The HP Pavilion Aero 13 packs Ryzen 5000 into a 2.2-pound laptop

Those who want their Ryzen 5000 CPU in a stylish, lightweight package should add HP’s new Pavilion Aero 13 to their look-at list. 

Announced Tuesday, HP said the new Pavilion Aero 13 will weigh as little as 1 kilogram, or 2.2 pounds, across all models. That last line is important, because you’ll often find a weight touted by a company based on the lightest of the models. With the Aero 13, there’s no such fudging.

Full specs of the Pavilion Aero 13 aren’t yet available, but HP said that information should be available in July, when the laptop is expected to be available on HP.com starting at $749.

Lightweight laptop doesn’t mean lightweight performance. HP said the Pavilion Aero 13 will offer up to AMD’s wickedly fast 8-core Ryzen 7 5800U inside. The magnesium-clad laptop will come in four colors: pale rose gold, warm gold, ceramic white, and natural (a silvery color). Besides being easy on the eyes, HP is integrating a 13.3-inch screen with an aspect ratio of 16:10 at a resolution of 2560×1600. HP said the screen is rated at a decently bright 400 nits, and it covers 100 percent of sRGB for better color rendition.

Although the display is the same diagonal measurement as a 13.3-inch, 16:9-aspect ratio display, the Pavilion Aero 13’s 16:10 aspect ratio means a taller screen. Combined with the higher resolution, you can fit more windows on the screen.

HP

The Aero 13 features a MicroSD slot on the right side, a conventional barrel charger port, and a USB-A port using a drop-jaw style design. The left side offers a full-size HDMI port, a second USB-A port, an analog audio jack, and a USB-C port that supports data transfer and charging.

Although the barrel charger will feel a little clunky, like most HP laptops with USB-C, you should be able to pick up a tiny GaN charger to charge it over USB-C as well.

HP

One of founding fathers of hardcore tech reporting, Gordon has been covering PCs and components since 1998.