Amidst all the buzz about mobile at the Mobile World Congress, HP tries to make itself different with a non-mobile announcement about the new Spectre x360, its own take on the laptop-tablet convertible hybrid that aims to take on the well-designed MacBook Pro and Lenovo's Yoga series, yet the most popular 2-in-1 series to date.
HP has always touted its line of Spectre laptops as its most premium brand, and it makes no compromises when it comes to its latest device. Although convertible laptops are not a new thing, HP tries to distinguish the x360 with a high-end aluminum design matched with impressive internals and a competitive price to boot.
Like plenty of other hybrids, the 13.3-inch x360 features hinges that allow it to be used as a traditional clamshell laptop or open wide on a flat surface, fold into tent mode, or bend as far back into a tablet. However, unlike many convertibles that simply use friction hinges on a dual-axle design, HP's new device uses what it calls "synchronous orbit," which uses three interlocking gears in each hinge to allow the display to rotate fluidly but with just the right amount of stiffness to keep it in place.
The design looks like something that could have come from Apple, with a single-metal sleek unibody and an island-style backlit keyboard that provides a minimalist appeal while allowing HP to keep the x360 light at 3.17 pounds and 0.63 inches thick. The all-aluminum body also provides a certain rigidity that allows HP to fit a 56Wh battery that it claims can keep the laptop running at 12.5 hours. CNET was able to conduct real-world testing of the battery and says the x360 lasted 12 hours on a single charge.
HP says it tried to get the most out of the battery using several tweaks to the x360's drivers, settings, and hardware components. One of these is the use of optical bonding for the display, which comes in either full-HD (1920 x 1080) or quad-HD (2560 x 1440), to meld the display directly to the screen, allowing for a slimmer profile and better battery life.
The trackpad is also noticeably larger, a much requested feature by customers according to HP. Extra-large trackpads are often problematic because they get in the way of typing, but HP says this one has a lot of palm rejection that allows the trackpad to ignore the hands while typing.
For its reasonable price, which is $899 for the entry-level model, HP did not seem to compromise on performance, at least on paper. Unlike the Lenovo 3 Pro, which uses the slower Intel Core M processor, the x360 uses the same Intel Core i5 Broadwell processor found in the competing Dell XPS 13 Touch. A higher-end model with Core i7 inside will also become available this year.
The entry-level $899 x360 carries 4 GB of RAM and 128 GB of SSD storage. A $999 version comes with the same touch display and a 2.2 GHz Intel Core i5-5200U processor, but double the RAM and the hard drive. Both are now available on HP.com and will come to Best Buy stores on March 15. In April, HP will also release an Intel Core i7 model with a Quad HD display, 8 GB of RAM, and 512 GB SSD.
