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This review first appeared in issue 355 of PC Pro.
HP’s latest Spectre convertible is a pricey proposition – you could buy a decent laptop plus a separate tablet for the same cost. But if you’re looking for something that can fulfil both roles, this powerful, premium computer is a delight.
The two-in-one laptop design doesn’t compromise the aesthetics at all. Its deep blue chassis stands out tastefully from the swamp of monochrome laptops, while sliced-off corners give a pleasing minimalist aesthetic, as do the thin bezels around the display. In tablet mode, magnets hold the screen secure against the chassis, and despite the 14in screen it’s not too heavy to carry around at 1.4kg. My one reservation about the design is a lack of ports: you get one USB-A port on the right-hand side, two USB-C ports on the left – and that’s it.
The keyboard has a comfortable layout and I quickly found myself typing at full speed, enjoying the action as my fingers bounced positively from each keystroke to the next. The haptic touchpad simulates clicking by producing a vibration; I can take or leave this, but I definitely like its smooth texture.
The star of the design is the 14in, 2,880 x 1,800 OLED touchscreen. On paper it doesn’t appear all that exceptional: it covers 86% of the DCI-P3 color gamut with an average peak brightness of 366cd/m2. However, it delivers wonderfully vibrant colors, making games and videos look much richer, brighter and more solid than the numbers would suggest.
Tucked above the display sits a surprisingly good webcam. Excellent, in fact. Unusually, it offers an Ultra HD, 4K resolution, and image quality is a cut above most rival laptops: my cheeks looked rosy, my surroundings looked bright and colorful, and somehow the windows behind me weren’t blown out.
Audio performance is pleasing, too, thanks to a pair of top-firing speakers. I listened to “This Feels Like the End” by Nothing But Thieves and immediately got into the groove.
The opening percussion was thumping, vocals were crisp and loud and the guitar chords and riffs were bright and urgent.
The basic Spectre x360 14 comes with an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD for £1,499 inc VAT, but I reviewed the premium model with a Core Ultra 7 155H, 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. Unsurprisingly, this high-end hardware let me open dozens of Chrome tabs and a handful of YouTube videos all at once, without the slightest stutter. In Geekbench, the Spectre scored a soaring 12,358, even outpacing the M3 MacBook Pro’s score of 11,968.
The one area of compromise is graphics performance. The HP Spectre x360 14 relies on an integrated Intel Arc GPU, and in the Civilization VI:
Gathering Storm benchmark, it averaged a merely acceptable 36fps at 1080p. In other words, it’s fine for casual titles, but hardcore gamers will demand something more capable.
A final strength is battery life. With a power-efficient processor and no separate GPU to drive, the Spectre x360 14 lasted 11hrs 1min of web surfing, longer than almost any Intel laptop we’ve previously tested – although the M3 MacBook Pro lasted a ridiculous 17hrs 16mins. Heat is well managed, too: after 15 minutes of video streaming, we measured a maximum temperature of 39°C on the underside of the chassis, which is on the warm side but easy to live with if you want to use the Spectre on your lap.
The new HP Spectre x360 14 is hard to fault. It’s a fast, beautifully designed laptop, with a sumptuous screen, excellent performance and battery life, and the convenience of tent and tablet mode. Gamers will want a more powerful graphics chip, but as a general-purpose productivity and entertainment companion, this laptop is a star that manages to justify its high price.
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