HP Envy 15 2020: First impressions with HP's new multimedia laptop

[Redaktion]

The new HP Envy 15 2020 is here with Comet Lake-H processors, NVIDIA GPUs and an optional AMOLED panel. Being the Envy series' first 15-inch multimedia laptop with a 45 W CPU, we decided to purchase one and try it out.

https://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Envy-15-2020-First-impressions-with-HP-s-new-multimedia-laptop.481229.0.html

[R L]

On HOs website the ports are listed as USB 3.1 not thunderbolt 3

[Jesse]

I want my fanless laptops.  Where are they?

[heffeque]

I want my fanless laptops.  Where are they?

Surface Pro i5 is fanless.

[Alex Alderson]

On HOs website the ports are listed as USB 3.1 not thunderbolt 3

On its product specifications for the ep0011na and ep0500na, the ports are listed as Thunderbolt 3.

https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-envy-15-ep0000-laptop-pc-series/32552523/model/35832071/document/c06654912

https://support.hp.com/gb-en/document/c06654911

[Alex March]

Will there be a complete review of this laptop soon? Thanks for shining light on it!  The RTX model of this seems to have all the same specs as the mighty XPS 17 but for one grand less. Look forward to reading more about this laptop!

[Brendan]

Just taken delivery of the i7 model with the RTX2060 MaxQ.  Aside from getting used to the odd keyboard layout (the backslash/Pipe key is not in the usual UK or US positions but hidden via the Fn+L key) it seems okay.  Not had it long enough to report on the battery life and the power profiles. So far no coil whine though!

[Edd5]

I have the RTX2060 4k model and I wished places actually reviewed this. Because the 4k display is a OLED display with a odd dot pattern that makes solid white backgrounds and other bright swatches look dirty; like dithering in a GIF. There's also a sleep issue that's been reported on HP's website. The notebook gets really hot while sleeping because it doesn't support S3 only modern suspend. And its currently broken. The problem was discovered when Windows added hardware accelerated GPU scheduling. It broke something with the nVidia drivers causing high CPU idle and wasn't fixed until 451.67 drivers. But that just masks the issue. The CPU actually sips power under 2W for the entire system, minus display and peripherals, when nothing is running. So you'd probably not notice unless you have a driver issue. It would just result in horrendous battery drain while "sleeping".

I also found the power limit is 150W. Once you hit that with the combo of CPU or GPU you're capped. It never hits a thermal limit. The fans only spin up enough to keep the CPU and GPU at 70c and 65c respectively.

@Brendan do you have a euro model? My backslash key is under the backspace like other US keyboards.

[Brendan]

@edd5  - I have the same keyboard as in the article photograph.  It has UK Pound and Euro symbols so if HP call it a Euro keyboard then yes.  It is not the same as the Envy x360 or any other keyboard I have (Elitebook 840, zBook Studio G3, Lenovo Yoga S730/S740, Razer Blade Stealth, Latitude 7300, Surface Pro 4 Type Cover/Brydge Keyboard or any of the dozens I have used in workplaces.  As someone who uses these keys from time to time, I may just have to get used to it or sell the unit on.   

Currently soak testing and have performed a complete fresh build with WIn10Pro - Had to reinstall full NVIDIA drivers as the default ones installed by Windows had missing CUDA components.  Running some Folding@Home GPU units through to see the effects on the power profiles and will be testing battery life next. 

[Edd5]

I just noticed the review mentioned coil whine. I also do not have any coil whine from either the notebook or adapter. In fact HP did a good job with the noise profile. It is primarily white noise. Even at high RPMs the fans do not make a higher pitched whirling sound.

The only noise that can be heard is a soft electronic chatter sound. But only if I place my ear against the keyboard. This noise I believe is unavoidable, even with spread spectrum, as the varying amounts of data and CPU frequency changes will produce the occasional audible harmonics.

[dgg]

Yup, seems many of the new envy's have coil whine - My x360 amd 4700u is terrible.  Nice to see someone call them out

[Edd5]

The coil whine issue had me thinking what could be causing this in some notebooks (Yes, I can't leave things like this alone) In desktops its mostly power supplies (actual coil whine), passive components associated with VRMs, and add-in solid state devices. That means memory and SSDs. As it turns out you can create and conversely eliminate coil whine in these notebooks by changing memory, WiFi, and SSD components. I tried out different DDR4 modules and sure enough some modules make a squealing sound that's often associated with coil whine. This noise can be heard while moving the mouse around, while the CPU is under load, and during various operations.

So if you have coil whine with this notebook. Try changing out the memory for another brand, different chips, or with a different chip arrangement.

Note: I haven't been able to find a in production SSD that makes coil whine; and the WiFi module (CNVi) is not replaceable.

[MarinaB]

I had a HUGE headache with Hp. Their delivery partner lost the parcel in transit, on the day it was supposed to be delivered. 11 days later after everyday calls, I received the laptop. As soon as I turned on, the noise started. A continuous one. I thought it was me, not having a laptop for so long that forgot how it was. Or the silence around 1 am that could make the sounds even more perceptible. Next day, daytime... same. I couldnt find any proper reviews because I received it on 29/06, early to find some reviews. I had to record and send do HP. and it came with the left bottom side of the tracking pad, a bit loose, causing double click. I found out I could ask for a replacement instead of sending to fix. Received new one, afraid of having the same issue. and then? Bingo. Noise. But this time I noticed that this one makes the noise when plugged in. The fans are loud yes. Even going to the app for performance and choosing the option Quiet. The bar QUIET - QUIETEST, when you click on quietest, it makes more fan noise than on quiet mode.  It really sounds HP launched a produtct that is not ready. The battery lasted 7.5 hours used only for browsing websites, no videos or music. using it at 80%. I am really disappointed. I had to wait for a month since the purchase, replaced and waited again, and just to find out that the problem it wasnt one isolated faulty laptop. I lost a lot of time, money calling delivery supplier and HP, waiting long time to be in touch with them, waiting for deliveries and organizing my life around deliveries days, collecting day, etc, after taking some weeks to choose a nice laptop and in the end, I will need to get a refund. The screen is beautiful, the keyboard is very soft and nice, but for a high perfomance laptop I wasnt waiting for that kind of issue and loud fans, even on quiet mode.

[Nic6]

Thanks for those first impressions. Please consider that, regarding the thermal profiles, we noticed that:

• The Quiet profile does not shut down the fans at all (even if "fan always ON" is set to "off"), while the default profile is actually working in a more silent fashion, shutting down fans at low temps.
• The manual slider of Quiet mode is broken, and it works as opposite than it's intended to.

We are talking about those issues on Reddit (reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/hoqn1c/new_envy_15_ep000xx_is_the_quiet_mode_broken_how/?sort=new) and we are trying (on the HP Community Forum - look for ""Quiet" thermal profile not working [Envy 15-ep0xxx]") to reach HP to solve this problem.

[hallen]

Anxiously waiting for this review!