HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) review

HP’s Envy series is the slightly more affordable cousin of the top-of-the-line Spectre lineup. However, sometimes, the Envy appears to be the better product regardless of the price. Today, we have the Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000).

It is a convertible that comes in a 13.3-inch outfit and a 16:10 display. We’ll discuss the display options later on, but what you need to know is that there is a 2.8K OLED unit, a WQXGA IPS panel, and a WUXGA IPS screen, which is the default option.

Since the “x360” part of the name denominates that the laptop is a convertible, there are some prerequisites that need to be met. One of them is Pen support, and it would be ideal if one is provided with the device.

By the way, this laptop sports Alder Lake processors from Intel. However, they are neither 28W nor 15W ones. Instead, HP plays it safe, and counts on the 9W Core i5-1230U, and Core i7-1250U. Given the latest unimpressive results we’ve got from HP notebooks, we think that it might be a good idea to go for 9W chips.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-envy-x360-13-13-bf0000/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP ENVY x360 13 (13-bf0000) - Specs

  • LGD0722
  • Color accuracy  2.7  0.8
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 1000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 16GB
  • OS
  • Windows 11 Home, Windows 11 Pro
  • Battery
  • 66Wh, 4-cell, 66Wh, 4-cell , 51Wh, 3-cell
  • Body material
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 298.45 x 214.88 x 16.1 mm (11.75" x 8.46" x 0.63")
  • Weight
  • 1.30 kg (2.9 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
  • 2x USB Type-C
  • 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort, Sleep and Charge
  • Card reader
  • MicroSD
  • Ethernet LAN
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.2
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • 5MP with IR
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • Dual Array Digital Microphones
  • Speakers
  • Dual Speakers, Bang & Olufsen
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found only the mandatory package of some paperwork and a 65W USB Type-C charger. Nothing too special.


Design and construction

Made entirely out of metal, the Envy x360 13 has a very strong chassis and a lid that is almost unbendable. Of course, the glass screen cover greatly increases the lid rigidity.

It sports a profile of 16.1mm and has a weight of 1.30 kg. This makes it pretty thin and light. Furthermore, the curved edges definitely help with the good feeling in the hand.

Unfortunately, the lid can’t be opened with a single hand. The lid is hard to grip because of the curved edge, while the hinges are really stiff, giving you absolutely no chance. In addition, the screen has a huge bottom bezel, while the top and side ones are pretty slim.

What is also good is the 5MP Web camera, which has an IR face recognition scanner beside it. You also get a physical privacy shutter, which is operated via a button on the keyboard. By the way, it’s good to know that the lid goes all the way to the back and sits flat without any flex or bounce. This would make it good for use as a tablet and with a stylus… provided that HP gives you one.

Speaking of which, the keyboard is extremely comfortable to use. This is thanks to the long key travel, and the clicky feedback, which is really consistent across all keys.

We were also really happy with the touchpad. Its surface is really smooth, and the tracking is very accurate and responsive.

Turn the device upside down, to see the two speaker cutouts. In addition to them, there is the ventilation grill, which supplies cool air to the fan. This air is then exhausted through a vent in the back.

Ports

On the left side, there is an Audio jack, a MicroSD card, and a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with a jaw-style cover. And on the right, you get two Thunderbolt 4 connectors and another USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with a jaw cover.


Disassembly, upgrade options, and maintenance

To open this notebook, you need to undo 4 Torx-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, starting from the back.

Inside, there is a 66.5Wh battery pack. It lasts for 18 hours of Web browsing, or 17 hours of video playback on a single charge. To take it out, undo all four Phillips-head screws, and carefully untangle the speakers’ cable from the bottom part of the battery. Then, unplug the connector from the motherboard, and you will be safe to take it out of the chassis.

Here, the memory comes soldered to the motherboard. The maximum supported amount is 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM. Storage-wise, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, which fits either Gen 3 or Gen 4 SSDs.

Despite the 9W CPU, the laptop comes with a decent cooling solution. It comprises a reasonably-sized heat pipe, a fan, and passive cooling elements on the VRMs.


Display quality

HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) uses a WUXGA IPS touchscreen panel, model number LGD0722. Its diagonal is 13.3″ (33.8 cm), and the resolution – 1920 x 1200. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 170 ppi, and their pitch – 0.15 x 0.15 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 51 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Viewing angles are comfortable. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.

Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.

HP also offers some factory-tailored presets through the “HP Display Control” app.

The maximum measured brightness is 413 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 385 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 10%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6790K (average) – slightly colder than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 76% Brightness (White level = 140 cd/m2, Black level = 0.09 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1630:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000)’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 98% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of the HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) with the default settings, the “Photos and Videos” preset, and the “Gaming and Web design” profile.



The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 30 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.


Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000)’s backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. This makes it comfortable for long periods of use.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Gloss level measurement

Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 110 GU).


Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) configurations with 13.3″ LGD0722 (FHD, 1920 × 1200) IPS.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000)’s Bang & Olufsen speakers produce a sound of decent quality. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-envy-x360-13.3-inch-2-in-1-laptop-pc-13-bf0000/2101086021

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. The 66.5Wh battery inside this machine lasts for 17 hours and 51 minutes of Web browsing, or 17 hours and 13 minutes of video playback.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.


CPU options

This machine can be equipped with either the Core i5-1230U or Core i7-1250U. They are 9W TDP CPUs with a confirmed maximum Turbo power of 29W. Both consist of 2 P-cores and 8 E-cores. Respectively, the former utilizes multithreading for a total of 12 threads.


GPU options

The integrated graphics inside is the Iris Xe Graphics G7, with no option for a dedicated GPU. The integrated solution has 80EUs for the Core i5 model, and 96EUs for the Core i7.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS147 fps110 fps68 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS122 fps90 fps55 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power

Intel Core i7-1250U (9W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000)2.89 GHz @ 2.23 GHz @ 90°C @ 45W2.90 GHz @ 2.26 GHz @ 90°C @ 30W2.57 GHz @ 1.97 GHz @ 74°C @ 24W

Indeed, what Intel says is true about the maximum power limit on this processor. The Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) managed to maintain the 29W for about 50 seconds, before settling at 23W for the rest of the test.

Comfort during full load

Even though the laptop reaches 48°C on the outside, the hotspot is isolated in one spot. It happens to be far away from anywhere you would normally put your hands. And on top of that, the laptop remains pretty quiet even under an extreme workload.


Verdict

Today, we experience another classic Envy beats Spectre situation. The Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) is not very expensive but comes with some fantastic features. This includes two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, a MicroSD card reader, a 5MP Web camera and an IR face recognition scanner.

We were pretty surprised with the two USB Type-A ports, which have jaw-style covers. In fact, this is the main reason why you are able to get such ports on this chassis. Not that we haven’t seen thinner laptops sporting USB Type-A. However, the curved edges really make the sides very thin.

HP Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000)’s IPS touchscreen panel has a 16:10 aspect ratio with a 1920×1200 resolution. It comes with comfortable viewing angles, a very good contrast ratio, and a non-flickering backlight. Furthermore, it covers 98% of the sRGB color gamut, while the color accuracy is great thanks to our Gaming and Web design profile.

In addition to that, we are happy with the 9W Intel Core i7-1250U. Without a doubt, it performs better than some 15W solutions found in other laptops. We found it especially good in photo manipulation.

On the other hand, the maximum supported memory is 16GB. This means you will have to reduce the load of photos in some apps. Since it is soldered, you can’t expand it either, so you should definitely not be interested in the 8GB option.

We mustn’t forget the fantastic input devices. Both the keyboard and the touchpad provide a very comfortable and satisfying experience.

What is disappointing, on the other hand, is the fact that it will be super rare to find an Envy x360 13 (13-bf0000) with an included stylus. Especially since competitors, like the Lenovo Yoga 7 (14″, 2022) do provide a Pen.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-envy-x360-13-13-bf0000/

Pros

  • Fantastic battery life
  • All-aluminum chassis
  • Decent cooling
  • Full sRGB coverage
  • Accurate colors and a 16:10 aspect ratio
  • No PWM
  • IR face recognition
  • 2x Thunderbolt 4 + MicroSD card
  • Good and quiet performance


Cons

  • Soldered memory and a low maximum of 16GB
  • No stylus inside the box

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Laptop mỏng nhẹ
1 year ago

Good laptop, hope it hinges firmly