Technologies
HP Envy x360 15 Review: A Good 2-in-1 Hampered by an Outdated Display
Why buy a convertible laptop with a 15.6-inch, 16:9 panel when 16-inch, 16:10 models exist?

HP’s Envy line of laptops and two-in-one convertibles is the middle child between the mainstream Pavilion series and the premium Spectre line. The Envy x360 15 is a 15.6-inch two-in-one that delivers the best of both worlds: a premium design that’s closer to that of a Spectre at a price that’s more meat-and-potatoes Pavilion. The Envy x360 15 boasts an attractive, rigid all-metal body, but the design is no different than last year’s model. And while we don’t mind last year’s looks, we are less enthused with HP sticking with a widescreen 16:9 display when the increasingly popular 16:10 panels found in such convertibles as the Dell Inspiron 16 two-in-one and Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 are roomier and more useful, while hardly adding to the system’s overall footprint.
The Envy x360 15’s component lineup is solidly midrange with a Ryzen 7 5825U CPU that’s now a year old and a generation behind AMD’s current 6000 series. It’s paired with 12GB of RAM that’s more than the 8GB you get with typical budget models but less than the 16GB you can usually find at this price. The biggest change from last year’s model is HP having doubled the webcam resolution from a grainy 720p to a crisp 1440p camera. In the era of video conferences, a bump in webcam fidelity is greatly appreciated. Then again, if the webcam is the headliner, it’s not much of an update overall.
Like
- Premium looks at mainstream price
- 1440p webcam
- Long battery life
Don’t Like
- 16:9 display feels cramped and outdated
- Dim display
HP offers the Envy x360 15 in a host of configurations with both Intel and AMD CPUs. Our test system is available at Best Buy (model 15-ey0023dx) for $1,050 and is regularly discounted to only $750. Best Buy’s sales constantly fluctuate, so if it’s not on sale there, you can find a similar model at HP with 16GB of RAM that lists for $1,130. It’s currently out of stock, but its price was reduced to $930 recently. In the UK, the Envy x360 15 starts at 750, and in Australia it’s AU$1,999.
With its octa-core Ryzen 7 5825U and 12GB of RAM, the Envy x360 offers strong application performance and some capacity for basic photo editing. Its integrated Radeon GPU isn’t as powerful as Intel’s integrated graphics processor, however, and Intel’s isn’t all that powerful to begin with. Content creators will want to look elsewhere. With the efficient Ryzen 7 U-series chip, the system is able to operate in silence the majority of the time. And when the cooling fans are required, they spin quietly. The efficient CPU also allows for long battery life — nearly 12 hours on our battery drain test.
Envious looks
The Envy x360 15 features an all-metal chassis in what HP calls Nightfall Black. The matte-black finish has a hint of brown to it and lends a luxurious look similar to that of the Spectre x360 16 — minus the gem-cut edges, gold accents and ports located in the back corners. The Envy x360 15 won’t look out of place in the boardroom or executive suite and also offers a contrast to the common sight of silver aluminum laptops in coffee shops and shared workspaces.
At 4.2 pounds (1.9 kilograms), the Envy x360 15 feels heavier than it should, likely a result of the extra layers needed for the touch display found on all two-in-ones. The 3-pound Lenovo Yoga 7i makes a better option for daily commutes with its 14-inch, 16:10 display. A smaller, lighter two-in-one also has a more natural feel in tablet mode. The Envy x360 15 looks comically tall and narrow when held in portrait mode as a tablet. It’s also too heavy to hold with one hand and tap, swipe or sketch with the other hand. One last note on the Envy x360 15 as a tablet: A pen is not included.
The aluminum chassis offers a firm feel with little to no flex — even on the lid protecting the display. The keyboard deck provides a solid foundation on which to type. The keys themselves are widely spaced, firm and flat. They offer snappy feedback and a pleasant typing experience. I was immediately comfortable typing on the Envy x360 15. The touchpad, too, is excellent. It felt roomy and responsive. Both the keys and touchpad click offer the perfect amount of travel and are quiet when engaged. No loud, clacky keys or touchpad clicks to be heard.
The 15.6-inch, widescreen 16:9 display looks outdated and cramped when you are scrolling through a long document or web page. Microsoft Word, for instance, with its fat menu bar running across the top doesn’t leave as much room as you might like to read the actual document without constantly scrolling. There’s a reason the 16:10 aspect ratio is so popular among laptops. A 16:10 display feels roomier for the simple fact that it is. A 16:9 display may be better for watching movies, but 16:10 is better for everything else.
