HP Envy Move review: Has the all-in-one got it all?

All-in-ones are supposed to look sleek, not take up much space, and look good on a desk. The HP Envy Move checks these boxes, but that’s not all. This all-in-one means business when it comes to portability. It has a pouch at the back for storing the keyboard + trackpad combo, a handle to carry it, and a battery so you can use it anywhere.

It solves a problem I never thought was there in the first place. You buy a desktop PC to keep it in one place, right? Not this one! I just carried it from my room to the drawing room, and even to a friend’s house. Wherever you want to work, you just need a flat surface and the HP Envy Move is just like using a laptop, but with a massive screen.

But hold on… it needs to be more than portable for you to invest in it and make you replace your desktop. So, here’s everything you need to know about the HP Envy Move.

HP Envy Move specifications

HP Envy Move review: Design

This is a stand-out machine and people will ask you about it. It looks good as a regular desktop, but when you’re carrying it, heads will turn. As for the design itself, it’s a hit-and-miss. I like the keyboard pocket and the magnetic handle. But the folding feet can be a mess, especially if you want to move it forward or back.

It has tilt adjustment so you can get the ideal angle for your usage. But the overall design doesn’t allow height adjustment, so your work surface has to be the right height. Lastly, it has volume and brightness controls on the sides, along with a source button to quickly switch between PC and monitor modes, which is good.

HP Envy Move review: Display and speakers

HP made the world’s first IMAX-enhanced laptop display, and this one also sets the standards pretty high. For this price, you’re getting a QHD touchscreen IPS display with good colours and rich contrast. While the thought of a touchscreen in the AIO format may feel out of place, the large screen makes the touch function responsive and accurate.

The speakers are also fairly punchy and easily fill the room. There’s ample bass, clear vocals, and the stereo separation works well. It won’t be a stretch to say that you don’t need any additional speakers to binge-watch on this PC.

On the downside, the display is only 300nits bright, so you may need to adjust it away from any sun-facing windows. Moreover, despite the anti-glare tech, a direct source of reflecting in the screen will force you to adjust it a bit. But for the price, this display and speaker combination is more than enough for work and play.

HP Envy Move review: Keyboard combo

The keyboard-trackpad combo is one of the weirdest parts of the HP Envy Move. While the design makes it portable and easy to use, the keyboard’s quality is a let-down. It is tactile, but the keys feel like they’ll jam if pushed too hard. The plasticky build is acceptable for the price, but HP makes decent keyboards and could’ve done better with this one.

Onto the trackpad, this also feels strange at first but grows on you. It is a decently large and responsive trackpad, and you have a touchscreen to make things more convenient.

HP Envy Move review: Performance and Usage experience

Our unit came with a 13th-generation Intel i5 U-series chip. This is paired with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD. While the system has a 1GB upgradable SSD slot, there’s no word on RAM upgrades. And that’s where we get to see the cost management in this machine. While the screen, speakers, the neat portability system look great, the specs are a let-down.

I expected this to at least pack an H or HX series chip, along with a dedicated GPU. However, this is more for casual users and less for gamers. The U-series chip means better power efficiency, and Intel Arc graphics also consume less power while delivering enough performance for day-to-day multitasking or workflows like video editing.

On the upside, you will immediately feel that the i5 chip performs much better in the HP Envy Move because it has more space to run cool. Daily office tasks like Excel and Chrome workflows run smoothly, and I opened close to 50 Chrome tabs without any hiccups.

HP Envy Move review: Battery

I never thought I’d mention battery in an all-in-one review, but the HP Envy Move has done a good job here. One charge and you have close to 5 hours of battery for office work and video playback. It also adds to the portability appeal as you can just put it on a table anywhere and get started without any cables.

Although HP has left a caveat here too. The PC does not come with a USB-C charger. It is a proprietary port so you’ll have to carry a charger with you.

Wrapping up…

The HP Envy Move is undoubtedly one of the coolest all-in-ones I’ve used. If you are a casual user looking for a desktop, this is a solid option. Comparatively, if you go for building a PC at this same price, you’ll end up compromising on either the display, speakers, or connectivity, but HP has a pretty sweet package here.

Just throw in a better keyboard and you’ll have a neat machine to work on. However, be mindful that this isn’t made for heavy multitasking or gaming. And that’s the one thing I wish HP had done with this. If they ever make a variant with HX-series chips, RTX graphics, and a better keyboard, it’ll be worth checking out for power users.