HP Updates Envy Laptop Lineup With 4K Displays, Intel Iris Graphics, AMD FX CPU Options

HP invited us out to New York City to check out its new premium laptop offerings before their official debut in France at the New York Times International Luxury Conference. The new products included updated HP Envy-series notebooks, with redesigned 15.6- and 17.3-inch clamshell models and 15.6-inch HP Envy x360 2-in-1 laptops.

Specifications

For the first time, HP’s entire Envy lineup offers 4K display options. The edge-to-edge flush glass screens have a thinner profile compared to previous generations, and the displays appear to offer a vibrant and crisp viewing experience. A newly-designed hinge elevates the keyboard of the 15.6- and 17.3-inch models, providing a stable typing and viewing experience in addition to enabling better airflow underneath the chassis for increased thermal dissipation.

The 15.6-inch HP Envy x360 can be equipped with the latest 7th generation AMD FX-9800P quad-core processor (as well as some yet-to-be-revealed dual core AMD APUs), which features AMD Radeon R7 graphics onboard. Thus, it's one of the first laptops to offer the new 7th generation AMD A-Series APUs. The 15.6- and 17.3-inch clamshell models can feature the latest 6th generation Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, and optional Intel Iris Graphics also makes its debut in the Envy notebook lineup. The 17.3-inch HP Envy features an optional Nvidia GeForce GTX 940MX discrete graphics module.

All three of the new HP Envy models are rated for more battery life than the previous iterations. The 15.6-inch Envy x360 2-in-1 offers up to an impressive 11 hours of battery life (up from 8 hours); the 17.3-inch Envy offers 6.5 hours of untethered run time; and the 15.6-inch Envy can provide off-wall operation for up to 9 hours. All of the new HP Envy notebooks support HP Fast Charge technology, which is capable of charging a battery to 90 percent in 90 minutes.

The USB 3.1 Type-C port on all of the Envy notebooks are capable of 5 Gb/s data transfer rates, falling short on functionality compared to other laptops sporting the Type-C interface. In addition, there is no video output from the port, making the HDMI 1.4 the only external display option.

The new Envy notebooks all feature a full-size LED backlit keyboard, audio by Bang & Olufsen, and a wider touchpad (compared to the previous generation of Envy track pads) The Envy lineup is also thinner, lighter and ostensibly more efficient than its predecessors. The 15.6-inch HP Envy and x360 2-in-1 support Windows Hello with an optional HD IR camera, and the 17.3-inch model follows suit with an optional Intel RealSense camera.

The new HP Envy lineup will first begin making its way to market online at HP’s website and other e-tailers starting in late May (May 25 for the 15.6-inch Envy, June 1 for the x360 and 17.3-inch models). All of them hit store shelves at Best Buy locations nationwide on June 12.

Derek Forrest is an Associate Contributing Writer for Tom’s Hardware and Tom’s IT Pro. Follow Derek Forrest on Twitter. Follow us on Facebook, Google+, RSS, Twitter and YouTube.