Launched at CES 2020, a great 32-inch DisplayHDR 600 screen and a powerful sound system are only the beginning for HP's latest all-in-one.
I've never been a big fan of all-in-ones, though I can't put my finger on why. Possibly because they've always felt overgrown laptops and full of compromises. HP's Envy 32 AIO, launched at CES 2020, still feels a bit smaller on the inside like most of its ilk, but it's packed with enough features and a classic smart design that shouldn't feel old in a couple of years to its intended audience: folks who need more-than-average power for photo or video editing or a speaker system decent enough for basic audio editing and entertainment, as well as those who just want a compact computer with all its space devoted to a big, bright 4K screen.
HP is quick to boast about some of its all-in-one-specific firsts -- the first DisplayHDR 600 screen and first with Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics -- as well as to make some oddball "best" claims, like the it's world's loudest AIO and the world's widest 4K screen in an AIO.
There are AIO's with wider screens, like HP's own Envy 34 Curved, but they're all lower-resolution (such as 3,440x1,440 instead of 3,840x2,160) and 21:9 aspect ratios rather than the more common 16:9. The ultrawide displays can be an issue for graphics work, as well, since the curve can mess with your perception of straight lines and negatively affect color accuracy/uniformity. I suppose "loudest" is a big plus if you live in an apartment and hate your neighbors.
HP Envy 32 All-in-one | |
Price as reviewed | $2,499.99 |
Display | 31.5-inch 4K UHD DisplayHDR 600 |
CPU | 3.0GHz Intel Core i7-9700 |
Memory | 32GB 2,667MHz DDR4 SDRAM |
Graphics | 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q |
Storage | 1TB SSD+32GB Intel Optane, SD card slot |
Ports | 2 x USB-C (1 x Thunderbolt 3), 3 x USB-A 3.1, 2 x HDMI 2.0 (1 out, 1 in), 1 x combo audio |
Networking | Gigabit Ethernet, Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) 2x2, Bluetooth 5.0 |
Operating system | Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909) |
The touted 8GB GeForce RTX 2060 graphics processor is an option for the highest-end $2,500 configuration; the $1,800 base configuration comes with a 4GB GTX 1650 as well as a six-core Intel Core i5-9400, 16GB RAM and a 256GB SSD plus 1TB HDD. Other upgrades from the base configuration include 32GB RAM, a 1TB SSD (or 1TB SSD plus 32GB Intel Optane fast cache).
The base price is the same as the 27-inch iMac. The iMac only has 8GB RAM and a 1TB Fusion drive, but MacOS performs much better with 8GB memory and without SSD than Windows. It's as you configure the options that the prices start to diverge, in part because the iMac choices jump straight from an i5 to an i9 with no stops at i7 along the way.
One thing to keep in mind when looking at the Envy's specs is that the RTX 2060 is the low-power, low-noise Max-Q version used in laptops, which also means the system automatically decides whether to use the integrated graphics or the discrete. That's really annoys some people. The CPUs are higher-power desktop processors (65 watt) and perform better than the typical 45-watt mobile CPUs used in Windows all-in-ones, despite the lack of hyperthreading support (e.g., the i7 is 8 core/8 thread, not 8 core/16 thread).
Standout aspects of the Envy 32 AIO include
Apple iMac 27 (2019) | Apple MacOS Mojave 10.14; 3.7GHz Intel Core i9-9900K; 16GB 2,666MHz DDR4 SDRAM; 8GB Radeon Pro Vega 48; 512GB Apple SSD APFS |
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HP Envy 32 All-in-One | Microsoft Windows 10 Home (1909); 3.0GHz Intel Core i7-9700; 32GB 2,667MHz DDR4 SDRAM; 6GB Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q; 1TB SSD |
Lenovo Yoga A940 | Microsoft Windows 10 Home; 3.2GHz Intel Core i7-8700; 16GB 2,667MHz DDR4 SDRAM; 4GB Radeon RX 560X; 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD |
MIcrosoft Surface Studio 2 | Microsoft Windows 10 Pro; 2.9GHz Intel Core i7-7820HQ, 32GB DDR4 SDRAM 2,400MHz, 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070; 2TB SSD |