The concept behind convertible, or 2-in-1 PCs, has remained the identical during the last decade: Why purchase a pill when your laptop computer can fold a full 360 levels, permitting you to make use of it as a big slate, or a display screen propped up and not using a keyboard in the way in which? Most PC makers have moved on from the idea completely, however HP stays one of many holdouts. Whereas Home windows by no means turned the tablet-friendly platform Microsoft envisioned, there’s nonetheless loads of worth in having a machine that may remodel to fit your wants.
That was my takeaway two years in the past once I examined HP’s 16-inch Spectre x360, and now the corporate has returned with a smaller mannequin, the Spectre x360 14. It options Intel’s newest CPUs with AI-accelerating NPUs (neural processing items), quicker Intel Arc graphics and a ravishing 2.8K OLED show. And better of all, it is nonetheless usable as a pill, in contrast to its bigger sibling.
HP
The HP Spectre x360 14 has every part you’d need in a 14-inch convertible pocket book. It’s quick, contains a attractive display screen and may rotate to fit your wants.
- Versatile convertible display screen
- OLED show is extremely vibrant
- Stable CPU improve
- Begins with 16GB RAM
- Glorious keyboard
- Loads of ports,
- HP’s design hasn’t modified in years
- Haptic touchpad is a bit finicky
- Common battery life
$1,450 at HP
Even when you by no means plan to twist its display screen round, although, the HP Spectre x360 14 remains to be a gorgeous premium laptop computer. For some, it could additionally function a extra conventional various to Dell’s new XPS 14, which has an invisible trackpad and a capacitive operate row. Whereas that laptop seems to be nice, getting used to its much less typical options takes a while. The Spectre x360 14, however, is each engaging and acquainted to anybody who’s ever used a laptop computer. (Its rotating display screen takes simply 10 seconds to determine for the primary time, whereas Dell’s invisible trackpad nonetheless tripped me up hours after I began testing it.)
Design and {hardware}
That familiarity may be seen as a shortcoming of HP’s. The Spectre x360 14 has every part you anticipate to see in a premium laptop computer immediately: A glossy steel case, a beautiful display screen with ultra-thin bezels and a luxuriously massive trackpad with haptic suggestions. However actually, it does not look that a lot totally different from the 13-inch Spectre x360 I reviewed in 2019. It could be good to see HP take just a few main design leaps, however however, I am unable to blame the corporate for sticking with a profitable design.
With the Spectre x360 14, HP centered on minor updates. It has a large 14-inch display screen with a 16:10 side ratio, in comparison with the earlier mannequin’s 13.5-inch show that was a squarish 3:2. Its trackpad affords configurable haptic suggestions and is nineteen % bigger than earlier than, a lot in order that it utterly dominates the palm space. HP caught with its splendidly responsive keyboard, however its key caps are 12 % bigger, making them simpler to hit. And to simplify performance a bit, HP unified the ability button and fingerprint sensor (the laptop computer additionally helps Home windows Hi there facial biometrics).
The port state of affairs hasn’t modified. There are two USB-C connections alongside the best rear (together with one on its distinctive chopped nook), in addition to a drop-down USB Kind-A port on the left and a headphone jack on the nook. As traditional, it might have been good to see some kind of card reader inbuilt, particularly for a machine aimed toward artistic professionals.
The Spectre x360 14 might look similar to its siblings, however HP says it has been tweaked considerably below the hood. It now helps 28-watt Intel Core Extremely CPUs, as a substitute of the earlier 14-watt choices, and affords 10 % extra airflow than earlier than. The corporate additionally managed to engineer these enhancements with out growing the machine’s 17 millimeter peak. At 3.2 kilos, it’s kind of extra moveable than the three.5-pound MacBook Professional 14-inch.
The Spectre’s 9-megapixel webcam can also be a serious improve from the earlier 5MP choice. The brand new sensor affords hardware-enabled low gentle adjustment because of quad-binning, the method of taking information from 4 pixels and mixing them into one. That enables cameras with smaller pixels to let in additional gentle, leading to a brighter total image. Throughout Google Meet and Zoom calls, the webcam delivered a pointy image with vibrant and daring colours. It appeared virtually like a mirrorless digital camera as soon as I enabled Home windows Studio Results background blur, although the image sometimes appeared overexposed in direct daylight.
Video chats additionally sounded nice by the laptop computer’s quad-speaker array, which consists of two upward firing tweeters alongside the keyboard and two woofers alongside the entrance. There’s not a lot low-end (particularly in comparison with Apple’s MacBook Professional audio system), however voices and music sound surprisingly clear. The audio system may get fairly loud with out distortion, which is spectacular for such a skinny system.
Whereas the laptop computer has an NPU-equipped processor, which powers options in Paint, ClipChamp and Home windows Studio Results, the Spectre x360 14 is not technically an “AI PC” below Intel and Microsoft’s definition. The explanation? It does not have a devoted button for Home windows Copilot. Personally, although, I have never discovered that key to be very helpful on the XPS 14 and 16. Triggering Copilot from the taskbar or Home windows sidebar is not very troublesome, and it is definitely not onerous sufficient to warrant giving up a spot on the keyboard.
In use
The HP Spectre x360 14 I reviewed carried out equally to different machines we have examined with Intel’s Core Extremely 7 155H chip. It’s quick and comparatively environment friendly, particularly in comparison with programs from two years in the past. My overview unit, which got here with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, was 30 % quicker within the PCMark 10 benchmark in comparison with the Spectre x360 16 from 2022 (6,493 factors, up from 4,785 factors). This yr’s Spectre additionally scored 78 % increased within the Cinebench R23 multi-core benchmark, a testomony to the enhancements Intel has made since its Eleventh-gen CPUs.
