HP - Spectre Folio 2-in-1 13.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 8GB Memory - 256GB Solid State Drive - Cognac Brown

HP Spectre Folio This is a premium device exuding quality, beauty and even the soft fragrance of a fine leather coat. Technically, it’s a 2-in-1 laptop, but with a much more intuitive and stable mechanism to slip from one mode to another with minimum effort, fuss or disturbance. There’s the laptop mode, media mode, tablet mode and, finally, folio mode (when it’s closed). Carrying it in folio mode is more secure than carrying other laptops due to the leather exterior and certainly more eye-catching as well. While you can put other devices in leather folio cases, they will be thicker and more cumbersome due to the device merely riding in its folio pocket. Not so with the Spectre Folio with the leather fused to the metal framework of the device to actually form its outer surface. With its rich, solid, quality appearance it’s as neat as it gets! The design of the hinge system is genius, and it's smooth and simple to take it from laptop to presentation/media mode to tablet mode and back. It's solid and very stable in any of its configurations. Its laptop mode is far more stable than any folding cover base or kickstand available and is even more stable than a number of laptops since the Spectre Folio screen isn’t top-heavy as some are. Strong magnets lock the screen in laptop mode and presentation/media mode, so it stays where you put it with virtually no movement while touching it or typing as, unfortunately, some laptops do. The 2-level backlit keyboard works wonderfully for me with good spacing between keys and good response from the keys for such a thin device, and it isn’t noisy while typing. The touchpad is highly accurate and smooth as silk. I noticed no false taps or touches on the touchpad while typing, and every time I tapped it (not clicked it down), it acted as though I had clicked it each and every time. Some prefer to fully depress the touchpad rather than just tap it, so it’s adjustable for that and other things too. Of course, the touchpad handles zooming in and out as well as other gestures. The power key is just above the keyboard on the left so you’ll have no accidental bumps allowing it to turn on while in your travel bag or otherwise known as “hot bagging.” The response of the CPU (i7-85550Y dual core 4 threads generation 8) is fast and sure, and despite all the downloading & installing I was doing at first, there was no heat, just a very slight warmth on the bottom, and that with no fan. Yes, this is a fanless design so no fan/air noise with only minimum warmth at times. Overall the HP Spectre Folio is quite fast with the i7 and the PCIe SSD in whatever you’re doing. Sound is a quad speaker arrangement through Bang & Olufsen running under a grill above the keyboard and below the screen when in laptop mode – sound is a little different when in presentation mode or tablet mode but still plenty loud for even old ears. Two powered Thunderbolt 3 ports are on the right side so you can handle 40 Gbit speeds with a Thunderbolt 3 dock while using only one USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 cable even while your Spectre Folio charges from a powered dock. That leaves you 2 other ports for other things. The 3rd port is a powered USB-C 3.1 port, but you can charge your Folio through any of the 3. I like that the power/data ports are on both sides, so you can charge it from either side, which is helpful depending on where the plug is located while you use the Spectre Folio. Obviously, with these ports you can run a host of devices along with multiple monitors to fill the role of workstation while allowing you to fold it up at the end of the day and take it with you. The 13.3"16:9 screen is clear and sharp (FHD 1920x1080 touch IPS panel) with a 4K screen option before the end of the year. Screen position in laptop mode is adjustable to work well on your lap or desk…at least, if you’re under 7’ I would say. I heard someone complain that you couldn’t adjust the screen enough while in laptop mode on your lap, but I’ve used it on mine and can easily see the screen even if I tilt it forward somewhat to avoid overhead light glare on the screen. No real problem with this unless, like I said, you are really tall putting your eyes way higher than the vast majority of people. It also has a HP TrueVision HD webcam with Windows Hello for facial recognition along with dual mics for conferencing. In tablet mode, the top side of your screen is a little higher than the bottom of your screen so using the included stylus is much easier than if it laid flat on your desk. The stylus has two programmable buttons for various options according to your preference – one of mine is set to erase and the other button to