Best HP laptops in 2023

The best HP laptops cover a lot of territory. In fact, with so many fantastic laptops on the market, picking which one is best for you can quickly become an arduous affair of comparing configurations and understanding your personal use cases to make a well-informed decision.

With a catalog like HP's that could result in an incredible amount of analysis paralysis alongside fair chance of a headache or two as you needlessly split the hairs on which specs to chase and which specs to cast aside.

Thankfully, as the name might indicate, we're somewhat in the know about HP's laptop offerings here at Laptop Mag –  and we've been doing the hard work for you. We review HP laptops year-round to ensure the brand's offering are up to par, and luckily for you there's plenty of fantastic devices to choose from. 

Our selection of the best HP laptops is sourced from the highest-scoring machines in our review pool, and features devices suitable for all walks of life and every budget. HP's vast and varied lineup has something for everyone, and we're here to help you figure out which one is best for you.

So, whether you’re looking for the premium, executive feel of the awesome Spectre lineup; the pulse-raising gaming potential of the Victus; the brilliant-for-business Dragonfly; or the budget-friendly Pavillion; let's dive in to the best HP laptops of 2023.

Quick list

Best overall

You won't believe the battery runtime on the HP Elite Dragonfly G3! According to our in-house testing, it lasted a whopping 14 hours and 20 minutes. A typical premium laptop lasts about 10 hours, so we were pleasantly surprised to see that the Elite Dragonfly G3 surpassed that threshold by more than four hours.

The Elite Dragonfly G3 is packed with 12th Gen Intel Core i5 and i7 processors, at least 256GB of SSD storage, and a minimum of 16GB of RAM. The cheapest configuration is about $1,900, but the total could climb to $4,000 if you need 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, 5G support, and a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 vPro processor.

Best of all, the Dragonfly G3 actually has a good webcam. It has a 5MP shooter, which is a step above the 720p and 1080p webcams that continue to plague the laptop market.

See our full HP Elite Dragonfly G3 review.

Best budget

The HP Pavilion 14 isn’t the type of sexy powerhouse that will change your life. However, it is a stable everyday performer that won’t blow your budget and will keep you pushing documents out at a good clip. It ticks off a lot of the boxes for students and workers participating in remote or in-person learning.

At $549.99, the Pavilion offers an attractive, affordable laptop with solid performance for day-to-day document pushing and content viewing.

Its combination of performance, lightweight, and budget price is very hard to beat, making it an excellent choice for those on a budget who only need a laptop to handle the basics and enjoy some content.

See our full HP Pavilion 14 (2022) review.

Best business

Forget any notion of a business laptop being a dull, lifeless husk of a machine, the HP Dragonfly G4 is true executive chic with enough power to get all but the upper echelon of users effortlessly through their 9 to 5 grind.

Outfitted with an impressive Intel Core i7-1365U vPRo processor, the Dragonfly G4 is well equipped to handle some intensive multitasking and a boatload of number crunching to boot. Backing this up is Intel's integrated Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. In short, the Dragonfly G4 is a machine armed to slay any task your work (or school) day puts before you.

However, it's not all about the core components. The G4 has an exceptional keyboard that boasts a near-perfect typing experience, a 13-hour battery life, and a solid combo of speakers and webcam that are ideal for a Microsoft Teams turnout. Better still, at just 2.2 pounds in weight, the G4 is a highly portable computing companion that won't complicate your commute.

See our full HP Dragonfly G4 review.

Best 2-in-1

The question is: does the HP Spectre x360 16 with its 12th Gen Intel CPU measure up to what Intel's latest 13th Gen processors can offer? Absolutely. The Spectre still exceeds what it takes to be a premium 16-inch, 2-in-1 laptop that’s more than worth considering.

HP’s take on a 16-inch convertible laptop already impressed with a premium form factor and dazzling OLED touch screen, and now it's taken it a step further by bringing decent performance, too.

Again, the 2-in-1 laptop is an added bonus. for those that enjoy a sizable tablet — one that can be used with HP’s added Rechargeable Tilt Pen — it does a fine job.

If you're after a 16-inch 2-in-1 laptop with a premium design, look no further.

See our full HP Spectre x360 16 (2022) review.

Best gaming

Super-fun and super-affordable, that's one way of describing HP's Victus 16. This entry-level gaming laptop houses some considerable power by way of a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-Series graphics, both of which combine to offer quality performance and impressive on-screen results.

Fans of lightning fast displays might feel a little undersold with this one, as the Victus 16 is locked to a 60Hz refresh rate. However, if you're not much of an ultra-competitive gamer, you'll still get to enjoy a pretty smooth frame rate with pictures that are both colorful and vivid – squeezing every inch of quality from the Victus' 16-inch panel.

See our full HP Victus 16 review.

Best workstation

When it comes to tackling the most intensive and demanding of computing tasks, the HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 is the laptop you need. Offering phenomenal power across the board, this workstation laptop is the ultimate tool in any arsenal and if you're a high-level video editor, programmer, 3D artist, or editor, accept no substitute.

