HP ‎14-dq0080nr Review:The Perfect Choice For Casual Users

When you're on the hunt for a laptop that meets your needs you don't always need to get a model that features all the top specs and makes you take out a second mortgage. There are mid-range models that will fit the bill for the majority of users, such as the recently reviewed Acer Aspire 5 A515-45-R74Z and there are other more modest models that are well suited for casual users as well as students. 

Case and point; the HP ‎14-dq0080nr. An extremely affordable notebook that's garnered great reviews and is a great option if you're not looking for a powerhouse device.

This laptop is designed to keep you productive and entertained from anywhere thanks to its lightweight design and durable battery life. 

Couple that with a micro-edge touchscreen display of 14 inches with an HD resolution, dual-core Celeron N4020 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64 GB of SSD storage and you've got yourself a great notebook for everyday casual usage. 

Warning: This laptop is not for hardcore users. The fact that it features an entry-level processor and 4 GB of RAM is a quick signal of that.

If you're planning for a laptop that you can use on your business running several programs at a time, CPU-intensive software, and have dozens of tabs open then we would urge you to look at HP 14-fq1025nr.  If you're on a tight budget we would recommend the Acer Aspire 5 A515-46-R3UB, a great notebook with solid specs that you might need to boost with our quick and easy RAM Upgrade tutorial.

Without further ado, let's get to know this model in-depth as we uncover everything there is to know in this review of the HP ‎14-dq0080nr.

Design, Display, and Keyboard

The overall design and body are quite similar to an Apple MacBook; it looks premium for its price; featuring a brushed matte finish around the keyboard and the touchpad that deliver a dash of elegance and minimalism.

It’s also worth pointing out that it’s thin and lightweight, weighing just shy of 3.3 pounds, making it an extremely portable notebook. Later on we will cover the battery life which is the other reason it's very portable.

When it comes to the display, the HP ‎14-dq0080nr provides a solid experience considering it’s on the low-end of the spectrum, with a 14-inch touchscreen diagonal that comes with an HD resolution (1366 x 768p)-

This is okay-ish for a 14-inch display; it won't make the picture pixelated but is far from the Full HD resolution we expect on slightly pricier laptops like the extremely popular Acer Aspire 5 A515-43-R19L we reviewed that's only slightly more expensive.

As we stated before, this HP notebook also features a touchscreen, making things easier if you're not in the mood to use the trackpad. The Intel UHD graphics can play 4k movies so that you won’t have problems streaming movies at the highest quality these days - using an external monitor, of course -.

When it comes to the keyboard, it is just a generic one, which all lower-end laptops have these days. It's nice to type on this keyboard; it's not noisy enough to wake anyone up if you usually work at night but it doesn’t offer the premium feel of more expensive notebooks nor the backlight that comes with most of them. 

Its touchpad is large and sensitive, allowing for precise navigation of Windows 10 - or Windows 11 - without glitches or large motions. It's a standard touchpad for lower-end laptops, which gets the job done.

Performance of the HP ‎14-dq0080nr

Ok, we've covered the design and display. Now it's time to get into the nitty-gritty: the performance. 

The HP ‎14-dq0080nr has a dual-core processor - the Intel Celeron N4020 - clocked in at 1.1Ghz with a burst frequency of 2.8Ghz, providing decent performance for your everyday basic set of tasks. 

Although it won't be as good as the performance of a mid-tier laptop, it will still get the job done. It goes without saying, but you won't be able to run CPU-intensive programs on this buddy without any hiccups. For that, we would recommend checking out any of the options we've mentioned at the start of this article.

4GB of DDR4 RAM is more than enough for browsing the web, streaming movies, and using software such as Word and PowerPoint - or Google docs -. However, due to the limitations of 4GB of RAM, multitasking would be a bit of a problem. In that regard, the base configuration is clearly targeted at the casual user or the student who is going to be doing mainly one thing at a time and won't have several tabs open at a time.

Let’s not forget that Windows 10 alone takes up to 2GB of RAM, without any software and programs running in the background, so if you're planning to buy the HP ‎14-dq0080nr for multitasking then you’d definitely need to look into upgrading the memory.

In the graphics department, it has an integrated GPU; the Intel UHD 600. This graphics card is capable enough to run 4k videos without any lag - assuming you're not running other programs in the background-. 

You can also run some not-so-resource-heavy games, but you have to keep in mind the processing power; it can limit your gaming experience; overall, this laptop is not even close to being a gaming laptop unless you really enjoy waiting around. If budget gaming is what you're after we would recommend the Acer Nitro 5 AN515-55-53E5.

In terms of storage, the HP ‎14-dq0080nr features 64GB of SSD storage which is fairly low; you can even find entry-level phones with 128 GB of storage these days so we can’t say we were not slightly hurt by this. Also, pretty much every other laptop we have recommended on this post includes at least 128 GB of storage.

Let us not forget that Windows 10 would take up to 20-30GB of your space, and you'll be left with ~35GB of space; if your work is mostly online and you're using a cloud storage service, then you can get by with this storage but, in the long run, you still would need to upgrade your storage or insert an SD card and use it as an external storage unit.

Geek Translation: 

Overall, it’s pretty clear that the configuration of The HP ‎14-dq0080nr is aimed at students and casual users. The processor is just about right for fulfilling day-to-day tasks; it's mostly made for casual browsing and editing documents, watching movies, and the likes but nothing much more intensive than that, as many of its buyers can confirm.

Battery Life

HP has advertised the estimated battery life of The HP ‎14-dq0080nr to be around 11 hours and 30 minutes. Usually, the battery life is a bit less than advertised, as their way of evaluating could be different from the usage of a normal person. 

All in all this laptop should last about 7-8 hours, which is great for a lower-end laptop. It also provides quick charge technology from 0 to 50% in approximately 45 minutes. 

Sure enough, it's not the almost 12 hours that are advertised but you need to take into consideration that battery claims are generally based on tests that feature unrealistic user behavior such as dimness set at 10%, no WiFi connection, etc. Therefore, we generally recommend people take the claimed battery life and knock off a solid 30% to get a rough idea of the real battery life.

Connectivity and Extras

The HP ‎14-dq0080nr comes equipped with a standard Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity for connecting your phone or other peripherals. 

It has Wi-Fi 5 (802.11a/b/g/n/ac) connectivity which is pretty great since many entry-level notebooks will feature a lower and slower WiFi standard.

There's one USB type-C for super-speed connectivity, two USB Type-A ports, 1 HDMI 1.4b - to easily connect to most monitors -, and a standard headphone/Mic Combo.

It also has a Multi-format SD media card reader on the other side - the one we mentioned before when we covered the storage -. You could use this to expand the internal storage of the laptop by getting yourself a cheap SD card and setting it up as a storage unit, a process that would take you no more than 3 minutes. 

The sound quality is just fine for a lower-end laptop, it doesn't make the sound super bassy, and it's loud enough if you're in another room. The camera is HD with a decent enough quality for video calls but it's nothing to write home about.

Verdict: Is the HP ‎14-dq0080nr worth buying?

The HP ‎14-dq0080nr reviewed today is a good choice for an entry-level laptop. 

Sure enough, it's not the best or the brightest of its class but it features a good set of specs for an entry-level notebook aimed at casual users. 

Ultimately, If you're looking to buy a laptop for an elderly citizen who is just going to use it to chat on facebook, make a few video calls, stream movies, and check the news it's more than enough. Likewise, if you're getting this laptop for your kid for them to be able to do their homework, watch some videos and play some light games this is also a very suitable option since it checks all the boxes and has a great price.

Buy Now!