HP vs Lenovo – Which brand is Best?

If you’re interested in getting a new laptop, then you’ll probably see HP and Lenovo laptops everywhere. HP has been around for ages, and they’re still one of the most popular brands today.

However, they’re not as popular as Lenovo, which is the biggest selling laptop manufacturer worldwide. Whilst Lenovo being a Chinese company has something to do with their popularity (the population of China is 1.4 billion alone), there are also plenty of other reasons why their products are so popular.

With the release of both the Thinkpad and the Ideapad, Lenovo has made some great laptops. But how do they compare to that of HP? Well, let’s compare the two brands and see where they’re similar, and which one is best.

HP vs Lenovo Comparison

Lenovo is the better choice of the two brands if you’re looking for the best value for money option, and they dominate the market for work and business laptops. However, HP laptops typically have better quality components, but they cost more than the Lenovo equivalent.

Both HP and Lenovo are good choices for those looking for a competent laptop, and it all depends entirely on what you’re looking for. It’s hard to compare entire brands, as each model is judged by its own specifications.

Whilst HP is an American company and one of the oldest names in computing, Lenovo is the newer Chinese company that’s completely taken over the industry in the past decade. They both have a wide range of laptops to choose from. Let’s look at them a little more.

Lenovo Laptops

Lenovo has made some of the most popular laptops in the last few years. The Thinkpad is the bestselling business laptop of 2020, and the Ideapad has sold a lot of units too to more casual day to day users.

trackpoint
The high end Lenovo Thinkpad is known for its signature red trackpoint.

The Chinese brand is well known for being popular in Asia, but over the last few years, they’ve increased so much in popularity that they’re now on par with the two American powerhouses, Dell and HP. Much of this is to do with the quality and pricing of their laptops, as they’re usually a little cheaper than the premium brands but with the same quality.

And in general, Lenovo laptops provide good value for money and are considered to be the cheapest premium laptops out there. They’re much better quality than brands like Acer, yet they aren’t as expensive as Dell. They provide a good happy medium between the two price ranges, however even though they are cheap, the quality is still very good.

Pros

In terms of a balance of affordability and power, Lenovo laptops are pretty hard to beat.
Whilst it does vary across the different models that you own, Lenovo laptops do tend to have pretty great battery life.
Between the Yoga line, the Ideapad line and the Lenovo Thinkpad line, they have a lot of the consumer market covered.

Cons

Whilst many like the minimal design of Lenovo, some say that they’re too basic and not the most attractive of laptops out there.
Outside of the Thinkpad, the brand doesn’t have a whole lot to offer at the higher end of the price scale.
They’re better value than many other brands, but still not quite as cheap as the two Taiwanese laptop brands.

Lenovo Yoga Series

Bestseller No. 1
Lenovo Yoga 6 13.3 inch 2 in 1 Laptop | AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD | Touchscreen | Backlit Keyboard | Fingerprint | Windows 11
Lenovo Yoga 6 13.3 inch 2 in 1 Laptop | AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Processor | 8GB RAM | 256GB SSD | Touchscreen | Backlit Keyboard | Fingerprint | Windows 11
AMD Ryzen 5 5500U Hexa (6) Core 2.1GHz - 4.0GHz 8MB Cache; 13.3" Full HD+ 1920 x 1200p 300 Nits Glossy IPS Touchscreen

Another series of Lenovo laptops worth checking out is their Yoga series, which are usually fairly cheap and well designed.

Much of the series is Lenovo’s version of the convertible laptop, which is a regular laptop that can double up as a tablet too (also known as 2-in-1 laptops).

However, in recent years, Lenovo has been releasing more regular laptops under the Yoga brand, with the main feature of them having a slimline design. The Yoga range features various different options for both work and leisure use, but typically they aren’t the highest spec or power laptops and are more focussed on design and ease of use.

The Yoga series is a good example of Lenovo’s initiative in creating new products and being ahead of the competition. This is something that some other brands have done well like Apple, and some other brand like Dell, not so well.

So, whilst Lenovo continues to dominate the market with their Thinkpad series, they’re also slowly cornering other areas of the market too.