right-click for context menus while using the pen for navigation. I found that the pen writes very well on the screen. I used OneNote to test this out, and I was not disappointed; however, I’m no artist so my comments must stop with notetaking or rough sketching only. The nib in the pen is somewhat hard so it slides very easily on the Gorilla Glass 4 screen and does make little tapping noises while writing. The pen comes with a couple of other nibs, but I haven’t tried them as yet. A little softer nib will provide more friction for those wanting a more pen/paper feel while writing and will offer a less tapping noise. There’s enough weight (3.2 lbs) even when opening it without having to hold the lower part down while doing so. It feels substantial whether being carried or opened on your lap or desk. The leather exterior gives it a sure footing opened or secure handling while carrying in “folio” mode. Frankly, I appreciate a little weight in a laptop device, but don’t think it’s a burden to carry. Unless you’re married to 1.5 lb tablets, you will appreciate the solidity, stableness and feel of the Spectre Folio. It’s only .57” thick with the leather, so everything feels solid. It comes with a 65 Watt charger that can give you from zero battery charge to 50% charge in as little as 30 minutes. Battery life is claimed to be about 13+ hours with the i7 model, but from what I’m seeing a reasonable expectation from 9 to 10 is more like it; however, that will cover most people all day without charging. The HP Spectre Folio will offer another color of leather (Burgundy) by the end of the year as well as the 4K screen option. You can also opt for the i5 rather than the i7 and also for a 512 GB SSD or a 1 TB or 2 TB SSD along with 16 GB of RAM and the option for LTE 4 too. You can have a lot of options in one solid, beautiful package. Since the HP Spectre Folio gives you the feel of something to tuck under your arm and take with you wherever you go, there’s probably one thing HP could have included. If you’re a student or attend a lot of meetings or travel quite a bit, an added camera on the backside of the screen to take photos of board notes/white boards/expense receipts etc. would have rounded out the experience for these folks. The HP Spectre Folio is something special and unique. It is a very capable and attractive device offering just about anything you can desire. Of course, like most 2-in-1’s, it’s not your first pick for heavy photo/video work, 3D cad work or running AAA games. You could use it in conjunction with an eGPU through one of the Thunderbolt 3 ports, which would certainly up your game quite a bit in these areas. Short of that, it’s an ideal business and/or personal/classroom device that shouts quality and refinement while offering plenty of chops when it comes to productive work for nearly everyone.

I wanted this laptop cause I love tech and especially unique tech. A laptop that is made out of genuine leather? Sign me up! This is certainly a unique and welcome take on the popular 2-in-1 laptop that we see so much of today. When I took it out of the box I was shocked at how thin and light it really is. Using the leather as the body of the laptop results in one of the thinnest laptops I’ve ever seen, and there’s obviously never a need to outfit it with a case. Sit it on a desk and unless someone sees the HP logo on it they will just think it is an executive portfolio notebook. The leather is premium but I do wish it came in black though instead of brown (also comes in burgundy). It is built surprisingly well, look and feels like a laptop in a leather case so I do not doubt it’ll do well against daily bumps. What makes the Spectre Folio so unique is its three screen positions: laptop, media, and tablet. Laptop is exactly like it sounds, there is a hinge that allows you to open and close the screen just like any ordinary laptop. The second position is called media and you pop the lower half of the screen out and set it between the keyboard and trackpad. This is similar to the “tent position” on other 2-in-1s, where you can prop it up to watch movies or TV but this new way is much more elegant and practical. Finally, the tablet position is where the screen sits on top of the keyboard. The hinge used for laptop mode keeps the screen at a slight angle so it’s not completely flat-perfect for using the pen on the screen. When in tablet mode your hands will be against the leather bottom of the laptop. It feels much more natural than the awkwardness of a plastic keyboard like you would find on other 2-in-1 convertibles. There is one major downside to the tablet mode though which is you cannot wake up the device without positioning it out of tablet mode. All of the buttons including the power and touchpad are sitting under the screen and the screen does not