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If all you need is decent performance for college or office tasks, you can get a great laptop for around $500. If you want the highest spec, premium flourishes, like a comfortable keyboard and a thin metal chassis, you need to spend more for something like the Apple MacBook Pro (2024), which can cost thousands of dollars. But the HP 14-ep0299nr steadily walks the budget line, offering an entry-level machine with fine touches to put it above the more budget-focused competition, provided you’re willing to do with only basic performance.
The HP 14-ep0299nr starts for under $300, which is a. great price for its Intel Core i3-N305 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD storage. HP offers a midrange config –HP 14-ep0199nr – the stepped up with a few components, featuring a 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U processor, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD with Iris Xe graphics, for a little more money.
About the HP 14-ep0299nr
The specs of our review unit are as follows:
- Processor: Intel Core i3-N305
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Memory: 8GB
- Display: 14-inch 1366×768 IPS Display
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home – S mode
- Weight: 3.1 pounds
- Dimensions: 12.74 x 0.70 x 8.46 inches
Design and Features
The HP 14-ep0299nr is the company’s budget range of laptops designed for day-to-day use, but even with the low asking prices, HP does a fine job of designing these notebooks. The HP 14-ep0299nr sports a silver exterior with black keyboard keys, a design touch that makes it look better than the black budget laptops you’d ordinarily find out there.
Measuring 12.74 x 0.70 x 8.46 inches and weighing 3.09 pounds, it is in the same ballpark as the Acer Aspire 3 and the Asus VivoBook S14, but the latter is much lighter at only 3.07 pounds.
The bezels surrounding the screen are fairly slim (HP claims a 78% screen-to-body ratio), though the top and bottom borders are thicker to accommodate the webcam and HP logo at the bottom. The webcam has a privacy shutter, as you’d find on the Lenovo ThinkPad and a few other laptops released since late last year.
The HP’s right side is plain except for a single USB port and a charging connector. On the left side, there’s another USB 3.1 Type-A port and one USB 3.1 Type-C port, along with an HDMI video output and an audio jack. Wireless connectivity comes via Wi-Fi 5.3 (802.11ac) and Bluetooth, but it is not the newer Wi-Fi 6E.
Display, Keyboard & Touchpad
The HP 14-ep0199nr has a 14-inch IPS display with a maximum resolution of 1366 x 768 and uses integrated Intel Iris graphics. Most laptops come with 1080p screens lately, so anything below that feels like a raw deal, but it’s still usable for watching movies and working on tasks, and with a peak brightness of 250 nits, it doesn’t get as bright as HP’s high-end productivity laptops. Yes, there are better screens out there if you want to spend more, especially if you’re keen on 4K content.
The 14-ep0299nr features a great keyboard that is comfortable to use. The keys offer excellent travel, not as good as the Lenovo ThinkPad T490, but still better than most notebooks in this price range. Another exciting feature of this keyboard is that the power switch is situated on the top-right of the keyboard instead of the side of the chassis.
The keycaps are comparable to those on the HP Envy 13; however, there isn’t enough space to accommodate a number pad because of the 14-inch profile. The trackpad is a little difficult to use right out of the box, but once you raise the sensitivity level in the settings, it’s simple to use. After reviewing the Asus ZenBook 14, which has the smoothest trackpad, I believe that all other trackpads are inadequate for my needs.
Performance
With an Intel Core i3-N305 processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB SSD storage, the HP 14-ep0299nr is an entry-level configuration capable machine that will meet most daily productivity needs – office work, spreadsheets, school work, and casual movie watching. The
Intel just released its 14th-generation line of CPUs; we’ve reviewed a couple of gaming and mainstream laptops packing the newer silicones, including the Asus ROG Strix G16, and the experience is nothing short of spectacular. But when shopping on a tight budget, sometimes you’re forced to stick to previous-gen chips.
The Intel Core i3-N305 is an 8-core mobile processor with a 100 MHz base clock speed, designed for laptops and mini-PCs. For basic daily use, it delivers a punch; the laptop won’t feel sluggish, but don’t expect to run any complex tasks or top-tier multitasking. In all its worthiness, it doesn’t feel like a lesser desktop replacement laptop.
What it doesn’t do, however, is offer much in the way of gaming performance. It relies on integrated Intel UHD graphics, which, while not worse, doesn’t promise much in terms of gaming performance. Again, while it feels perfectly slick on this laptop, you can’t use it as a gaming solution. After all, you’re not buying this HP 14 Laptop for its gaming prowess, so to penalize it based on its lack of a discrete graphics solution doesn’t make much sense.
If you’re looking to buy the HP 14-ep0299nr, you’re most likely not too keen on having a laptop with cutting-edge tech, not at this price point. Still, the idea that this laptop has a premium design and has the power to run most of your daily tasks could supersede any shortcomings it might have.
Talking of day-to-day, the HP 14, in all its worth, performs well. As long as you keep your expectations in check and abstain from attempting to run too intensive tasks, such as 3D rendering or playing modern titles, then you should be reasonably happy with the performance of this laptop, considering its price.
Battery Life
On performance, the HP 14-ep0299nr is a laptop that easily punches above its weight. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for its battery life. With reduced brightness up to 50% and PCMark 10’s benchmark that simulates office work, the HP 15 laptop lasts around eight and a half hours, which is practically an hour less than the figure HP quotes.
Compared to the competition, the 14-ep0299nr doesn’t stack up nicely – the Asus ZenBook 14 lasts well over 12 hours, and our favorite Windows machine, Microsoft Surface Laptop 3, makes it to 8 hours 45 minutes.
HP 14-ep0299nr Review: Verdict
For office or college use, the HP 14-ep0299nr is a great laptop that’s wallet-friendly and free of any major design or feature faults, but has plenty to offer. If you can grab it for the sale price projected at the time of writing, the deal gets even better.
It’s become increasingly rare to find a laptop at this price that gets two of the most important things right: value and performance. The HP 14-ep0299nr does that and does it well. In my book, this blend of wins makes it a good enough productivity and light entertainment laptop that won’t break the bank, but I just wish it had a Full HD screen.
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