HP Specter x360 13 3.More than an office workhorse

"The guys from HP knocked at the editorial office and offered to test some of their popular products for free.

A few days later, we received a 13-inch HP Specter x360 convertible laptop based on the 7th generation Intel (Kaby Lake) in one of the top-end configurations (model 13-w001ur).

Without exception, all specialized technical publications abroad highly appreciate the HP Specter x360:

# 5 Best Laptops 2017 by CNET.
Ranked # 1 in CNET's Best 2-in-1 Laptops.
# 4 Best Laptops 2017 by TechRadar.
Ranked # 1 in TechRadar's Best 2-in-1 Laptops.
# 2 Best Laptops of 2017 by PC Mag.
Ranked # 1 among the best 2-in-1 laptops by PC Mag.
# 1 Best 2-in-1 Laptops by Laptop Mag.
Ranked # 1 in PC World's Best 2-in-1 Laptops.

At first glance, the HP Specter x360 is no different from an ordinary ultrabook from the upper price segment: an aluminum body 14 mm thick, weighing 1.44 kg, a cool display, powerful filling and a cost of more than 100 thousand rubles.

The magic starts when you open the laptop. The HP Specter x360 literally rotates 360 degrees. It turns out to be a real tablet with the performance of a premium laptop.

HP Specter x360 specifications (model 13-w001ur)

CPU	Intel Core i7 7500U 2.7 GHz
Video	Intel HD Graphics 620
RAM	16 GB LPDDR3 1,866 MHz
SSD	512 GB NVMe
Display	13.3 inches, IPS, Full HD (1,920 × 1,080), 165.6 ppi, touch, multitouch
Cameras and microphone	Front Full HD for video calls, IR for Windows Hello, dual microphones
Sound	Bang & Olufsen, four speakers
Connection	Wi-Fi 802.11 a / b / g / n / ac 2 × 2, Bluetooth 4.1
Interfaces	1 USB 3.0 Type-A, 2 USB 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt 3, 3.5mm mini-jack
Battery	Li-Ion, 57.8 Wh
Body material	Aluminium alloy
Color	Grey
Dimensions (edit)	306 x 218 x 14 mm
Weight	1.44 kg
Set	Case, charger, Ethernet to USB C adapter.
Price	"Yandex Market "

Design

Absolutely all modern ultrabooks are similar to each other.

No bells and whistles and unnecessary elements, because manufacturers are fighting for every gram and tenth of a millimeter.

Everything is strict, homogeneous and thin enough to fit the necessary filling. You can only see the results of this race of dimensions by comparison.

HP Specter x360 2 Gen Compared / TechRadar

Here are two HP Specter x360 models. Above the last generation, below - the previous one. Everything seems to be the same, but the difference in size is obvious.

In practice, a device with dimensions of 306 × 218 × 14 mm and a weight of 1.44 kg seems incredibly light and compact, especially if you transfer to it from a regular laptop.

Ports

The HP Specter x360 has just one USB 3.0 Type-A port on the left. If you want to connect more than one external device, you will have to get or buy an adapter.

In addition to USB, on the left side there is a headphone jack, a power button and a grill for exhausting air from the cooling system.

On the right, the HP Specter x360 has a volume rocker and as many as two USB 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt 3 ports. One connector (either of the two) is supposed to be used to charge and power the laptop from an outlet, and to the second to connect all kinds of peripherals.

The disadvantage of the laptop is the lack of HDMI and an SD card slot, which is why potential users who have not yet updated their peripheral park may experience inconvenience.

USB 3.1 and Thunderbolt 3 are really great technologies that will allow you to replace absolutely all other ports in the future, but try to find an external drive or monitor for this connector. Of course, the transition to a single interface is the dream of any techno-esthete, but in practice, the financial factor will reduce everything to buying a few more adapters.

Considering that the HP Specter x360 comes with an Ethernet-only adapter, you will have to take care of finding and purchasing other adapters yourself and at your own expense.

The absence of an SD card slot will upset not only photographers and operators, but also all those who are accustomed to using a memory card as a memory expansion that is undemanding to read and write speed.

Performance

The combination of Intel Core i7 7500U, 16 GB of RAM and a very fast PCIe SSD allows the HP Specter x360 to solve absolutely any non-specific tasks and provide impeccable performance and stability.

