HP Spectre x360

hey all,

didn't see many threads hp spectre x360 i'd figure i'd post impressions in new post. background-- have 15" late 2016 macbook pro, , though apple has made progress in slimming down bezels, @ end of day 15" form factor , just big enough nuisance when travelling.

background-- tried huawei matebook x , absolutely loved form factor. there virtually no bezels , laptop solidly built. had part ways because touch pad inexplicably unresponsive, , little easy matebook uncomfortably warm. lastly, 8th-generation kaby lake around corner significant performance gains (dual quad core), decided i'd ultraportable kaby lake refresh.

lo , behold, found hp spectre x360 lineup received refresh. aside processor upgrade, late 2017 model offers fingerprint sensor , heating vents have moved side of laptop bottom. i7/16 gb ram/512 gb ssd variant on sale @ best buy $999, , spectre line comes touchscreen , stylus on models. seemed quite deal had jump on it.

anyway, i've had 24 hours , far impressed. here quick thoughts:

build/design: solid laptop-- aluminum , glass around (except keyboard , side buttons). spectre comes in 3 colors: natural silver, dark ash silver, or pale rose gold. have natural silver variant , pretty looking machine. have preferred dark ash, model wasn't on sale. no complaints on build quality here. edges of spectre rounded enough won't leave imprints on wrists. 2x usb-c, fingerprint sensor, , volume rocker on right side of spectre, while left has 1x usb-a, headphone jack , illuminated power button.

display: configuration 13.3" model fhd (1920x1080) touch display. can spectre in fhd, fhd w/ privacy filter, , uhd configurations. it's looking pretty me far. matebook looked little sharper, made sense since packs 2k display in 13" form factor. think colors on mbp 15" pop out more, have no issues display on spectre. thankfully windows 10 has scaling options, recommended settings made text way large liking.
spectre line of laptops 2-in-1 machines, screen can fold way can used tablet. i've used few minutes, works expected. spectre can automatically switch tablet mode when detects screen being swiveled behind keyboard.

1 thing note display pretty glossy, akin ipad. makes sense since touch display, of concern if spend lot of time out in sun.

keyboard: coming 15" mbp, keyboard godsend. keys clicky , provide travel. people keep saying used typing on mbp, there no learning curve keyboard. got used within minutes of setting laptop up. keys have spacing , joy type on computer.
keyboard illuminated strange thing doesn't use ambient sensors dim or turn off lighting. it's either on or off, , haven't found options set lighting timeout.

touch pad: touch pad decent out of box, better once install drivers support microsoft precision touch pad settings. touch pad feels macbook-esque, , i'm not experiencing of choppiness had compared matebook. if had complain, think palm rejection better. might able fix adjusting sensitivity in touch pad settings.

sound: hp partnered bang & olufsen create customized audio experience, in experience audio "ok". it's not going win awards being loudest, clearest or bassiest. spoiled mbp , matebook, both have excellent speakers out of box. bass isn't punchy , spectre can't provide "surround sound" experience mbp , matebook could. speakers fine day day use, don't let b&o partnership fool thinking they're spectacular.

performance: because i'll using lightweight machine travel, don't intend taxing on machine. did try spectre 4k monitor (@ 60hz) , seemed work fine playing youtube. usb-c dock power delivery seemed work fine, although noticed screen changing brightness levels. leaves me believe may have issue dock intermittently charging (which may explain oddities i'm having mbp). anyhow, spectre pushing 4k content on 27" display, fans did kick in , cpu usage spiked 60%. 1 thing note spectre has 2 fans though there no dgpu in machine. far. haven't experienced spectre getting insanely hot, opposed fanless matebook.

battery: i've had laptop day battery life seems decent far. i've been using on , off since 7 am, , estimating around 4.5 hours of display being on, , i'm @ 39% battery. includes installing few programs , restarting few times complete installations. can see lasting me whole day light usage.

extras: spectre came pleather envelope sleeve , active stylus in box. in addition, comes usb-c power brick, , extension cable brick (i'm looking @ you, apple). extras add premium experience spectre.
hp offering 100% rebate on 3 year + accidental care warranty if don't need send laptop in within 6 months of purchase. have no reason believe laptop going fall apart anytime soon, guess time tell.

honorable mentions: spectre comes equipped windows hello (facial/eye recognition) , fingerprint sensor. set fingerprint sensor, decided give facial recognition try. prefer facial recognition. fingerprint sensor works fine-- not blazing fast matebook, trick.
switched iphone-- bad timing i'm curious see how android syncs windows 10. ios of course doesn't allow functionality. i'll switch s8 can test out.

conclusion: far. good! typing absolute joy on spectre, display nice , bright, sound average, , build quality premium. spectre new travel companion while mbp stays @ home.

on sale again $999 @ best buy on black friday. here's link interested: https://www.bestbuy.com/site/hp-spe...ish-in-natural-silver/6080223.p?skuid=6080223

anyhow, impressions on spectre x360. feel free ask questions!