HP Envy 17-ce1002ng Laptop Review: A slim 17-inch machine with mixed performance

The Envy 17 sports the same design as its 13-inch sibling, a silver aluminium chassis that is simultaneously slim and sturdy. Our review unit looks just as premium as its smaller sibling too, with there being no uneven gaps between materials. The Envy 17 is noticeably thicker than its 13-inch equivalent, but this has allowed HP to include a DVD drive, which is a rarity these days.

The display also raises the base unit slightly when opened, just as the one in the Envy 13 does. This not only allows air to pass under the device for improved airflow but also should improve the typing experience somewhat.

However, while HP executed this well on the Envy 13, there are shortcomings with implementing it on a 17-inch device. Having only the front edge and hinge of the device making contact with your thighs forces all the weight through those areas, rather than it being evenly distributed as it would if the laptop lay flat. This is not as noticeable on a 13-inch compact laptop, but we quickly started feeling it with the Envy 17 on our lap.

The Envy 17 is not only a huge device, but it is hefty too. Our review unit weighs 2.8 kg, which is a touch too heavy for it to be a laptop that most people would want to carry with them on the go.

The Envy 17 has a decent set of ports, including a USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C port. Having a DVD drive and webcam kill switch on board is handy too.

The integrated card reader impressed us during our tests. Our review unit managed above-average transfer speeds with our Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II reference card in both tests that we performed, although this was only good enough for third place in our comparison tables.

The Envy 17 supports Bluetooth 5.0 and Wi-Fi 6, new standards that have yet to proliferate to all new laptops. Incidentally, you may see Wi-Fi 6 referred to elsewhere as 802.11ax, but they are the same standards.

We did not have a Wi-Fi 6 compatible router to hand during our tests, but our review unit averaged a commendable 704 Mb/s download speeds on an 802.11ac connection. Likewise, it averaged 640 Mb/s when transmitting data, putting it on par with the best of our comparison devices.

The Envy 17 has plenty of security features and more than most other consumer laptops. HP has included not only a fingerprint sensor for biometric authentication but also a webcam kill switch, which cuts the webcam with a flick of a switch. Both worked well during our tests, so you need not put a cover over your webcam when you are not using it. There is a Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM 2.0) on board too, but Microsoft requires all OEMs to include this on laptops that they sell with Windows 10 preinstalled.

The Envy 17 arrived with only a 65 W power supply and some documentation. HP sells other accessories like mice and bags on its website.

We expected more from the Envy 17 here, principally because larger laptops are generally easier to open than their 13-inch or smaller counterparts. Sadly, HP has continued with its trend of making its more premium devices devilishly hard to open. While the photo below suggests that only a few Torx screws secure the bottom plate to the chassis, HP hides a few more screws under the long rubber strip spanning the breadth of the laptop. While the strip is easy to peel away from the chassis, it is flimsy and fragile.

Not only does HP make disassembling the device a pain in that sense, but it also secures the bottom panel to the chassis with plastic clips. These are even easier to break than the rubber strip and require more patience to ease away from the chassis.

As you may be able to tell, we gave up trying to disassemble our review unit at risk of damaging it. In short, the Envy 17 is needlessly hard to disassemble.

The Envy 17 comes with a two-year manufacturer's warranty. HP offers warranty extensions too, which it calls Care Packs. These run to around 100 Euros (~$112) for an additional year's coverage.

Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies & Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

HP has upgraded the Envy 17 to Intel Comet Lake-U processors, specifically the Core i5-10210U and Core i7-10510U. The device comes with up to 16 GB of RAM, while HP offers various SSD and HDD configurations. The Envy 17 has an NVIDIA GeForce MX250 with up to 4 GB of VRAM too, making it a decent option for some simple image and video-editing, or perhaps even some light gaming.

The Core i7-10510U can clock between 1.8 and 4.8 GHz, although the time that it can spend at its highest clock speeds varies according to the TDP limits that the OEM has set and what cooling system it has included. The quad-core chip can also only reach 4.8 GHz in single-core tasks and 4.3 GHz in multi-core work.

While the Comet Lake-U processor should offer better multi-core performance than its Whiskey Lake predecessors, the one in our review unit can only reach Core i7-8565U levels in the Cinebench R15 Multi 64Bit benchmark. The same applies to single-core benchmarks, but that is not as surprising. The Core i7-10510U also throttles quickly, with its performance dropping by about 10% in a CB R15 Multi 64bit endurance test. While other devices behave similarly, the Envy 17 delivers rather underwhelming CPU performance.

Please see our CPU benchmarks comparison page for more information about the Core i7-10510U and how it compares against other processors.

The device shines in daily use though, with our review unit always running smoothly. Programs and the OS load promptly, for example, while the system can access files quickly too. PCMark confirms this impression, with the Envy 17 finishing in the upper midfield of our comparison tables.

The 512 GB Intel SSD that HP has included in the Envy 17 delivered acceptable read and write speeds in the benchmarks that we conducted, the results of which you can view below. Some of our comparison devices fare better here, but the Envy 17 is no slouch. In short, you should never notice any delays when opening folders and files.

Please see our HDD/SSD benchmarks page for more information and benchmarks.

The GeForce MX250 in our review unit has 2 GB of VRAM, but HP also sells a 4 GB version should you need better graphics performance. Our review unit performed surprisingly well in 3DMark, with it consistently achieving 10% higher scores than the average of GeForce MX250-powered devices that we have tested.

Please see our GPU benchmarks page for more information about the GeForce MX250 and how it compares against other graphics cards.

Our review unit also performed slightly better than our equally equipped comparison devices in our gaming tests. The new Envy 17 should have no issues with running older titles like BioShock Infinite at 1080p and the high graphics preset, as our graphs below demonstrate. However, you may need to switch to a lower resolution or graphics preset to play newer and more complex triple-A titles, though.

Please see our gaming benchmarks page for more examples of what games the GeForce MX250 can run and how it compares against other graphics cards.

We also subjected our review unit to a The Witcher 3 endurance test, which we left running for an hour on the ultra preset at 1080p. The Envy 17 maintained consistent frame rates during this time, so you should not experience reduced performance when gaming for prolonged periods.

Our review unit consumes between 3.6 and 61 W, making it more power-efficient than most laptops with dedicated graphics, especially GeForce MX250-equipped ones. Naturally, laptops with only integrated GPUs fare a little better here, but they have one fewer chip to power.

HP includes a 65 W power supply in the box, the wattage of which should never be exceeded, according to our tests. Hence, the Envy 17 should always remain charging even if you are pushing it to its limits.