37.6 / 67.3 Watt
 color bar
Key: min: dark, med: mid, max: light        Voltcraft VC 940
Currently we use the Metrahit Energy, a professional single phase power quality and energy measurement digital multimeter, for our measurements. Find out more about it here. All of our test methods can be found here.

Battery Life

Our realistic WLAN test automatically opens websites in 40-second intervals. The profile "balanced" is active and the display brightness is set to about 150 cd/m². The Envy achieves a battery runtime of 4:49 h and outperforms its Haswell sibling (4:09 h) by 40 minutes.

Battery Runtime
WiFi Websurfing (IE 11)
4h 49min
Battery Runtime
WiFi v1.3 (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k203ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 5500U, Seagate Momentus SpinPoint M8 ST1000LM024 HN-M101MBB
289 min
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H
GeForce GTX 850M, 5200U, Seagate ST500LM000 Solid State Hybrid Drive
448 min
WiFi (sort by value)
HP Envy 15-k010ng
GeForce GTX 850M, 4510U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP
249 min
Asus N551JK-CN166H
GeForce GTX 850M, 4200H, HGST Travelstar 5K1000 HTS541010A9E680
271 min
Lenovo Y70 DU004HUS
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Western Digital WD10S21X SSHD 1TB + 8GB SSD-Cache
218 min
Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-591G-75TD
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Lite-On IT L8T-256L9G
181 min
Acer Aspire V 15 Nitro VN7-591G-77A9
GeForce GTX 860M, 4710HQ, Kingston RBU-SNS8100S3128GD
277 min
Toshiba Satellite L50-B-1TD
Radeon R7 M260, 4510U, Toshiba HG6 THNSNJ256GMCU
328 min

Pros

+ matte display
+ gaming capable
+ big storage capacity
+ Hardly gets warmer

Cons

- low-contrast TN display with narrow viewing angles
- no maintenance hatch
- expensive

Verdict

HP Envy 15-k203ng. Test model courtesy of Notebooksbilliger
HP Envy 15-k203ng. Test model courtesy of Notebooksbilliger

With the Envy 15-k203ng, HP offers a 15.6-inch all-round notebook. It brings a lot of processing performance and can run almost all current computer games, albeit with reduced graphics quality. In addition, the storage capacity is big. The computer hardly gets warmer and works quietly most of the time. The battery runtimes can be called average at best. In view of the price, the display can be considered a joke. HP decided to incorporate a cheap TN display with narrow viewing angles and low contrast. Only the brightness is just acceptable. A viewing-angle stable IPS display should have been obligatory. The maintenance possibilities are also not convincing. If you want to upgrade the RAM, you need to disassemble the notebook. However, many other manufacturers do not perform better in this aspect, either.

Alike with many recent HP notebooks, we have to criticize the steep price. Price and performance are not balanced. HP should bring significantly better features for about 950 Euros (~$1013).

Those not keen on HP's design should pick the Acer Aspire V15 Nitro VN7-571G-574H in our opinion. Its display (IPS) is better by far, and it is currently available for about 730 Euros (~$778, without Windows OS). If you add the price of a Windows license, the computer is still above 150 Euros (~$160) cheaper than the Envy.

HP Envy 15-k203ng - 03/13/2015 v4(old)
Sascha Mölck

Chassis
77 / 98 → 79%
Keyboard
77%
Pointing Device
83%
Connectivity
68 / 81 → 84%
Weight
61 / 20-67 → 87%
Battery
88%
Display
77%
Games Performance
86 / 85 → 100%
Application Performance
84 / 92 → 91%
Temperature
91%
Noise
78 / 95 → 82%
Audio
63%
Camera
58 / 85 → 68%
Average
76%
82%
Multimedia - Weighted Average

Pricecompare

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Sascha Mölck, 2015-03-20 (Update: 2018-05-15)