HP 15-bs033cl Review: An Affordable Laptop for Basic Tasks

HP 15-bs033cl: At First Glance

HP has offered a lot of mid-range laptops in its archive, one of which is the HP 15-bs033cl.

This laptop is not an ultrabook but it has a lot going for it. Additionally, the laptop meets the demand of those who do not want to spend so much money purchasing a laptop.

Is the HP Notebook – 15-bs033cl a purchase-worthy laptop? Please carefully read through this article to find out.

HP 15-bs033cl: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The HP 15-bs033cl comes in a simple design. However, it manages to capture the heart of people, especially those who love simplicity.

Moreover, this laptop comes in two colors – black and smoke gray. Hence, users can choose a color that suits their personality.

Not only that, the chassis of this laptop is made of aluminum material. As a result of the metal chassis, the HP 15-bs033cl is quite sturdy.

The aluminum chassis has a rough texture when you rub your palms on it but it’s nothing to worry about. Also, the ”hp” logo is in a gray circle, neatly engraved at the center of the laptop’s lid.

When you open the laptop’s lid, you will find its 15.6-inch display. The display is held by very sturdy hinges that prevent it from tweaking.

The hinges hold the screen firmly thereby preventing it from wobbling. Clearly, the hinges of the HP 15-bs033cl are reliable.

Furthermore, the HP 15 bs033cl screen has perfectly fitted bulky bezels. While this is a bit unattractive, the bulky bezel provides accommodation for its integrated webcam.

The camera at the upper bezel of the HP 15-bs033cl is the HP TrueVision HD camera. Also, this camera comes with an integrated digital microphone.

Furthermore, this camera is suitable for conference meetings and casual calls with friends and family. However, taking pictures with the camera is not something you will want to do because the quality is unimpressive.

The lower bezel has a “hp” inscription.

Proceeding to the display resolution, the HP 15-bs033cl’s display has an HD (1366 x 768) resolution. Unfortunately, the HD resolution doesn’t give a very mind-blowing display quality.

However, let us not forget that the HP 15 bs033cl is a midrange laptop and some compromises are expected.

Meanwhile, the display on this laptop is SVA WLED-backlit. For clarity, WLED is the abbreviation for “white LED emitting diode” while SVA is an abbreviation for “super viewing angles”.

Speaking of viewing angles, they describe the quality of a screen when it is viewed from either its sides, top, or bottom. For SVA, it is a type of VA (vertical alignment) panel that claims to produce better viewing angles.

Hence, with an SVA panel in this laptop’s display, you should expect good image quality from whatever angle you view. Asides from the impressive SVA feature of the laptop’s display, it is also touch-enabled.

Thankfully, the HP 15-bs033cl’s touchscreen is very sensitive and responsive.

Proceeding to the keyboard area, this laptop features a full-size island-style keyboard. The keys are well arranged and spacious thereby preventing wrong key clicks.

Also, beneath the keyboard, you will find a large trackpad with dedicated left and right buttons. Thankfully, the touchpad supports multi-touch gestures and provides a good touch experience.

Proceeding to the ports and connectivity, the HP 15-bs033cl has a decent number of ports on each side of the laptop. On the right side, a USB 2.0 port, a card reader port, and a DVD drive are available.

Meanwhile, on the left side, you have 2 USB 3.1 ports, an RJ-45 port, and one HDMI port. For connectivity, the HP 15 bs033cl uses Bluetooth version 4.2 and a wireless LAN 802.11 b/g/n/ac (1×1).

Moving to the weight and dimension of the HP 15-bs033cl, this laptop weighs 2100 g. For the dimension, it measures 380 x 253.8 x 23.8 mm (W x D x H).

With this weight and size, it is not convenient to carry the HP 15-bs033cl around in a handbag. However, it is a bit convenient to carry it in a backpack.

Comparatively, the Lenovo Thinkpad T430 has more weight and broader dimensions than the HP 15 bs033cl. Specifically, the Lenovo ThinkPad T430 weighs 2,358.68 g and has a dimension of 340.5 x 232 x 29.9 mm (W x D x H).

Finally, people who do not like flashy laptops will really find the HP 15-bs033cl attractive. It also has a good port selection, hence, it deserves an eight out of ten in this review section.

HP 15-bs033cl: Processor (CPU) Performance

The HP 15-bs033cl employs a dual-core Intel Core i3-7100U processor for its processing tasks. A dual-core processor is one that has two processor cores in its processor chip.

This implies that this processor will offer faster performance than a single-core processor. In addition to its dual-core, the Core i3 processor also has a cache memory of 3 MB.

Not only that, but it also has a base and boost frequencies of 2.40 GHz.

To confirm how well this processor can handle tasks, I will be sharing with you the laptop’s Cinebench R15 benchmark test result. For more understanding, the Cinebench R15 is a standard benchmark tool that measures the all-around processing power of a computer.

It achieves this by assessing the cores of the laptop’s processor. Hence, the Cinebench R15 benchmark test is divided into two phases – single-core and multi-core.

The single-core test shows the processing ability of one processor core. On the other hand, the multi-core test assesses the processor performance of all the processor cores.

Before sharing the laptop’s scores, it is essential to state that a higher score in this test depicts a good performance. Therefore, according to the Cinebench R15 test results, the HP 15 bs033cl recorded 95 points in the single-core test.

Likewise, in the multi-core test, the HP 15 bs033cl recorded 265 points. In comparison, the HP 15-bs033cl outdid one of its competitors with the same processor type.

