HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr Review: Fragile Build, Strong Performance

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By Anthony Ugochukwu Iloh

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My take on HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr

Summary

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr features adequate specs for carrying out basic and demanding computing operations. Also, this laptop comes with a sleek design and a decent battery life. However, the laptop needs to be handled with care because of its fragile build.

Overall
3.9

Pros

  • Sleek design
  • Sufficient ports
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Decent battery life

Cons

  • Fragile build
 

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: At First Glance

The Pavilion laptop lineup was introduced in 1995 by American multinational information technology company Hewlett-Packard (HP). For context, the name “Hewlett-Packard” came into existence by combining the last names of the two founders of the company – Bill Hewlett and David Packard.

That aside, the company released the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr in 2018 as a means of expanding its Pavilion lineup. This laptop is consumer-oriented as it features some amazing specs that should meet the needs and demands of most users/consumers.

To mention a few, the laptop comes with a very powerful Intel Core i5 processor and a decent amount of ports. However, as the saying goes, “nothing is perfect,” so one would expect the laptop to feature one or two flaws.

Now the question is, will its flaws outweigh its strengths, or will it be the other way around? Well, to find out the answer to that question, I urge you to read on.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Design, Dimension, and Weight

To start with, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr offers two color options. Hence, you can either buy the laptop in charcoal black or silver color.

Nevertheless, whichever color option you choose, the laptop should look really sleek and good-looking. Besides, the laptop features a glossy finish that adds more elegance to its overall look and design.

However, the build quality of this laptop is terrible. Basically, the laptop’s body is made entirely out of fragile plastic material that flexes at every chance it gets.

As a matter of fact, some parts of the laptop’s body might break or crack when you mistakingly drop it. Hence, to avoid such a situation, it is best you handle the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr with utmost care.

On a positive note, the hinges that attach the base and lid of the laptop together are made of solid aluminum with a glossy-silver finish. Thus, when nudged, the hinges should prevent the lid from wobbling too much.

Speaking of the lid, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr’s lid features a glossy silver “HP” logo at the center. Due to the glossy finish of this logo, it sparkles when rays of light shine on it.

Thereby adding more sleekness and beauty to the laptop’s overall design.

Moving on to the interior of the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr, the first thing you will notice is a 15.6-inch display. This display is equipped with an FHD (1920 x 1080) resolution that enables it to render colorful and decently-sharp picture quality.

Apart from the FHD resolution, this display also offers an IPS panel which allows for wide viewing angles. Hence, watching the laptop’s display off-center shouldn’t be a problem, as there will be no loss in picture quality or color distortion.

To make things more interesting, HP uses slim bezels to surround the Pavilion 15 Au063nr’s 15.6-inch display. These bezels are made with plastic material and have a glossy-black finish.

Moreover, the top bezel features a webcam with an integrated dual-array digital microphone in the center. Performance-wise, this webcam is very ideal for video conference calls.

However, it may not be appropriate to take selfies as it delivers blurry and grainy images. Meanwhile, on the bottom bezel of the laptop’s display, you will find an “HP” logo in the center.

Moving on to the base, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr comes with an island-style backlit keyboard with a numeric keypad. This keyboard is quite comfortable for typing as it features well-spaced keys that are responsive and have decent key travel.

Besides, the backlit feature of the keyboard makes it ideal for typing in dark areas. By the way, key travel refers to the total distance between a keyboard’s key resting point to its full depression.

Just beneath the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr’s keyboard is a spacious touchpad with two integrated click buttons. The surface of this laptop’s touchpad is made of plastic.

Furthermore, it is very smooth and responsive, allowing for seamless navigation and cursor movement. Moreover, due to its smooth surface, carrying out multi-touch gestures on the touchpad should be very easy.

Port-wise, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr features quite a good number of ports. Specifically, on the right side of the laptop, there is a multi-format SD media card reader slot, a USB 3.0 port, and a SuperMulti DVD burner drive.

On the other hand, the left side of this laptop features a USB 2.0 port, a USB 3.0 port, an HDMI port, and an Ethernet port. Meanwhile, in terms of wireless connectivity, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr features Bluetooth 4.0 and integrated Intel 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi.