You can open 20 or 30 tabs in Chrome, launch the entire office suite of applications, and still have a lot of resources left.

Processor rating

Geekbench 4 Single-Core	4 191
GeekBench 4 Multi-Core	7 914
GeekBench 3 Single-Core	3 610
GeekBench 3 Multi-Core	7 612
CineBench R15 CPU Test Single-Core	144
CineBench R15 CPU Test Multi-Core	326

SSD score

The NVMe drive delivers some fantastic read and write speeds. Until recently, SATA-SSD seemed incredibly fast, especially compared to HDD, but now it is already the last century.

Graphics score

Obviously, the HP Specter x360 won't replace a professional computer for design or graphics and video production, but Ultrabooks never seem to have pretended to do that.

GFXBench 3.0 T-Rex	94
GFXBench 3.0 Manhattan	47
3DMark Firestrike	864
3DMark Cloud Gate	6 051
3DMark Ice Storm	59 486
CineBench R15 GPU Test	45

The lack of a discrete graphics card makes the HP Specter x360 a viable option for advanced gamers, but the Intel Core i7 7500U combined with Intel HD Graphics 620 will be enough for most popular games.

This is how Battlefield 1 looks like. Graphics are at a minimum, but still beautiful (1,366 × 768, 29 FPS).

FPS in other games (low / medium settings, 1,366 × 768)

Overwatch	40
CS GO	112
Far cry 3	27
Battlefield 4	36
Metro: Last Light	28
Bioshock Infinite	36
Rainbow six siege	26

Noise and heat

The HP Specter x360 is a fairly quiet and cool ultrabook for its performance. Thanks to Intel Core i7 7500U with 15W TDP. When working in a browser, the noise of the cooling system is not detected at all. After a few minutes of watching high-definition streaming video, there is a slight heating in the area next to the exhaust grill. Most of the heat goes into the back of the laptop. To feel the heat, you need to put the device on your lap.

It was possible to really warm up the laptop with heavy 3D games. In such an extreme mode for a non-gaming device, there is a whistle of the turbine, and heat bordering on discomfort in the area where the cooling system is located. The HP Specter x360 successfully migrated a 30 minute gaming session to Battlefield 1. There were no performance drops during this time.

Screen

The HP Specter x360's 13.3-inch Full HD Touch IPS Display delivers bright, vibrant, crisp images. The difference in quality will be especially noticeable for the owners of typical budget notebooks with TN matrices. At 166 ppi, it is almost impossible to see the pixels.

The extraordinarily thin side bezels also draw attention. The distance from the display to the edge of the lid is only 6 millimeters.

The glossy screen does not add to the comfort when working on sunny summer days, but there are simply no other options for the touchscreen.

Keyboard and touchpad

Typing on the HP Specter x360 is enjoyable and convenient, not least thanks to the dedicated navigation keys on the right.

The keys are very high quality, they do not wobble or play, even if you make a swiping movement, slightly touching the keyboard surface. The glass touchpad of the HP Specter x360 measures 120x60mm and has physical left and right click buttons. There were no complaints in the process of working with him.

The stroke length of the keys is only 1.3 mm, but the pressing itself is very pronounced and somewhat reminiscent of the behavior of mechanics. There is a tiny amount of resistance at the beginning of the press, and a clear click at the end. You can evaluate the keyboard backlight yourself by looking at the photo.

Battery

The HP Specter x360 features a 57.8 Wh Li-ion battery with fast charging technology (0% to 90% in 90 minutes). According to the manufacturer, the laptop battery life from one full charge is 12.5 hours with constant surfing.

In reality, with active work in Chrome and a screen brightness of 70% of the maximum (recommended power settings by default), the HP Specter x360 lasted 10 hours and 4 minutes. The time taken by the Laptop Mag laboratory under similar conditions turned out to be almost identical (10 hours 6 minutes). Judging by other tests available on the Internet, one full charge of the laptop lasts an average of 10-11 hours.

Sound

The well-known company Bang & Olufsen had a hand in the creation of the HP Specter x360 speaker system, which is clearly hinted at by the corresponding inscription on the case.

In total, the laptop has four speakers: a couple under the grill on top, a couple more under the bottom cover. Thus, a more spacious sound is achieved, which, however, is still devoid of expressive lows due to the small diameter of the radiators.