The other drawback with the display is its dimness. I measured it at 250 nits at maximum brightness. A 250-nit panel is budget territory. I wouldn’t be surprised to see such a display on a lower-end configuration in HP’s mainstream Pavilion line, but I expect better when stepping up to the Envy series. While the matte-black chassis might be worthy of boardroom inclusion, you had better hope your boardroom isn’t drenched in natural sunlight. I had the display dialed up to max brightness in a north-facing room on a cloudy day in winter in northern New England, and there were still times I hit the brightness-up hoping for more.
In contrast to the dim, 16:9 display, the webcam received an upgrade in this year’s model. Gone is the grainy 720p webcam of yore, and in its place is a 5-megapixel camera that can capture 1440p, 30fps video. It produced a crisp, well-balanced picture with accurate color and skin tones. The webcam is also an IR cam, so you can sign in to Windows simply by placing your face in front of the laptop.
The Envy x360 15 offers a strong selection of ports, but you miss out on Thunderbolt 4 support because of the AMD chipset. The two USB-C ports support a display and high-speed data, however, and there’s also an HDMI port for connecting to an external display. With a pair of USB Type-A ports in addition to the USB-C ports, you won’t need to hassle with an adapter to connect your devices. You also get an SD card slot, which is not usually found on a mainstream laptop.
Despite its good looks, stellar webcam and comfortable keyboard, the Envy x360 15 is hard to recommend because of its dim, 16:9 display. If the display isn’t an issue for you, just be sure to wait for a good sale price. Otherwise, a more modern two-in-one with a 16:10 display such as the Dell Inspiron 16 2-in-1 or Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 provides a larger workspace without adding much to the size and weight of the system.
Technologies
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Technologies
Apple, I’m (Sky) Blue About Your iPhone 17 Air Color
Commentary: The rumored new hue of the iPhone 17 Air is more sky blah than sky blue.

I can’t help but feel blue about the latest rumor that Apple’s forthcoming iPhone 17 Air will take flight in a subtle, light-hued color called sky blue.
Sky blue isn’t a new color for Apple. It’s the featured shade of the current M4 MacBook Air, a shimmer of cerulean so subtle as to almost be missed. It’s silver left too close to an aquarium; silver that secretly likes to think it’s blue but doesn’t want everyone else to notice.
Do Apple employees get to go outside and see a real blue sky? It’s actually vivid, you can check for yourself. Perhaps the muted sky blue color reflects a Bay Area late winter/early spring frequent layer of clouds like we typically see here in Seattle.
«Who cares?» you might find yourself saying. «Everyone gets a case anyway.» I hear you and everyone else who’s told me that. But design-focused Apple is as obsessive about colors as they are about making their devices thinner. And I wonder if their heads are in the clouds about which hues adorn their pro products.
Making the case for a caseless color iPhone
I’m more invested in this conversation than most — I’m one of those freaks who doesn’t wrap my phone in a case. I find cases bulky and superfluous, and I like to be able to see Apple’s design work. Also, true story, I’ve broken my iPhone screen only twice: First when it was in a «bumper» that Apple sent free in response to the iPhone 4 you’re-holding-it-wrong Antennagate fiasco, and second when trying to take long exposure starry night photos using what I didn’t realize was a broken tripod mount. My one-week-old iPhone 13 Pro slipped sideways and landed screen-first on a pointy rock. A case wouldn’t have saved it.
My current model is an iPhone 16 Pro in black titanium — which I know seems like avoiding color entirely — but previously I’ve gone for colors like blue titanium and deep purple. I wanted to like deep purple the most but it came across as, in the words of Patrick Holland in his iPhone 14 Pro review, «a drab shade of gray or like Grimace purple,» depending on the light.
Pros can be bold, too
Maybe the issue is too many soft blues. Since the iPhone Pro age began with the iPhone 11 Pro, we’ve seen variations like blue titanium (iPhone 15 Pro), sierra blue (iPhone 13 Pro) and pacific blue (iPhone 12 Pro).
Pacific blue is the boldest of the bunch, if by bold you mean dark enough to discern from silver, but it’s also close enough to that year’s graphite color that seeing blue depends on the surrounding lighting. By comparison, the blue (just «blue») color of the iPhone 12 was unmistakably bright blue.
In fact, the non-Pro lines have embraced vibrant colors. It’s as if Apple is equating «pro» with «sophisticated,» as in «A real pro would never brandish something this garish.» I see this in the camera world all the time: If it’s not all-black, it’s not a «serious» camera.
