The HP Pavilion x360 14 (2021) is a convertible laptop with a 360-degree hinge that's available in a variety of different configurations. Its plastic chassis feels solid and decently built, and since it's lightweight and compact, it's easy to bring along with you. The user experience is decent overall thanks to its smooth touchpad, good-sized keyboard, and decently loud, neutral-sounding speakers. The port selection is great, including a dedicated HDMI port and a single USB-C port that supports USB Power Delivery and display out. Sadly, the battery doesn't last a full 8-hour workday, so you'll need to plug it in at some point. While its IPS display has decent viewing angles overall, it looks washed out and doesn't get bright enough to overcome glare. The microphone picks up voices loudly and clearly, but the webcam is very grainy and loses out on fine details. There aren't any variants with a dedicated GPU, so it isn't suited for AAA gaming.
We tested the HP Pavilion x360 14 with a 1080p IPS display, an Intel Core i3-1125G4 with integrated Intel UHD Graphics G4, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD. It's suitable for light to medium multitasking thanks to its quad-core CPU and its good amount of RAM, and its performance in 3D rendering is good enough for enthusiasts looking to get into the activity, but not for professionals. If you tend to have many apps and browser tabs open, we suggest you opt for a model with 16GB of RAM to avoid slowdowns or stutters. The lowest-end options with the dual-core Pentium Gold 7505 CPU will be more than enough for light web browsing or video playback, while the highest-end Intel Core i7-1165G7 options will give a smooth experience for heavy multitaskers and enough power for people who need to run CPU-heavy applications.
Our Verdict
The HP Pavilion x360 14 is satisfactory for school use. Its build quality is decent, and it feels solid despite being made almost entirely of plastic. It's also lightweight and compact, making it easy to carry around. The touchpad tracks movements and gestures decently well, and the microphone picks up voices loud and clear. Unfortunately, the battery lasts only a little over seven hours of light productivity, so you might need to plug it in during long days. Also, the keyboard feels good to type on, but since it has a heavy operating force, it's somewhat tiring to type on for extended periods.
- Decent, solid plastic build.
- Impressively lightweight and portable.
- Microphone picks up clear speech.
- Touchpad tracks movements and gestures decently well.
- Battery might not last through longer days.
- Keyboard is somewhat fatiguing during extended use.
- Webcam is grainy and doesn't pick up fine details.
- Screen isn't bright enough to overcome glare.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 is sub-par for gaming. You can't get it with any dedicated GPU options, so it performs poorly in graphically intensive games. However, the integrated Iris Xe Graphics G7 on the i5 and i7 models can likely handle lighter and older titles. Unfortunately, the screen is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate and doesn't support any VRR technology. On the upside, there are enough ports to output to an external display and use wired peripherals without needing dongles or adapters.
- SSD decreases load times.
- Storage drive is upgradeable.
- No option for a dedicated GPU.
- RAM isn't upgradeable.
- Screen maxes out at 60Hz.
- No VRR support.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 alright for multimedia use. Its speakers get decently loud, with a neutral profile and almost no compression at maximum volume, so content sounds rich and varied. You can flip the screen all the way around to use it in tablet mode, and since it's compact and lightweight, you can easily bring it around with you. Its 1080p display is sharp, but unfortunately, it looks washed out and doesn't get bright enough to overcome glare in very bright surroundings. Also, its battery only lasts comfortably through two feature-length films, so you'll need to plug in if you intend to binge-watch your favorite TV series.
- Lightweight, and can be used in tablet mode.
- Speakers are neutral sounding and get decently loud.
- 1080p screen looks sharp.
- Battery only lasts through two feature-length films.
- Screen isn't bright enough to overcome glare.
- Display looks washed out.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 is adequate overall as a workstation. All variants have fast SSDs that make booting the laptop and loading applications take a short time. You can get it with up to a quad-core Intel Core i7-1165G7, which provides a good amount of performance for CPU-heavy workloads. It also doesn't lose much performance over time. Unfortunately, you can't get it with any dedicated GPUs, so it performs poorly in GPU-heavy tasks like particle simulations.
- Quad-core processors perform well in CPU-heavy tasks.
- SSD launches applications and transfers files very quickly.
- Doesn't throttle very much or get very loud.
- Poor GPU compute performance, with no option for a dedicated GPU.