In total, the acoustics of the HP Specter x360 sound much better than any laptop with non-name speakers. Separately, it should be noted the absence of wheezing when listening at close to maximum volume.

Tablet mode

A convertible laptop takes some getting used to, especially if this is your first device of this format. At first, it is difficult for the brain to realize that right now, while you are lying on the couch or sitting in an armchair, the screen can be turned out and work with much more comfort. But after a couple of days everything returns to normal. For example, the embarrassment of accidentally pressing keys when they are on the back of the screen disappears. The keyboard in tablet mode always turns off, but not being afraid to “accidentally press something and break everything” is not possible right away.

An obvious plus of a convertible laptop in front of a tablet is that there is no need for a stand. It is enough to turn out the HP Specter x360 "house" and put it anywhere.

Unlike its predecessors, Windows 10 is much better optimized for touchscreens. If you fundamentally reject transformers and tablets on Windows just because of the unpleasant experience of working with them at the "eight", then just try the "ten" once. With a high degree of probability, your opinion will change for the better.

Conclusion

The HP Specter x360 deservedly takes first place in the ratings of ultrabooks and converters. It is very unpleasant to return after it to your laptop, bulky, heavy, plastic, creaky, with a screen from which your eyes are now flowing out.

It's hard to believe that such power fits into such compact and sophisticated forms. It's even harder to believe that Windows laptops have finally caught up and surpassed their Apple counterparts in battery life.

If you still think Ultrabooks aren't worth their money, you either never worked with them, or you were dealing with some kind of unsuccessful model.

Lifehacker thanks HP for the device provided for testing.

We rarely test laptops, the reason for this is quite simple - there are so many offers on the market that even if all authors write five reviews of laptops a month, we still won't be able to cover the whole variety of models, especially if we talk about the segment under 20,000 rubles. But we can quite tell about fashion ultrabooks, of which there are not so many, and, in my opinion, they are the most interesting from the point of view of acquaintance with them.

Specifications

Class: ultrabook
Form Factor: Convertible Laptop
Body materials: aluminum
Operating system: Windows 10
Platform: Intel Core i5-5200U / Core i7-5500U
Processor: dual-core 2.2 / 2.4 GHz
Video card: Intel HD Graphics 5500
RAM: 4/8 GB
Storage memory: SSD 256/512 GB
Wireless interfaces: Wi-Fi (a / b / g / n / ac), dual-band, Miracast support, Bluetooth 4.0 (A2DP, EDR)
Screen: 13.3 '', capacitive, IPS-matrix, 1920x1080 / 2560x1440 pixels (FHD / Quad HD), automatic backlight adjustment, oleophobic coating
Front camera: 1.3 MP
Battery capacity: 56 W * h
Dimensions: 325 x 218 x 16 mm
Weight: 1.51 kg
Price: 78,000-117,000 rubles

Equipment

Notebook
Charger
Power Supply
Neoprene pouch

The silver laptop comes with a black charger and a power supply of the same color. To be honest, it is not clear to me what the problem is to build the power supply into the charger, as it is done in the same MacBook Pro. Also in the box you will find a simple neoprene pocket cover, it looks frankly cheap and, as you might have noticed, gets dirty quickly.

Appearance, materials, controls, assembly

I liked the laptop at first sight, even when I just took it out of the box. Still, the aluminum case provides a significant design advantage, which is why manufacturers often use this move.

As I said, most of the case is made of aluminum, it is not the same as in the MacBook, less smooth and slightly rough to the touch. If you look at the Specter from the back, then its construction resembles a "sandwich", the two halves seem to be not connected by anything, at first glance, but this is not so. Hinges are used as mounts, they also guarantee the device a 360-degree screen rotation.

The manufacturer did not skimp on various ports, I will list them in a list (from left to right):

Right end:

3.5mm headphone jack
Two USB ports
HDMI 2.0
MiniDP 1.2
Volume rocker and Windows button

Left end:

Charger connector
Ventilation grill
USB port
Power button with inscribed indicator light
SD card slot

Below is another grill for air exhaust and two stereo speakers. The latter have excellent volume headroom and good sound quality.

Dimensions (edit)

In terms of size, the HP Specter x360 is a typical 13.3-inch notebook and does not differ much from most of them in size. Of course, the Acer Aspire S7 is a little thinner and lighter, but in reality you won't really notice this difference.

