HP 15.6" Full HD Touch-Screen Natural Silver 2023 Review
The HP 15.6-inch laptop offers a big touchscreen and good ports at a low price, but its performance is firmly in the budget tier. It's only for the most basic tasks.
The 30-Second Version
This is a basic, slow laptop with a nice big touchscreen and good ports. Its overall performance scores in the 37th percentile, so it's only for the most undemanding tasks. Worth buying only if your budget is rigid at $500 and you must have a 15-inch touchscreen.
Overview
The HP 15.6-inch with the Ryzen 5 7520U is a basic, no-frills laptop that gets the job done. It's got a big touchscreen, a decent SSD, and a solid selection of ports, which is more than you can say for some pricier ultrabooks.
But let's be real: this is an entry-level machine. Our database puts its overall performance in the 37th percentile, so it's firmly in the 'budget' category. It's built for checking email, streaming videos, and light office work, not for heavy lifting.
Performance
Performance is exactly what you'd expect from a budget Ryzen 5. The 7520U is a 4-core chip, and it lands in the 15th percentile for CPU power in our tests. That means it's fine for everyday tasks, but it'll start to sweat if you have too many browser tabs open while running a video call. The integrated Radeon graphics are predictably weak, scoring in the 18th percentile, so gaming is basically off the table unless you're playing something from 2005. The 8GB of LPDDR5 RAM is a bright spot in efficiency, but it's a bit light on capacity these days.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- The port selection is excellent, with three USB-A ports and HDMI. 97th
- The 512GB SSD is a good size for the price. 90th
- The 15.6-inch touchscreen is a nice feature for the money.
- It's relatively light for a 15-inch laptop at 1.6kg.
Cons
- Performance is slow, ranking in the bottom half of all laptops. 15th
- The 8GB of RAM is soldered and not enough for modern multitasking. 20th
- The integrated graphics can't handle any real gaming or creative work. 29th
- Build quality and reliability scores are below average. 31th
Specifications
Full Specifications
Processor
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7520U |
| Cores | 4 |
| Frequency | 2.8 GHz |
| L3 Cache | 4 MB |
Graphics
| GPU | AMD Radeon |
| Type | discrete |
Memory & Storage
| RAM | 8 GB |
| RAM Generation | DDR5 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Storage Type | SSD |
Display
| Size | 15.6" |
| Resolution | 1920 (Full HD) |
| Panel | IPS |
| Brightness | 300 nits |
Connectivity
| USB Ports | 3 |
| HDMI | 1x HDMI |
| Wi-Fi | WiFi 6 |
| Bluetooth | Yes |
Physical
| Weight | 1.6 kg / 3.5 lbs |
| Battery | 41 Wh |
| OS | Windows 11 Home |
Value & Pricing
At around $500, the value proposition is simple. You're paying for a big screen with touch, a decent amount of storage, and a usable Windows machine. You're not paying for speed, premium materials, or future-proofing. If your budget is absolutely locked at $500 and you need a 15-inch touchscreen, it's an option. But if you can stretch your budget by even $100-$150, you'll find machines with much better performance and build quality.
vs Competition
This HP sits in a tough spot. Compared to a base model MacBook Air, it gets smoked in performance, battery life, and build quality, though it does have more ports and a touchscreen. Against other Windows budget options, like an Acer Swift or Lenovo IdeaPad, you're trading some potential performance for that touchscreen. And it's not even in the same universe as the 'top competitors' like the MacBook Pro or ASUS ProArt listed in the data—those are professional machines costing three to four times as much. For a fair fight, look at other $500 Ryzen 5 or Core i3/i5 laptops.
Common Questions
Q: Can this laptop run games?
Not really. The integrated AMD Radeon graphics are very weak, scoring in the 18th percentile. It might run older or very simple 2D games, but anything modern will be a slideshow.
Q: Is the 8GB of RAM enough?
It's the bare minimum for Windows 11 today. You'll be fine for light use, but if you like having many browser tabs open alongside other apps, you'll notice slowdowns. The RAM is also soldered, so you can't upgrade it later.
Q: How is the battery life?
HP claims up to 11 hours for video playback. For general web browsing and office work with the brightness down, you can probably expect a solid 6-8 hours, which is decent for a laptop in this class.
Who Should Skip This
Skip this if you need performance for anything beyond the basics. Students in engineering or design, anyone who edits photos or videos, or people who just hate waiting for their computer to catch up should look elsewhere. The low CPU and GPU scores mean it will feel sluggish under any real load.
Verdict
Buy this if you need the absolute cheapest 15-inch touchscreen laptop you can find for basic web browsing and document work, and you really value having multiple USB-A ports. It's a candidate for a secondary family computer or a very light-duty student machine where the touchscreen is a non-negotiable feature.