56 TECH ADVISOR • OCTOBER 2019BUYING GUIDE
The tracked below is the source for both some of
the best Envy 13 changes, and one of the biggest
disappointments. HP has switched the trackpad driver,
and in doing so has eradicated all the false clicks and
bad scroll behaviour we just-about tolerated in the
older models. The floaty action has almost entirely
gonetoo.Thisis whereyoucandepressthepada
bitbefore it reaches the clicker mechanism.
A much better-behaved trackpad is far easier to
live with. However, HP has switched the textured
glass surface of the Envy 13 2018 for textured plastic.
It performsa fairlygoodimpersonationofglass,but
youcan’t miss the juddery swipes and tackier surface
after a while.
Given the display upgrades HP has added, maybe
we shouldn’t grumble. But we miss the glass.Display
On paper, the HP Envy 13’s screen sounds just like that
of the last model. It measures 13.3 inches across and
has an IPS LCD Full HD panel.
Right from first boot-up we could tell this is a higher
grade of screen than the one in the 2018 version,
though. The screen looks bold and rich, where previous
versions had the characteristic ‘just okay’ colour of a
mid-range laptop. Our colorimeter thought the same.
It can tell you the real colour and contrast performance
of a display and the HP Envy 13 covers 97.9 percent of
sRGB, up from just 78.7 percent last year. 68.2 percent
coverage of Adobe RGB and 70.3 percent of DCI P3
are strong for a laptop at the price too. You’ll find many
models well over £1,200 that perform no better.