HP 15.6 HD Touch, Core i3-1315U, 16GB, 512GB SSD, Natural Silver

The display is the headline here, ranking in the 94th percentile for this category. But the i3-1315U CPU sits in the 31st percentile and the gaming score is a dismal 13.2 out of 100. It's a pretty screen wrapped around a very average laptop.

Let's talk about that i3-1315U. Six cores sounds impressive until you realize it's a 1.2GHz base clock chip designed for efficiency, not speed. In our database, it ranks in the 31st percentile for CPUs in this category. That's below average. You'll be fine with a dozen browser tabs and a YouTube video, but don't expect to edit 4K footage or run anything heavier than Minesweeper without some stuttering.

The 16GB of RAM is a nice touch, though it's DDR4 and ranks in the 37th percentile. Same story with the 512GB NVMe SSD at the 52nd percentile. Solid, but nothing to write home about. The integrated Intel UHD Graphics is the real bottleneck. It's in the 37th percentile and the gaming score is a brutal 13.2 out of 100. This thing will struggle with anything beyond 2D indie games or very old titles at low settings.

Stack this against the Apple MacBook Pro M5 and it's not even a contest. The MacBook's CPU and GPU would absolutely demolish the i3-1315U and Intel UHD Graphics. The Lenovo Legion 5i and ASUS ROG Strix G16 are gaming machines with dedicated GPUs, so they're in a completely different league for graphics. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition offers a better balance of portability and performance, though you'll pay more for it. The MSI Creator A13V is aimed at creators, so it has a stronger CPU and likely a better display for color work. The HP's only real advantage is that screen ranking and the touchscreen, which none of those competitors offer at this price point.

Pricing is a bit of a head-scratcher here. The only listing we found is CAD 799 from a Canadian retailer, which is roughly in line with budget laptops, but the specs don't quite justify that price when you look at the competition. You're paying for the display and the touchscreen, not the performance. If you can find this on sale for less, it starts to make more sense. At full price, you're getting a pretty screen attached to a mediocre engine.

The HP 15.6 HD Touch is a weird mix. You get a 4K-class display spec in the listing, but the highlights say 1366 x 768, and that screen ranks in the 94th percentile for this category. So either HP found a way to make a 768p panel look shockingly good, or the spec sheet is doing some creative yoga. Either way, the display is the star here, and it's dragging a very average laptop along with it.

The rest of the machine is a 13th Gen Core i3-1315U, 16GB of DDR4, and a 512GB NVMe SSD. That's a fine setup for web browsing, email, and streaming. But the CPU sits in the 31st percentile and the integrated Intel UHD Graphics lands at 37th. This is not a workhorse. It's a couch laptop with a surprisingly nice screen and a price tag that's currently a mystery.

Gamers should absolutely skip this. The 13.2 out of 100 gaming score is a dealbreaker. Anyone who needs serious CPU performance for video editing, 3D modeling, or heavy multitasking should also look elsewhere, since the i3-1315U sits in the 31st percentile. And if you need all-day battery life, the 41Wh cell is going to leave you hunting for outlets. This is a couch laptop for streaming and light browsing, nothing more.

If you want a big touchscreen laptop for streaming, light browsing, and maybe some casual photo viewing, the HP 15.6 HD Touch is a decent pick, especially if you can find it discounted. The display is genuinely impressive for this category, and 16GB of RAM plus a 512GB SSD means it won't feel sluggish for everyday tasks. But the weak CPU, integrated graphics, and small battery hold it back. This is a one-trick pony, and that trick is the screen.