HP Pavilion Plus 14: A lightweight, no-frills laptop

The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 comes with a 2.2K LED-backlit IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio.

HP is one of the pioneers in laptop manufacturing and over time, the brand has established itself well in the market and has a reputation for producing strong and durable laptops. The company has come up with the latest addition to its lineup with the launch of the HP Pavilion Plus 14. The latest model is the professional version of the earlier Pavilion 14. The new model comes with Intel Iris Graphics, 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor. . Let’s learn about the new HP Pavilion Plus 14 in detail in this review.

Design

The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 features an aluminum look and there is no major change in the look of the laptop compared to its predecessor. The design is simple and very elegant with a large HP logo on the back. The body is carved out of metal and the metal construction surprisingly does not add extra weight as the laptop is very light and easy to carry. The frame around the display is equipped with a plastic lining that protects the display from touching the keyboard. The webcam is in the center of the frame. The ventilation strip is just below the hinge. The hinge opens to a maximum of 120-125 degrees. In the lower part on the back there are two speaker outputs located on two corners. The new notebook is equipped with 2x USB-C w/ DisplayPort 1.4 + Power Delivery, HDMI 2.1, USB-A 5 Gbps on the right side, while on the left side you will find a 3.5 mm audio jack, USB-A 5 Gbps and a microSD reader.

Touchpad

The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 comes with a large 12.5 x 8 cm click pad. The cursor control feels very spacious and is very smooth to use, which is mainly due to the 90 Hz refresh rate of the display. It’s one of the more comfortable clickpads compared to other pavilion laptops we’ve used. Clicking is very smooth, which we liked when working on a laptop. The touchpad experience is very satisfying and it has smooth scrolling, which is a bonus when you’re working on a document and need to scroll down or up quickly.

Keyboard

The keyboard has the same design and looks similar to its predecessor. Working on the keyboard is very comfortable. The keyboard doesn’t make too much sound while typing, and the key placement is synchronized with your fingers, allowing for fast typing. You can find the power button on the right side of the keyboard. Working late at night with the lights off is also no problem as you can easily turn on the RGB light on the keyboard.

Display

The name of the laptop itself explains the size of the display, which is 14 inches. The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 comes with a 2.2K LED-backlit IPS display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. Working on the screen is a comfortable experience because it doesn’t strain your eyes too much and thanks to the blue light emitted from the screen, you can use it for a longer time. Color reproduction is very good and viewing angles are very wide. The brightness level of the display is great as it has a peak brightness of 300 nits and you can comfortably use the laptop to work outdoors and in natural light.

Webcam

The 5MP webcam located in the center of the display is an improvement over its predecessor in terms of resolution. The camera does a good job when you need to participate, make video calls or attend virtual meetings, as the visibility is very good.

Processor and performance

The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 comes with a 12th generation Intel Core i5-12500H processor clocked at 2.50GHz. In terms of graphics, the new laptop comes with Intel Iris Xe Graphics. The processor is paired with 16GB of RAM to offer a better user experience and has 512GB of PCIe NVMe TLC SSD M.2 SSD storage. The laptop runs on Windows 11 Home Single Language. The HP Pavilion Plus 14 handles multiple windows very comfortably, and we encountered no glitches when switching from one tab to another.

When entering commands to open a new folder or jump from one section to another on the laptop, the response time is very fast. The installed graphics card is certainly not for demanding games, but for normal games. Throughout our time with the new HP Pavilion Plus 14, we were very pleased with its ability to handle tasks. For graphic designs, you can also use Adobe Premier Pro, Adobe Photoshop, Canva, Google Pixel, etc. We used Adobe Premier Pro and did not encounter any lag or slow speeds. The notebook comes with two asymmetric fans and two heat pipes to provide cooling. The fan noise is very low even when the laptop heats up due to heavy gaming.

Battery

The new HP Pavilion Plus 14 comes with a 3-cell, 51 Wh Li-ion polymer battery on board. To charge the laptop, the company has provided a 90W USB Type-C power adapter that can charge the laptop to almost 50% in 30-40 minutes. You can also charge the laptop with the Type-C power adapter of mobile phones, but the charging speed will be slow. While using the unit we received, we found the battery to last nearly 5-6 hours continuously on a single charge.

Conclusion

For workaholics, the new HP Pavilion Plus 14 has all the necessary configurations to run smoothly and for long hours. The lightweight design makes it easy to use from anywhere, even if you’re holding it in one hand and typing in the other. The simple and clear design gives the notebook an aesthetic look. The company could have used a more powerful battery to extend the life.