HP 15 Silver

The HP 15 is a 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop built for students and office workers. It pairs a Core i7-1355U with 16GB of DDR5 RAM and a fast 512GB SSD, making it a solid everyday performer. Just don't expect to game on it, the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics are a serious limitation.

The Core i7-1355U is a solid mid-pack performer in our database. It's not going to blow anyone away, but for everyday tasks it feels snappy, especially paired with 16GB of DDR5 RAM. Boot times are quick thanks to the NVMe SSD, and app launches feel responsive. The CPU sits around the 43rd percentile for laptops in this category, which translates to "fine for spreadsheets, fine for Zoom, not built for rendering 4K video."

The Intel Iris Xe graphics are the weak link. This integrated GPU lands in the 14th percentile, which is near the bottom of the charts. You can play older titles or lightweight indie games at low settings, but anything modern will chug. The 512GB SSD gives you decent room for documents and apps, and storage performance is above average at the 71st percentile. Just don't expect this thing to replace a desktop workstation.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, the HP 15 looks like a budget option, because it is. The MacBook destroys it in performance, display quality, and battery life, but costs several times more. The Lenovo Legion 5i and ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 are gaming laptops with dedicated GPUs that make the HP's Iris Xe look like a calculator. If you want to play games, those are the obvious picks.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is the closest philosophical rival. It's also aimed at students and office workers, but it has a much better screen and build quality. The HP 15 undercuts it on price, though, and includes a touchscreen at no extra cost. The MSI Raider is a different beast entirely, a thick gaming rig that trades portability for raw power. For pure productivity on a budget, the HP 15 holds its own, but it's not leading any category.

At $850 to $880, the HP 15 sits in a crowded field. You can find laptops with dedicated GPUs or brighter displays for similar money, but few offer this combination of a touchscreen, 16GB of DDR5, and a 10-core i7. If you need a no-fuss Windows machine for school or office work, the value is decent. If you want to game or edit video, your money goes further elsewhere. The included docking set and earphones on some listings sweeten the deal slightly, but don't let free earbuds sway you into buying the wrong tool for the job.

The HP 15 is a 15.6-inch touchscreen laptop aimed at students, office workers, and anyone who needs a dependable daily driver without spending MacBook money. You're looking at an Intel Core i7-1355U, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB NVMe SSD, with listings hovering around $850 to $880 in the US. It's a business and school machine first, and HP leans into that with a numeric keypad, a camera privacy shutter, and Windows 11 Pro on some configurations.

If you're searching for a budget-friendly HP laptop for school or office work, this one checks a lot of boxes on paper. The 10-core i7 and 16GB of RAM mean you can keep a pile of browser tabs open, run Office apps, and hop on video calls without the machine wheezing. The touchscreen is a nice bonus at this price, though the 250-nit display is nothing to write home about.

But this is not a gaming laptop, and the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics make that clear fast. The HP 15 is built for productivity and portability, not frame rates. At 1.59kg it's easy to toss in a backpack, and the port selection covers the basics with USB-C, two USB-A ports, and HDMI.

Skip the HP 15 if you're a gamer, a video editor, or anyone who needs serious graphics horsepower. The integrated Iris Xe GPU will frustrate you within minutes. Also skip it if you work outside or in bright rooms often, the 250-nit display washes out easily. If battery life is a top priority, look at laptops with larger batteries or more efficient ARM-based chips like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition. And if you want a machine that feels premium, this plastic HP won't scratch that itch.

Should you buy the HP 15? If you need a reliable Windows laptop for school, office work, or general browsing, and you want a touchscreen without spending over $900, this is a reasonable choice. The 16GB of RAM and fast SSD will keep it feeling quick for years of everyday use. The numeric keypad is genuinely handy for anyone who works with numbers.

But if you have any interest in gaming, photo editing, or video work, look elsewhere. The integrated graphics are a hard ceiling, and the dim 250-nit screen makes outdoor use a squint fest. The small 41Wh battery also means you'll be hunting for outlets more often than you'd like. This is a competent workhorse, not a show pony.