Hello everyone, I'm Brother Jian. In recent years, AMD has launched a considerable number of mobile Ryzen™ processors with high energy efficiency ratio with the new TSMC process, especially the 7040 series based on the Zen 4 architecture, which is superior to competitors in power consumption control and cost performance. Four or five thousand price ranges, thin and light books equipped with Ryzen H series standard pressure processors abound. Today we will take a look at this HP Star Book Pro 14 thin and light laptop with 8-core Ryzen 7 7840H processor and 2.8K 120Hz OLED screen~
Appearance - A-side
The HP Star Book Pro 14 we received is the top silver version of the Ryzen 7 7840H standard pressure processor + 32GB memory + 1TB solid-state + 2.8K OLED screen, priced at 5499 yuan, and there is also a pink model of the same configuration, which is 100 yuan more expensive. The matte alumina shell on the A side is a classic standard at this price, and the HP fries logo on the middle mirror can make many "fries monsters" ecstatic.
Anyway, our whole office guys love this new logo. There is also a strip cut into plastic at the top of the A side to enhance the WiFi signal, which is a somewhat retro design in 2023.
In addition, the strength in the middle of the A shell is average, and it does not feel very suitable for heavy pressure.
There are also two small feet at the bottom hinge, which is very careful.
Appearance - B-side
Flipping open the laptop to the B side, it is a black plastic border, the left and right sides are narrow, and the upper and lower sides are wide.
Because a 5-megapixel camera is placed on top, with physical switch paddles, and an infrared sensor that supports Windows Hello face recognition. Below is another chip logo, ecstasy again.
The screen is an OLED screen with a resolution of 2880×1800 and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The official specifications are brightness 400 nits, HDR peak brightness 500nits, 100% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, 10Bit color depth, DC-like dimming above 100nits, and support 60Hz/120Hz adaptive seamless adjustment.
Measured using the actual instrument, the maximum brightness is about 660nits, and the peak brightness of the 10% window under HDR is about 680nits.
The color gamut covers 100% sRGB, 100% DCI-P3, the color accuracy average ΔE 3.34, the maximum ΔE 8.79.
The parameters are excellent, but there is no proofreading. However, it is still very sincere to be able to brush such a high-scoring and high-quality OLED screen at this price, whether it is office or light entertainment, it is more than enough. Traditional PC manufacturers have also begun to follow the pace of mobile phone manufacturers and popularize good screens at this mid-range hot price point. The screen can be opened and closed with one hand, the maximum angle is about 140 degrees, and the hinge damping is moderate.
Appearance - C side
Then let's take a look at the C side, which is relatively difficult to say compared to the sincerity on the screen. The layout of the keyboard is still very HP, the classic half-height arrow keys and the power key without a sense of differentiation, can only be said to be amazing, but rest assured, the power button will not be touched by mistake now, and it takes a little long press to trigger sleep. The keyboard has two backlights that can be adjusted, and the typing feel is decent, and there is not much to be desired.
The trackpad is large, the sliding feel is average, and the tap feel is a little loose, but at least it is large, which is enough, and a notebook at this price point cannot ask too much for these places.
There is a Pavilion logo in the lower left corner of the keyboard, which is the international brand name of this product. In the lower right corner is a pile of stickers, including IMAX Enhanced and BNO logos.
Appearance - interface, adapter, weight thickness
On the left side of the fuselage is a 3.5mm connector and a USB 5Gbps Type-A.
On the right, there are two 10Gbps full-featured Type-C, a TMDS-standard HDMI 2.1 (HDMI 2.0 specification), and a USB 10Gbps Type-A.
The types and number of interfaces are not bad, there is no problem, but the main interfaces are on the right side, to be honest, I don't understand it very well, I feel that the entire motherboard image design is perfect.
The maximum thickness of the machine is about 18 mm and the weight is about 1.46 kg.
The adapter is 90W, the volume is large, weighing about 437g, only the mains end can be separated, the length of the city wire is about 1m, and the length of the C port line is about 1.7m. This C line is very thick, almost the same as the city wire, and it seems that the material is still sufficient.
Configuration and performance (CPU, GPU), AI functions
After looking at the appearance we have come to the configuration of the machine, this star Book Pro 14 is equipped with AMD Ryzen's standard pressure APU - Ryzen 7 7840H, the CPU part adopts the latest Zen 4 architecture, 8 large cores and 16 threads, the GPU is the latest RDNA3 architecture, and it should be one of the first Ryzen processors integrated with the Ryzen AI engine.
The running score of the CPU part R23 is shown in the figure, thanks to the new architecture, the single-core performance has improved by leaps and bounds compared with the previous generation 6800H, and the multi-core performance is also remarkable.
However, this laptop is thin and light, and the performance release is not as extreme as the gaming book, so with the same processor gamepad, the multi-core and 10-minute score will be slightly lower.
However, these running scores are already considered to be superb in the office book, and to be honest, I think the performance is quite adequate.
Coupled with 32GB of LPDDR5 memory, this productivity job is also easy to win, and PugetBench's results are not inferior to the i7-13700H.