HP Laptops

hp-laptop

In general, HP is a well respected brand within the laptop industry, and they’re one of the biggest sellers of laptops each year. They have a good variety of different laptops, with many of them being premium options, however they do have some cheaper ranges like the Pavilion series.

HP laptops are known to be pretty expensive, so there’s not many bargains to be had amongst their products. Although saying this, most of them are made with Nvidia Geforce graphics cards and Intel Core processors, which typically hold a premium over cheaper name components.

They’re one of the only big name brands that have managed to make it successfully into the gaming industry, and their HP Omen series is known to be a decent quality laptop for gamers (obviously Alienware is part of Dell, but aside from them then other brands aren’t that successful in terms of gaming laptops).

Let’s take a quick look at one of the best known series that HP have produced in recent years.

Pros

Typically, you’ll find that HP laptops are some of the most attractive models out there. They’re well finished, and typically to a high standard as well.
Generally, there’s a very wide range of different laptops to choose from with HP. So whether you’re looking for a cheap laptop or a premium one, you can find a model to fit your budget.
HP is still one of the biggest names in computing, which is a massive attraction for some people.

Cons

Depending on which country you’re in, HP doesn’t have the best customer service.
The hardware of HP is good, but it’s not as good as some other premium brands out there.
Although there’s quite a lot of choice, it can be difficult to know which would be best for you, as the model names are not very clear.

HP Spectre Series

To make things fair, if we’re going to look at Lenovo’s Yoga series, then it’s probably best to look at some of HPs best convertible laptops too. Although not all of the Spectre series is convertible, they do have the x360, which is one of my favourite 15 inch laptops released in the last few years.

The Spectre series tend to be a higher quality than the Envy series, even though they make equivalents of the same product. For example, the HP Envy x360 is also available and it’s a good purchase – but the Spectre x360 has a more solid base and typically comes with more expensive hardware.

Like many laptops, HP tends to use Intel processors and often graphics GPUs too. This means that with many of the base models, you can upgrade from an i5 processor to an i9 processor pretty easily if you want too.

The Spectre range is one of the best choices for those looking for a HP laptop. Though it’s by no means suitable for those looking for an entry level option, if you can afford it, it’s a pretty wise investment.

Lenovo & HP – Most Commonly Asked Questions

Is Lenovo better than HP?

If you’re looking for the better brand of the two, I’d say they’re actually about equal in terms of quality. However, Lenovo tend to be a little bit cheaper than HP, so obviously they provide the better deal.

Why are Lenovo laptops so cheap?

It’s a good question, and the answer is pretty much the same as why androids are cheaper than the iPhone; it’s all about the brand. HP are able to charge a higher price than most of the competitors because they have decades of experience in the industry selling a wide range of products, and their name is well known. It hasn’t always been that way for Lenovo, who have been able to source the same quality parts as HP and sell them for less.

What are the top 5 computer brands?

If you’re wondering whether HP or Lenovo would make it into the top 5 computer brands, then the answer is that they both would. HP and Lenovo would be joined by Apple, Dell and maybe ASUS coming in fifth place.

Are HP laptops made in China?

Many people think that because the HP headquarters is in America that their products are made their too. This actually isn’t the case, as most of the parts of a HP laptop come from China and other countries in Asia. Some HP laptops are put together in America, but most of them are assemble in China as well.

Can Lenovo and HP be trusted?

Both brands are well known within the computing industry and are very reputable, so you don’t need to worry about the quality of their products too much. As always, it’s probably best for you to get a solid warranty with any laptop purchase, as this can help to protect you from any issues later down the line.

Conclusion

Overall, both of these brands produce some premium laptops that are worth considering. If you’re looking for the best value for money, then it’s a good idea to consider a brand like Lenovo. However, if you’re looking for something reliable, then it may be wise to opt for HP.

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About Alex

Hello, I'm Alex and this is my website, Spacehop. I started the site as a way to talk about myself, and a few years later we're now a team of 6! I still work full time at a major PC retailer in the UK, and I'm a bit of a tech whizz (self-proclaimed, unfortunately!).

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