HP Pavilion 15 Review (2021) – Powerful Yet Cheap Gaming Laptop

If you are looking for an entry-level gaming laptop with mid-range to high-end features at an affordable price range, HP has come up with something out of the box and offers an HP Pavilion gaming laptop.

The gaming laptop handles all old to modern games with ease on its high-definition 1080P display due to powerful and high-performance rendering hardware.

The laptop can make you touch 144 refresh rates while being comparatively on the quieter side too. The added 8GB dual-channel memory keeps the system running without getting it slowed, the same does with the added 256GB modern SSD storage.

This upgraded and refreshed HP gaming laptop offers a better value for your hard-earned money, a great bang on your buck indeed.

If you are planning to buy a mid-range gaming laptop that could also offer you computing power, with no cumbersome in carrying, just roll hands onto this, and you would not regret the decision.

Let’s have an insightful review of the refreshed gaming laptop, and behold why gaming machine is ranking well.

Design & Construction

The HP pavilion 15 gaming laptop comes with an irregular design and construction. The laptop does not follow the pattern of Pavilion laptops; still, there are some resemblances to its predecessors having a matte, black plastic chassis.

The overall look of the gaming laptop is altogether different, that would be because the laptop is designed to be a gaming rig. HP calls its black chassis as shadow black with contrasts with the body including the keyboard area.

The most striking and impressive design feature is its air outlet on the back, this is our opinion, and many buyers also reviewed it.

The laptop does not come with a maintenance cover nor is the battery removable. Accessing the battery or the internal parts would require removing the bottom case; the maintenance is a bit difficult along with up-gradation of the different vital components.

The laptop shares a sturdy construction, the bottom edges display lid are bit more sharpy, they could injure someone if drops. The hinges are firms and would not shake on typing.

In a sum-up, the HP gaming laptop is compact, sleek and light compare to the older version. The weight is around 5.29, and 23.mm thick. Yes, it is thinner and lighter than most of the $600 gaming laptops that share the same identical specs.

Connectivity

The HP gaming laptop comes with a good range of ports selection. It comes with four USB ports including one USB Type-C and three USB Type-A ports.

It also features an HDMI port with a 3.5 mm combined headphone and microphone jack, a gigabyte ethernet port and a cable lock slot. Hp positioned all the ports on the left and right-hand side of the device.

The only downside as long as connectivity option is concerned; the laptop does not come with thunderbolt 3 port. Thunderbolt has become a standard among modern gaming devices; living up a gaming life without it would be rather odd.

Keyboard & Trackpad

The HP gaming laptop comes with a six-row chiclet keyboard and one Numpad. The primary keys measure 15 x 15 mm and are nicely spaced from each other. The keys offer smooth action and come medium lift with a clear pressure point.

The keyboard typing experience is good, but some of the buyers also mentioned that the keyboard deck is a bit gives away type. Though our test did not find this overly disturbing issue, a hard-core typist could identify these minor issues better than us.

The laptop shares a multitouch touchpad with a measurement of 11.4 x 5 cm. The smooth finish rendering touchpad is a breeze to perform and it responds precisely to inputs even from the corners of the surface too. The trackpad also shares two mouse buttons that provide tactical pressure points with an audible click.

Display

As the name suggests, the gaming laptop shares a 15.6 inches Full HD IPS display. The IPS panels offer 1920×1080 and have a 144 refresh rate.

The laptop as per the reviews and many benchmark scores ranks above most of the laptop at the price tag when it comes to the brightness of the screen. The brighter screen renders impressive performance, better image production, clearer, and vibrant video production.

The matte finish diffuses the display nicely, the laptop is a great gear to use outdoor, but direct sunlight at some level can wash out the shining. It is a brighter display laptop, but no enough to overcome the sun direct light, a little washed out and difficult to read in those situations.

The panel offers a stable viewing angle, the display is readable from any angle, you would not face any issue in reading and viewing images from any angle at all.

CPU, RAM & Storage

The processor of the gaming laptop is quite impressive. At least enough power to make you play any game you wish without any disturbance. The AMD Ryzen 5 3550H processor with 6 MB cache runs at a base speed of 2.1 GHz up to 3.7 GHz with turbo boost function.

The processor shares a benchmark score of 8328 in our test which is considered quite a high number. It is no doubt a high-end processor and will sweep you through all types of gaming.

With 8GB DDR4 dual-channel memory, the laptop offers a great multitasking experience. You would not behold any delays, can easily manage anything comes across your ways.

The laptop also comes with an additional RAM slot and you can add another 8GB DDR4 memory can extend it up to 16GB. The upgrade option though is a little difficult due to its removable casing. You will have to remove the bottom entire section to upgrade RAM and storage.

It comes with a 256GB SSD storage. The size is good enough for an average gamer to store favorite games at high speed than a regular SATA drive. The shorter loading time, boosted reading/writing time will help you load games, apps and much more.

Graphics Card

The gaming laptop is equipped with an NVidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. The graphics card section does not suit the upper middle class of the games. Only suitable for old PC games or some fewer graphic relying games.

In my opinion, avid gamers might not seem to agree to take this laptop onboard, just because it is not for them. It would not make them run AAA titles, for them, at least GTX 1060 or 1660Ti configuration should be there.

The reason for the GTX 1050 graphics card inclusion is the price range. The laptop falls under 500 dollar gaming laptop, how on the earth a gaming laptop could be powered with a 1660-Ti graphics card at this price.

You should bear in mind that, this GPU is practically designed to run esports such as Overwatch, counterstrike, PUBG, and Fortnite. You should not expect a high-ended gaming performance from a gaming machine like this. Yes, you can play league of legends on the go, and really cannot go wrong.

Battery Life

The HP gaming laptop comes with a 52.2 WH battery, which lasts around 5-hours in the WI-FI battery life test. The tests have been taken while using the internet constantly and opening media files, and running heavy applications.

The battery obviously can last longer than this, if you could properly manage the work. You would not be putting this much of burned simultaneously on a mid-range gaming laptop.

In a nutshell, if you are browsing, it can last around 6-hours; on media the expectations could be little on the high-side.

Guru’s Verdict 

The gaming laptop shares a modern look, and weight is around 4.96 pounds, which is good to go for frequent-traveler or office goers. The laptop features a backlight keyboard, the display is also great that can support 144 Hz refresh rates; the vital specification exceeds our expectations.

Yes, there are few downsides, and we must not overlook the price range the laptop has to offer. It is a great grab beyond any shadow of a doubt and comes in hands at an affordable price range.

Yes, if you are a casual gamer and want to roll hands onto old PC games and some fewer graphics-oriented latest games, must by this HP gaming machine.