And yet I know lots of pros who are not sophisticated — proudly so. People choose colors to express themselves, so forcing that idea of professionalism through color feels needlessly restrictive. A bright pink iPhone 16 might make you smile every time you pick it up but then frown because it doesn’t have a telephoto camera.
Color is also important because it can sway a purchase decision. «I would buy a sky blue iPhone yesterday,» my colleague Gael Cooper texted after the first rumor popped online. When each new generation of iPhones arrive, less technically different than the one before, a color you fall in love with can push you into trading in your perfectly-capable model for a new one.
And lest you think Apple should just stick with black and white for its professional phones: Do you mean black, jet black, space black, midnight black, black titanium, graphite or space gray? At least the lighter end of the spectrum has stuck to just white, white titanium and silver over the years.
Apple never got ahead by being beige
I’m sure Apple has reams of studies and customer feedback that support which colors make it to production each year. Like I said, Apple’s designers are obsessive (in a good way). And I must remind myself that a sky blue iPhone 17 Air is a rumored color on a rumored product so all the usual caveats apply.
But we’re talking about Apple here. The scrappy startup that spent more than any other company on business cards at the time because each one included the old six-color Apple logo. The company that not only shaped the first iMac like a tipped-over gumdrop, that not only made the case partially see-through but then made that cover brilliant Bondi blue.
Embrace the iPhone colors, Apple.
If that makes you nervous, don’t worry: Most people will put a case on it anyway.
Technologies
Astronomers Say There’s an Increased Possibility of Life on This Distant Planet
Using the James Webb Space Telescope, astronomers are working to confirm potential evidence of life on a distant exoplanet dubbed K2-18b.

Astronomers are nearing a statistically significant finding that could confirm the potential signs of life detected on the distant exoplanet K2-18b are no accident.
The team of astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, used data from the James Webb Space Telescope (which has only been in use since the end of 2021) to detect chemical traces of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which they say can only be produced by life such as phytoplankton in the sea.
According to the university, «the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.»
The findings were published this week in the Astrophysical Journal Letters and point to the possibility of an ocean on this planet’s surface, which scientists have been hoping to discover for years. In the abstract for the paper, the team says, «The possibility of hycean worlds, with planet-wide oceans and H2-rich atmospheres, significantly expands and accelerates the search for habitable environments elsewhere.»
Not everyone agrees, however, that what the team found proves there’s life on the exoplanet.
Science writer and OpenMind Magazine founder Corey S. Powell posted about the findings on Bluesky, writing, «The potential discovery of alien life is so enticing that it drags even reputable outlets into running naive or outright misleading stories.» He added, «Here we go again with planet K2-18b.Um….there’s strong evidence of non-biological sources of the molecule DMS.»
K2-18b is 124 light-years away and much larger than Earth (more than eight times our mass), but smaller than Neptune. The search for signs of even basic life on a planet like this increases the chances that there are more planets like Earth that may be inhabitable, with temperatures and atmospheres that could sustain human-like lifeforms. The team behind the paper hopes that more study with the James Webb Space Telescope will help confirm their initial findings.
More research to do on finding life on K2-18b
The exoplanet K2-18b is not the only place where scientists are exploring the possibility of life, and this research is still an early step in the process, said Christopher Glein, a geochemist, planetary researcher and lead scientist at San Antonio’s Southwest Research Institute. Excitement over the significance of the research, he said, should be tempered.
«We need to be careful here,» Glein said. «It appears that there is something in the data that can’t be explained, and DMS/DMDS can provide an explanation. But this detection is stretching the limits of JWST’s capabilities.»
Glein added, «Further work is needed to test whether these molecules are actually present. We also need complementary research assessing the abiotic background on K2-18b and similar planets. That is, the chemistry that can occur in the absence of life in this potentially exotic environment. We might be seeing evidence of some cool chemistry rather than life.»
The TRAPPIST-1 planets, he said, are being researched as potentially habitable, as is LHS 1140b, which he said «is another astrobiologically significant exoplanet, which might be a massive ocean world.»
As for K2-18b, Glein said many more tests need to be performed before there’s consensus on life existing on it.
«Finding evidence of life is like prosecuting a case in the courtroom,» Glein said. «Multiple independent lines of evidence are needed to convince the jury, in this case the worldwide scientific community.» He added, «If this finding holds up, then that’s Step 1.»
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