Review: HP’s ultra-light Pavilion Aero 13 with AMD is also ultra-excellent
When HP announced its new Pavilion Aero 13 laptop back in June, there was a lot to get excited over. With a $750 starting price (now $670 on sale), AMD Ryzen processors, a slick modern design, and weighing around just 2 pounds (0.9kg), this laptop brings a lot of premium features to the mid-range budget space.
After spending the last few weeks with the Pavilion Aero 13, I’m floored by it. It’s undoubtedly one of the best sub-$1,000 laptops you can buy right now, and while it is not perfect, it gets so much right that it is easy to overlook some of its few and minor shortcomings.
The Pavilion Aero 13 is so good it tempts me from my higher-end, more premium laptops. Here’s why you should keep this Windows 11-ready laptop in mind if you need a new PC this fall.
HP Pavilion Aero 13
Bottom line: Weighing around 2 pounds, the HP Pavilion Aero 13 is the best sub-$1,000 laptop you can buy right now. With an excellent display, keyboard, audio, and AMD Ryzen performance, it’s a premium laptop that is super affordable.
The Good
- Excellent CPU performance
- Super light
- Outstanding design
- Very good keyboard, trackpad, and display
The Bad
- Radeon GPU is weak
- Webcam is just OK
- Some bloatware
HP Pavilion Aero 13: Price and availability
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
HP lets you configure storage, CPU, RAM, display, color options, and more.
The Pavilion Aero 13 starts at $750, although HP has it on sale for just $670. That version ships with a Ryzen 5 5600 processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, comes in natural silver, and has a WUXGA (1920×1200) non-touch display without backlit keys.
Maxed out, the Pavilion Aero 13 comes in at a very doable $1,040. It ships with a more powerful Ryzen 7 5800U processor, 16GB of RAM, 1TB of storage, backlit keys, a higher resolution WQXGA (2560×1600), non-touch display, and comes in warm gold, ceramic white, or pale rose gold colors.
Our review unit is priced at $910 and features the Ryzen 7 5800U, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, no backlit keyboard, 1920×1200 display, and natural silver.
HP Pavilion Aero 13: What’s good
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
With an all-metal chassis, the Aero 13 is incredibly light. HP cites “under 1 kg (2.2 lbs)” and our model weighs in at exactly 2.09 pounds (0.95kg). That is incredibly light for any laptop at any price point and makes the Aero 13 stand out from the competition.
The 13.3-inch display is also a taller 16:10 aspect instead of the older and narrower 16:9. Because of this decision, the Aero 13 has “micro bezels” on all four sides, delivering a 90% screen-to-body ratio, making it look very modern and aesthetically pleasing. There are two display options: “Full HD” at 1920×1200 and the other closer to 2K at 2560×1600. Both are matte (anti-glare) and non-touch with 400 nits of brightness. The higher resolution option is a mere $30 extra making a worthy and recommended upgrade.
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
Category | HP Pavilion Aero 13 |
---|---|
Operating system | Windows 10 Home (Windows 11-ready) |
Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 5600U AMD Ryzen 7 5800U |
Graphics | AMD Radeon graphics |
Display | 13.3-inch, 16:10 aspect ratio, 400 nits, 100% sRGB 1920×1200 (WUXGA) 2560×1600 (WQXGA) |
Ports | 2x Type-A 1x Type-C (PD) HDMI Headphone/mic |
Camera | 720p front-facing, dual mics |
Audio | 2x Bang & Olufsen (bottom) |
Battery | Up to 10.5 hours |
Wireless | Wi-Fi 6 (1×2) and Bluetooth 5.2 Wi-Fi 6 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5.2 |
Weight | 2.2 pounds (0.9kg) |
Color | Pale rose gold Warm gold Ceramic white Natural silver |
Price | From $749 |
The trackpad is quite large and uses Microsoft Precision drivers. It’s OK with smooth travel and a decent, albeit soft, click.
Ports are adequate too. There is a Type-C (no Thunderbolt 4) for charging, date or display out. There are two Type-A ports on each side with drop-jaws to make them fit in this thin chassis. And HDMI port is on the left, also for display out. HP also included a 65-watt barrel charger, which is a bit old-fashioned, but that Type-C port comes in handy if you have a spare Type-C charger. There’s also a headphone/mic jack, as expected.
The 720p front-facing webcam is average with decent color reproduction and excellent contrast.
Storage performance is low, with just 1,835MB/s for sequential read and 974MB for sequential write. That read performance drops into the 1,600MB/s range when on battery. Being PCIe NVMe users should be able to upgrade to faster or larger storage volumes, though you’ll have to remove the rubber feet on the chassis to remove the screws first.
