The new HP Spectre x360 laptop has been making waves in the tech world for the past few months. It’s a beautiful laptop and is packed with some special features that make it stand out from the rest of the crowd. In this blog, I’ll be looking at the main features of the HP Spectre x360 laptop, how it differs from other laptops, and what you need to know about it.
Case
Compared to last year’s model, the chassis for the Ice Lake has not changed. The smaller and lighter XPS 13 2-in-1 is still an excellent option, yet it cannot offer the same benefits as HP because it doesn’t provide all of those extra features thanks to its thin construction. Though it might weigh a bit more and be significantly larger in size compared to last year’s model, the Spectre x360 14 has even greater value because it offers a 3:2 screen ratio which makes it stand out among other options.
Input Devices
Keyboard
The Keyboard remains unchanged from last year’s Spectre x360 13 with the exception of a new set of symbols on every key. The EliteBook and Spectre line are home to some of our favorite laptop keyboards and so we weren’t let down by this lack of generational change. Feedback, travel, and clatter feel just as crisp, deep, and quiet as ever for a comfortable typing experienceOn future models, it would be nice if there was an HP-exclusive programmable key much like on the latest Envy Laptops for greater customization.
Touchpad
The clickpad is just as solid this year as it was last year, giving the same feedback when pressed. Though the clickpad may seem a bit more difficult to use due to its need for greater force than usual, we found that using an external mouse will prevent any tiredness from setting in.
Display
As good as IPS displays are for viewing in bright environments, they pale in comparison to OLED screens when it comes to deep blacks and high contrasts which makes videos more immersive. Sadly, this also means that you won’t be able to view images from an OLED screen outdoors because of how much light it emits.
We think the picture quality could have been better, but it’s excellent nonetheless. When viewing an all-white image on the screen, there are noticeable grains which might be due to the touch screen glass overlay. Texts that are black on a white background also do not render as crisp and clear as they probably would if this was a native 4K display
Performance
Unlike the Spectre x360 15 series which comes with a more powerful CPU and dedicated GPU, The Spectre x360 13 was built for efficiency. In place of last year’s Ice Lake and Iris Plus graphics, users can choose one of two 10th generation Intel processors – the Core i5-1135G7 or the Core i7-1165G7.
Users should carefully decide what type of RAM they want to buy since the modules cannot be replaced. However, we appreciate the fact that some options come with two channels instead of one so it will perform better for integrated graphics.
Processor
Compared with the average Core i5-1135G7 in our database, raw multi-thread performance is within a single digit percentage point. In order to take advantage of this slight difference, it would be best if you choose the higher end Core i7-1165G7 SKU for up to 30% better CPU performance when running multiple threads at once if you are able to keep it cool enough; otherwise opting for an older chip such as the Core i5-1035G4 or even i5-8265U would result in slightly faster multi-threaded performance across a range of different tasks.
GPU Performance
For 3DMark, the graphics performance is 20% faster than other laptops with Iris Xe 80 EUs. Tests using synthetic benchmarks are incomplete and misleading, though – real-world game performance can vary tremendously from one second to the next. Frames hovered in a cycle of the high 70s or low 80s, no matter what we did to try to fix it (although several other HP computers seem to be exhibiting this problem).
Battery Life
We observed lower battery runtimes on the newer model than we did on the older models. With Power Saver mode set to the lowest brightness and browsing at 150 nits, the new model lasted only six hours instead of eighteen or twenty-four hours with previous models. If you use 4K OLED screens all day long then chances are you won’t have time for anything else when it comes to charge your phone’s battery between meetings or lectures–unless there happens to be an outlet nearby!
Charging an empty battery up to full capacity takes around one and a half hours. Just remember that the USB-C power bank can be used for other laptops with USB-C Power Delivery – but not all of them.
Verdict
The foremost reason for picking up the 2019 Spectre x360 13 with 11th gen Intel rather than the older model is due to its increased graphics performance. The 60% – 100% boost over the G7 in the other Spectre models was so immense that it would be noticeable by editors and some light gamers out there.
If you primarily stream 4K videos, browse the internet and occasionally edit projects, then there isn’t much difference between this laptop and it’s predecessor. It does offer an upgrade from WiFi 6 to WiFi 6E which makes it more future proof but there are some significant downsides such as PCIe 3.0 instead of PCIe 4.0 or Thunderbolt 3 versus Thunderbolt 4 which means that this new model has only minimal improvements over last year’s laptop.
The OLED panel was indeed slightly underwhelming when you compare it to what we’re used to seeing on other Spectre models. It lasts less time, it gets dimmer, images appear grainier, and there’s the occasional flicker – or pulse-width modulation – which can’t be avoided. In return however, consumers receive everything else: richer colors, better contrast and much higher resolutions than what they would see otherwise in most screens.
