Content

1. Contents of delivery
2. TECH SPECS
3. Positioning
4. Appearance, ergonomics
5. Screen, multimedia
6. Keyboard, touch pad
7. Performance, autonomy, cooling
8. Competitors
9. Results

Contents of delivery

• A laptop
• Power supply 150 W
• Documentation

Positioning

HP also did not pass by gaming laptops, today we will talk about just such a laptop, which received the name Pavilion Gaming 15. From a technical point of view, the computer is obviously not in the top-end configuration, the model is just entering the market, and you can find it on sale not so easy. Right off the bat, we can say that this is one of the relatively inexpensive laptops that can actually be classified as gaming laptops.

The hero of the review is one of the laptops based on updated AMD processors, which are increasingly found in devices from many manufacturers and compete with solutions based on Intel. For all its gaming nature, the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is workable, and its exterior can be rated as a cross between regular office models and hardcore gaming laptops with the brightest RGB backlighting of everything. Let’s start with the appearance according to tradition.

Appearance, ergonomics

If you look at the laptop closed, then we will not immediately see any hints of a gaming accessory. Strict dark gray matte plastic of the cover with a round manufacturer’s logo shimmers a little in the light due to small reflective inclusions. The material, as expected, collects fingerprints and other traces, while they are easy to erase. A little closer to the hinge of the screen on the beveled part of the lid is the Pavilion inscription made in calm green, while this line also includes traditional office devices. The lid is quite solid, when pressed from the outside the backlash is very small, I did not notice any critical creaks on the case. The laptop weighs a little over two kilograms and fits perfectly into the dedicated compartment of the backpack; an unexpectedly light and portable power supply can be safely called a plus to mobility.

We examine further: there are no connectors behind, the corners of the case near the hinge of the screen are slightly beveled, and the power connector is quite conveniently located on the bevel on the left: thanks to this location, the wire from the power supply will not interfere with connecting peripherals to the nearby USB port. Here it is, perhaps, the first clue, the first non-standard detail. We also note the connectors signed in the same green color: the already mentioned USB-A and the power connector on the left, on the right – USB Type-C, another USB Type-A, HDMI, a connector for an Ethernet cable, a card reader and a 3.5 mm connector. It would seem, not quite a rich set for a gaming device, only the most necessary. It’s a pity that you can’t charge via USB Type-C.

The hinge holds the HP Pavilion Gaming 15’s display securely closed, but can be easily opened with one hand or even one finger. The massive panel with cooling system holes above the full-size keyboard immediately catches the eye. And only then the eye is attracted by the already familiar color, with which the keyboard switch caps are painted on the sides, without backlighting it looks calm and neat. Well, the final sign of a gaming laptop: additional dedicated WASD keys, so familiar to every lover of online battles.

The combination of dark gray and green reminded me somewhat of the Spotify interface, perhaps partly because of this color scheme did not cause rejection. Recently I was on the Acer Nitro 5 test, it used the red color, and in a much larger volume, in the case of the review hero, everything is more accurate. The backlighting of the keyboard is static, there are no dynamic effects, but there are two levels of brightness. I mean that the design of the laptop in all respects is closer to universal, the color of the caps can be written down to taste if you wish, it does not interfere with me personally visually. Above the Esc key, separately from the main keyboard unit, there is an oblong power key, which barely protrudes above the surface of the case and is slightly brighter than the rest of the keyboard. Adding a plus in ergonomics and turning on the HP Pavilion Gaming 15.

Screen, multimedia

The laptop has an IPS panel with a diagonal of 15.6 inches and without any bells and whistles regarding the increased frame rate. This is expected for the price positioning of the model, but still for a truly gaming device I would like to see at least 120 Hz. The screen surface is matte, which is a plus. The color reproduction is calm and natural, the viewing angles are not the widest. The brightness margin is slightly above average, at full brightness it was not entirely comfortable for me to use a laptop, it reduced to 70-80%.

There are small bezels to the left and right of the display, the upper bezel is thicker, this panel houses a webcam. The “chin” is a little more prominent, this is done to protect the screen from overheating when closed.

The speakers in the laptop are located in the laptop case in the area of ​​the holes through which air is drawn into the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 case. The sound resonates inside the case and is partly reflected from the table; the advantage of this solution is the impossibility of blocking the speakers in any way and disrupting the sound flow. But I would gladly increase the volume reserve, let the cooling system work very well, but purely subjectively, it could be shaken better. Is there enough sound in games? Yes, definitely, the speakers block the noise of the fans, but in any case, you need to crank it to the maximum or use headphones, since with gaming headsets on the market now everything is more than good, I will soon test one such thing. The audio peripherals are handled by HP Audio Boost for a better listening experience.

Keyboard, touch pad

Here we, accustomed to various engineering and design solutions, are unlikely to be surprised by anything. The keys are large and comfortable for blind typing due to the distance between them. The backlighting of the keys is uniform, symbols are clearly visible even at the lowest brightness. The pressing sound is quiet, the tactile response is soft, the pressing force is average. The numeric block is also preserved, it is gratifying that the size of the keys has not changed either. The only “victims” were the up and down arrows, they are quite small here. The rest is a standard and comfortable keyboard, which is difficult to objectively find fault with. Maybe I would add a little depth to the stroke, but this is my personal quibbles.