In the GPU part, the running score of 3DMark is shown in the figure, the performance of Radeon 780M is eight percent of GTX 1650 D6, there is no problem playing CS2 or Dota 2 shallowly, and it is more than enough to play a small game after work.
However, what is eye-catching is the new AI engine of the Ryzen 7040 series. Originally, many of the thin and light books and business books we tested before have integrated video beauty and microphone noise reduction functions required for video conferencing, which are achieved by third-party software, and there are still some occupations for the CPU, and this time AMD has carried out in-depth cooperation with Microsoft and directly put these functions into the Windows system, such as automatic framing, eye contact, background blur, and AI intelligent noise reduction.
In this era of artificial intelligence, AMD, as an x86 processor and GPU R & D manufacturer, has not stopped the research and development and exploration of AI products, of course, more achievements are in the data center, whether it is a Xiaolong processor or Instinct accelerator, all show AMD's strong R & D strength. On the personal consumption business side, it provides CPU+GPU + AI engine three-in-one APU products, which is quite interesting, of course, this is just the beginning, AMD's AI engine will be compatible with more applications in the future, or it is worth looking forward to.
Disassembly, heat dissipation, battery life, charging
After reading the configuration, we must take it apart to see what it looks like inside. The back cover can be opened by unscrewing the 4 screws on the bottom surface, but this back cover snaps on a tight buckle and requires more force to break. The workmanship of the whole interior is not bad, and the wiring is clean and simple.
On the top left is the wireless card, model MediaTek MT7922, which supports WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2.
Below is the only SSD location, pre-installed with a 1TB SSD, model number Samsung PM9B1.
To be honest, the performance looks average, although PCIe 4.0 standards, but the rate is similar to PCIe 3.0. SSDs are also covered with heatsinks and thermal pads, which is nice.
Next to the battery, capacity 68Wh, performance mode selection balance, turn on WiFi, turn off Bluetooth, screen brightness 160 nits, refresh rate 48Hz, PCMark 8 battery life is 5 hours and 41 minutes, the above conditions remain unchanged, the refresh rate is fixed to 120Hz, the battery life performance is only reduced by 11 minutes, it can only be said that AMD with the advanced TSMC 4nm process to create the Ryzen 7040 series processor energy consumption ratio is really high, the battery life is really good.
Compared with the Intel platform next door, PCMark 8 more than 3 hours of battery life, the AMD platform still has considerable advantages. In terms of charging, this computer is also a three-stage charge, the first stage power is about 80W, the second stage is about 50W, the third stage gradually decreases until it is fully charged, the total time is about 2 hours and 3 minutes, and the first 1 hour can be charged with about 80% of the charge.
Above the battery is the CPU and heat dissipation sections. Around the CPU is the onboard 32GB memory, run the score to see the picture, the capacity is enough.
The heat dissipation is a double heat pipe dual fan, and the air inlet of the fan may be deliberately designed like this.
Using AIDA64's Stress CPU for single baking, 20 minutes of temperature and power consumption results are shown in the figure, the temperature is against the 100 degree temperature wall running, power consumption is fluctuating around 42W, in the thin and light book this performance release is actually conservative compared to friends.
The reason is that the noise of the whole machine under high load is really not large, and it belongs to the type of sacrificing some power consumption and temperature in exchange for quiet operation.
Here is also to tell the truth, I feel that the standard pressure nuclear display of the thin and light book, the main is a performance relative bucket, and then use worry-free, so a little conservative performance release is nothing, some manufacturers pay attention to performance release, but in fact, it sacrifices fan noise, feeling a bit of putting the cart before the horse. In terms of surface temperature, the temperature is slightly higher in the keycap gap in the middle right side, and it is not hot elsewhere.
At this point, I seem to understand why HP put the CPU on the right, because when doing productivity, the left area of the keyboard is more commonly used than the right keyboard area. Then by the way, the main interface is close to the right side, the PCB layout of these interfaces is more complicated, not suitable for the daughter board and then arranged to the left side of the machine, which will increase the cost and failure rate. But then again, do users who buy this computer really care about high performance and productivity? More feeling is still based on office entertainment, then the main interface is better designed on the left.
summary
After reading the appearance configuration and various performances, I believe you also have a certain understanding of the standard pressure thin and light book of this Ryzen processor. As usual, we summarize the advantages and disadvantages of this HP Star Book Pro 14. First, equipped with Ryzen 7 7840H standard pressure processor, 4nm process and Zen 4 architecture, powerful performance, high energy efficiency ratio, and AI engine blessing, more suitable for business office; Second, equipped with a 2.8K 120Hz OLED screen, supporting 60Hz variable refresh rate, excellent quality, entertainment and office; Third, the battery capacity is large, the battery life performance is good, suitable for long-term office work; Fourth, the logo is fries, simple and atmospheric. Of course, there are still some details that need to be improved. First, the position of the interface can be considered to be adjusted, and there are too many interfaces concentrated on the right side; Second, the key design of the keyboard has not changed for ten thousand years, and the reason for not doing full-height arrow keys and independent power switches is limited by cost. Of course, in the face of the price, these shortcomings are actually reasonable, and there are pink color options, which is quite suitable for college students or young people who have just entered the workplace.