Transformer modes

The laptop supports four traditional transformer modes, thanks to two hinges, you can rotate the screen 360 degrees.

In "tablet" mode with an inverted keyboard, its buttons are automatically disabled, so you can safely press them while holding the device in your hands.

Screen

To be honest, I was pleasantly surprised by the screen in all respects: the brightness and clarity of the picture, the presence of an oleophobic coating, excellent behavior in the sun and in artificial light, and competent scaling (although here, apparently, the merit of the updated Windows 10).

I had an older model with QuadHD resolution on my test, and, again, I am simply delighted with this screen, its quality is on par with the MacBook Pro 13 Retina.

The laptop has a wonderful oleophobic coating, which makes it a pleasure to use the touch screen.

Operating system

The laptop runs full-fledged Windows 10, while everything is very good here with scaling. The same Skype looks quite tolerable to itself, the same applies to other applications. We are planning a separate review of the top ten, so we will not discuss it in today's article.

Performance and heating

As you can see, the difference in the two versions of the laptop concerns not only the display, but also the amount of RAM / internal memory, as well as the chipset used. I had an older version on the test, which just perfectly performed any daily activities from working in Word to editing photos in Photoshop. Of course, this model is definitely not worth considering as a game solution.

During use, I drew attention to the operation of coolers. You can just type in Word or surf with Chrome, and then the fans suddenly wake up and start buzzing with all their might. At the same time, no productive tasks are performed at this time. Perhaps this is the only drawback that I could find fault with.

Autonomous work

The battery capacity is 56 W * h, the manufacturer promises you up to 12.5 hours of battery life, in fact, these figures are far from reality. At maximum brightness and using simple text editors with a browser, the laptop lasted about five hours. HD video mode drained it in seven hours. If you leave your laptop in sleep mode overnight, then after 15 minutes it goes into hibernation mode, so in the morning you will find it with the same charge as you left it. Turning on in this case takes about three to four seconds.

Keyboard and touchpad

You know, I am rarely happy with keyboards in laptops, but the HP Specter in this regard pleasantly surprised me. Firstly, the location of the buttons - nothing is cut off anywhere, even for the ill-fated letters "Y", "E" and "Y" did not reduce the space, and this is very cool. Typing on this keyboard is a pleasure. The keys have a short stroke, but you quickly get used to it, but the arrows would like to be full-fledged.

The laptop has a backlight for the keys, it is not adjustable in brightness, when it is turned off, one button continues to glow, and this, frankly, is annoying.

In the laptop world, it is customary to extol the size of the touchpad in various MacBooks, but HP has managed to surpass even Apple. The touchpad in this laptop isn't just big, it's huge. At first, such a solution seems clumsy, then you get used to the appearance and begin to enjoy the advantages of such dimensions.

Wireless interfaces

There are no complaints about wireless interfaces, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth work fine, there were no problems with them.

Conclusion

On sale you can find two versions of the HP Specter X360: "simpler" and "more expensive". The first uses FHD resolution, Intel Core i5, 4 GB of RAM and 256 internal memory, the second - QuadHD, Core i7, 8 and 512 GB, respectively. The first costs 78,000 rubles, the second - 117,000 rubles.

In my opinion, the overpayment for the older version is inappropriate, you will not notice a big difference between FHD and QuadHD on a similar diagonal, and the performance of the Core i7 in such a solution is excessive. The younger model looks like a good business laptop for people who need a fast and thin computer with an excellent screen, average runtime and the ability to use it as a transformer (for example, during flights). The key drawback of the model is the noisy operation of the fans, which turn on too often.

My main laptop is a MacBook Pro 13 Retina, and every time I test its competitors on Windows, I am not happy with one or the other. It was all the more surprising for me to note that I can perfectly work on the Specter x360: I liked the keyboard, the look of the laptop, the screen, the oleophobic coating and the transformer modes, even Windows 10 improved a little in terms of scaling. The only thing the Specter is inferior to the same MacBook in is the noise of the coolers, and even this shortcoming did not seem critical to me.

Is this an expensive model? It would be appropriate to joke here: “Not at all, in the segment up to $ 1000”. But seriously, all competitors cost +/- the same money, take the same Aspire S7 or MacBook Pro 13 Retina.

HP has unveiled the third generation Specter x360 13 convertible laptop. With a 13.3-inch IPS touchscreen display, the Specter x360 has been designed with users in mind.