For weight and dimension, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr weighs 1930 g and measures 383 x 243 x 22.5 mm (W x D x H). In comparison with another 15.6-inch laptop (Dell Precision M4500), this HP Pavilion laptop is slimmer and lighter.

Particularly, the Dell Precision M4500 weighs and measures 2730 g and  374 x 253 x 29.1 mm (W x D x H), respectively.

Finally, considering all the things discussed in this design review section, I will rate the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr an eight out of ten.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Processor (CPU) Performance

For the processor, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr is equipped with a 2-core (dual-core) 6th generation Intel Core i5-6500U processor. This laptop’s processor comes with a cache memory of 4 MB.

Also, in terms of speed, the processor operates on a base frequency of 2.50 GHz and can be boosted to the maximum frequency of 3.10 GHz. Performance-wise, this processor is fast, powerful, and should be capable of handling both basic and demanding computing tasks.

As a matter of fact, with the Intel Core i7-6500U CPU, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr should be able to run demanding software like Adobe Photoshop. To further verify the laptop’s processing performance, I will now be sharing its result on a Cinebench R15 test.

In brief, the Cinebench R15 test is a benchmark test that measures a computer’s processor performance by utilizing its cores. Furthermore, this test is performed in two different aspects, which are the single-core test and the multi-core test.

For more clarity, the single-core test evaluates a computer’s performance when one of its processor’s cores is in use. The multi-core test, on the other hand, is the opposite – it evaluates the computer’s performance when all its processor’s cores are in use.

Moreover, a high score on these tests means a good performance. Therefore, based on the results obtained from the test, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr recorded 124.3 points on the single-core test.

Meanwhile, on the multi-core test, the laptop recorded 307.4 points. In comparison, this laptop’s scores on both tests are below the scores gotten by the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin, which uses an Intel Core i7-6500U processor.

To be more specific, on the same Cinebench R15 test, the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin recorded 137 points on the single-core test. On the other hand, the laptop recorded 504 points on the multi-core test. 

All in all, I will rate the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr an eight out of ten in this processor review section.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Memory (RAM) Performance

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr comes with a DDR4-2133 SDRAM memory type. This laptop also features two memory slots and a standard memory capacity of 12 GB.

Moreover, the laptop supports a maximum memory capacity of 16 GB. Hence, you should be able to upgrade the laptop’s memory up to 16 GB.

However, that might not be necessary because the standard 12 GB memory is enough for the laptop to carry out most computing operations. In actual fact, with 12 GB RAM, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr will be able to multitask easily.

Speaking of which, this laptop should be able to run about 20 Chrome tabs concurrently without slowing down. In fact, switching between these tabs will be very easy and lag-free for the laptop.

Having said that, I will now share the laptop’s result on a PCMark 8 test to further validate its memory performance. Briefly, the PCMark 10 test is a benchmark test that simulates real-world office-related tasks so as to evaluate a computer’s memory performance.

Furthermore, a high score on this PCMark 8 benchmark test implies a good memory performance. Hence, based on the test result, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr recorded a score of 3026 points.

Sadly, compared to the Lenovo IdeaPad 720S 14 Inch‘s 3612 points, this laptop performed poorly. Hence, I will rate the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr a seven out of ten in this memory review section.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Storage Options and Performance

For storage, HP equipped the Pavilion 15 Au063nr with a 5400 RPM SATA HDD (Hard Disk Drive). This storage drive supports up to 1 TB of maximum storage capacity, which I assume should be sufficient for most users.

However, for those who may find 1 TB of storage space limited, this laptop has a multi-format SD card reader for storage expansion. Having said that, let us discuss the laptop’s performance on a CrystalDiskMark test to see how well its HDD can perform.

In case you are wondering, CrystalDiskMark is a benchmark test that measures the performance of a computer’s storage drive, either SSD or HDD. It does this by estimating the read and write speed of the storage drive.

Briefly, read speed is how fast a computer’s storage drive is able to open a file. Write speed, however, is how fast the storage drive is able to save a file.

Besides, a high “MBps” value on the CrystalDiskMark test equates to fast read and write speed. So, based on the results obtained from the test, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr recorded a sequential read speed of 106.9 MBps.

