HP raises the bar with the Pavilion Plus 14

HP's Pavilion Plus 14 laptop is a new addition to the company's consumer line. If this line has previously stood out for its low price more than its specs, this model deviates from the standard by including some components that were previously only available in higher series such as the ENVY 2022.

To begin, the Pavilion Plus 14 features an aluminum chassis rather than the series' standard polycarbonate. Another noteworthy announcement is the ability to mount an OLED screen, which is the first time this sort of display technology has appeared in the Pavilion series. Internally, it is outfitted with the most recent Intel processors and can be outfitted with specialized NVIDIA graphics.

With a weight of 1.4 kg, it is a thin and light laptop. HP provides two panels for your 14-inch diagonal display:

• A 2240 x 1400 pixel IPS LCD with a refresh rate of 60 Hz and a maximum brightness of 300 nits.
• The OLED display has a native resolution of 2280 x 1800 pixels, a refresh rate of 90 Hz, and a maximum brightness of 500 nits.

HP also provides five processor options based on Intel's Alder Lake architecture:

• Core i7-12700H (45W, 14 cores, 20 threads)
• Core i5-12500H (45W, 12 cores, 16 threads)
• Core i5-1240P (28W, 12 cores, 16 threads)
• Core i7-1255U (15W, 10 cores, 12 threads)
• Core i5-1235U (15W, 10 cores, 12 threads)

The integrated graphics can be supplemented with NVIDIA dedicated ones such as the GeForce MX550 or RTX 2050, but RAM is limited to 16 GB of DDR4-3200 memory that is soldered to the motherboard and is not user upgradeable. It offers a 1 Tbyte base storage configuration with a PCIe Gen 3 NVMe SSD that can be upgraded to a Gen4 interface.

Its connection is excellent for this series of laptops, led by Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports (10 Gbps), two USB Type-A (5 Gbps), and an HDMI 2.1 port, headphone jack, and microSD card reader. One of the few characteristics that distinguish this laptop from the more modern Envy or Spectre families is the lack of Thunderbolt connectors.

It also has B&O stereo speakers, a 5MP webcam, dual microphones, an optional fingerprint reader, and keyboard lighting support. HP offers two distinct power adapters, 65W or 90W, both USB-C, depending on the configuration. The battery in all variants is the same size (51 Wh).

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 will be available in select locations later this month. It starts at $799 with Windows 11 preloaded and numerous color finishes to select from. Slightly more than the series average, however, these are the strongest features ever offered for a mass-market line like Pavilion.