Best HP laptops in 2024: our comparison

Are you looking for a good HP brand laptop? We have put together for you a selection of the best HP laptops currently available on the market, according to your different needs.

HP is a household name in the world of computing, offering a diverse range of laptops catering to various needs and budgets. With a plethora of options available, choosing the best HP laptop for you can feel overwhelming.

HP (Hewlett-Packard) is the second largest seller of laptop computers in the world after Lenovo. There are many references to HP laptops: so how do you find your way between ultraportables, hybrid PCs, Chromebooks, and gaming laptops? To help you in your quest for the perfect computer, we explored the Californian manufacturer's range and selected our favorite models. We will only highlight computers running Windows here, which therefore excludes Chromebooks, although HP offers a certain number of them.

Want a broader view of the laptop market in 2024? Head over to our general guide to the best laptops. If your budget is more limited, you may find the laptop of your dreams in our selection of laptops for less than 1000 euros.

HP gaming laptops: the Omen range

The HP 17-inch gaming laptop: HP Omen 17-ck0039nf

Let's start with a gaming laptop with a formidable performance. The HP Omen 17 is a high-end model, versatile and capable of running the most recent games. If it is not the thinnest 17-inch PC, it nevertheless sports an exemplary sobriety design, with an all-black chassis mixing plastic and aluminum. The keyboard is of very good quality, although some may regret the absence of a numeric keypad. It has been designed for gamers and is backlit in RGB. Overall, the finishes are nice for this price range.

Its panel, without being exceptional, is of good quality. It offers Full HD definition (which is certainly a little tight for 17.3 inches) and a pleasant refresh rate of 144 Hz. This screen also has an input lag of 3 ms, which will avoid latency and will appeal to players. And in terms of performance? Thanks to its GeForce RTX 3070 GPU, coupled with the Intel Core i7-11800H SoC, it performs very well on fairly recent games such as Red Dead Redemption 2 or Control.

It also has no less than 32 GB of RAM. Furthermore, its excellent 1TB NVMe SSD offers some of the best read and write speeds on the market. If it manages the heating well, the fans produce a significant noise... playing with headphones will be necessary.

In terms of autonomy, nothing exceptional, with around 5 hours of hybrid use. But above all, be aware that its 330 W power supply (!) is particularly massive: don't plan on carrying all this around daily... Still, it is a balanced and sober 17-inch gaming laptop, at a rather attractive price.

This model has been updated recently with the latest 4000 series graphics cards. If you want a powerful configuration, you can look at the 17-ck2035nf model. The latter integrates the best of the best: an Intel Core i7-13700HX processor, 32 GB of RAM, and a GeForce RTX 4080.

The thin and powerful HP gaming PC: HP Omen 16 Transcend (u0000nf)

HP is renewing its range of gaming PCs with this 16-inch Transcend model. The brand relies on a chassis with a very “professional” look, with exemplary sobriety. The laptop is particularly thin and weighs only 2.1 kg, a great feat for a device of this size. There is a large keyboard and a good-quality touchpad (despite the plastic coating).

Nice score also on the connections, very complete. Only the SD card reader is absent. The screen is excellent. In any case, the one we were able to test, that is to say, the mini LED version. It was a 16.1-inch panel with anti-reflective treatment, with a maximum definition of 2560 x 1440 pixels at a 16:10 ratio. It is capable of reaching a refresh rate of 240 Hz, with Nvidia's G-Sync technology. This version is, however, the most expensive, at more than 2200 euros.

There are different configurations, notably with a Full HD IPS panel, this time around 1500 euros.

For the version that interests us, the most high-end, you will also find all the latest components of the moment inside: Intel Core i9-13900HX, 32 GB of DDR5 RAM at 5600 MHz, a 1 TB PCIe Gen 4 drive, as well as a GeForce RTX 4070 with 8 GB of GDDR6. Performance is excellent, even if the compactness of the chassis tends to “confine” it a little. The cooling is particularly discreet, which is rare.

