Powerful all-in-one (AIO) desktop computers are something of a rarity, especially if you want a machine that’ll handle some of the best PC games. While plenty of AIOs have neat high resolution displays, they tend to compromise in a few areas, whether it’s in terms of power, ports or the ability to easily upgrade.
But HP’s new Envy 34-inch AIO desktop PC seems to be poised to buck that trend. That’s because its top spec comes with a 5.1GHz Intel 11th Gen Core i9-11900 and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, albeit a laptop-grade variant. While some of the best desktop PCs have more power, it's still got the specs to run the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 at impressive settings.
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Yet unlike some gaming-grade AIOs in the past, the new Envy 34 AIO is a rather clean and almost demure-looking machine.
Its 34-inch 5120 x 2160 (aka 5K) factory-calibrated IPS display sports a 21:9 aspect ratio and rather slim bezels, all contained in a clean silver color. It’s a heck of a lot less colorful than Apple’s iMac 2021, yet looks better for it in our opinion, especially as there's no chunky bottom bezel.
And while the new iMac might have the impressive Apple M1 chip, the specs the Envy 34 AIO offers blows away Cupertino’s machine,. Even at its base spec, the Envy has a Core i7-11700, 32GB of DDR4 RAM, 512GB of PCIe storage, and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 graphics card. Admittedly, that base spec costs $2,000; expect to pay a lot for the top spec when the AIO arrives in October.
Port selection is also impressive, with six USB-A ports, two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 3, HDMI, Ethernet, a 3.5mm audio jack and an SD card reader. If you’re a professional content creator, which the Envy 34 appears aimed at, then you won’t be left wanting when it comes to attaching cameras or peripherals to the AIO.
As an added cherry on top, and something a lot of AIOs including the iMac can only dream of, the Envy 34 is user-upgradable, with a tool-less rear allowing users to add in more RAM and storage should they so wish. And for people who are working from home, there's a detachable 16MP “HP True Vision” IR privacy webcam with a dual array of microphones that can be placed anywhere around the edges of the display.
In short, the new HP Envy 34 AIO is an impressive machine on paper and could be the way to get serious PC power without needing to get a bulky desktop or chunky gaming laptop. But we’d need to try this out for ourselves before we come to any firm conclusions.
