HP Spectre x360 15 Review: A Versatile, Attractive, Premium Ultraportable
Final Thoughts On The HP Spectre x360 15
Performance Summary: The HP Spectre x360 15 is dressed for success and has the hardware to handle a variety of productivity chores, yet this machine also knows how to cut loose at the end of the day thanks to its discrete GPU. As we saw in 3DMark and Far Cry 2, this ultraportable is a step ahead of the competition in graphics performance. It's also armed with blazing fast NVMe storage and a modern generation dual-core processor (Kaby Lake). Throw in a versatile form factor and you have a jack-of-all trades.
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HP continues to impress with its Spectre x360 line. This year's refresh tones dowm the gold accents for a more sophisticated look, while retaining the same overall design philosophy that has made the Spectre x360 so appealing in the first place. It still features an all-aluminum design with curved corners and subtle branding on the lid, and it's still delightfully thin at just 0.7 inches. There is some heft to the 15.6-inch model reviewed here—it weighs 4.42 pounds—but if it's a bigger size laptop you're after, added weight is a given.
Your reward for going bigger is a better selection of amenities. HP limits its 4K resolution display option to the 15.6-inch model reviewed here, and the same is true of the discrete NVIDIA GeForce 940MX GPU. That is disappointing if you're in the market for a 13.3-inch laptop, but HP clearly wanted to separate the larger version as its premium offering and figured this would be the best way to do that.
Beyond the discrete graphics, the Spectre x360 15's versatility extends to its form factor. This laptop can contort into a tablet, and with the included stylus and Windows Ink support, this is a functional feature rather than just a novelty. Depending on what you're doing, having a larger size display (versus a 13.3-inch laptop) can be an asset.
Where the versatility runs into a roadblock is with external connectivity. There is only one full-size USB Type-A port; the rest are newer Type-C ports. It also lacks a LAN port. These issues can be solved by purchasing adapters, but that can be both costly and inconvenient.Still, there is a lot of laptop here, especially for the price. At $1,500 as configured, the Spectre x360 15 offers more bang for your buck than most competing ultraportables.
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