The ninth-iteration of the ZBook Fury 16 is packed with premium components to deliver the most potent performance possible. Not only is the ZBook outfitted with an overclockable 12th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, but it's also backed by a staggering Nvidia RTX A5500 GPU with 24GB VRAM and up to 64GB of RAM.

That's an ungodly amount of computing force to have at hand, and the ZBook pairs it with 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage to adequately house your power-hungry projects. However, with great power comes equally as great a price tag, and that's something you'll need to heavily invest in to acquire. The model mentioned here costs a whopping $5,999.99 to pick up, though different configurations are available with the lowest tier starting at $2,350.

See our full HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 review.

Best 13-inch

The latest edition of the HP Spectre x360 13.5 easily earns our Editors' Choice badge due to it being the premium 2-in-1 laptop to beat. Its elegant, sturdy design, boasting a fine chrome diamond cut look, belongs on a runway. 

The Spectre x360 13.5 features solid performance thanks to its strong 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, and while it may not dish out the fastest processing speeds we’ve tested, it still delivers superb document-pushing power. Even better, its dazzling OLED touchscreen with a 3:2 aspect ratio is wonderful to devour video content on.

It easily takes a spot in our list of best 2-in-1 laptops, and if high style and substance are your thing, you'll want to check this Spectre x360 13.5 out. 

See our HP Spectre x360 13.5 (2022) review.

Best 16-inch

The HP Envy 16 is a stellar premium laptop for work, personal use, or even casual gaming.

Inside, you’ll find powerful specs to match the sleek aluminum chassis, giving this laptop all-around premium vibes. There’s a 12th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, an incredible 32GB of RAM, 2TB of storage, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 GPU with 6GB of VRAM that can run new games with ease. Of course, beefy specs are nothing without a gorgeous display, but lucky for you, the HP Envy 16 checks that box, too, with its stunning 16-inch, 4K OLED display.

The HP Envy 16 packs all kinds of power and performed swimmingly on most of our tests, even when it came to playing video games. As long as you expect some fan noise and know that your games won’t run well at 4K — which shouldn’t really be a surprise to anyone who plays video games on a laptop — the Envy 16 is perfect for casual gaming.

See our full HP Envy 16 review.

Best Chromebook

Thanks to Google’s heavy involvement during the development of the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, you get the feeling this is a glimpse at what the next Pixelbook could’ve been. Thanks to its potent Intel Core i5 CPU and a generous 16GB of RAM, this beast can handle just about any task you set before it. If you're a person who is always on the go or hopping from home to the office, this is a great lightweight option to slip into your bag.
See our full HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook review.

Choosing the right laptop

As one of the top laptop brands, HP has a laptop for every occasion, from premium business laptops to budget-friendly Chromebooks. That extensive selection might make it tough to decide which laptop is right for you, so here's a handy guide to the various model lines offered by HP. 

Spectre: Premium, lightweight designs that offer portable power and beautiful displays are hallmarks of HP's best model line.

Envy: If attractive design, vibrant displays and premium audio are your focus, HP's line of Envy laptops has style to spare.

Elite Dragonfly: HP's new premium business laptop, the Elite Dragonfly series sports a stunning, premium design that's both durable and lightweight. Expect the latest, top-of-the-line features and components, along with a sky-high price to match.

EliteBook: HP's business laptops, with IT support, strong performance and premium designs. For better portability, the thin-and-light EliteBook Folio is the name to look for. If you go with this line, be sure to check out our 5 essential accessories for EliteBooks.

ProBook: For business-capable laptops without the premium price tag, the ProBook line delivers no-nonsense designs and performance for everyday office productivity.

ZBook: For professionals needing workstation-class performance, HP's ZBooks offer all the power you need, along with robust security and rugged designs.

Notebook: If HP's "Notebook" line sounds generic, that's because it is, but these simple designs offer everyday performance that won't break the bank.

Pavilion: For a happy medium between the bland, budget-friendly "Notebook" line and HP's premium Envy laptops, look no further than the affordably-priced Pavilion. These mid-range laptops come in all shapes and sizes, but all offer decent performance with solid feature sets.

Omen: HP's gaming brand, Omen laptops have a bit more pizazz and a lot more graphics power, delivering a decent gaming experience for (relatively) reasonable prices.

Stream: For a Chromebook-style laptop that still offers WIndows, check out HP's brightly colored, ultra-budget Stream laptops.

Chromebooks: Ranging from $200-500, the HP Chromebook line offers Google's Chrome OS in several well-made laptops.

How we test laptops

We put HP laptops through extensive benchmark testing -- both synthetic and real-world -- before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate everything from speed and battery life to display brightness, speaker volume and system heat.

We use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of a laptop's display. For performance benchmarking, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. 

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings and 1080p resolution. 

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. We consider everything over the category average (8 hours and 36 minutes) to be a good result. Of course, these tests are complemented with hands-on testing from our reviewers.