The best HP laptops include some of the best portable devices on the market, whether you’re looking for a creative companion, business buddy or even just a device for web browsing and watching films. HP is a household name, and with its market prominence comes a wide selection of laptops to choose from.
Being spoiled for choice is one thing, but navigating HP’s many ranges can be a bit of a minefield - there's the HP Envy, HP Omen, ZenBook, EliteBook and Pavillion. So, which is the best HP laptop for you, and how do they compare?
Luckily for you, we’ve handpicked a selection of the best HP laptops based on our own expertise and reviews, as well as those of our sister sites and wider network of contacts. In doing so, we’ve looked at a variety of factors, including overall specs, power, display quality, features and value for money so that we can confidently suggest the best HP laptop for different purposes. If you want to find out more about our review processes, you can read more about how we test laptops.
While HP is probably best known for its great selection of business laptops, there are plenty of other HP laptops for all needs and in all shapes and sizes, including some pretty powerful machines for creatives, which we’ve highlighted below. If you want to broaden your scope to other laptops, see our guide to the most powerful laptops available, or our picks of the best Dell laptops. Looking for something more specific? Try our pick of the best laptops for graphic design, or the best laptop for writers.
The best HP laptops available now
Need a good all-rounder for working from home? The HP Envy 13 should do the job nicely; it's compact and capable, and while it's unlikely to provoke actual envy, it certainly has enough power for both creative work and day-to-day business stuff. With options going up to an Intel Core i7 it isn't exactly a powerhouse, but it'll happily handle most design apps with ease.
It comes in a sturdy aluminium build with a nicely comfortable keyboard and crisp 13.3-inch display. And as we noted in our review, it's a capable machine where you don't have to compromise. The only thing we're not too keen on is its plastic touchpad.
Read more in our full HP Envy 13 review.
When you're editing photos you don't always need a stack of power, but every now and then you'll find yourself working with a huge image and a stack of filters, and in need of all the grunt you can get. So if you're after the best HP laptop for photo editing we'd suggest the ZBook Studio G8.
Even in its basic configuration it has more than enough oomph for everyday photo editing, and if you go for pricier setups you'll find it capable of dealing with the most demanding creative apps. It's light and slimline with a sharp and bright 15.6-inch display, as well as Bang and Olufsen-tuned speakers for great audio quality.
The average laptop isn't really enough if your work involves lots of video, so if you need a machine that won't give up the ghost when faced with a stack of 4K footage, the HP ZBook Fury 17 G8 is the way to go. It's not the most exciting-looking laptop, but this portable workstation is impressive in terms of power, especially when you start spending on more heavyweight specs.
Big performance is going to cost you, of course, and you'll also find that this isn't one of the most portable laptops. It's big and heavy and you won't want to rely on it when you're not near an electrical socket, as the battery life isn't particularly long.
If you're looking for the best HP laptop for business rather than creative uses, we reckon the second-generation iteration of the HP Elite Dragonfly is a stunner. You don't get the dedicated graphics of the creative laptops. But what you do get is gorgeous design with a versatile 2-in-1 form factor, a lot of power from 11th-gen Intel Core chips and Intel Iris Xe graphics and a lovely 4K touch display. Battery life is great too (our sister site Techradar got almost 11.5 hours out of it when they tested it for video playback).
There are some extra little details like a fingerprint scanner for logging into Windows – some people will find that gimmicky while for others it will provide a welcome security enhancement. The keyboard is very pleasant to use too. It's expensive – like $2,000 / £2,000 expensive – on launch, and sure there are some things you can gripe about – the USB-C ports are only one one side. But all in all, this is about as perfect as a business laptop gets in our opinion.
The HP Elite Dragonfly G2 is at the top of the pile among HP's business laptops, but there are more accessible options if you don't need the 4K display and other killer specs. The HP EliteBook 840 G7 isn't a 2-in-1 like the machine above, although there is an option of a touchscreen version. And there's nothing in the way of fancy GPUs here, merely integrated Intel graphics, but it offers seriously impressive battery life to get through a day and into the evening.
