HP Pavilion x360 14 vs. HP Pavilion Plus 14

Most people won't need the extra GPU muscle that the HP Pavilion Plus 14 flexes, which makes the HP Pavilion x360 14 the best overall option. While the Plus 14 does come with an impressive display and an extra USB-C slot, we feel that its low battery life makes it a poor choice for general use. The HP Pavilion x360 14, meanwhile, has all-day longevity and great hardware for standard productivity. In short, you should go with the Pavilion x360 14 if you're planning on using your laptop for day-to-day web browsing and productivity, while the Pavilion Plus 14 will be ideal for people that want a powerful Ultrabook that serves well as a docked creative workstation.

HP Pavilion Plus 14 vs. x360 14: Design and specs

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In terms of raw performance capabilities, the Pavilion Plus 14 beats the Pavilion x360 14 by a fairly wide margin. Its P and H-series Intel 12th Gen Mobile CPUs are more powerful than the U-series ones that the x360 14 is limited to, and its optional NVIDIA GeForce MX550 and RTX 2050 Laptop dedicated GPUs surpass Intel's integrated Iris Xe graphics as well. Both laptops come with up to 16GB of 3200MHz DDR4 and up to 1TB of SSD storage, giving you plenty of memory and storage to work with.

However, the x360 14 strikes back with its seven-to-nine hour battery life, which dwarfs the Plus 14's meager three-to-five hour runtime. This alone makes the x360 14 the better overall device for most people in our eyes, as you'll constantly need to worry about staying close to a plug if you opt for the Plus 14. Folks that do specialized creative work at a desk all day might not care about that, but if you're in need of something that's mobile and ideal for general productivity, the x360 14 will fill that role much better than the Plus 14 can. You can also configure the convertible with 5G connectivity if you'd like, giving you the ability to go online even when you're not connected to Wi-Fi. 

Design-wise, both laptops feature the clean and sleek aesthetic many of HP's devices are known for, complete with premium build quality, comfortable keyboards and trackpads, and optional fingerprint readers for Windows Hello security. The Plus 14's 5MP webcam is clearer than the 720p one you'll find on the x360 14, though, and the additional USB-C port it has gives you some extra peripheral connectivity as well.

The Plus 14 also comes with a sharp 300-nit 2.2K anti-glare IPS display that features fantastic color accuracy (there's a 2.8K OLED 400-nit option as well that looks incredible, too). The x360 14's 250-nit FHD IPS panel is pretty unremarkable by comparison, though it doesn't look bad by any means. Notably, one advantage it does have over the snazzy 2.2K and 2.8K screens is that it supports touch, and since HP includes one of its Tilt Pens with every x360 14 purchase, you won't have to spend extra money on a stylus to make use of it.

HP Pavilion Plus 14 vs. x360 14: Which should you buy?

Even though the Pavilion Plus 14 is more performant and capable than the Pavilion x360 14 in several ways, it also has a significantly worse battery life that makes it difficult to recommend as a device for most standard use cases. As a result, the x360 14 will be better for most people, as it still delivers reliable performance for general productivity and web browsing while remaining capable of lasting a full workday on a full charge. Its convertible design, touchscreen, and optional 5G connectivity also give it some flexibility that the Plus 14 doesn't offer.

With that said, the Pavilion Plus 14 is one of the best Windows laptops you can buy if you need a fairly affordable workstation PC that can handle some specialized workloads. As long as you don't mind staying tethered to a plug to keep battery woes at bay, its beefy 12th Gen CPUs and powerful dedicated NVIDIA GPUs will allow you to crush creative tasks that battery life-optimized processors and normal integrated graphics typically struggle with. Those 2.2K and 2.8K displays are absolutely stunning, too.