Hey all,
Didn't see many threads about the HP Spectre x360 so I'd figure I'd post my impressions in a new post. Some background-- I have a 15" Late 2016 MacBook Pro, and even though Apple has made progress in slimming down the bezels, at the end of the day it will always be a 15" form factor and is just big enough to be a nuisance when travelling.
Some background-- I recently tried the Huawei Matebook X and absolutely loved the form factor. There were virtually no bezels and the laptop was solidly built. I had to part ways with it because the touch pad was inexplicably unresponsive, and it was a little too easy for the Matebook to get uncomfortably warm. Lastly, with the 8th-generation Kaby Lake just around the corner with significant performance gains (dual to quad core), I decided I'd get an ultraportable with the Kaby Lake refresh.
Lo and behold, I found this HP Spectre x360 lineup just received a refresh. Aside from the processor upgrade, the late 2017 model also offers a fingerprint sensor and the heating vents have moved from the side of the laptop to the bottom. The i7/16 GB RAM/512 GB SSD variant was on sale at Best Buy for $999, and the Spectre line comes with a touchscreen and stylus on all their models. This seemed like quite a deal so I had to jump on it.
Anyway, I've only had it for about 24 hours and so far I am very impressed. Here are my quick thoughts:
Build/Design: This is a solid laptop-- aluminum and glass all around (except for the keyboard and side buttons). The Spectre comes in three colors: Natural Silver, Dark Ash Silver, or Pale Rose Gold. I have the Natural Silver variant and it is a pretty looking machine. I would have preferred the Dark Ash, but that model wasn't on sale. No complaints on the build quality here. The edges of the Spectre are rounded enough so they won't leave imprints on your wrists. You get 2x USB-C, a fingerprint sensor, and a volume rocker on the right side of the Spectre, while the left has 1x USB-A, a headphone jack and an illuminated power button.
Display: My configuration is the 13.3" model with the FHD (1920x1080) touch display. You can get the Spectre in FHD, FHD w/ Privacy filter, and UHD configurations. It's looking pretty good to me so far. The MateBook looked a little sharper, which made sense since it packs a 2K display in a 13" form factor. I think the colors on my MBP 15" pop out more, but I really have no issues with the display on the Spectre. Thankfully Windows 10 has good scaling options, as the recommended settings made text way too large for my liking.
The Spectre line of laptops are 2-in-1 machines, so the screen can fold all the way back so it can be used as a tablet. I've only used it for a few minutes, but it works as expected. The Spectre can automatically switch to tablet mode when it detects the screen being swiveled behind the keyboard.
One thing to note is that the display is pretty glossy, much akin to an iPad. This makes sense since it is a touch display, but could be of concern if you spend a lot of time out in the sun.
Keyboard: Coming from the 15" MBP, this keyboard is a godsend. The keys are clicky and provide good travel. People keep saying you get used to typing on the MBP, but there is NO learning curve with this keyboard. I got used to it within minutes of setting the laptop up. The keys have good spacing and it is truly a joy to type on this computer.
The keyboard is illuminated but the strange thing is that it doesn't use the ambient sensors to dim or turn off the lighting. It's either on or off, and I haven't found any options to set the lighting to timeout.
Touch pad: The touch pad is decent out of the box, but is even better once you install the drivers to support the Microsoft Precision touch pad settings. The touch pad itself feels very MacBook-esque, and I'm not experiencing any of the choppiness that I had compared to the Matebook. If I had to complain, I think the palm rejection could be better. I might be able to fix this by adjusting the sensitivity in the touch pad settings.
Sound: HP partnered with Bang & Olufsen to create a customized audio experience, but in my experience the audio is just "OK". It's not going to win any awards for being the loudest, clearest or bassiest. I however was spoiled by the MBP and Matebook, which both have excellent speakers out of the box. Bass isn't as punchy and the Spectre can't really provide a "surround sound" experience that the MBP and Matebook could. The speakers are fine for day to day use, but don't let the B&O partnership fool you into thinking they're spectacular.
