HP Releases The Spectre x360 Convertible Laptop
by Brett Howse on March 1, 2015 5:45 PM EST
2015 has been a good year for laptops. We have seen some amazing new designs already, and had the chance to review several of them so far, with more upcoming. HP, even though they are one of the largest PC makers on the planet, is slowly reinventing itself. We have seen their Stream laptops and tablets already, which are a great take on the low end of the market, and now HP has a new offering to go after the premium laptop market. The Spectre x360 is a 13.3 inch laptop, with a CNC aluminum chassis, and a Yoga style hinge to make it as versatile as we already know the Yoga laptop can be.
HP worked closely with Microsoft on the implementation of the x360, and they have included a lot of tweaks and technologies to improve battery life. First, the battery size is good. The x360 has a 56 Wh battery inside, edging out the Dell XPS 13’s 52 Wh battery and the Yoga 3 Pro’s 44 Wh power pack. The QHD (2560x1440) display also features Panel Self-Refresh technology, to let the laptop power down when the display is not changing. And the drivers were tweaked to allow the x360 to deliver up to 12.5 hours of battery life on the FHD model, according to HP.
HP will offer two versions of the display. Both are optically bonded, to increase brightness and bring the pixels closer to the touch digitizer, much like we see on quality tablets. The first display is a Full HD 1920x1080 touch panel, and the upgrade is a 2560x1440 Quad HD model, which works out to 166 Pixels per Inch, and 221 Pixels per Inch respectively. Those who like to use a pen as an input method will be happy to see that HP is offering an active pen as an accessory as well, but at this time we do not know what kind of digitizer it will use.
Powering the new convertible will be the Intel Core i5-5200U and i7-5500U processors, and memory will be 4 to 8 GB. Storage options are all solid state, and options range from 128 GB to 512 GB.
| HP Spectre x360 Specifications | |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-5200U (Dual-core + HT 2.2-2.7GHz 3MB L3 14nm 15W TDP) Intel Core i7-5500U (Dual-core + HT 2.4-3.0GHz, 4MB L3, 14nm, 15W TDP) |
| Chipset | Broadwell-ULT |
| Memory | 4 GB DDR3 8 GB DDR3 |
| Graphics | Intel HD 5500 (24 EUs at 300-900MHz on Core i5) (24 EUs at 300-950MHz on Core i7) |
| Display | 13.3" IPS 16:9 FHD (1920x1080) Touchscreen 13.3" IPS 16:9 QHD (2560x1440) Touchscreen |
| Storage | 128GB/256GB/512GB SSD |
| Networking | Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7265 plus Bluetooth 4.0 (2x2:2 802.11ac 867Mbps capable) |
| Battery/Power | 56Wh non-removable 45W Max AC Adapter |
| Operating System | Windows 8.1 64-bit Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit |
| Dimensions | 12.79" x 8.6" x 0.63" (WxDxH) (325mm x 218mm x 15.9mm) |
| Weight | 3.26 lbs (1.48kg) |
| Extras | FHD Webcam 3 x USB 3.0 HDMI Port DisplayPort 1.2 Backlit Keyboard |
| Colors | Silver |
| Pricing | $900 (i5, 4GB, 128 GB, FHD) $1150 (i7, 8GB, 256GB, FHD) $1400 (i7, 8GB, 512GB, QHD) |
The prices are quite competitive as well, with a starting price of just $900 for the Core i5 model with 4 GB of memory, a 128 GB SSD, and the Full HD touchscreen. To bump up in performance, HP will also be offering a model with a Core i7, 8 GB of memory, and a 256 GB SSD with the Full HD display for $1150, and the top end model will have the Core i7, 8 GB of memory, 512 GB SSD, and the Quad HD touchscreen for $1400.
The Spectre x360 goes on sale today at HP.com, and will be available at Best Buy starting on March 15th.
Source: HP
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3DoubleD - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
The $1150 (i7, 8GB, 256GB, FHD) model looks like a winner IMO. Can't wait for the review, hopefully this stands up to the benchmark that the XPS 13 set.jackwong64 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
It would be awesome if this will be released with Windows 10.MikhailT - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
@jackwong64, not an issue considering that W10 is a free upgrade for almost everyone during the first year of W10's release.mr_tawan - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
@MikhailIT Some manufacturers (Sony, for instance) does not update their software/driver/BIOS/whatsoever to support the new OS. Some manufacturer-specific functionality get lost when upgrading to the new version. (In my case it's a support for hardware-switch for Nvidia Optimus).I'd say if you need W10, then buy the laptop after it's released. If you need it now then just buy it and pray if it play nicely with W10.
MadMan007 - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
I would really prefer to see more flexibility in the CPU/RAM/SSD combos all these manufacturers offer, especially when in the name of thinness they are not upgradable. An i5/8GB/256GB/1080p combo would be nice imo; mobile i5 and i7 are only different by clock speeds, not core/thread counts.ueberallesinderwelt - Tuesday, March 3, 2015 - link
Indeed. Even better would be i5 , 8GB , 256GB , QHD , but the i5 bumped up to a version with Iris Pro iGPU , to drive the 1440p, or even better 1600p. Does it exist (i5 with Iris Pro)?davedutah - Tuesday, March 10, 2015 - link
You are in luck. Ordering on the HP website seems to give total flexibility. The i5/8GB/256GB/1080p config is $999.Start with the $899 base model and add 8GB for $50 and 256GB for $50, then upgrade the graphics to the 8GB version for free (it makes you do it manually, but it's free).
Going to 512GB would be another $150--a little too steep for me.
1080p for this size screen is plenty for me. More resolution just slows down the machine and uses the battery faster.
Samus - Monday, March 2, 2015 - link
This. $1150 is amazing for a 13" FHD i7 "elitebook-class" laptop...the only difference between Spectre and Elitebooks being the warranty classification. Engineering comes from the same department and generally Spectre meet at least some of the MIL-STD-810G specifications.My wife has the previous gen model of this machine, the Spectre 13 (not the larger XT) and the trackpad is possibly the best I've ever used. It's a glass, ultrawide surface...simply huge. It's incredibly tweakable and once you dial in the palm detection and configure the "control zone" charm bars properly, the trackable surface area is huge; it's akin to having an oversized mousepad which is just luxurious.
HP probably has a patent on this because nobody seems to be doing it and it's a REALLY good idea.
Lolimaster - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
They really need to incluse a dGPU, the intel ones are just anemic unless it's 768p screen.R7 260M or GT860M.
DanNeely - Sunday, March 1, 2015 - link
You can't put a ~40W GPU into a chassis only designed for a 17W CPU. As thin as you can get while still being able to game above 720/low settings is something like the Razer Blade; which is much thicker than an ultra book.