At a Glance: HP Envy 32 AIO Review
HP’s Envy 32 all-in-one PC was designed to do battle in the high-end AIO market segment against the likes of Apple’s iMac and Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2. Loaded with plenty of extra features and fast hardware, it’s clear the HP Envy has what it takes on paper. Let’s take a closer look.
Design
The Envy 32 AiO is set to start at $1,599.99 with an Intel Core i5-9400 processor and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650. The system’s large 31.5-inch display has a native resolution of 3840×2160 and supports HDR600.
HP went all out equipping this AIO with extra features. The system’s built-in soundbar is relatively high-end with two medium drivers, two tweeters, and a woofer. Our sister site PCMag tested one of these systems and reported that the speakers produced loud and high-quality audio. Somewhat unusual for a built-in soundbar, the HP Envy 32’s can also be used as a Bluetooth speaker for other devices.
The HP Envy 32 appears to be quite smartphone-friendly, as it also features a built-in Qi wireless charging pad on the system’s base. The AIO ships with a bundled wireless keyboard and mouse, and the keyboard also has a built-in phone holder.
Benchmarks
The system PCMag tested is the top-end model, which is priced at $2,299.99 and comes with an Intel Core i7-9700 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU. PCMag tested the system against a handful of other AIO systems, but the Envy 32 holds a clear advantage in specs against almost all of the competition. The Apple iMac is the only truly competitive system in the group.
Testing these systems with Cinebench R15 shows the iMac far ahead of all of the other systems. None of them are really a close match to the iMac, but the HP Envy 32 does come in second and holds a huge lead over the other systems.
The test results from Photoshop CC are similar, but instead of the iMac being on top the HP Envy 32 is the dominant system.
Due to software limitations, PCMag was unable to test the iMac in any of the graphics tests. This left the Envy 32 unchallenged in the 3DMark test, but Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2 made a come back in Unigine’s Superposition 1.0 test.
Dell’s 27 7000 and Lenovo’s IdeaCentre Yoga A940 were dropped from the real-world game tests due to their relatively lackluster performance. This left the HP Envy 32 AIO and Microsoft’s Surface Studio 2 to go head to head against each other. Regardless of which game test you look at, the results are the same; HP’s Envy 32 AiO holds roughly a 30 percent lead against the Surface Studio 2 across the board.
Conclusion
At the end of its review, PCMag declared HP’s Envy 32 the best Windows AiO PC available today, which is a statement I have to agree with. Apple’s 2019 iMac may be competitive in terms of performance, but none of the other tested systems came close. Microsoft’s Studio 2 did okay, but not only was it unable to match the HP Envy 32, but it also costs nearly twice as much! Given its price point, strong performance, and well-rounded feature set, I’d recommend the HP Envy 32 as one of the best AIO PCs that you can buy.
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