Over the years, HP’s Spectre lineup has always stood out among other competitors, but the latest HP Spectre X360 14 is downright luxurious. This latest addition to HP’s premium 2-in-1 model is a perfect combination of sparkling attractive chassis with gorgeous display options, superb stylus pen, fast performance, and strong power tank. An OLED panel with a unique 3:2 aspect ratio and a few features capable of enhancing work and play are among the key selling points of the laptop.
Apart from having the sole basis of a laptop, the Spectre X360 14 sports a USB-C rechargeable stylus and comes with other amazing ports connectivity options including microSD and USB-A ports. There’s no doubt HP makes attractive laptops, add to that is a strong tactile keyboard with a large smooth touchpad makes the Spectre X360 14 one of the best laptops we’ve ever reviewed.
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HP Spectre X360 14 Key Specifications
- Display: 13.5-inch
- Resolution: 1920 x 1280-pixels (IPS); 3000 x 2000-pixel (OLED)
- Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7 – i7-1165G7
- Camera: 720P
- RAM: 8GB /16GB
- Storage: 512GB /1TB
- Battery Capacity: 12:11
- OS: Windows 10
HP Spectre X360 14 Review: Design and Aesthetics
HP has always been known for its outstanding laptop designs, and the Spectre X360 14 is not different. The laptop doesn’t sport a lot of changes, meaning it somehow resembles last year’s model. The notebook is made with strong aluminum back with solid construction. The newest edition to HP’s premium 2-in-1 lineup combines a very unique 3:2 aspect ratio and OLED panel option.
The HP Spectre X360 sports lustrous trim bordering the lid, the deck, and the touchpad. Also, the hinges share its color, as does the HP logo on the lid which is boldly written. Meanwhile, there are diamond-shaped corners with each of them occupying a Thunderbolt 4 port. Other connection port include a microSD slot, an audio jack, a USB-A port, and an additional Thunderbolt 4. Fortunately, the edges are now beveled, meaning the notebook is now thinner which requires more cautious handling.
Just like its name, the HP Spectre X360 is a 2-in-1 laptop. However, at 2.95-pounds weight, it’s a bit heavy to serve as a tablet, but it’s very smooth and easy to fold, thanks to sturdy hinges. Also, the display is stylus-compatible, meaning the Spectre ships with HP’s MPP2.0 pen which magnetically clings to the side of the chassis.
Apart from having the required laptop features, the HP Spectre X360 comes with a USB-C rechargeable stylus and offers a decent selection of ports. Similar to other Spectre X360 models, you can get the 14-inch laptop on natural silver, Poseidon blue, and nightfall black color options. However, the nightfall black option has more sophisticated aesthetics with good copper accents, while the Poseidon blue is cooler and friendlier.
HP Spectre X360 14 Review: Display
The HP Spectre X360 sports a new size and aspect ratio, meaning the 13.5-inch display laptop has a bigger 3:2 aspect ratio, thereby making the screen taller and more narrow. This paves way for a wider viewing of content on the screen at once when you’re streaming movies, browsing web pages, playing games, or writing reports. However, the only trade-off is that larger black bars appear around videos, but it’s ok since you’re getting more than enough viewable space.
When it comes to panels, HP was generous enough to equip the Spectre with 1920 x 1280-pixels (IPS) and 3000 x 2000-pixel (OLED) displays and they’re both great. As expected, the 3000 x 2000-pixel OLED display offers a smoother viewing experience with better pictures, exhibiting unparalleled contrast, outstanding vibrant colors, and perfect black levels. However, that doesn’t make the 1920 × 1280-pixel screen less powerful, it also gets a reasonably color reproduction with decent brightness.
Fortunately, you wouldn’t experience any problems using either display outdoor, although one could stand to be a bit brighter than the other.
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HP Spectre X360 14 Review: Keyboard, touchpad and stylus
We felt familiar while typing at the Chicket-style keys on the HP Spectre X360 14. It sports the same keyboard found on previous Envy and Spectre notebooks, except with a few improvements.
Among these upgrades are the multimedia buttons that let you easily handle certain functions. Also, there’s a fingerprint scanner to log in to the system and you can easily mute the shutter key sounds during video conferences.
The power key is positioned on the top right corner of the keyboard deck for easy reach. This is more preferable as they’re easy to reach and prevent you from accidentally tapping it while using the keyboard. We experienced a very outstanding typing experience with the Spectre X360 14 keyboard. The keys, though shallow, are tactile, bouncy, and snappy. Also, those with larger hands will appreciate the key’s broad and wide spacing.
Now, the touchpad has been expanded by 16% compared to those on previous Spectre models, thereby bringing it to 4.5 x 2.8-inch which can comfortably accommodate five fingers. The buttery glass-smooth touchpad is accompanied by three-finger swipes to switch between the handy pinch-to-zoom and Windows.
HP includes a Rechargeable 2.0 MPP Tilt Pen in the box when you buy any variant of the laptop. This is one of the best stylus pen we’ve found on a laptop and featuring two reprogrammable buttons. The Tilt pen gets a massive 30 hours battery life which can be recharged through a USB-C port on the side.
HP Spectre x360 14 Review: Performance
Armed with a dual Intel Core i5 or i7 1165G7 CPU and 8GB /16GB of RAM, the HP Spectre X360 14 handled every kind of task without any hassle. When we fired up dozens of Chrome tabs, the Spectre kept running smoothly like a new car engine.
The HP Spectre X360 14 took just 17 minutes to convert a 4k video into 1080p resolution, a decent result compared to Galaxy Book Flex 15 (22:18), but a bit slower than the Yoga 9i (14:24), and XPS 13 2-in-1 (15:52). Also, the 512GB NVMe PCle SSD in the Spectre X360 transfers data at an amazing speed of 765MB per second.
Need a decent gaming performance laptop? Yes, the Iris Xe graphics employed by HP Spectre X360 14 performed more than we expected. It reached an amazing 4,229 in the 3DMark Fire Strike benchmark.
HP Spectre X360 14 Review: Battery capacity
When you go for the 1920 × 1080-pixel display variant, the HP Spectre X360 achieved an excellent battery life of 12 hours and 11 minutes which involves continuous web browsing over a Wi-Fi connection. That puts the Spectre below the Galaxy Book Flex 15 (15:44) but beats the XPS 13 2-in-1 (10:52), and the Yoga 9i (11:15).
When equipped with the 3000 x 2000-pixel OLED display, you might have to sacrifice a few hours of battery life landing at 7 hours 15 minutes. This is a decent runtime given the battery-sucker OLED panel. However, if you’re buying it for personal use and you won’t need the services of an OLED display, you can save some cash and get the lower IPS panel instead.
HP Spectre X360 14 Review: Price in Nigeria and Availability
Selling at a starting price of (roughly $), there’s no doubt the Spectre X360 is among HP costliest laptops. However, that price is for the base model and you’ll be getting a 1920 x 1280 IPS display, 8GB of RAM, 256GB built-in storage, and an Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU with Iris Xe graphics.
Left to me, I’ll spend additional (equivalent to $) for an FHD display, 16GB of RAM with 512GB SSD, and a Core i7-1165G7 CPU. However, you’ll have to spend extra ₦35,000 ($90) for an OLED display with 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and an Intel Core i7-1165G7 CPU.
Meanwhile, there has been another 13-inch and 15-inch of this laptop, the HP Spectre X360 14 is undoubtedly the first of its kind, so let’s pray the hefty price tag is brought down a bit in future iterations. Fortunately, HP includes a free fancy laptop sleeve and a rechargeable Tilt Pen Stylus out of the box.
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