The novelty has become thinner (13.6 mm), lighter - its weight is 1.26 kg, and received an eighth generation Intel Kaby Lake Refresh quad-core processor (Core i5 or i7), thanks to which, according to the company, it became 30% faster. The amount of RAM of the laptop DDR3 reaches 16 GB, the capacity of the PCIe SSD is up to 1 TB. Connectivity includes a pair of Thunderbolt 3 ports, a USB 3.1 connector, and an audio jack.

The screen resolution can be Full HD (1920 × 1080) or 4K (3840 × 2160). Durable Corning Gorilla Glass NBT protects it from scratches.

The 2017 HP Specter x360 13 also features a fingerprint sensor, thinner bezels, a microSD card reader (not available on the 2016 model) and longer battery life.

In a configuration with a 4K screen and a Core i7 processor, the laptop can work on a single charge for up to 10 hours in mixed mode or 8 hours and 45 minutes in video playback. And the model with a Core i5 processor and a Full HD screen resolution can work autonomously in mixed use mode for up to 16 hours and 45 minutes. Fast charging technology charges the battery from zero to 90% capacity in 90 minutes.

For added security and privacy protection, the laptop is equipped with both a fingerprint reader and an infrared webcam, which is used to log in with Windows Hello facial recognition. The model with a Full HD screen resolution has received the Sure View protection function. By pressing a button, you narrow the viewing angle of the screen, and the person behind you will not be able to read the text on the laptop screen.

The 2017 HP Specter x360 13 specifications include four speakers and two discrete amplifiers. The laptop also has a new hybrid thermal and infrared sensor to monitor the computer's surface temperature and other characteristics to balance fan noise and cooling.

In Russia, the third-generation Specter x360 13 transforming laptop will appear on sale in November 2017 at a price of 94,990 rubles. For the Russian market, all HP Specter laptops come with an extended 3-year warranty.

Be careful, Apple MacBook Pro has got a new competitor.

The HP Specter x360 15 (2017) may be a simple update to last year's of the same name, but don't mistake iteration for new. This is a completely revised Specter x360 15 from previous models.

pros: Flawless keyboard | Effective design | Stylus;
Minuses: Battery life | The trackpad interferes with typing;

From a sleek and modern design replete with gold accents to a perfect keyboard, the 2017 HP Specter x360 15 has a lot to offer its users.

It's not as thin as the previous model, just 17.8mm thin instead of last year's 16mm, but the HP Specter x360 15 maintains a great form factor despite having full-size ports and a more traditional membrane keyboard than, say,. Not to mention its ability to accommodate multiple foldable form factors unheard of in most laptops and ultra-modern (albeit massive) Windows 10 tablet.

HPSpecterx360 15: Price and Availability

HP Specter x360 15 is available in different configurations of RAM and internal memory in stores in Russia, but in any case, the rest of the characteristics are predefined. The model we reviewed comes with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of internal PICe memory. This configuration of the HP Specter x360 15 is priced at 98,000 rubles, although the base model of the hybrid laptop starts at 82,000 rubles for 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.

Design

The HP Specter x360 15 Laptop boasts a look that's guaranteed to garner envious glances while working in a cafe on Tuesday afternoon.

Yes, it's massive in comparison to the small ultra-thin laptops we're used to seeing these days. However, the manufacturer boasts attention to detail on almost everything from the hinges to the shaping of the grilles that span the pair of Bang & Olufsen speakers positioned on either side of the keyboard.

From the back to the front of the HP Specter x360 15, the laptop thickness ranges from 17.8mm to 12.7mm.

On the right side of the laptop, you'll find two USB Type-C ports, one of which is supported. There's also an HDMI port that sits between the USB-C twins and the ventilation grill, even it manages to be stylish. Next, you see a physical volume switch in case the function keys F6 to F8 aren't enough.

On the left side of the Specter x360 15, HP has placed one USB 3.1 port, a headphone jack, and even a slot for (bless). Along with the second air vent, you can see the power button. Both sides of the HP Specter x360 15 laptop, like other parts, are encrusted with gold accents.

The trackpad is also greeted, but it might have been worth avoiding the embellishments if it made it possible to move the trackpad away from the keyboard. Although the keyboard has a great format, the proximity of the touchpad makes typing much more difficult.