Regarding autonomy, since it is a PC for gaming use, you should not expect anything huge: in use, between 4 and 5 hours in an office setting.

Several configurations are offered on the Intel site but you can always count on an RTX 4070, the variations are mainly to be found on the processor side.

Laptops for the home: the Envy range

The versatile ultraportable: HP Envy 14-eb0058nf

The HP Envy 14 is an affordable ultraportable: it is, in fact, very popular for its excellent quality-price ratio. The HP Envy 14 is a slightly different ultrabook, because, in addition to being easily transportable, it also has a dedicated graphics card, the GeForce GTX 1650 Ti. So, if it does perfectly with office automation, it is also capable of running games... which is rather rare on this type of product.

At first glance, the finishes and construction quality of the chassis of this laptop are exemplary. The latter is entirely made of aluminum. The keyboard is tone-on-tone, an HP-specific feature that may not appeal to everyone from an aesthetic point of view. With its 1.5 kg, it is not the lightest, but remains easy to carry almost everywhere. Furthermore, it obtains an excellent score in autonomy, with almost 11 hours away from an outlet.

The 14-inch screen is very appreciable with its 16:10 ratio, particularly for web content. The color fidelity is there, and the maximum brightness is excellent. Performance-wise, it does very well for a small ultraportable: Nvidia's GTX 1650 Ti allows you to run a lot of recent titles, provided you stick to the native resolution, which is already not bad. The latest generation Intel Core i5 processor is of good quality too. The cooling system has been well thought out and does its job.

A well-designed and above all versatile machine, which may be suitable for workers or students who like to play from time to time on their laptop.

Gaming laptops for everyone: the Victus range

HP's affordable gaming laptop: HP Victus 16-d0004sf

The Victus range offers machines capable of running recent games, all at an affordable price. To keep the price low, HP has of course not integrated anything grandiose into the configurations of these models: the manufacturer has tried to reconcile the components and the prices.

The HP Victus 16 has a 16.1-inch screen, an increasingly popular size that offers a good compromise between portability and readability. This panel has many strengths, but also a certain number of flaws... Its colorimetric fidelity, for example, is far from exceptional. On the other hand, its input lag is very satisfactory for a laptop, with only 9 ms of delay. Good point also for the anti-reflective treatment, particularly effective and which avoids tiring the eyes. In addition, it is capable of going up to 144 Hz refresh rate.

In terms of performance, everything of course depends on the configuration chosen. If you opt for an Nvidia GeForce 3060, a very popular choice, you will be able to run the most recent games at 60 FPS (not going above Full HD, of course).

We will have some reservations about the quality of the chassis, in particular the flexibility of the keyboard, and the quality of the touchpad. At this price, though, it's not that surprising. The connectivity is provided and classic for a gaming laptop of this size: an RJ45 port, an HDMI, three USB-A, a USB-C (DP and Power Delivery compatible), a jack, and an SD card reader. As is often the case with this type of machine, autonomy is limited.

To conclude, this is a fairly classic machine, which could constitute a reasonable purchase for those wishing to try purchasing a first gaming laptop at an affordable price.

Stylish laptops: the Specter range

The HP laptop for professionals: HP Spectre x360 16-f1013nf

The Specter range constitutes the best in HP's range of portable PCs, which incorporates its latest innovations. The Specter x360 has hinges, which, as the model name suggests, can rotate 360°. They will therefore be interesting specifically for creative people.

The new Specter x360 was released in spring 2022. There are two versions, a 13.5-inch version, and a 16-inch version – the one we recommend here. You will find a 3K+ definition touch screen  (3072 x 1920 pixels), accompanied by a handy stylus for the most creative.

However, we come across a computer that is not necessarily the most compact (2 cm thick and 2 kg on the scale), but with a design that has the merit of being out of the ordinary. We note, for example, the gently rounded edges, as well as the location of the USB-C port for charging, which appears to be “cut” directly into the chassis.

An interesting detail: the SoC (Intel Core i5-1260P or i7-12700H) is supported by one of the new Intel ARC chips, the A370M. You have the choice to beef up your configuration by increasing the RAM from 16 to 32 GB or upgrading to 2 TB of SSD.

