HP Envy x360 15t-w200 Convertible Review

In another knock against practicality, the Envy x360 possesses a terribly inconvenient maintenance design which involves significant disassembly just to reach the most basic components. The first step is to carefully remove eight covers from the bottom of the machine, including all four rubber feet. Next, twelve screws are removed, after which the unit is flipped back over. Then, a plastic scribe must be used to carefully pry the entire aluminum top cover out of its bordering plastic surround, disengaging numerous clips along the way and taking great care not to damage any perimeter ports in the process.

Three separate ZIF connectors must be carefully disconnected during this step before the cover can be placed aside. Finally, the user can now access most replaceable parts, including the battery, the storage drive, the WLAN adapter, and the system fan. It is worth noting that in order for RAM replacements and upgrades to take place, the entire system board must be removed. The keyboard, meanwhile, cannot be replaced; the entire top cover is one single, monolithic piece, with the keyboard riveted using plastic rivets to the underside.

Keyboard

The keyboard on the 15t-w200 is more comfortable than what we recall from previous iterations. Although the key travel is still relatively short, the feedback is crisper and as such adjustment to typing on it is more rapid than it is with some other Ultrabook keyboards. The keys also lack the clattery sensation that many budget models exude, instead managing a more tightly-constructed sensation. It’s still merely an above-average keyboard and nowhere near the quality of a ThinkPad or Latitude, but it fits the target market just fine. Also included are a keyboard backlight and—thanks to the oversized form factor—a numeric keypad to the right.

Touchpad

The Synaptics touchpad, meanwhile, though large and spacious, is constructed of plastic (not glass, like that of many high-end models) and features a perceptible delay between movement and pointer response. The integrated buttons are also nothing special, rendering drag-and-drop operations sometimes infuriating, as integrated buttons tend to do. Overall, it’s not a bad touchpad, but it’s nothing remarkable and absolutely will beget the acquisition of a wireless mouse to offset its inadequacies.

Touchscreen

Fortunately, the x360 also features a touchscreen for easy navigation, though as previously mentioned, the bouncy hinges do it no favors in either laptop or stand form. The screen itself (lined with a sheet of protective plastic, not Gorilla Glass or similar) responds to touch perfectly however.

Measurements explain just why this is the case. With an average brightness of just 190.2 cd/m², the x360 15t appears dim in any but the tamest of environments. A brightness distribution of 82% is only average, with one quadrant (lower-right) as low as 168 cd/m². At least the black value of 0.203 cd/m² can provide a much-improved contrast ratio of 1009:1—a mollification to some degree, at least, on paper.

Our measurements also revealed just 64% coverage of the sRGB color space, and 41% of the AdobeRGB 1998 spectrum. Some competitors manage even less, but when combined with the insufficient brightness of the display panel, this only exacerbates the dull overall appearance.

CalMAN, at least, shows no offensive transgressions in the realm of color accuracy; with DeltaE values of under 4.7 and 3.86 in ColorChecker and Greyscale, respectively, the Envy is only slightly outpaced by its rivals here. Total Gamma (2.36) and the CCT Average (6834) are also both quite close to ideal.

Outdoors, the x360 is hardly usable thanks to the high-gloss screen finish and poor panel brightness. What fractional usefulness it actually possesses is limited to a very small range of shaded areas, and even then, the screen must be carefully adjusted to minimize the intrusion of obstructive reflections. Viewing angles aren't bad, but are surprisingly subpar in spite of the IPS panel; this seems mostly a factor of the plastic surface covering the touchscreen.

Although it’s quick for a 5400 RPM drive, the internal WDC Slim (model WD10SPCX) drive in the Envy x360 15t-w200 is quite obviously a huge step down from the solid-state drives powering many competing machines. While it manages over 100 MB/s read/write in sequential tests, its 4K performance—what the user really notices in day-to-day usage—is abysmal in comparison. This is a fact of all mechanical drives, however. Just be advised that, per our evaluation earlier of the maintenance procedures involved in replacing parts in the 15t-w200, aftermarket replacement is not as simple a proposition as it is with most other machines.

For the first 15 seconds or so of full CPU load, the Envy x360 15t-w200 managed the full Turbo clock rates of 3.5 GHz across both cores. After that, however, frequencies quickly dropped to 3.2 GHz, where they remained mostly consistently for the duration of the test, never to rise again. GPU stress presents less of a problem, with a stable clock rate of 1019 MHz (the maximum possible) the entire time.

Combined stress greatly favors the GPU, which still manages a rock-solid 1019 MHz. However, the CPU throttles extremely heavily, first with one core at just 400 MHz and the other 3.1 GHz, and then, both cores at 400 MHz almost consistently. This is a (very conservative) TDP limitation rather than temperature; temperatures are never a problem for the Envy x360 15t, and they never rise above 60 °C on average for any extended period of time. Obviously, the Envy isn’t meant to be a workstation, but that never was its intended purpose to begin with. Such conditions in the real world are extremely unlikely.

Even while under load, the Envy 15t-w200 only becomes moderately noisy; with a median load value of only 36 dB(A), it’s a pretty unobtrusive machine—though it does occasionally spike to a much more obvious 44 dB(A). While idling, it’s actually only slightly quieter, however, with values of 34.2 dB(A) and 33.9 dB(A) for maximum and median, respectively. It’s worth noting that the noise from the mechanical hard drive was clearly noticeable during operation, and that it can prove rather irritating in quieter environments (the hard drive is located close to the top of the base unit, which likely makes it more conspicuous).

When examining the comparison chart below, it’s important to note that variances in environmental noise ranging up to 1.2 dB(A) apply (in favor of the competition)—so it’s mostly meant as a rough point of reference.

In spite of its relatively unobtrusive operation (in most cases), the 15t-w200 still manages extremely reasonable operating temperatures. While idling, we measured top/bottom averages of 22.9 °C / 23.2 °C, respectively, with a max reading of just 25.6 °C (room temperature: 20 °C). But even more impressively, under heavy sustained load, the machine still only produced average temperatures of 26.6 °C and 26.5 °C in those same regions, with a maximum of only 38 °C.

The Envy x360’s speakers are somewhat loud, but they lack bass more than we expected given their Bang & Olufsen pedigree and namesake. Post-processing is helpful but ultimately fruitless in producing the sort of sound which would satisfy audiophiles or anyone else listening to music for a sustained period of time. Still, the trebles are discernible, and some low frequencies are detectable with the bass slider pumped up—dynamic range and clarity are not really this system’s forte however.

Probably thanks in large part to the dedicated graphics adapter, the Envy x360 15t-w200 does not impress with regard to its battery runtime results. We recorded five hours and 20 minutes in our Wi-Fi Surfing benchmark, a figure which can only claim victory over the Dell Inspiron 15 5568 (4 hours, 59 minutes). The same applies to idling and load results, both of which see competitors topping the 15t-w200 by significant margins. Once again, the practicality of the Envy x360 15t is called into question with regard to its purported positioning as a convertible do-everything all-purpose notebook by pedestrian results where it truly matters most to the target market.