Productivity maximizers looking for an affordable desktop PC will find the HP Envy TE01-5012 to be terrific. Value. Not everybody needs the most powerful gaming PC or the flashiest, and HP delivers with its Envy line of budget desktops. The design hasn’t changed since I reviewed the HP Envy TE01-1022 in 2020, but the latest model packs some serious hardware and power without breaking the bank.
This Nightfall Black tower blends right into your office decor seamlessly, yet beneath the ribbed front, you’ll find the latest Core i5-14400, 8GB RAM, and 512GB SSD storage. For the price, these are fairly powerful components packed inside, and although it’s not ideal for gaming or 4K fans, it’s more than capable of running everyday tasks with excellent performance.
Some may balk at its integrated UHD graphics 730, but for my money, the HP Envy TE01-5012 delivers great value for a business/office PC, and that offers a unique selling point that sets it apart from the rest of the best business PCs on the market.
HP Envy TE01-5012 Specs
- Desktop Class: Personal, Business
- Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i5-14400
- RAM: 8 GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 730
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home
- Dimensions: 11.97 x 6.12 x 13.28 inches
Design & Features
On looks, the Envy TE01-5012 sports the same boxy shape that we’ve seen on most PC towers, but HP redesigned the exterior to compete with sleek ultraportable laptops and the new crop of all-in-one desktops. Its Nightfall Black chassis has rounded corners and a ribbed front panel, which makes the desktop look unique and exquisite at the same time. The tray-loading optical drive is slated into one of the ribbed channels, and so are the front ports.
The Envy desktop’s front ports are located on a column along the right edge, right below the power button, including a headphone jack, four USB Type-A ports, a full-sized SD card reader, and a single USB Type-C port. Such an array of ports makes it easier for you to plug in most of your storage or charge several peripherals and accessories simultaneously.
Around the back, there are an additional four USB Type-A ports, a Gigabit Ethernet jack, HDMI and VGA video outputs, two 3.5mm audio outputs, and a microphone input. In addition to its physical connections, the Envy Desktop includes 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 5.2 for wireless connectivity.
Also included in the package are basic peripherals – a keyboard and mouse that are sturdy but not the most comfortable for marathon writing or gaming sessions. The peripherals are available in either wired or wireless versions. However, the monitor isn’t included, but you can pair it with an HP 27h FHD monitor as it offers great quality 1080p image.
Productivity Performance
The HP Envy desktop is available in multiple configurations, but the mid-range Envy TE01-5012 in this review has an Intel Core i5-14400. It’s a 10-core, 16-thread chip that leads this desktop to solid performance scores.
HP pairs the capable Core i5-14400 with 8GB RAM, which is exactly what you get with the competing Acer Aspire TC-1785-UA92, which sells for around the same price and packs a similar CPU. We often recommend having at least 8GB of RAM on a budget productivity machine to ensure simple things like browser tabs will load quickly, so it’s nice to see this desktop go beyond that.
HP uses a 512GB NVMe M.2 drive installed on the motherboard. This is a typical configuration for a modern desktop, but some older budget desktops rely on drives that use the less capable (and slower) SATA standard. We also like that Acer uses a 512GB solid-state drive rather than a smaller SSD with a large mechanical hard disk. 512GB is a modest amount of storage, but it meshes nicely with the Aspire TC’s focus on basic productivity.
Overall, productivity performance is decent; this isn’t going to break any records, but it can certainly handle productivity work well. In that regard, it’s going to do a great job as a media center in the living room, a reliable PC at the office for multitasking, as well as photo editing and video editing.
If you need a desktop PC for both play and work, the Alienware Aurora R16 is a little pricey, but it sports a professional aesthetic while packing lots of power on the inside, including an Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card for playing the latest AAA games when not working. But for general productivity, the HP Envy checks almost all the boxes.
HP Envy TE01-5012 Review | Verdict
The HP Envy TE01-5012 is an affordable, proficient everyday PC that offers excellent productivity in a beautiful chassis with some room for expansion. While it’s not going to double up as a gaming PC, its productivity performance is beyond reproach – and that’s what matters. It’s one of those PCs that wouldn’t look out of place in an attic or back office.
You can certainly find bigger or more powerful PCs on the market, but if all you want is reliable performance on a budget in a very unassuming package, the HP Envy TE01-5012 (2024 model) is the PC to buy.
Recommended Configuration
HP Envy Desktop PC, Intel Core i5-14400, 8 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Intel UHD Graphics 730, Windows 11 Home, TE01-5012 (2024)
$429.99 in stock
The Review
HP Envy TE01-5012 PC
The HP Envy TE01-5012 is a gentle evolution of its predecessor, pairing an understated design with the latest internals from Intel to deliver a capable, fairly upgradable desktop for everyday productivity tasks.
PROS
- Pretty affordable
- Sleek, minimalist design with great build quality
- Plenty of ports on the front and back
CONS
- No discrete graphics card
Review Breakdown
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RS Score
