Why I recommend this 2-in-1 laptop to business professionals (and gamers, too)

ZDNET's cardinal takeaways

• HP's 16-inch Envy x360 2-in-1 (2024) comes successful a assortment of configurations, but the mentation with 1TB of retention and an OLED show starts astatine $1,599.
• It sports 1 of the astir gorgeous displays I've seen connected a convertible laptop successful this terms range.
• It's a small connected the dense side, and swapping configurations tin beryllium buggy.

We saw a big of large 2-in-1 laptops successful 2024, forcing much and much laptop diehards (myself included) who were antecedently unwilling to perpetrate to the signifier origin clasp convertibles, which springiness you the champion of some worlds.

The HP Envy x360 16" 2-in-1 shows up to the enactment with each the features that consumers really privation successful a 2-in-1: a gorgeous display, beefy speakers, and a suite of hardware to backmost it up. This results successful a coagulated show and a satisfying media acquisition astatine a mid-range terms point.

Also: I replaced my laptop with Microsoft's 12-inch Surface Pro - here's my buying proposal a week later

Yes, a 16-inch surface is ample erstwhile utilized arsenic a tablet -- a small unwieldy, even. However, the OLED display connected this laptop is truthful bully that it doesn't substance to me. In fact, it could beryllium bigger, and I would inactive happily tote it around.

The Envy x360 features a 2.8K (2880 x 1800) solution OLED touchscreen with a adaptable 120Hz refresh complaint and edge-to-edge solid that results successful a smooth-as-silk ocular experience. The 500-nit brightness is much than capable for mean use, and the glossy decorativeness looks gorgeous (although it whitethorn not beryllium for everyone, due to the fact that fingerprints are a thing).

Also: This ultraportable LG laptop gives my 15-inch MacBook Air immoderate superior competition

Video playback is vibrant, smooth, and sharp, with a realistic extent of colour and contrast. HP besides advertises the Envy x360 arsenic an "IMAX certified" laptop, 1 of the archetypal of its kind. It earned this certification for its quality to show IMAX-formatted contented successful its archetypal 1.43:1 oregon 1.90:1 facet ratio. While a flashy designation, this is simply a laptop we're talking astir here; it's inactive a 16-inch screen. It does look good, though -- I'll springiness it that. 

The audio is besides decent. While it whitethorn look that the 2 vents connected either broadside of the keyboard are speakers, audio really originates from the dual DTS:X Ultra bar-shaped speakers connected the backmost of the device. There isn't a batch of bass, but mid-frequency audio and dialog dependable crisp and wide and held their ain erstwhile I played Netflix successful a noisy kitchen.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

The antecedently mentioned vents connected either broadside of the keyboard are really for expelling heat, thing my workfellow Cesar Cadenas volition appreciate, arsenic this is simply a laptop you tin really spot connected your thigh without getting first-degree burns connected your legs.

The Envy x360 is positioned conscionable beneath HP's Spectre enactment of laptops to supply large show that serves astir users' needs. We reviewed the 2024 Spectre x360 early past twelvemonth and recovered it has top-notch hardware acknowledgment to the "Meteor Lake" AI processor, but it volition tally you hundreds of dollars more.

The Envy x360 exemplary that I tested, however, came with an integrated AMD Radeon GPU that, coupled with the AMD Ryzen 7 8840HS processor, tin tally some CPU-intensive and graphics tasks well. This aligns with its targeted creator/freelancer user demographic, allowing ocular apps similar DaVinci Resolve and Adobe Photoshop to tally smoothly, with an oculus toward generative AI capabilities. 

I recovered that the battery beingness was amended than average -- particularly for an OLED-equipped laptop -- acknowledgment to the ratio gains of the Ryzen 7 8840HS processor. With lone intermittent use, the laptop lasted maine respective days, portion sustained enactment resulted successful implicit 10 hours of artillery life, much oregon little equivalent to what is advertised. Even amended is the accelerated charging feature, which I recovered adjacent faster than HP's 50% successful 45-minute claims.

Also: This Lenovo ThinkPad exemplary ditches a decade-long streak - and I'm gladsome it did

The 2-in-1 signifier origin requires a definite grade of carnal fortitude, and its hinge-style plan (which is astir identical to the Lenovo 7i 2-in-1) supports a sturdy physique that's up to the task. It has minimal surface wobble, yet capable absorption to enactment successful spot arsenic a touchscreen.

That said, this is not a particularly airy laptop, weighing successful astatine astir 4 pounds, with astir of that value coming from the 16-inch OLED. Despite the weight, it's precise bladed -- lone 0.72 inches -- which results successful a laptop that inactive feels sufficiently portable.

Kyle Kucharski/ZDNET

Port enactment connected the 2024 Envy x360 volition besides beryllium capable for astir users, with 2 USB-A ports, 2 USB-C ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and an HDMI port. The keyboard is peculiarly unique: the keys are large and chunky, successful a matte grey color, with oversized letters successful a chiseled sans serif font. It looks bully but lacks a right-side fig pad, which I similar to person connected a laptop -- particularly 1 of this size.

Also: Why this Lenovo Yoga is my prime for champion MacBook Air alternate (and it's $300 off)

If you can't archer already, I'm a large instrumentality of the Envy x360, and retired of all the 2-in-1 laptops I've tested, I similar this one. My main critique of this laptop is the bugginess that tin hap erstwhile swapping betwixt the antithetic orientations. Going from tablet to laptop tin effect successful delayed oregon glitchy keyboard response, and the surface predisposition tin instrumentality successful 1 presumption oregon another, requiring a deliberate re-positioning of the laptop to reset the interior gyroscope. 

These issues are prevalent crossed each 2-in-1 laptops I've tested and are (usually) intermittent capable to not beryllium problems -- but successful definite moments, facing non-functioning hardware tin beryllium frustrating, and you should support that successful mind.

ZDNET's buying advice

The HP Envy x360 16 (2024) is priced good for an upper-mid-tier instrumentality with a gorgeous show and coagulated performance. Creators volition emotion this laptop's flexible signifier origin and awesome artillery life. This is simply a laptop for enactment arsenic overmuch arsenic it is for entertainment, and if you're looking for a 2-in-1 laptop, you person to see the Envy x360.

Compared to its rivals, HP's exemplary offers a much implicit package. Take a look astatine Lenovo's Yoga 7i. It's besides a large instrumentality worthy consideration, but the Yoga is heavier with a duller screen. Microsoft's 11th-Gen Surface Pro arguably has amended hardware, but it is overmuch smaller, sporting a 13-inch touchscreen. 

If you're looking for a smaller option, consider HP's 2024 Spectre x360, which has a 14-inch display. For thing much adventurous, cheque retired the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i, which has 2 displays.