- RAM isn't upgradeable.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 is decent for business use. It has a plastic construction that feels solid and decently well built, with a matte metallic-looking finish. The keyboard keys are well spaced and don't take long to get used to, although the heavy operating force can tire your fingers out after long typing sessions. The touchpad feels smooth and tracks movements and gestures decently well. There are also enough ports to output to an external display and use multiple wired peripherals without needing dongles or adapters. Unfortunately, the battery doesn't last a full 8-hour workday, meaning you'll need to plug it in at some point. Also, the webcam loses out on almost all fine details, meaning you won't look your best during video calls.
- Decent, solid plastic build.
- Microphone picks up clear speech.
- Dedicated HDMI port, and USB-C supports charging and display output.
- Quad-core processors make multitasking smooth.
- Battery doesn't last through a full workday.
- Keyboard is somewhat fatiguing during extended use.
- Webcam is grainy and doesn't pick up fine details.
- Screen isn't bright enough to overcome glare.
Changelog
- Updated Dec 07, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.2.
- Updated Nov 03, 2023: Converted to Test Bench 0.8.1.
- Updated Oct 19, 2023: Added mention of the MSI Modern 14 (2023) as an alternative with a faster CPU in the Geekbench 5 section.
- Updated Jul 31, 2023: Added mention of the ASUS Vivobook S 16 Flip TP3604 (2023) as an alternative with a larger, sharper display in the Screen Specs section.
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
We tested the HP Pavilion x360 14 (model 14m-dy0113dx) with a 1080p IPS display, an Intel Core i3-1125G4 CPU with integrated Intel UHD Graphics G4, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD, in the Natural Silver color scheme. All the components are configurable, but keep in mind that most vendors, including HP, sell this laptop as a pre-built model with a pre-determined configuration instead of letting customers choose the parts individually. As a result, it may be hard to find the exact configuration you want.
There are other models of the HP Pavilion x360 with different screen sizes and CPU generations, so to avoid confusion, our review is only applicable with models beginning with the designation "14-dy", "14m-dy", "14q-dy", and "14t-dy".
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Our display and performance results are only valid for the configuration we tested. If you come across a different configuration option not listed above, or you have a similar Pavilion x360 14 that doesn't correspond to our review, let us know, and we'll update it. Some tests, like black uniformity and color accuracy, may vary between individual units.
You can see our unit's label here.
Popular Laptop Comparisons
The HP Pavilion x360 14 (2021) and the HP Pavilion x360 11 (2021) are both 2-in-1 convertible laptops that belong to HP's Pavilion x360 lineup. The x360 14 is better overall, as it has a larger, sharper 1080p display, a better-spaced keyboard, and a USB-C port that supports Power Delivery and display output. On the other hand, the x360 11 is more portable, has better-sounding speakers and a somewhat longer-lasting battery, and is completely silent because it's fanless.
The HP ENVY x360 13 (2020) and the HP Pavilion x360 14 (2021) are both convertible laptops with 360-degree hinges, but the ENVY is a better laptop overall. The ENVY's screen gets far brighter and has a much wider gamut, and its keyboard and touchpad feel better to use. Also, its metal chassis feels much better built, it's more portable, its battery lasts much longer, and you can also get it with AMD CPUs. On the other hand, the Pavilion's speakers sound much better, its webcam captures a higher-quality image, and it doesn't lose as much performance under load.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 (2021) is a 2-in-1 with a 360-degree hinge that runs Windows, while the HP Chromebook 14 (2021) is a traditional clamshell laptop that runs Chrome OS. The Chromebook is better suited for school use, as it has a significantly longer-lasting battery, its keyboard doesn't feel tiring to type on even after extended periods, and it's completely silent because it's fanless. On the other hand, the Pavilion is better for most other uses, with a better-built chassis, a sharper display, a much better webcam and microphone, and a much more flexible port selection. You can also get it with fast Intel CPUs, and since it's a Windows device, you can install and run x86 and DirectX applications like the Adobe Suite and many games.
The HP Pavilion x360 14 (2021) and the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (2020) are both 2-in-1 laptops with 360-degree hinges, but the Lenovo is a better laptop overall. The Lenovo's keyboard feels better to type on, its battery lasts significantly longer, and it throttles much less under load. Additionally, you can get it with a variety of Intel and AMD CPUs, as well as a dedicated, entry-level NVIDIA GPU. On the other hand, the HP has a much better-quality webcam, its USB-C port can output to an external display, it has an HDMI 2.0 port, and it doesn't get as hot under load.
Test Results
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