HP Envy 14 Spectre Ultrabook Review: Something More Than Envy
by Dustin Sklavos on August 24, 2012 10:09 PM ESTConclusion: You Already Know If You Want It
I've used the phrase "you already know if you want it" for another review, but with the HP Envy 14 Spectre it again seems appropriate. This isn't a bad notebook necessarily, but its distinctive design does come with a series of caveats and compromises. No one else you know will have a notebook that looks or feels quite like it, but there are reasons for that.
On the plus side, HP crams nearly every state of the art wireless technology they can get their hands on into the Spectre. That means Bluetooth, 2x2 wireless-n connectivity, and Near Field Communication technology. There's also gigabit ethernet included, both HDMI and Mini-DisplayPort, and singles of USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 ports. While you could probably ask for a little more USB, the Spectre really does have most of what you need covered. Thunderbolt seems like a notable omission, but I'd actually expect to see that show up in a revision at some point unless the technology as a whole fails to gain traction.
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Excellent system performance and low thermals are also accounted for, along with a replaceable battery (provided you have a torx screwdriver handy). Ivy Bridge has done wonders for driving up the performance of ultrabooks without sacrificing thermals or power consumption, and the cooling system HP uses for the Spectre is clearly an efficient one. The pair of SSDs are unusual, but appreciated nonetheless. Finally, a 900p screen in a 14" notebook is always going to be welcome.
So what's the problem? Well, the problem is that ASUS will sell you a comparably equipped Zenbook Prime for just $100 more than the base Spectre configuration (or $350 less than our review unit configuration). $1,499 gets you an ultrabook that's more than a pound lighter, has a higher resolution IPS display, and substantially better battery life. All you're really sacrificing for it is 100MHz off of the CPU, the ethernet port, and NFC. To me, that's tough to argue with.
Without a doubt, the Envy 14 Spectre is distinctive and has features that are undoubtedly going to be compelling to some users. Yet I'm at a loss to figure out exactly who this ultrabook is intended for when there are more portable options floating around. HP has a blend of style and substance here and should be applauded for creating something this unique, and the $1,399 starting price doesn't actually seem too high for what you're getting. I'm just not sure this kind of bling justifies itself in this market; whether or not I'm wrong remains to be seen.
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Beenthere - Saturday, August 25, 2012 - link
HP is going to be out of Biz before long the way they are going. They are so confused they don't even know if they are in or our of the PC Biz.ggathagan - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
The idea of HP getting out of the PC business was pushed by a CEO (Leo Apotheker) that was fired the month after he spewed that nonsense.Given that this all occurred a year ago, you might want to get a fresher news source.
MrTeal - Sunday, August 26, 2012 - link
I can't help but notice that the UX31A is in your charts for this review. I sure hope this means that a review of the new 13" Zenbook Prime review?JarredWalton - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
Coming very soon. :-)seapeople - Sunday, August 26, 2012 - link
Sooo... the spectre gets beat at Futuremark by two other laptops with the same thermal envelope, graphics, and slower processors (Asus and Intel UB), yet supposedly runs extremely cool at max load so therefore has no thermal issues?Is the cooling really that great, or are they throttling to reduce temperature?
Also, did I miss the gaming review section?
CaioRearte - Sunday, August 26, 2012 - link
Please review the HP Envy 14z (the one with Trinity). I think it's a nice comparison, then we can finally see the graphics power difference clearly.joshv - Sunday, August 26, 2012 - link
I was one of the unfortunates who bought an original HP Envy 15, right after it was first released.The '2' key was stillborn, requiring a trip into the shop. Then the video intermittently began to fail. This resulted in about 4 to 5 round trips to the repair service. Every time but the last failing to fix it. Once it finally returned with a brand new motherboard, 2GB of RAM had gone missing (still recognized by the BIOS, but not by windows) and the BIOS they shipped me was so old it had this nasty little bug: http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Hardware/HP-... . I had to fix it myself. Still can't figure out what's wrong with the RAM.
So after that six months of fun I sat down to finally start using my ENVY, just in time for numerous other keys on the keyboard to fail.
$2,000 - down the toilet - the thing is a useless brick.
HP can't make quality, durable hardware. I should have known better.
Sunburn74 - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
Funny how the bench's for the asus ux31a are available for viewing in this review.CharonPDX - Monday, August 27, 2012 - link
Absolutely, I'd love to have a replaceable battery!
Or not....
Non-replaceable means the space used to make it replaceable can be filled with more battery.
th3architectto - Friday, November 23, 2012 - link
it's a classy amazing design, the best out there, good for "music and watch pictures". no this could be better if it has a 15 inch 1080p resolution display at minimum, upgradable aftermarket ssd, more memory capable, discrete graphics 1 gb ddr5 at least and handles ivy bridge 35/45watts processor, well making the classy design funtional real functional and they can do all that without over raising the price they're gonna be making them best business ever.