HP Spectre X360 Ultrabook Review: Sleek, Sexy, Convertible

Name: HP Spectre X360 Ultrabook: Sleek, Sexy, Convertible
Brand: HP

by Marco Chiappetta — Sunday, March 01, 2015, 02:00 PM EDT

The HP Spectre X360 is an excellent ultrabook. To be honest, after spending some time with the beautiful Dell XPS 13, we didn’t think there’d be another 13”-class ultrabook this year worthy of an Editor’s Choice award, since Dell set the bar so high, but HP has pulled it off.

To be clear, the Spectre X360 is a very different machine than the XPS 13—one has a virtually bezelless screen and is smaller (the XPS 13), while the other is a 2-in-1, multi-mode device (the Spectre X360), but they’re both packing similar hardware and cater to similar consumers. We’d honestly have a tough time choosing between these two systems, and that’s saying something, because we were thoroughly impressed by the XPS 13.

The additional effort HP put into virtually every aspect of the Spectre X360 has paid off. This system has a great screen, the fit-and-finish is top notch, the keyboard and touchpad are very good, and it offers best-of-class connectivity for an ultrabook. On top of all of those things, the HP Spectre X360 performed well, battery life was excellent, and overall, the thing just plain looks and feels good. The HP Spectre X360 is a premium ultrabook through and through. As we said in our introduction, this may very well be the best notebook HP has produced to date.

Find The HP Spectre X360 On Amazon.Com

If you’re in the market for a premium multi-mode ultrabook, the HP Spectre X360 should absolutely be on your short list of considerations. At $999 for the configuration we tested, not only is the Spectre X360 competitively priced for a machine of this type, but its battery life and performance are class-leading, and its fit-and-finish are great. HP knocked it out of the park with the Spectre X360.

hothardware editors choice


Nice Display Excellent performance Fast boot-up Great Build Quality Excellent battery life Competitive Pricing	Relatively large screen bezel

Tags: Notebook, Mobile, HP, laptop, Hewlett-Packard, x360, Ultrabook, Broadwell, spectre

Marco Chiappetta

Marco's interest in computing and technology dates all the way back to his early childhood. Even before being exposed to the Commodore P.E.T. and later the Commodore 64 in the early ‘80s, he was interested in electricity and electronics, and he still has the modded AFX cars and shop-worn soldering irons to prove it. Once he got his hands on his own Commodore 64, however, computing became Marco's passion. Throughout his academic and professional lives, Marco has worked with virtually every major platform from the TRS-80 and Amiga, to today's high end, multi-core servers. Over the years, he has worked in many fields related to technology and computing, including system design, assembly and sales, professional quality assurance testing, and technical writing. In addition to being the Managing Editor here at HotHardware for close to 15 years, Marco is also a freelance writer whose work has been published in a number of PC and technology related print publications and he is a regular fixture on HotHardware’s own Two and a Half Geeks webcast. - Contact: marco(at)hothardware(dot)com