SPECIFICATIONS
OS Windows 10Processor AMD Ryzen 3 4300UGraphics AMD Radeon GraphicsRAM 8GB DDR4-3200
Storage 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSDDisplay 15.6-inch 1080p IPS touchscreenConnectivity2x USB 3.2 Gen 1
Type-A,
1x USB 3.2 Gen 2
Type-C, 1x HDMI,
1x 3.5mm combo
audio jack
Battery 41WHrs 3-cell Li-ionSize 14.2 x 9.2 x 0.7-inches
Weight 3.86lbs7
VERDICT HP Pavilion
15-eh0007na
PAVING Quiet
and cool; nice big screen;
reasonably priced.
CONCRETE Weak multi-core
performance; poor battery life;
somewhat heavy.
$500, hp.comHP’S PAVILION 15 range is
broad, with prices ranging
from this sensible $500
model to more powerful
iterations with dedicated
GPUs that run for around
$1000. This version is a
reserved affair, with a Ryzen
3 4300U processor, 8GB of
DDR4 memory, and 256GB of
speedy NVMe storage.
The Pavilion 15’s defining
feature is right there in the
name: a lovely 15.6-inch touch
panel, offering excellent
brightness and plenty
of screen real estate for
productivity-focused users.
The large display means a
bigger overall size, so we’ve
got a full-sized keyboard
complete with numpad
crammed in here too, as well
as a nice wide trackpad that
handled better than we’d
expect for a $500 laptop.
Despite the size, this is
by far the cheapest of the
Windows laptops on test here.
It’s not hard to see where HP
has opted to trim the fat to
save precious manufacturing
dollars; there’s no keyboard
backlighting, and the chassis
is entirely plastic. It’s fairly
heavy and won’t fit as easily
in a shoulder bag, but with
the lid closed it’s almost
as thin as the competing
laptops—thinner, in fact,
than the chunky Lenovo 500e
Chromebook.
There’s a relatively
generous selection of
ports to choose from,
notably including HDMI, an
increasingly rare sight on
thin budget laptops. Note that
this HDMI out is best used
simply for hooking up a larger
display for presentations
or videos, not for gaming or
regular dual-screen use.
The Ryzen 3 chip inside this
Pavilion 15 goes without
discrete graphics, relying
instead on its Radeon iGPU.
It’s fair to say that high-
level gaming and creative
workloads aren’t really on
the table here, although the
Radeon Graphics did alright
in our hardware-accelerated
WebGL test. Day-to-day use
with a bit of light indie gaming
is not likely to pose any
problems. The 4300U handled
itself well in the single-
core Geekbench 5 test, but
multi-core performance was
significantly less impressive.
Still, for general productivity
tasks, this Pavilion 15
shouldn’t run into any trouble.HP Pavilion 15
It’s also remarkably quiet
and cool, perhaps thanks to
the lower-spec processor.
Our other laptops were a little
noisier during benchmarking,
while the Pavilion gave barely
a fan-whisper. Provided you
ensure the vents remain
unblocked (that means no
using it in bed!) the thermal
performance is great.
One might hope that the
lower-spec components
would mean that this laptop’s
battery life could stretch for a
little longer, but unfortunately
that isn’t the case. Although
the fast-charging function
works well, filling to a full
charge from empty in under
an hour, that big display
drains the tank fast and HP
evidently had to scale back
battery capacity to keep
the price down. Continuous
video playback at 50 percent
brightness saw this Pavilion
give up the ghost after just six
hours and 20 minutes.
We’ve certainly seen worse
battery longevity (cough,
gaming laptops, cough), but
we’d really like to see better
from a productivity-focused
machine. Whatever the large
screen says, this isn’t meant
to be a desktop replacement,so good battery life for a nine-
to-five in the office and on the
go is essential.
Battery aside, we have
to admit that the Pavilion 15
certainly looks like a high-
quality product regardless
of its lower asking price. It’s
a big, bold design in striking
silver, with matching keycaps
and a pleasingly shiny HP logo
on the back of the lid.
Although the chassis might
be all-plastic in composition,
it doesn’t feel flimsy. Typing
felt good, with the best key
travel and little flexing even
on firm button presses.
For $500, you could do a
lot worse than this Pavilion
15—though we can’t help but
wonder if the more expensive
versions packing Intel’s 11th-
gen CPUs might be a better
shout for most.APR 2022MAXIMU MPC 31