Performance: Because I'll be using this as a lightweight machine for travel, I don't intend to do anything taxing on the machine. I did try the Spectre with my 4K monitor (@ 60Hz) and it seemed to work just fine playing Youtube. My USB-C dock with Power Delivery seemed to work fine, although I noticed the screen was constantly changing brightness levels. This leaves me to believe that I may have an issue with the dock intermittently charging (which may also explain some oddities I'm having with my MBP). Anyhow, the Spectre pushing 4K content on a 27" display, the fans did kick in and CPU usage spiked to about 60%. Also one thing to note is that the Spectre has two fans even though there is no dGPU in this machine. So far. I haven't experienced the Spectre getting insanely hot, as opposed to the fanless Matebook.
Battery: I've only had the laptop for a day but battery life seems to be decent so far. I've been using it on and off since 7 AM, and am estimating around 4.5 hours of the display being on, and I'm at 39% battery. This includes installing a few programs and restarting a few times to complete those installations. I can see this lasting me the whole day with my light usage.
Extras: The Spectre came with a pleather envelope sleeve and an active stylus in the box. In addition, it comes with the USB-C power brick, AND the extension cable for the brick (I'm looking at you, Apple). The extras definitely add to the premium experience you get with the Spectre.
HP is also offering a 100% rebate on their 3 Year + Accidental Care warranty if you don't need to send your laptop in within 6 months of the purchase. I have no reason to believe this laptop is going to fall apart anytime soon, but I guess time will tell.
Honorable Mentions: The Spectre comes equipped with Windows Hello (facial/eye recognition) AND a fingerprint sensor. I initially set up the fingerprint sensor, but decided to give the facial recognition a try. I much prefer the facial recognition. The fingerprint sensor works just fine-- not as blazing fast as the Matebook, but it does the trick.
I just recently switched back to the iPhone-- bad timing as I'm curious to see how Android syncs with Windows 10. iOS of course doesn't allow this functionality. I'll probably switch back to my S8 so I can test it out.
Conclusion: So far. so good! Typing is an absolute joy on the Spectre, the display is nice and bright, sound is average, and the build quality is premium. The Spectre will be my new travel companion while the MBP stays at home.
This will be on sale again for $999 at Best Buy on Black Friday. Here's the link for anyone interested: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spe...ish-in-natural-silver/6080223.p?skuId=6080223
Anyhow, those are my early impressions on the Spectre x360. Feel free to ask any questions!
Didn't see many threads about the HP Spectre x360 so I'd figure I'd post my impressions in a new post. Some background-- I have a 15" Late 2016 MacBook Pro, and even though Apple has made progress in slimming down the bezels, at the end of the day it will always be a 15" form factor and is just big enough to be a nuisance when travelling.
Some background-- I recently tried the Huawei Matebook X and absolutely loved the form factor. There were virtually no bezels and the laptop was solidly built. I had to part ways with it because the touch pad was inexplicably unresponsive, and it was a little too easy for the Matebook to get uncomfortably warm. Lastly, with the 8th-generation Kaby Lake just around the corner with significant performance gains (dual to quad core), I decided I'd get an ultraportable with the Kaby Lake refresh.
Lo and behold, I found this HP Spectre x360 lineup just received a refresh. Aside from the processor upgrade, the late 2017 model also offers a fingerprint sensor and the heating vents have moved from the side of the laptop to the bottom. The i7/16 GB RAM/512 GB SSD variant was on sale at Best Buy for $999, and the Spectre line comes with a touchscreen and stylus on all their models. This seemed like quite a deal so I had to jump on it.
Anyway, I've only had it for about 24 hours and so far I am very impressed. Here are my quick thoughts:
Build/Design: This is a solid laptop-- aluminum and glass all around (except for the keyboard and side buttons). The Spectre comes in three colors: Natural Silver, Dark Ash Silver, or Pale Rose Gold. I have the Natural Silver variant and it is a pretty looking machine. I would have preferred the Dark Ash, but that model wasn't on sale. No complaints on the build quality here. The edges of the Spectre are rounded enough so they won't leave imprints on your wrists. You get 2x USB-C, a fingerprint sensor, and a volume rocker on the right side of the Spectre, while the left has 1x USB-A, a headphone jack and an illuminated power button.
Display: My configuration is the 13.3" model with the FHD (1920x1080) touch display. You can get the Spectre in FHD, FHD w/ Privacy filter, and UHD configurations. It's looking pretty good to me so far. The MateBook looked a little sharper, which made sense since it packs a 2K display in a 13" form factor. I think the colors on my MBP 15" pop out more, but I really have no issues with the display on the Spectre. Thankfully Windows 10 has good scaling options, as the recommended settings made text way too large for my liking.
