The HP Pavilion x360 (14-dw1024nr, 2021) is a competent all-in-one laptop designed to handle all your day-to-day workload in a work-from-home or distance-learning experience. It isn’t the most stylish cost stylish convertible in the market, but it offers some unique features, including a rare cellular option and a full-sized SD card slot.
Again, its USB-C and HDMI ports allow for two external displays with 4K support, making multitasking seamless. This device would easily be among our best laptops (at least one of the best 2-in-1 laptops) if it were not for its rather short battery life and not-so-bright display. Despite that, the 2021 version of the Pavilion x360 is a decent machine for the price.
HP Pavilion x360 Specs
| Laptop Class | Mainstream |
| Processor | 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 |
| RAM (as Reviewed) | 8 GB RAM |
| Boot Drive | 256GB, SSD |
| Screen Size | 14 -inch, Touch, 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| Graphics Processor | Intel Iris Xe |
| Dimensions (HWD) | 12.76 x 8.7 x 0.71 inches |
| Weight | 3.55 pounds |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Home |
Price and Configuration Options
The base model in HP’s Pavilion x360 lineup (15t-er000 touch) runs for around $599 and has a Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1366 x 768 display. Meanwhile, the $999 model (15-dq2097nr) jam-packs an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1920 x 1080 screen.
The HP Pavilion x360 14-dw1024nr we’re reviewing comes outfitted with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1920 x 1080 panel.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Design
The HP Pavilion x360 sports a natural silver body with a reflective HP logo at the center of the lid. The edges of the lid and deck are curved outward then inward as they meet each other, creating an hourglass design around the Pavilion x360. There’s also a Pavilion logo on the hinge of the laptop.
When you open the Pavilion x360, there’s a more silver tone on the deck, and a carved-out section of the keyboard in the middle and a vent grill that holds the Bang & Olufsen speakers, just above the deck. To the right of the touchpad, there’s a fingerprint reader. Thankfully, the screen bezels are fairly slim.
As with all convertibles, the Pavilion x360 can fold into tent and then tablet mode, and the bottom is magnetic, meaning it easily stays in one position nicely. At 3.6 pounds and 12.7 x 8.7 x 0.7 inches, the Pavilion x360 is slightly chunkier than the competition – Acer Spin 5 (2.60 lbs, 0.57 inches;) and Asus Chromebook Flip C 436 (2.58 lbs, 0.54 inches), but is still portable on daily commute to work or college.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Ports
On the Pavilion x360, you have a decent number of ports, including one USB 3.0 port, a headphone jack, power button and a security-lock slot, all on the left side.
Meanwhile, there are more ports on the right side – power jack, an HDMI port, one USB 3.0 port, one USB Type-C port and an SD card slot.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Display
The HP 14-dw1024nr convertible’s 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 touch display is a little on the dull side. And while the screen is fairly bright, it has a glossy texture that makes it’s a little uncomfortable to look at – the panel is rated for 261 nits of brightness, when we usually look at 300 nits as a minimum and hope for 400 or more.
Fold the screen back into tablet mode, and you can interact with the included pen. The 5.5-inch stylus takes one AAAA battery and has two round buttons on its barrel, which is fine-tuned via HP Pen Control utility. It has good palm rejection and easily keeps up with fast swipes, though its pressure sensitivity isn’t precise.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Keyboard and Touchpad
Typing on the Pavilion x360’s keyboard is quite satisfying and comfortable. While the keys aren’t snappy, they nevertheless feel smooth and require a decent amount of force and travel before they register a click. With 1.4 millimeters of travel, they are still below the 1.5 to 2.0 mm range, and they require a solid 70 grams of force to actuate.
The 4.3 x 2.1 – inch touchpad is quite responsive and works fine. The pad has Windows Precision drivers, so it handles Windows 10 gestures – including three-finger tabbing and two-finger scrolling, nicely.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Performance
The 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU and 8GB of RAM on the Pavilion x360 allow for speedy multitasking. You won’t feel any stutter when you split your screen between 13 Chrome tabs, including Google Docs, Twitch alongside a 1080p YouTube playing in the background.
If you’re looking to do some serious video editing, this laptop can get it done -but not exactly quickly. The 256GBSSD in the Pavilion 14-dw1024nr duplicates 4,97 GB. of files in 26.54 seconds, which while a little slower than the 10-second and 12-secomnd transfer times from the XPS 15 (1TB SSD) and Spectre x360 (1TB SSD), respectively.
For gaming, the Intel Iris Xe graphics card offers decent performance, but not anything close to the flagship TTX 30 Series graphics cards. The Intel Iris Xe is one of the most widely used graphics processors in late 2020 laptops, and is integrated in the popular 11th Gen Intel Core I and i7 G7-series main processors.
HP Pavilion x360 Review: Battery Life
HP promises up to 8 hours of battery life on a single charge, but the much you’re getting in real-world use is around 6 hours 42 minutes, which includes continuous surfing the web over W-Fi at 150 nits of brightness, which is just above the mainstream laptop average.
While the Pavilion x360 lasts longer than the average, its runtime is still below the Acer Swift 3 (9:12), and the Asus ZenBook 13 (11:29).
Bottom Line
The 2021 HP Pavilion x360 is a solid mainstream laptop that polishes the features we didn’t like in its predecessor from last year, and while at it packs new hardware, a refreshed design and better overall performance. Particularly, we love the level of performance the Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor offers at this price point, the satisfying keyboard and some bangin’ speakers.
However, it’s tough to overlook its rather middling battery life and a dull screen (albeit full HD), especially when you’re paying close to premium price.
For around the same price, you can get the Asus ZenBook 13, which features a more premium design, stronger performance and a battery that will last the whole day at work and some more. But that system isn’t a 2-in-1 convertible, it doesn’t come with a stylus and isn’t touch enabled.
As such, the HP Pavilion x360 14-dw1024nr easily emerges as a solid choice for consumers seeking a plus-size convertible laptop that doesn’t cost a bundle, and one straddles the line between acceptable and unacceptable compromise. We recommend, and it should suffice for working or learning from home.
Our Pick
