HP Envy Rove 20 review

The mouse and keyboard aren’t particularly remarkable, but both do the job. The mouse is a glossy black curved affair with surprisingly angular edges, but it’s not awkward or uncomfortable to use for standard desktop tasks. The keyboard is rather spacious, with a full numeric keypad and plenty of room between the fashionable Chiclet-style keys. The hard edges of the keys take some getting used to, but touch-type accurately.

The keyboard has an extra function key wedged between the Ctrl and Windows keys, and this function key can be used to perform keyboard shortcuts that control Windows 8.1. You can, for example, use the function key to open a search bar or cycle between active screens.

The 1,600×900 resolution of the Envy Rove 20’s 10-point touchscreen display may disappoint those who prefer 1,920×1,080-resolution Full HD screens, but we had no problem with its resolution. The screen itself is excellent. Dark tones are rich and deep, as shown by the black measurement of 0.21cd/m2 and contrast ratio of 1167:1 measured by our screen calibrator. The Envy Rove 20’s display is accurate, and we measured an sRGB gamut coverage of 93.3 per cent. The Envy Rove 20’s display certainly looks good, but it’s a glossy display which means you can potentially see unwanted reflections. Sadly, the Envy Rove 20 doesn’t have a graphics output with which you can connect an additional monitor, but it does support Intel’s WiDi wireless display standard, so you can wirelessly connect the Envy Rove 20 to compatible TVs.

Although the Envy Rove 20’s internal speaker is fairly loud for something that comes built into an all-in-one PC, it’s otherwise poor. We could hear hardly any bass at all, while high frequencies sounded harsh and brittle, even simple acoustic guitar music.

CONCLUSION
It’s not a powerhouse system, but the HP Envy Rove 20 is a very well-balanced family PC. Unfortunately, its £799 price makes it at least a hundred pounds too expensive for what it is. The all-in-one has a great touchscreen, but provides the performance of a much, much cheaper laptop. If you want a portable all-in-one PC that you can use anywhere in the home, the Dell XPS 18 is both lighter and a much better deal.