Last week Judie reviewed the Dell XPS 13, touting the reduced size and enhanced performance. Now HP is introducing the Spectre x360, which has a 13.3″ screen in an ultra-compact housing that features a fully rotating hinge so you can use the x360 as a tablet, tablet-on-stand and as as high performance ultrabook at a great price!
The HP Spectre x360 is a 13.3 inch convertible PC that delivers an ultra-thin design with a lightweight but sturdy frame and flexibility and performance to meet most every need. HP Says:
“Customers are looking for beautiful devices that deliver quality, versatility and portability,” said Mike Nash, vice president, portfolio strategy and customer experience, Personal Systems, HP. “The HP Spectre x360 is transformational as it has the productivity of a high end notebook, tablet mode for on the go, tent mode for play and stand mode for watching entertainment in a stunning ultra-thin device.”
One of the cool things for me looking at the images from HP is that when I did my tour last year one of the hinge-test systems looked to be built around specifically this type of system. That alone reassured me that the lifetime of hinge performance should be stellar.
Let’s take a look at some of the features:
x360 Design and Experience for Maximum Versatility
The HP Spectre x360 is designed with an all CNC aluminum chassis and is 15.9 millimeters in height and weighs 3.3 pounds.4 The device features polished metal on the sides that is achieved using a single machined cut, giving it a jewelry-like finish in a natural silver color.
With the HP Spectre x360, customers get an ultra-thin PC with additional versatility to experience multiple modes in one device. Users can transition seamlessly from notebook mode for work, stand mode for viewing entertainment, tent mode for touchscreen entertainment, or tablet mode for on the go. To ensure the display glides smoothly and stays in place where a user wants it, the HP Spectre x360 has innovative new hinges that contain a set of three spiral gears for synchronized and precise movement. The geared hinge design allows the HP Spectre x360 to maintain the same thin profile in tablet mode that it has when closed.
The HP Spectre x360 includes a full-sized, 1.5 millimeter travel keyboard to offer customers a comfortable and familiar experience. The HP Spectre x360 has an extra-wide glass touchpad for improved day-to-day usability.
Premium Quality, No Compromises
To give customers the battery life they expect, the HP Spectre x360 features a 56-watt hour battery that precisely fits into the CNC aluminum body. Next, HP looked at the biggest driver of battery drain – the high-resolution touch display. The touch panel on the HP Spectre x360 is optically bonded to the display, increasing brightness and pulling each pixel up to the surface of the display. On models with the Quad HD display, the HP Spectre x360 takes advantage of Panel Self Refresh (PSR) technology which holds images on the screen to allow portions of the PC to power down when nothing on-screen is moving. As a result of these and other focus areas, the HP Spectre x360 delivers up to 12.5 hours of battery life.1
HP improved Wi-Fi reliability and performance in the HP Spectre x360 for home, work and on the go. Based on issues identified in real-world testing, the wireless driver is tuned to improve performance on noisy networks and across a wide range of wireless access points. The new antenna slot design featured at the top of the display allows for effective 2.4GHz and 5GHz tuning, in every mode – whether in notebook, stand, tent and tablet.5 The result is wireless throughput and connect rates that outperform other PCs.
Power and Smart Features for Productivity
The HP Spectre x360 supports Intel® Core™ i5 and i7 processors to tackle the most demanding tasks without lag.6 With a lightning fast SSD up to 512GB,7 customers can expect their PC to turn on instantly and load apps quickly.
The HP Spectre x360 supports both a full-size HDMI and DisplayPort 1.2 compatible ports to allow customers to access content across multiple screens. Customers can also take advantage of the built-in Intel® Wireless Display technology to stream content on their living room TV.8 To accommodate multiple devices and accessories, the HP Spectre x360 has three USB 3.0 ports and with HP USB Sleep and Charge, customers can use the HP Spectre x360 to charge their devices on the go even when in sleep mode.
Pricing and Availability10
The HP Spectre x360 is expected to be available in the United States on March 1, 2015 at http://www.hp.com/spectrex360 and Best Buy on March 15, 2015.
The HP Spectre x360 will be available in the following configurations:
- HP Spectre x360 with Intel® Core™ i5 Processor, Full HD touchscreen display, 4GB LPDDR3 system memory and a 128GB SSD is $899.99.
- HP Spectre x360 with Intel® Core™ i7, Full HD touchscreen, 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is $1149.99.
- HP Spectre x360 with Intel® Core™ i7, Quad HD touchscreen, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD is $1399.99.