While that doesn't happen often, once you get used to the HP Specter x360 15 trackpad (and possibly the new palm position), you may find that your cursor moves when you’re not expecting it.

It's hard to avoid positioning your thumbs at the top left and right corners of the touchpad when you're typing, which makes us wonder if it made sense to move the pad a little further away from the space bar?

Four functions 2 in 1 ...

The HP Specter x360 15 (2017) has a matte black all-aluminum finish that feels very natural to the touch. And speaking of laptop touch, the 360-degree hinge means you can flip the screen in any direction to fit your needs. Like most 2-in-1 laptop / tablet hybrids of this type, the Specter x360 15 has four modes: laptop, tent, tablet and tablet stand.

Regardless of which form factor you put the HP Specter x360 15 in, it will look pretty darn good, not only because of HP's design craftsmanship, but also because of the stunning visuals of its stunning Ultra HD display.

You also don't have to worry about drowning out your car's speakers as you change form factor, as there's a third speaker on the back to prevent this from happening. Despite some exceptions to the rule, Bang & Olufsen generally produces quality sound.

Fortunately, after careful testing, the HP Specter x360 15's speakers left the sound quality expected from the company the speakers were named after. This is not AudioTechnica, but in the context of laptops, the speakers exceed all expectations.

The HP Specter x360 15 sets a pretty high standard for what a 2-in-1 hybrid laptop should look and sound like. Whether you use it in stand or tablet mode, you get a bright and colorful screen with deep blacks and great sound.

Considering that the laptop offers a full touchscreen and the ability to change the form factor, the HP Specter x360 15 is objectively better than the 15-inch MacBook Pro (about Rs. 150,000). Which simply cannot offer these features.

Considering the significantly lower price point, you still get a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and discrete graphics with 2GB of video memory. However, you also get access to a full range of ports, both new and old. While the MacBook Pro is limited to four USB-C ports, the HP Specter x360 15 uses two ports but offers full-sized HDMI, a "normal" USB port, and even an SD card slot.

Compare the HP Specter x360 15 to the more affordable (priced) and you'll see an increase in resolution to UHD, more SSD storage than even Samsung's most expensive laptop configuration. Sure, you can get the Notebook 7 Spin for a fraction of the price of an aspiring competitor from HP, but the Specter x360 15 offers advantages that make it worth the price.

SpecificationsHPSpecterx360 15 (2017):

Here is the configuration of the HP Specter x360 15 we received for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-7500U 2.7 GHz (2-core, 4 MB cache, up to 3.5 GHz);
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce 940MX (2GB GDDR5) | Intel HD Graphics 620;
RAM: 16 GB DDR4 (2 x 8 GB SDRAM, 2.133 MHz);
Screen: 15.6-inch UHD (3,840 x 2,160) UWVA eDP BrightView
Built-in memory: 512GB PCIe SSD (NVMe, M.2);
Ports: 2 x USB 3.1 Type-C (1 x Thunderbolt 3), 1 x USB 3.1, 1 x HDMI, 3.5mm headphone / microphone jack, SD card slot;
Connection: Wi-Fi 802.11ac (2 × 2); Bluetooth 4.2;
Camera: HP Wide Vision IR Camera + Dual Matrix and Digits. microphones;
Weight: 2 kg;
The size: 355.6 x 251 x 17.8mm (W x D x H);

Performance

The HP Specter x360 15 may be equipped with an Intel Core i7 with Nvidia GeForce 940MX discrete graphics, but this is not a gaming laptop at all. you will find in this rating. It is clear that the additional graphics performance is geared more towards creative users who want to take advantage of graphically intensive tasks like photo editing and video editing. A laptop is suitable for this purpose.

As expected, while the HP Specter x360 15 performed well in the Sky Diver and Fire Strike benchmarks, it struggled with the new Time Spy stress test in 3DMark. However, it managed to double the results of the recent Acer Spin 7 in some sections.

As for the Sky Diver, the laptop scored 6,648 versus 3,452 on last year's HP Specter x360 15. In the Fire Strike test, the laptop scored 1,925 versus 848 on its predecessor.

This is a significant difference compared to what we saw before, you can also compare the test results with the last one, which achieved 3993 points in Sky Diver and 875 points in Fire Strike.