In addition to that, the laptop also recorded a sequential write speed of 106 MBps. Comparatively, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr falls short of the Lenovo IdeaPad 330S, which uses a 1 TB SATA HDD.

Specifically, on the CrystalDiskMark test, the Lenovo IdeaPad 330S recorded a sequential read speed of 185.6 MBps. Also, this Lenovo laptop recorded a sequential write speed of 158.2 MBps.

After thorough consideration, I will offer the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr a rating of eight out of ten in this storage performance review section.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Graphics Card Performance

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr features an integrated Intel HD Graphics 520 graphics card. This graphics card operates on a base and boost frequency of 300 MHz and 1050 MHz, respectively.

However, as an integrated graphics card, this laptop’s GPU is incorporated into the CPU (Intel Core i5-6500U). Due to this, the graphics card lacks a dedicated VRAM (Video RAM).

Hence, in order to carry out graphics-associated tasks, the GPU has to share the system memory with the CPU. As a result, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr will not be able to effectively handle graphics-intensive tasks like video editing.

Also, the laptop might not be able to smoothly run high-end games such as Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare. However, most games on the Microsoft Store, like Asphalt 8 and Candy Crush, should run smoothly on the laptop.

That said, to further analyze the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr’s graphics performance, I will now share its result on a 3DMark 11 test. In brief, the 3DMark 11 test is a benchmark test that evaluates the 2D and 3D graphics rendering capabilities of a computer.

Additionally, a high score on this graphics rendering benchmark test signifies good performance. Therefore, according to the test result, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr obtained a score of 1296 points.

In comparison with the Dell Inspiron 15 i5559-4682SLV, which also uses an Intel HD Graphics 520 GPU, this laptop performed better. Precisely, the Dell Inspiron 15 i5559-4682SLV recorded a score of 1238 points on the 3DMark 11 test.

Due to its performance on the benchmark test, I will rate the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr an eight out of ten in this GPU review section.

HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr: Battery Life and Performance

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr comes with a 2-cell 41 Wh Li-ion battery. However, HP never mentioned or advertised how long this laptop’s battery could last.

Nonetheless, HP did mention that the battery can charge at a lightning-fast speed. As a matter of fact, HP said that the battery could charge up to 50% in just 30 minutes.

Basically, one hour and a few minutes is enough for this laptop to be fully charged. Nevertheless, when fully charged, how long can the laptop last?

Well, to provide an answer to that question, let me briefly highlight the laptop’s result on a battery rundown test. Before mentioning the laptop’s result, it is important for us to know what the battery rundown test is all about.

In short, the battery rundown test involves continuously surfing the internet via a Wi-Fi network until the laptop dies. So, at the conclusion of the battery rundown test, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr delivered a battery life of 6 hours and 41 minutes.

Comparatively, this laptop’s battery life is almost on par with the Lenovo V130-15IGM‘s 6 hours and 40 minutes battery life.

Therefore, I will be rating the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr an eight out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How many memory slots does the HP Pavilion 15 AU063NR have?

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr comes with two memory slots.

2. Does the HP Pavilion 15 AU063NR have a touchscreen display?

No, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr does not have a touchscreen display.

3. Does the HP Pavilion 15 AU063NR feature a Thunderbolt port?

Sadly, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr lacks a Thunderbolt port.

4. What Bluetooth version does the HP Pavilion 15 AU063NR support?

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr supports Bluetooth version 4.0.

5. Does the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr comes with an optical drive?

Yes, the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr features a SuperMulti DVD burner.

Conclusion

The HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr is a good-looking laptop that offers adequate specs for carrying out most computing tasks. However, this laptop is fragile due to the poor plastic material used to construct its body.

Nevertheless, the laptop comes with a comfortable keyboard as well as a good number of ports. Also, the battery life of the laptop is decent, and it can charge really fast.

Thus, if you need a 15.6-inch HP laptop with reasonable specs and overall performance, try considering the HP Pavilion 15 Au063nr.

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About the Author

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Anthony Ugochukwu Iloh

Anthony Ugochukwu is a Technical Writer for Itechguides.com. He has an HND in Electrical Electronics Engineering. Anthony loves trying new things, is an electronics hobbyist and is interested in Embedded systems/AI. He writes technology explained articles in Itechguides.com.

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