The touch panel is also quite classic: a one-piece, slightly rough area is pressed before clicking and without problems and delays reads gestures and fulfills commands. I cannot somehow distinguish this control from the background of other laptops.

Performance, autonomy, cooling

So, so, an old friend: I’m talking about the AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor, which I have already met during testing laptops, for example, this is how I described it in the ASUS TUF Gaming A15 review:

“… An energy efficient AMD Ryzen 5 4600H processor, it is made according to the 7 nm process technology, and although it is inferior to the top version with AMD Ryzen 7 4800H in the number of cores and threads, its resources are quite enough to ensure confident multitasking and decent performance. In the benchmarks, it now and then outstripped many solutions based on Intel, for example, with the i7-9750H processor. If we compare these two processors, then on the Ryzen side there is a relatively smaller thermal package, the processor consumes less energy, but also operates at a slightly lower frequency. In turn, Intel i7-9750H can “overclock” up to 4.5 GHz (4 GHz for Ryzen 5 4600H), but the power consumption is higher … “

Responsible for the graphics is not the most stellar, but generally adequate video card GeForce GTX 1650 from NVIDIA, readers of the Legion 5 review are familiar with it. Interestingly, the performance of this bundle is not much worse than the mentioned laptop from Lenovo, where a slightly more advanced eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 processor is installed. 4800H. Miracles did not happen, of course, and the “high” settings are the limit that the user can expect. For example, in Shadow of Tomb Raider, the system independently reduced the detail to medium so that the available 4 GB of video memory was enough. Verdict on gaming experience: by and large, everything is not bad, but still the graphics adapter can be considered better, as well as the screen with increased hertz, but this again will take us far beyond the cost of 65 rubles.

Benchmarks:

• Cinebench R20: CPU 3274, single-core 444
• Geekbench 5: single-core 1116 / multi-core 6383
• PCMark 10: 5000 (9073 Base Operations / 6820 Productivity / Digital Content Creation 5483)
• 3D Mark:
  • DirectX 12, Time Spy: 3680 (3408 graphics, 6734 processor);
  • 4K games in DirectX 12, Time Spy Extreme: 1709 (graphics, 1580, processor 3181);
  • DirectX 11, Fire Strike: 8791 (graphics 9548, physics 18, combined test 509);
  • 4K games in DirectX 11, Fire Strike Ultra: 1880 (graphics 1744, physics 18, combined test 371);
  • General test for gaming devices, Sky Diver: 26 920 (graphics 31 171, physics 16 325, combined test 25 659).
• CrystalDIsk Mark: 2410 MB / s read / 1492 MB / s write.

Testing in games (all Full HD, high graphics settings):

• Shadow of Tomb Raider: 52 fps
• Doom Eternal: 69 fps (Vulkan)
• Wolfenstein: Youngblood: 56 fps

I was very pleased with the quiet and efficient cooling system. The combination of the improved design of the heat pipe and extended air intakes prevents the computer from warming up to critical temperatures, and outside the load the fans do not show themselves at all, in office mode the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is extremely quiet, virtually silent. I can only praise the engineers for their work and wish not to spoil.

The complete power supply unit, in my understanding, is strikingly different from the usual gaming unit. It is very small and light, weighs about 150 grams and at the same time is able to charge a switched off and discharged laptop from 0 to 50% in 45-50 minutes, provided that the computer is not used. In games, the built-in battery will last up to two and a half hours and will ask to be plugged in; in working scenarios, with all power saving modes, you can reach an indicator of 8 hours. I got the following result: when working with text and parallel background playback of YouTube videos and the keyboard backlight turned on at the lowest level, the laptop was discharged from 100 to 60% in a little over two hours, as a result, in this mode, I could work a total of 5 hours. Let not the best, but absolutely sane result, in my opinion.

Competitors

The company for the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 is selected rather big. We will not go far: as a competitor, you can safely offer one of the varieties of Lenovo Legion 5, in which there is simply an excellent keyboard and a more strict design, but a similar configuration will cost about 75 rubles. Variations of the Acer Nitro 000, Dell G5 and Acer Aspire 3, as well as the already mentioned ASUS TUF Gaming A7, which has a 15 Hz screen with similar characteristics, will easily fly into the same company.

Results

In favor of a laptop from HP can play a strict appearance with good performance and an excellent cooling system. Compared to its competitors, the laptop stands out for its light weight, fast charging through a compact power supply. Of course, the additional capabilities and features of competitors put the HP Pavilion Gaming 15 in a difficult position, but it’s worth waiting for the official price, because the version of the same model with a 256 GB hard drive is already on sale for 62 rubles, which is quite tempting against the background of all the listed competitors.

I would describe the laptop as “calm”. And this applies to both design and work. Calmly launches top games at high speeds, quietly cools the hardware, easily works up to 8 hours from the built-in battery. When working with it, there are no problems, the keyboard, though not at the level of Legion 5, works without problems. So if you are not a fan of super-bright gaming laptops, but no, no, yes, you want to run into the game and are looking for a relatively inexpensive computer, then you can take a look at the hero of this review.

Back to content >>>

Related Links

Share: 

we are in social networks:

Anything to add ?! Write … eldar@mobile-review.com