HP 15, Core i5-1135G7, 8GB, 256GB SSD, Natural Silver

A basic budget laptop that's fine for the basics and nothing more. The 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD are the dealbreakers to watch.

The Core i5-1135G7 is fine for everyday tasks, but our database puts it in the bottom quarter for CPUs in this category. The real surprise is how much the 8GB of RAM holds this thing back. Open a dozen Chrome tabs plus Slack and you'll be watching that little spinning wheel more than you'd like. The Iris Xe graphics are exactly what you'd expect from integrated graphics, middle of the pack and fine for video playback but useless for anything beyond casual games.

The HP 15 sits at the opposite end of the spectrum from the MacBook Pro M4 Max or the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14, and comparing them directly is almost silly. The real comparison is against other budget 15-inch laptops. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition costs more but gives you a much better screen, build quality, and battery life. If you need any gaming capability at all, the Zephyrus G14 is in a completely different league, but you'll pay for it. For pure budget productivity, the HP 15 holds its own, but it's not winning any awards.

Without a listed price it's hard to call this a slam dunk, but HP 15s typically land in the budget tier. If you can find it under $400, it's a reasonable deal for basic school or office work. Pay much more than that and you're getting into territory where a Ryzen 5 laptop with 16GB of RAM starts looking a lot smarter.

The HP 15 is a budget laptop that knows exactly what it is, and mostly doesn't pretend otherwise. The one thing to know: it's a basic workhorse for web browsing, email, and office apps, not a machine for anything demanding. You get a decent 15.6" FHD IPS screen and Wi-Fi 6 in a package that won't break the bank, but the 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD are the bottlenecks you'll feel every single day.

If you're looking for a laptop that can handle video editing, gaming, or heavy multitasking, this isn't it. Go get something with 16GB of RAM and a dedicated GPU instead. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or even a mid-range Ryzen laptop will serve you far better.

The HP 15 is a fine basic laptop if your needs are simple and the price is right. It'll handle email, web browsing, and document editing without much drama. But the 8GB of RAM and 256GB SSD mean you'll be fighting storage and memory limits sooner than you think. If you can stretch your budget for 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, do it. You'll thank yourself in a year.