Source: Windows Central
While the laptop can get warm under load, the fans do an excellent job of keeping the Aero 13 comfortable. They are also quiet enough considering the price here and above average. The laptop itself lifts a bit in the rear to give clearance for more airflow – it’s a fantastic design that I wish more laptops utilized as it also helps with more angled typed. HP also vents the hot air in the rear near the display (keeping it away from your hands), which is a design we’ve seen in more premium laptops, so it’s great to see it here.
HP Pavilion Aero 13: What’s not good
Rear venting keeps hot air away from your hands and lap.Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
But one weak spot is the AMD Radeon Vega 8 GPU. While the Ryzen CPU is incredible for performance, the graphics (and gaming) are anemic. When testing overall system performance with the GPU in use, you can see this effect on 3Dmark Night Raid or Time Spy, where the Aero 13 scores near the bottom. These results are no big deal for everyday use as the laptop is still very competent for work and media. Still, the answer is disappointing for those thinking that the Pavilion Aero 13 could be a sneaky gaming laptop — it’s definitely not.
Lots of preloaded software on the Aero 13.Source: Windows Central
HP packs a bit more bloatware (third-party software) than on higher-end laptops, which helps keep that price so low. Apps like McAfee, Adobe (free trials), Last Pass, ExpressVPN, Booking.com, and even some games services appear in the menu. Most are just links to apps to download, can all be uninstalled with relative ease, and don’t embed themselves within the OS to cause issues. Still, it’s a bit unsightly.
HP Pavilion Aero 13: Competition
HONOR Magicbook 14 (2021).Source: Windows Central
Surface Laptop Go edges into this category, although it starts at a lower price at $550 and has a smaller 12.45-inch display. Matching specs (8GB, 256GB), the Laptop Go is about $100 more than HP, and its Core i5 performance won’t be nearly as good as the Aero 13’s AMD Ryzen 5.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i 14 brings excellent top-firing speakers, long battery life, excellent design, but lacks in performance and display. However, you can find it for around $500 (with many specs cut) and get a larger 14-inch screen.
The HONOR MagicBook 14 has a nice Core i5, 14-inch display 512GB of storage for under $800. While you get a larger screen, the laptop is also a full pound heavier.
For those who want something similar but more business orientated, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano fits the bill … except for the much higher price point at around $1,400. It weighs just 2lbs as well and has a similar display.
The HP ENVY x360 13 is an excellent choice for something small and powerful. It’s around the $700 mark for starting and is an absolute joy to use. However, it uses older Ryzen 4000 Mobile chips instead of the newer 5000 series.
HP also has its excellent AMD-based ENVY x360 15-inch laptop. It is 2 pounds heavier, but you’re also getting much more laptop that starts around the $710 mark when on sale.
HP Pavilion Aero 13: Should you buy it?
Source: Daniel Rubino / Windows Central
You should buy this if …
- You want a very light laptop
- You need the best CPU performance
- You like to configure your laptop to fit what you can afford
- You want the best value-driven clamshell laptop around
You shouldn’t buy this if …
- You want a convertible PC
- You need a strong GPU
- You prefer a touchscreen
The HP Pavilion Aero 13 is an outstanding budget-friendly laptop. It packs a robust feature set with solid CPU performance and overall excellent build quality that makes a good case against buying more premium PCs. The new 16:10 display with thin bezels is fantastic thanks to the brightness and exceptional color gamut (for this price).
The few drawbacks in our review unit can all be solved simply by ordering the configuration you want. Some are no-brainers, like $30 for the higher-resolution display and $20 for the backlit keyboard. It’s a bit nickel-and-diming, but those are also cheap upgrades. The one thing you can’t opt for is a touchscreen, which is a bit of a letdown.
Other minor nitpicks like a slow fingerprint reader or no microSD card reader are hardly dealbreakers. The GPU is weak, which AMD needs to work on to balance out its processor, but this isn’t meant to be a gaming laptop, so no promises are broken.
Who should buy the Pavilion Aero 13? Basically, anyone who needs a good Windows laptop that is light and powerful. Students, parents, teachers, writers, and even creators could benefit from its features while also being proud of its modern design.
But overall, the Pavilion Aero 13 is a fabulous laptop. It’s so light as to feel almost fake, but its metal chassis gives it a quality feel, balancing it nicely. The AMD CPU is powerful, and the spec sheet is above average — no 4GB of RAM or 64GB storage here!
HP has done a bang-up job with this new Aero line giving it our highest award for an outstanding value. Go get one now.
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