The Spectre line of laptops are 2-in-1 machines, so the screen can fold all the way back so it can be used as a tablet. I've only used it for a few minutes, but it works as expected. The Spectre can automatically switch to tablet mode when it detects the screen being swiveled behind the keyboard.
One thing to note is that the display is pretty glossy, much akin to an iPad. This makes sense since it is a touch display, but could be of concern if you spend a lot of time out in the sun.
Keyboard: Coming from the 15" MBP, this keyboard is a godsend. The keys are clicky and provide good travel. People keep saying you get used to typing on the MBP, but there is NO learning curve with this keyboard. I got used to it within minutes of setting the laptop up. The keys have good spacing and it is truly a joy to type on this computer.
The keyboard is illuminated but the strange thing is that it doesn't use the ambient sensors to dim or turn off the lighting. It's either on or off, and I haven't found any options to set the lighting to timeout.
Touch pad: The touch pad is decent out of the box, but is even better once you install the drivers to support the Microsoft Precision touch pad settings. The touch pad itself feels very MacBook-esque, and I'm not experiencing any of the choppiness that I had compared to the Matebook. If I had to complain, I think the palm rejection could be better. I might be able to fix this by adjusting the sensitivity in the touch pad settings.
Sound: HP partnered with Bang & Olufsen to create a customized audio experience, but in my experience the audio is just "OK". It's not going to win any awards for being the loudest, clearest or bassiest. I however was spoiled by the MBP and Matebook, which both have excellent speakers out of the box. Bass isn't as punchy and the Spectre can't really provide a "surround sound" experience that the MBP and Matebook could. The speakers are fine for day to day use, but don't let the B&O partnership fool you into thinking they're spectacular.
Performance: Because I'll be using this as a lightweight machine for travel, I don't intend to do anything taxing on the machine. I did try the Spectre with my 4K monitor (@ 60Hz) and it seemed to work just fine playing Youtube. My USB-C dock with Power Delivery seemed to work fine, although I noticed the screen was constantly changing brightness levels. This leaves me to believe that I may have an issue with the dock intermittently charging (which may also explain some oddities I'm having with my MBP). Anyhow, the Spectre pushing 4K content on a 27" display, the fans did kick in and CPU usage spiked to about 60%. Also one thing to note is that the Spectre has two fans even though there is no dGPU in this machine. So far. I haven't experienced the Spectre getting insanely hot, as opposed to the fanless Matebook.
Battery: I've only had the laptop for a day but battery life seems to be decent so far. I've been using it on and off since 7 AM, and am estimating around 4.5 hours of the display being on, and I'm at 39% battery. This includes installing a few programs and restarting a few times to complete those installations. I can see this lasting me the whole day with my light usage.
Extras: The Spectre came with a pleather envelope sleeve and an active stylus in the box. In addition, it comes with the USB-C power brick, AND the extension cable for the brick (I'm looking at you, Apple). The extras definitely add to the premium experience you get with the Spectre.
HP is also offering a 100% rebate on their 3 Year + Accidental Care warranty if you don't need to send your laptop in within 6 months of the purchase. I have no reason to believe this laptop is going to fall apart anytime soon, but I guess time will tell.
Honorable Mentions: The Spectre comes equipped with Windows Hello (facial/eye recognition) AND a fingerprint sensor. I initially set up the fingerprint sensor, but decided to give the facial recognition a try. I much prefer the facial recognition. The fingerprint sensor works just fine-- not as blazing fast as the Matebook, but it does the trick.
I just recently switched back to the iPhone-- bad timing as I'm curious to see how Android syncs with Windows 10. iOS of course doesn't allow this functionality. I'll probably switch back to my S8 so I can test it out.
Conclusion: So far. so good! Typing is an absolute joy on the Spectre, the display is nice and bright, sound is average, and the build quality is premium. The Spectre will be my new travel companion while the MBP stays at home.
This will be on sale again for $999 at Best Buy on Black Friday. Here's the link for anyone interested: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spe...ish-in-natural-silver/6080223.p?skuId=6080223
Anyhow, those are my early impressions on the Spectre x360. Feel free to ask any questions!
