HP Pavilion 15t (i5-8250U, 940MX, FHD) Laptop Review

In the Pavilion 15, HP uses a mix of plastic and metal. Only the top of the base is made from the latter, and the entire base unit is in silver color. The display bezel is made of black plastic, and the back of the lid is covered in blue. We like the workmanship of the device: the gaps are even, and we did not notice any protrusions. It is just the way it should be. In terms of stability, things are not looking quite as good, and the base unit could have been more rigid. The battery is built in.

Since the notebook has no maintenance flap, the device has to be opened for an upgrade or maintenance. To do that, you need to first take out the optical drive. Then you have to remove the screws at the bottom of the device. In addition to the visible screws, there are also screws hidden under the four rubber feet. After removing all the screws, the bottom has to be taken off with the help of a flat tool. You then have access to the memory banks, the fan, the SSD, the battery, and the WLAN module. 

In terms of the connections, the Pavilion does not offer any surprises. HP has equipped the computer with three USB-3.1 Gen-1 connections (2x Type-A, 1x Type-C). These are accompanied by one HDMI port and one Gigabit Ethernet connection. The built-in storage card reader operates fast. It achieves a maximum transfer rate of 86.9 MB/s when copying large data blocks and transfers 250 JPG image files (about 5 MB each) at a speed of 80.2 MB/s, leaving the competition clearly behind. We test storage card readers by using a reference card (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II).

The WLAN module uses an Intel chip (Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265). In addition to the 802.11a/b/g/h/n WLAN standards, it also supports the fast ac standard. The transfer speeds we measured under optimal conditions (no other WLAN devices in close proximity, close distance between notebook and server PC) turned out to be good.

Inside the Pavilion is an Intel Core i5-8250U (Kaby Lake Refresh) quad-core processor. This is an energy efficient ULV model (TDP: 15 watts) which supports Hyper-threading (running two threads per core). The processor operates at a basic speed of 1.6 GHz, which can be increased via Turbo up to 3.4 GHz.

In the multithread tests of the Cinebench benchmarks, the CPU runs at 3.4 GHz for only a few seconds, and then it is throttled to 2.4 to 2.5 GHz. In the single-thread tests of the Cinebench benchmarks, this throttling does not occur, and they run at full Turbo speed. The same goes also for the Geekbench benchmarks. The behavior is identical in mains and battery operation.

We are testing whether the Turbo is also used for long periods of time by running the multithread test of Cinebench R15 for about 30 minutes in a constant loop. After the first run, the results drop to about 515 to 520 points and remain at that level. Thus, a Turbo speed of 2.4 to 2.5 GHz can also be maintained constantly. 

The results of the CPU tests we ran are at the normal level for the built-in processor. In the Geekbench benchmarks, the Pavilion fares slightly worse than the Acer Swift 3 SF315-51G-57E5 which is equipped with the same CPU, since the working memory of the HP notebook only operates in single-channel mode (Swift 3: dual-channel mode).

A fast solid-state disk and a powerful processor ensure a smooth running system. We did not encounter any problems. The very good results in the PC Mark benchmarks attest that the notebook has more than enough computing power for office and internet applications. The dedicated graphics core enables at least limited use of computer games. A slight increase of the overall performance should be possible, if the notebook were equipped with a second module of working memory to activate the dual-channel mode.

A SATA-III SSD by SanDisk serves as the system drive. This is a model in the M.2-2280 format, which has a total capacity of 256 GB. Of this, about 190 GB is still usable in the state of delivery, and the remaining storage is distributed among the Windows installation and the recovery partition. The transfer rates are good.

The maintenance manual of the notebook tells us that the Pavilion-15 models with model numbers 15-cc1xx or 15-cc6xx can also accept NVMe-SSDs. Our test unit is one of these models. NVMe SSDs offer significantly higher transfer rates than SATA-III SSDs.

In addition to the M.2-2280 SSD, the Pavilion can also host a 2.5-inch hard drive. However, our test unit neither includes the necessary frame to insert this, nor the data cable. If required, you have to purchase them separately. 

HP has equipped the Pavilion 15 with a dedicated graphics core. The built-in GeForce 940MXGPU is considered an entry-range model. It supports DirectX 12 and operates at speeds up to 1176 MHz. The graphics core can access 2048 MB of DDR3 storage. The results in the 3D Mark benchmark are at a normal level for the GPU used here. The Lenovo IdeaPad 320-15IKB which is equipped with the same GPU fares better than the Pavilion, since it is equipped with the fast GDDR5 graphics storage.

The built-in hardware brings many computer games smoothly to the matte display. In most cases you have to limit yourself to the HD resolution (1366x768 pixels) and low to medium quality settings, in order to generate frame rates that are sufficiently high. Games that only make few demands on the hardware allow for more. However, with many games of the year 2017, things get tight and the GPU performance is not sufficient. Games such as "Assassin's Creed Origins" and "Destiny 2" require a more powerful GPU.

While idling, the fan of the Pavilion is running constantly. However, it is so quiet that it is hardly audible. The activated "Fan always on" BIOS option is responsible for this in this HP notebook. If it is deactivated, the fan often does not run during idle. Under load, the fan revs up. However, the noise level under full load (stress test) is slightly lower than under medium load. The reason for this is that the CPU is heavily throttled during the stress test.

The stereo speakers are located above the keyboard behind a perforated cover. They produce a quite decent sound which is lacking bass to a large extent. For a better sound experience, we recommend using headphones or external speakers.

Frequency comparison (Checkboxes selectable!)

While idling, we measured a maximum power consumption of 7.5 watts, which is a good value. In the beginning of the stress test (Prime95 and FurMark are running for at least one hour), the value increases to 56 watts and then drops to 47 watts after a short time, since the CPU is throttled. With only Prime95 running, the power consumption is higher at 61 watts. The power supply is rated at 90 watts.

Our practically relevant WLAN test simulates the load when calling up websites via a script. The "Balanced" power profile is active, the display brightness is set to about 150 cd/m², and the power saving functions are deactivated. The Pavilion achieves a runtime of 6:35 hours.