Rank #1 in Best i7 Laptop UK 2026: The Badge That Stopped Meaning Anything
HP 14" Laptop, Intel Core i7-1255U, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
Price and rating as shown on Amazon when we collected them. Both change.
The HP 14" costs £599.99 and is rated 4.0 stars from 130 ratings, the largest sample in this article — sixty per cent of buyers at five stars and fourteen per cent at one.
It takes first place for that record and for the sensible specification underneath it: an i7-1255U, 16 GB of memory, a 512 GB SSD and a 1.46 kg body. Its table also gives a solid-state drive a rotational speed of 7,200 RPM and measures the laptop in metres.
How those 130 ratings break down
An average hides its own shape. This is the spread behind the 4.0 stars.
Specification
Exactly as published on the Amazon listing, field for field.
| Ratings | 4.0 from 130 |
|---|---|
| Distribution | 60 per cent five-star, 14 per cent one |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-1255U, 12th generation |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Storage | 512 GB SSD |
| Weight | 1.46 kg |
What buyers actually say
Quoted from customer reviews on Amazon
Verified purchase“Very good, excellent for working or studying.”
Verified purchase“Smaller than our previous one, but perfectly clear screen”
What it is up against
The rivals it was ranked against in Best i7 Laptop UK 2026: The Badge That Stopped Meaning Anything.
Rank #2
Acer Aspire 3 A315-59 Laptop, Intel Core i7-1255U, 8 GB, 512 GB SSD
£586.69
Rank #3
MSI Modern 15 Laptop, i7-1355U, 16 GB DDR4, 512 GB SSD
£629.99
Rank #4
ASUS Vivobook 16 X1605VA Laptop, Intel Core 7 150U, 16 GB RAM, 1 TB SSD
£729.99
Rank #5
HP 250 G9 15.6" Laptop, Intel Core i7-1255U, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD
£645.00
Questions people ask
Is the drive really 7,200 RPM?
No. The listing says SSD and solid state in two fields and 7,200 RPM in a third; a solid-state drive has no rotational speed.
How is it rated?
4.0 stars from 130 ratings, with sixty per cent of buyers at five and fourteen per cent at one.
Which processor is it?
An Intel Core i7-1255U, a 12th-generation 15-watt part, and one of only three machines here that name the model in full.
How heavy is it?
The weight field says 1.46 kg, which matches a 14-inch laptop and is the second lightest in this ranking.
Does it have a touchscreen?
The features field lists one; the title, the bullets and the display description never mention it.
How many ratings does it have?
130 at the time of collection, averaging 4 stars, with 60 per cent five-star and 14 per cent one-star.
Comments
Reader comments are not checked against the manufacturer's claims above.
No comments yet
Be the first to add something we missed — a price change, a spec that turned out wrong, or how one of these held up.
Leave a comment
No account needed. Own one of these? Tell other readers how it actually performed.