Geekbench 6 CPU | PCMark 10 | Cinebench R23 | 3DMark Wildlife Excessive | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
HP Spectre x360 14 (Intel Core Extremely 7, 2023) | 2,273/11,735 | 6,493 | 1,651/8,481 | 5,952 |
ASUS ZenBook 14 OLED (Intel Core Extremely 7, 2023) | 2,240/10,298 | 6,170 | 1,599/7,569 | 4,827 |
Apple MacBook Professional 14-inch (Apple M3, 2023) | 3142/11,902 | N/A | 1,932/10,159 | 8,139 |
HP Spectre x360 16 (Intel i7-11390H, 2022) | N/A | 4,785 | 1,515/3,722 | N/A |
Probably the most noticeable improve for the Spectre x360 is not AI smarts; it is Intel’s Arc graphics, that are dramatically quicker than Intel’s older built-in graphics. In 3DMark’s TimeSpy Excessive benchmark, it virtually saved up with NVIDIA’s RTX 3050 within the x360 16 (1,435 factors in comparison with 1,730). That is spectacular for a machine that is far slimmer and lighter. Positive, it is no gaming rig, however I used to be nonetheless in a position to play Halo Infinite in 1080p at round 30 fps. I am positive it might deal with smaller indie titles simply advantageous.
Due to the wealth of RAM and Intel’s Core Extremely chip, my overview mannequin tackled every part I threw at it with none noticeable slowdown. Throughout a typical workday, I juggle dozens of browser tabs, picture enhancing apps, YouTube streams, video chats, Slack and Evernote. The Spectre x360’s OLED show additionally made every part look unbelievable, even when I used to be simply gazing phrases on a information web site. It helps a variable refresh charge as much as 120Hz, so scrolling by paperwork and websites was very easy.
Once I first examined a Spectre x360 5 years in the past, I instantly fell in love with its keyboard. Typing felt extremely satisfying, because of a wholesome quantity of key journey and suggestions. It was a kind of uncommon designs that just about felt prefer it was begging me to make use of it, like a finely tuned piano that is merely urging you to play. Fortunately, HP did not mess with any of that keyboard magic: The big new key caps are much more comfy to make use of, and the precise typing expertise is as nice as ever.
I’ve just a few complaints in regards to the Spectre x360’s new trackpad although. It is easy and correct for swiping, and its haptic suggestions is indiscernible from a trackpad that bodily depresses. However HP’s palm rejection software program feels sloppy — sometimes, whereas typing up a storm, my hand would hit the trackpad and push the cursor to pick one other window. It occurred typically sufficient that it turned a creativity circulate killer. I am hoping that is one thing HP can type out with a software program replace finally.
As a convertible pocket book, the Spectre x360 14 is way extra helpful than the 16-inch mannequin. A mild push on the display screen is all it takes to flip it across the keyboard — it turns into a pill when it’s totally circled, or you may cease that course of midway and flip the Spectre round for its “tent” mode. The 14-inch x360 is best at being a slate, just because it is lighter and simpler to carry with one hand (although you will most likely wish to prop it in your lap for longer periods).
Rotating the display screen was additionally much less cumbersome, because the show was far much less broad. I used the tent formation to observe YouTube movies in mattress, whereas on the sofa I sometimes folded the keyboard behind the Spectre, so I might use it like a big touchscreen with a stand. I admire the flexibility of 2-in-1 convertibles greater than the versatile OLED screens we’re seeing on new machines. It is cheaper to implement, and for my functions, convertibles are merely extra pragmatic.
The Spectre x360’s main flaw is battery life: It lasted 5 hours and ten minutes within the PCMark 10 Fashionable Workplace check, whereas the ZenBook 14 OLED pushed by for 12 hours and 43 minutes. There is a price for retaining its body so skinny, in any case. Throughout real-world testing, it might usually have to cost round six hours into my workday.
Pricing and the competitors
The Spectre x360 14 is an honest deal for a high-end convertible, beginning at $1,450 with an intel Core Extremely 5 125H, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. On the time of writing, that configuration has been discounted by $300, which is a fair higher worth. (Credit score to HP for not providing a meager 8GB RAM choice, which might solely result in complications for many customers.) For $1,900, you may bump as much as a Core Extremely 7 155H chip, 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD.
Your choices are considerably restricted when you’re in search of different upper-tier convertible laptops. Dell’s XPS 13 2-in-1 remains to be operating older Twelfth-gen Intel chips, and you will have to look to the middle-range Inspiron and Latitude traces for extra trendy choices. We’re additionally nonetheless ready to see Lenovo’s Yoga lineup get upgraded to newer Intel chips. And we haven’t examined Samsung’s Galaxy Book4 360, but it surely doesn’t have the fashion of HP’s design.
Microsoft’s Floor Laptop computer Studio 2 can also be technically a convertible (its display screen pulls ahead, as a substitute of flipping round), but it surely begins at $1,900. For that worth, you are higher off going for the x360 14’s beefier {hardware}, as a substitute of the Floor’s distinctive display screen.
Wrap-up
It is unclear how a lot life is left within the convertible PC format, however I would not be stunned if HP finally ends up being one of many final firms nonetheless giving it a shot. The Spectre x360 14 is likely one of the finest laptops you should purchase immediately — the truth that it will also be flipped round in a number of orientations is simply icing on the cake.