—

Benchmarks

Here's how the HP Specter x360 15 (2017) performed in our suite of benchmarks:

3DMark Time Spy: 548; Sky diver: 6 648; Fire strike: 1,925;
Cinebench (CPU): 346 points; Graphics: 63 FPS;
GeekBench 3: 3771 (single core); 8017 (Multi-core);
PCMark 8 (Home Test): 2550 points;
PCMark 8 (Battery): 3 hours and 47 minutes;
Battery life (video test): 5 hours and 31 minutes;

As expected, the laptop not only outperformed last year's Skylake version, but also seriously contested the latest x360 on Kaby Lake in 13-inch format.

But this with the GPU (graphics card) performance in mind, the HP Specter x360 15's CPU offers comparatively the same performance as the 13-inch model, which makes sense considering they are using the same processors.

One thing that stands out is that the laptop doesn't run too loudly under load. The CPU fan runs virtually silently even when multiple programs are running at the same time, ideal for public spaces.

Battery life

Keep in mind that the Core i7-7500U featured in the HP Specter x360 15 is a mobile processor designed for ultra-thin laptops. While it offers decent performance, the decision to go with the smaller chip is dictated by its power efficiency, so you can expect extra battery life.

Unfortunately, in reality, things are a little different. Compared to the 13.3-inch HP Specter x360, which playfully passed PCMark 8 battery testing, the new HP Specter x360 15 offered only an hour of extra battery life from last year.

Our own video test, which looped Guard of the Galaxy at 1080p until the battery was completely depleted, yielded three hours of battery life to the HP 13-inch Hybrid. It's not the end of the world yet, but battery life is definitely a laptop weakness that you should keep in mind.

Considering the size of the 79.2 Wh battery, the decrease in battery life came as a surprise. We're also not sure how to relate to a laptop charger. On the one hand, the charger supports HP Fast Charge, which promises to charge from 0 to 50% of the battery in 30 minutes, on the other hand, the charger is bulky and inconvenient, especially when you consider that you already carry a bulky 15-inch laptop with you.

However, most of the battery's drawbacks can be attributed to Nvidia's discrete graphics chip, which projects four times as many pixels onto the screen as Full HD laptops like the 13-inch Specter x360.

We liked: The HP Specter x360 15 is a prime example of what a 15-inch laptop should be. It shines with potential, with gold accents all over the place and a comfortable backlit keyboard.

Unlike many other Bang & Olufsen-branded laptops, the HP Specter x360's speakers are loud and clear whether you're listening to hip-hop or watching Guardians of the Galaxy for 5 hours and 31 minutes.

The Ultra HD screen also deserves attention, which is also beyond praise, as well as the sound. The HP Specter x360 15's vibrant, vibrant colors are a sight worthy of a fire in a fireplace. The laptop also uses Windows Ink, which is a nice addition as it allows you to use a stylus.

We didn't like: Of course, the HP Specter x360 15 is hard to criticize other than disappointing battery life. Three to five and a half hours (or so) for a laptop with a 79.2W battery and an ultrabook processor isn't enough, but that's the price to pay for the GeForce green mark and super-sharp screen.

Also, because the trackpad is so wide, it sometimes gets in the way of typing because it sits too close to the resting position of your palms. This is a more critical error, but otherwise, there is nothing to criticize the Specter x360 15 for.

Summing up ...

For around $ 100,000, you can buy a 13-inch MacBook Pro without a touchpad, with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and just two USB-C ports with a headphone jack.

For the same price, you can get the HP Specter x360 15, which features a touchscreen, 360-degree hinge, Intel Core i7 processor, Nvidia GeForce 940MX graphics chip, and 15-inch UHD display. And that all follows before you get access to full-size USB ports and the up-and-coming Thunderbolt 3 interface.

For its price tag, the HP Specter x360 15 boasts high-end specs as well as a luxurious design coupled with extensive functionality that is hard to beat. While it may struggle with battery life and trackpad placement, this is the best laptop of 2017 and is a great choice for editors and media creators.

Review HP Specter x360 15 (2017)

Anton Zim

06.04.2017 While the battery life is short, the HP Specter x360 is packed with performance, versatility, and a stunning design that will surely garner tons of complements.

8 Overall Score

Verdict:

While the battery life is short, the HP Specter x360 is packed with performance, versatility, and a stunning design that will surely garner tons of complements.