The competitor in reference is the Fujitsu Lifebook E557 which scored 97 points in the single-core test. Meanwhile, in the multi-core test, it scored 257 points.

In conclusion, the HP 15-bs033cl processor proved capable of handling everyday tasks smoothly. Thus, I rate it seven in for its processing power.

HP 15-bs033cl: Memory (RAM) Performance

For memory, this HP 15-bs033cl features a 12 GB DDR4-2133 MHz SDRAM standard memory. Moreover, this laptop has two RAM slots and the maximum memory it supports is 16 GB.

With its standard 12 GB memory, however, this laptop should be able to handle a respectable level of multitasking.

To be more specific, with 12 GB RAM, the HP 15-bs033cl should be able to run 20 Chrome tabs smoothly. Even if some of the tabs are streaming videos on YouTube the 12 GB RAM is still capable of handling that.

Not only that, but you will also be able to switch between the tabs conveniently.

For a better understanding of the RAM performance, I will share the laptop’s result in a PCMark 10 benchmark test. PCMark 10 is a benchmark used to measure the memory performance of a computer.

It does this by simulating daily productivity tasks. These tasks include video conferencing, web surfing, and other basic computing tasks.

In the PCMark 10 benchmark test, better performance is dependent on how high the score is. Therefore, according to the test results, the HP 15-bs033cl recorded 2501 points.

This score is one point above the category average of 2500 points. However, it comes behind the 3024 points achieved by the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 on the benchmark test.

All things considered, the HP 15-bs033cl deserves an eight out of ten in this memory performance review section.

HP 15-bs033cl: Storage Options and Performance

In terms of storage, HP equips this laptop with 5400 RPM SATA HDD storage. The maximum capacity supported by this storage option is 1 TB which is quite impressive.

Therefore, if you are a heavy storage user, you have no reason to panic. Better still, the HP 15-bs033cl also comes with one multi-format SD media card reader for storage expansion.

Let us proceed to the laptop’s storage performance in the CrystalDiskMark benchmark test. Briefly, the CrystalDiskMark benchmark tool evaluates the read and write speeds of a computer’s storage drive.

To be clear, read speed means the time taken by a storage device to open a file. Meanwhile, write speed is the time taken by the storage device to save a file.

Like other benchmark tests already mentioned in this review, a higher score in the CrystalDiskMark denotes a better storage performance. Therefore, in the test, the HP 15-bs033cl had a sequential read speed of 502 MBps.

For its write speed, it recorded 488 MBps. Comparatively, the HP 15-bs033cl laptop delivers a faster write and read speed than the Lenovo ThinkPad 13.

Precisely, the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 delivered a sequential read speed of 461.7 MBps and a write speed of 297.8 MBps.

In conclusion, the HP 15-bs033cl has a sufficient storage size and the storage speed is impressive. Also, this laptop performs better than a close competitor in the storage benchmark test.

Hence, I give it a rating of seven out of ten in this storage performance review.

HP 15-bs033cl: Graphics Card Performance

The HP 15-bs033cl comes with an Intel HD Graphics 620 graphics card. For its speed, this GPU has a base frequency of 300 MHz and a maximum frequency of 1000 MHz.

Notably, the Intel HD Graphics 620 is an integrated graphics card because it is built into the laptop’s processor. Therefore, this GPU shares the 12 GB systems memory with the processor to execute graphics-related tasks.

As a result, the HP 15-bs033cl might not smoothly run graphics-intensive apps or games. Nevertheless, the laptop should conveniently run most games at low graphics settings.

For example, when you play FIFA 19 at low graphics settings, the HP 15-bs033cl should deliver about 48.3 fps (frames per second). This is rather remarkable for a non-gaming laptop.

Let us now take a look at the laptop’s GPU performance in a 3DMark benchmark test. 3DMark is a benchmark test that determines the 2D and 3D graphics rendering powers of a computer.

Moreover, on this graphics benchmark test, a high score represents a better graphics performance. Thus, from the 3DMark test, the HP 15-bs033cl scored 7011 points.

Impressively, in comparison with the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 which has the same GPU, the HP 15-bs033cl laptop did better. To be more specific, the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 only delivered a score of 5854 points on the same test.

To conclude this section, the HP 15-bs033cl gave a decent performance despite its integrated graphics card. Hence, it will be fair to rate it a seven out of ten in this graphics review section.

HP 15-bs033cl: Battery Life and Performance

In terms of battery, the HP 15-bs033cl employs a 3-cell 31 Wh Lithium-Ion battery. However, HP did not state the battery life of this battery.

However, I will discuss the laptop’s battery life in a web browsing battery rundown test carried out by notebookcheck.com. This test involved surfing the internet via a WiFi connection with minimum brightness until the laptop goes off.

From this test, the HP 15-bs033cl delivered a battery life of 5 hours. Although its battery life is decent, it is still 3 hours less than the category average.

In comparison, the HP 15-bs033cl’s battery life is lower than that of the Lenovo ThinkPad 13. To be more specific, the Lenovo ThinkPad 13 lasted 6 hours and 12 minutes in the same battery life test.

All things considered, I will rate the HP 15-bs033cl seven out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The HP 15-bs033cl is a mid-range laptop that delivers reasonable performance. Specifically, this laptop is packed with a CPU that is sufficiently capable of handling daily computing tasks.

Also, this laptop features a spacious keyboard and a touchscreen display. However, the heavyweight of this laptop is one of its downsides.

In addition to its heavyweight, its integrated graphics card makes it unsuitable for intense gaming.

However, if you desire a budget laptop for office tasks, you should consider the HP 15-bs033cl.

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