HP has announced two new budget workstations for content creators: an Envy x360 15 and an Envy 17. The 15-inch convertible, starting at $749.99, is available with both AMD Ryzen 7 and Intel 11th Gen processors. The 17-inch clamshell starts at $999.99, and is Intel-only.

The Envy x360 comes in either “natural silver” or “nightfall black,” and includes a magnetic active pen. Its bezels appear to have shrunk slightly since last year’s model — models have an 88.7 percent screen to body ratio, and weigh around four pounds. (Not that last year’s model had terrible bezels, but I’ll never say no to more screen real estate). You can configure it with a 4K OLED display as well as an Nvidia MX450 graphics chip.

The top Intel model will include a Core i7-1165G7, while AMD models go up to a Ryzen 7 5700U. I tested the former in last year’s Dell XPS 13, and it delivered a noticeable performance increase over its 10th Gen predecessor, particularly in integrated graphics.

HP

The larger Envy 17 has an 86.3 percent screen-to-body ratio, and weighs just over 5.5 pounds (a bit less than last year’s model). It also comes with an MX450 and a 4K display (though there’s no OLED option). You can configure it with up to 1TB of PCIe SSD storage and 32GB of memory.

HP

Both models have a 19 percent larger touchpad than their predecessors, as well as a physical camera shutter.

In the past, I’ve been very impressed by the Envy line. Last year’s Envy x360 13 was one of my favorite laptops of 2020, and my favorite under $1,000: It delivered a sturdy and attractive chassis, a great keyboard, strong performance, and all-day battery life. (Basically, I had very few complaints). They tend to be good options for budget and midrange shoppers who are still looking for excellent specs.

Last year’s Envy x360 15 offered great value for its price. At the $749.99 price point, this year’s base model (with a Ryzen 5 5500U) seems like it will be fairly competitive with Lenovo’s Yoga C740 (which starts at $794.99 for more storage but a weaker 10th-Gen Intel processor). The Envy 17 is also competing on price with Dell’s XPS 17, which is almost $1,000 more for comparable specs. I’ll have more information about how this device actually compares to those when I’ve gotten my hands on one myself.

All of the models are available for preorder now, and will ship in April. The Envy x360 15 starts at $749.99, and the Envy 17 starts at $999.99.