We found the keyboard to be very comfortable and there are plenty of ports. And if you don't want corporate spies peeking at your monthly figures, there's a SureView privacy display to ensure that you're the only person who can see what's on-screen.
The HP Omen 17 is an absolute monster of a gaming laptop, and you know what that means: not only can it cope with all the latest games in maximum detail with as many frames per second as you need, it'll also be great for eating the most demanding design apps alive.
The basic configuration isn't exactly cheap, but with the mobile version of the GeForce RTX 3070 under the hood it's a proper graphical performer. For serious performance, however, you can spend quite a bit more on a model with an extra 16GB of RAM as well as the top-end RTX 3080, which should see you able to easily outpace the average desktop PC.
Can't choose between a laptop and a tablet? The HP Envy 15 x360 is an option that gives you the best of both worlds. It's a 2-in-1 laptop with a great touchscreen and a 360 degree hinge that means you can use it as an ordinary laptop or fold the display all the way round and use it as a tablet instead. That said, given the size it's just a little unwieldy.
It also boasts impressive performance with a range of CPU and memory options available, and it comes in an elegant, solid shell with a fantastic display and excellent battery life.
'Cheap' is a relative term here, but if you don't have a fortune to spend but need good build quality and great performance, you'll be happy with the HP Pavilion Aero 13. Unlike most of the HP laptop line it's powered by an AMD chipset providing plenty of power, and it's super-lightweight thanks to a magnesium alloy chassis.
Its 13.3-inch display is sharp and bright, and if you have lots of peripherals you want to plug in you'll be delighted by its generous array of ports. There's even a fingerprint sensor for instant logins. Of course there are some compromises; the webcam isn't really up to much and the trackpad's made of plastic, but these are minor gripes.
A Chromebook can be a useful piece of kit if all you need is a simple laptop for day-to-day browsing and business needs, and the HP Chromebook x2 is about as good as it gets. It costs a bit more than the average Chromebook, but you get quite a lot more for your money, including a vibrant touchscreen with a pen included for taking notes, and a battery that'll keep going for nearly nine hours.
While it won't run the majority of the usual creative apps, it's fully compatible with Google Play so you can load it up with Android apps. It's a 2-in-1 so you can use it in tablet mode as well as a laptop, however you might find it just a little on the heavy side.
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How should I choose the best HP laptop for me?
Before you decide which is the best HP laptop, you should establish what you need the laptop for. HP is a reliable brand, but each machine will have different strengths (and weaknesses) that could make all the difference to your experience.
HPs ranges cover everything from general consumer laptops to business laptops, gaming laptops and devices aimed at creatives, so make sure to look at the key specs and features you need in your new laptop. If you’re just looking for something to boost productivity and for general browsing, your needs may be fairly basic; a reliable machine with decent battery life and a simple design, like the HP Chromebook.
Or, if you need something a bit more suitable for work environments, you could look into the EliteBook range - the HP EliteBook 840 G7 will give you enough battery to power through the day and then some. If you’re looking for a device that can support your creativity, you’ll need something with dedicated graphics and a lot of power like those found in the Envy and Zbook ranges.
Who are HP's different laptop ranges aimed at?
With such a wide variety on offer, HP’s laptop ranges can be overwhelming at first, but there are clear distinctions between the kinds of users each line targets. Once you’re familiar with these, shopping for an HP laptop becomes a lot less daunting.
At the top of the range are HP Spectres and Zbooks, the most premium laptops – the latter being portable workstations. These are designed to be the ultimate all-rounders, packing power, battery life and portability into one robust and reliable machine.
The next step down would be the HP Envy range, which connects the professional and consumer markets. Featuring a number of x360 2-in-1 laptops, the Envy range is premium but with more accessible prices than the Spectres and Zbooks, as well as some impressive specs.
Then, there’s the EliteBook range, which is directed towards business users, the HP Omen for gamers, and lastly, the HP Pavilion, which is suited best for the general consumer and family market. Beyond these main ranges, HP also produces a number of small, lightweight Chromebooks, which run Chrome OS rather than Windows - so don’t expect all of the desktop apps you’re used to.
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