Finally, unlike many laptops that ignore the quality of the webcam, HP has here integrated a 5 Mpx intelligent camera that offers automatic framing. This webcam is also compatible with Windows Hello. We will also welcome the presence of an HDMI 2.1 port. In terms of autonomy, we reach a maximum of 7 hours, which is not exceptional. This is a great laptop for work.

Laptops for entertainment: the Pavilion range

The inexpensive HP PC: HP Pavilion 15-eg0006nf

If you are looking for an inexpensive HP laptop, less than 700 euros, the Pavilion 15 can be a wise option. In an exemplary sobriety chassis, HP manages to fit good quality components to offer a satisfactory experience for everything office-related.

The basic configuration integrates a modest Intel SoC, still 11th generation, the i3-1115G4, 8 GB RAM, and 512 GB of SSD disk space. Note also that two slots are free if you want to add RAM to beef up this Pavilion 15 a little. Nothing grandiose on the screen side, with an IPS panel in Full HD definition that is, after all, classic. We will still regret the imprecise calorimetry.

On the other hand, we appreciate the large edge-to-edge keyboard, with a numeric keypad as a bonus, even if the choice of tone silver tone is still questionable. The touchpad offset to the left, while it is practical for right-handers, will be much less so for left-handers.

This is therefore a completely classic laptop for those looking for a solid and affordable 15-inch laptop. However, with equal performance, we would still advise you to also look at what is being done by other competing brands and their equivalent products, in particular by Asus with its Vivobook and Zenbook.

READ FURTHER: Lenovo's transparent laptop PC: ThinkBook transparent display laptop

Everything you need to know about the brand and range of HP laptops

A brief history of the HP company

HP (abbreviation of Hewlett-Packard) is an American company that is one of the great legends of Silicon Valley, its birthplace. It was founded in 1939 not far from San Francisco, by two electronic engineer friends, William Hewlett and David Packard, who gave their names to their project created in a garage.

The brand started developing computers in the 70s. It was also at this time that they invented the pocket scientific calculator. Subsequently, HP widely developed its activity in the multifunction printer sector, becoming one of the major players in the field. Long a leader in computer sales around the world, the brand was overtaken by Lenovo in 2019. In the first quarter of 2022, HP thus holds 19.7% of the market share, behind Lenovo, but ahead of Dell, Apple, Asus, and even Acer.

How is the HP laptop range organized?

HP has a fairly clear range of laptops. The Pavilion is the affordable model, while the Envy is more ultraportables dedicated to productivity. The Specter range embodies the high end, with the best configurations. The Omen range, for its part, is dedicated to gaming. The Victus series is also focused on gaming performance, but at a lower cost and therefore more modest.

What are the strong points of HP PCs?

HP is a brand that has the advantage of offering a very diverse range, at all price levels. We thus find both the affordable PC (or Chromebook) and the high-end one which highlights more recent technologies and ergonomics. Its range dedicated to gaming, Omen, is also well known.

Concerning the good points of the brand, we must admit that it is most often very generous when it comes to connectivity, unlike others (we're looking in your direction, Apple). Furthermore, HP is known for paying attention to features related to security, data protection, and privacy: you will therefore often find fingerprint readers, camera shutters, or even dedicated buttons to mute the microphone with one click.

What screen size should I choose for my HP laptop?

Like any good laptop manufacturer, HP's catalog is diverse. If you're looking for the right screen size for your future laptop, know that there is no universal right size. It all depends on the intended consumption. If you intend it for gaming, a PC of at least 15 inches, or rather 16 or 17 inches, will be more comfortable. Same idea if you plan to watch a lot of videos, films, and series on your HP laptop. On the other hand, if your future HP PC is intended for office automation, it will be better to choose a 13 or 14-inch. If you plan to take it everywhere, use it on the train, etc., an ultraportable of this format is ideal.

TO GO FURTHER: Choosing the Right Lenovo Laptop in 2024: A Detailed Guide