Technically – HP Envy x360 13–AG0035AU, a lightweight 2 in 1 touch screen laptop with 256 GB SSD and powered by AMD Ryzen 5 2500U Quad Core Processor mated to Radeon Vega 8 Integrated Graphics and 8 GB DDR4 RAM. (That’s a lot of technicality in one sentence!).
This post is about my new laptop – HP Envy x360 13-AG0035AU. Even when I say a well made choice, believe me, it was a difficult choice to make. Mainly because it is powered by AMD Ryzen 5 processor, against a much popular choice of Intel Core i5. Many reviews had to be read and a detailed window shopping had to be done prior to finalising the product that I was going to buy. But before much of the details, let me tell you my requirements that I had fixed before window shopping. I wanted a thin and light touchscreen laptop somewhere around Rs. 60,000 to Rs. 70,000. Many options would fit in the requirement. HP Pavilion x360 14″, Dell Inspiron 2 in 1, Acer Spin series laptops and even Microsoft Surface Go and Surface Pro. However, considering my portability requirements, I decided to ditch the 14″ models and went for 13.3″ models.
The Exteriors
Now let’s cut the crap and discuss how’s the new toy. Exteriors first. It’s very well built. The all-metal body gives a super-premium feel and look. The premium HP logo adds to the look. Weight is only 1.3kgs, which means carrying and using as a tablet will be less worrying. There are two USB 3.0 ports and a USB Type C port with power delivery. The device also has a multi SD card slot, a conventional charging port and a headphone jack. On the right, there is a volume control button (in addition to the ones in the keyboard), which are handy while using the device in tablet mode. The full HD display is super cool. It’s very bright and the colours stand out really well.
The device lacks a fingerprint scanner, however, it has Windows Hello with IR sensors. Face unlock is fast and because of the IR sensors, it works even in very low light.
The Internals
Now let’s speak about the internals. One thing that is a major USP of HP Envy x360 13-AG0035AU is the speaker quality. Speakers from B&O are loud, clear and we can get to feel the bass punch also. It is really amazing that HP has managed to fit such high-quality audio hardware into this small device. Let’s come to the processor, ‘cuz we don’t buy a laptop for its speaker! The device is powered by AMD Ryzen 5 2500U mobile processor. Benchmarks indicate that the processor is on par with Intel Core i5 8250U. However, in combination with the integrated Radeon Vega 8 graphics, Ryzen 5 manages much much better performance than i5 with Intel 620HD Graphics. You might wonder how is the thermal performance with AMD’s silicon. Yes, the laptop heats up, but it doesn’t get too worryingly hot.
The device has 8 GB DDR4 RAM and 256 GB SSD storage, which is enough to get my things done. I have tried a few general applications such as Excel (with up to 10 data-heavy sheets opened simultaneously), Photoshop, 4K Videos and the like. The experience was smooth and trouble-free. Well, I am not a hardcore gamer and I haven’t tested any games. There are a lot of videos on YouTube which speaks about gaming on this product and Ryzen 5 in general. One such video below.
The touch screen is butter smooth and responsive. The laptop also comes with a tilt pen. But I rarely use the pen. You are invited to view all the specifications of the device at HP Official Store.
The Verdict
To sum up, HP Envy x360 13-AG0035AU is a great device, particularly at this price. I bought it from HP’s official CEPP Store for Rs. 67,187. After all the research that was done in choosing the right device, there is no hesitation to state that this is the best 2 in 1 laptop at this price.
