HP Pavillion Plus 14 review: slim, lightweight, easy to carry laptop

Not everyone needs a gaming laptop with a high configuration. Many use laptops for entertainment purposes or to use Microsoft Office. If you, too, are a person who requires a laptop for simple functions, then the HP Pavillion Plus 14 could be your go-to option. This laptop has decent specifications and a stylish design. 

It features the most recent portable Intel 12th generation CPUs, an all-metal construction, a clear screen, premium speakers, and other features. People who frequently carry their laptops around will appreciate that the Pavilion Plus 14 is one of the slimmest Pavilion laptops the company has ever produced. Let us have a sneak-peak into the features of the new Pavilion Plus 14.

Design and Display:

The Pavilion Plus 14 weighs 1.41 kg and has a thickness of 16.5 mm, making it one of HP's thinnest laptops in the Pavilion line-up. The laptop has an all-metal chassis, which gives it a high-end appearance and feel. Aluminium was used for the lid, base, and keyboard area, which contributed to the excellent build quality. Additionally, the display is well shielded from outside forces, and when pressure is applied to the back of the lid, there is no pixel warping. 

The HP Pavilion Plus 14's display is among its best features. It has a resolution of 2240x1400 pixels and a 14-inch IPS panel with an anti-glare coating, so images and text look much sharper and more clear than they would on a typical full-HD display of this size. It uses a standard 60Hz refresh rate. The right and left sides have thin bezels, and the top and bottom have slightly thicker ones. A 5-megapixel webcam is located above the display. The laptop is also less reflective, unlike many other laptops.

Moreover, it has a dedicated fingerprint reader that is located directly below the keyboard. When it comes to unlocking the device, the fingerprint reader is accurate and quick. 

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 also features a good number of ports. Two SuperSpeed USB Type-C connections (10Gbps, DisplayPort 1.4) are located on the right side, along with an HDMI 2.1 video output and a USB Type-A (5Gbps) port. Another full-sized USB Type-A port, a headphone jack, and a microSD card slot are located on the left side. A wide perforated air vent covers almost the entire width of the base of this laptop, and there are cutouts for the Bang & Olufsen speakers (one on each end). In front of the display's hinge are the exhaust vents.

Software and hardware specifications:

There are a total of 12 CPU cores in the Intel Core i5-12500H CPU found in the HP Pavilion Plus 14, including four performance cores and eight efficiency cores. A larger L3 cache and a higher base TDP of 45W (vs. 28W) should make this H-series CPU more potent than its P-series counterpart. The Pavilion Plus 14's integrated GPU, which is based on the Intel Iris Xe graphics architecture, is available only in Indian versions of the laptop.

It cannot be upgraded or swapped because the motherboard's 16GB of DDR4 RAM is soldered to it. Although it gives the laptop a thin appearance, this is very difficult to repair. But there is room for improvement with the 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD. Additionally, the Pavilion Plus 14 has Bluetooth 5.2 and Wi-Fi 6E module 2X2 MIMO antennas. The laptop comes with a 90W USB Type-C power adapter and a built-in 3-cell, 51Wh battery.

The laptop comes pre-installed with Windows 11 Home and a few pieces of software, including McAfee LiveSafe (30-day trial) and Microsoft Office Home and Student 2021. Additionally, HP offers software bundles that include its own products, including HP Command Centre, Omen Gaming Hub, HP Pallete, HP Audio Switch, and HP Smart. These programmes are useful and enable you to monitor and modify a number of laptop-related settings. Even a dedicated key (F12) is provided for quick access to HP's primary programmes.

Even in dimly lit environments, the HP Pavilion Plus's 5-megapixel webcam produces good image quality with little to no visible noise. It also has the ability to record videos with a resolution of up to 1440p. With the help of HP's Enhanced Lighting app, you can customise the brightness and colour temperature of a virtual ring light that is generated on the display. The stereo speakers' sound quality can be adjusted with the B&O app.

When it comes to battery life, HP asserts that the Pavilion Plus 14 can go more than 11 hours between charges. However, a lot of laptop reviewers assert that it is significantly lower than stated.

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 is suitable for those who want to use it for general or creative purposes because of its clear display, small size, a comfortable keyboard, and reasonably powerful specifications. The price of Rs. 79,999 is not too bad when you consider the entire package.