support tap-to-wake. This is a big bummer to what otherwise would be a near flawless device. The backlit keyboard itself is very good, plenty of travel considering the thinness of the device and there is a lot of space between the island-style keys. The trackpad is small but works fine. The touchscreen could be a bit more responsive. As expected on a device this thin, the B&O speakers are not going to blow you away but surprisingly they get very loud. I’m not much of an artist and my handwriting is horrible so I never take notes, but I do appreciate that it comes with the pen and an adhesive backed holder that can be attached to the leather body if needed. Spec wise you have a Core i7 dual core (4 threads) with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB M.2 storage. It’s certainly not the most powerful laptop you can buy but with a fanless design it also will never make noise. It won’t be the best choice for gaming or CPU intensive tasks like photo and video editing. However, it’s no slouch either. I have been using it as my daily Windows PC for over a week now and I have not had any issues with performance. HP’s battery life claim is an insane 21 hours of video playback. Obviously that is best case scenario and likely with the i5 CPU. I haven’t timed it but it is definitely more than I’m used to based on the fact that I’ve only put it on the charger twice and have used it at least 3-4 hours a day. And if that’s not enough it supports fast charging that’ll get you to 50% in about 30 minutes with the 65W charger that it comes with. I also love the fact that I just need to pack one USB-C charger with me to charge both my 2018 iPad Pro and Spectre Folio. Pros: Three usable positions: laptop, media, and best of all, tablet. 13” Full HD IPS 16:9 Touchscreen Leather folio design is ingenious and premium Quiet – Fanless Design Efficient Core i7 Dual Core Incredible Battery Life Fast Charging USB-C Charging 2 Thunderbolt 3 Still includes Headphone Jack Includes pen Well designed keyboard Cons: No convenient way to wake screen in tablet mode Touchscreen could be more responsive Brown (wish it were black) Overall, I highly recommend this to anyone looking for an ultraportable convertible laptop. Especially if you’ve been disappointed by the 2-in-1 devices you find on the shelves today.

The HP Spectre Folio is a sweet laptop 3-in-1 that looks, feels, smells and works like a premium laptop. It is wrapped in 100% full grain leather, which gives it a great smell and feel; and makes it fingerprint free! The only places for fingerprints are on the screen and keyboard. Animal lovers probably will wish they had used synthetic leather rather than real leather however. Unlike other 3-in-1 laptops, when in tablet mode the Spectre Folio keyboard is completely covered by the screen. This is so much nicer than when the keyboard ends up on the bottom with the keys facing downward. It is a smartly engineered design. One thing I noticed right away is how quiet this laptop is. I have yet to hear the fan working! The Bang & Olufsen speakers do a pretty good job of projecting a clean stereo sound when watching movies too. The screen is Full HD, not 4k, but on a screen this size it really doesn’t matter. Images still look amazing. A stylus is included and it has a home in a sleeve that can be attached to the side of the laptop. Again, a better solution than other laptops that have the stylus sleeve attaching via the usb port. Speaking of usb ports, the Spectre has three Thunderbolt usb type c ports (one for the power cord). In case you have peripherals that haven’t adopted the usb type c format yet, one converter cord is provided in the box. At almost 3.5 lbs., it is a little on the heavy side for its size, and compared with the Spectre from a couple years ago, it is thicker as well. Then again, the older model Spectre didn’t have a touchscreen or tablet mode like this one does. I am really digging this laptop. The cognac brown color resembles the color and feel of a football. Gaming aside, this laptop seems to have the power to handle anything pretty easily.

In the world of laptops, it’s been pretty much the same thing forever, aluminum or plastic. Hp has truly created something that’s different, beautiful and finely crafted, words that I usually don’t use to describe a pc laptop. The leather has the smell of a high end Mercedes S class or a BMW 7 series and feels every bit as nice. In terms of performance it has the specs to match its looks... Core i7, 8gb of Ram, and a 256 SSD drive. For my needs the performance has not left me wanting. The battery life HP claims I think is a bit ambitious at least if the battery is set for performance, but it is still much better than my other laptop from 2017. It will get the majority of people thru their day no problem. Streaming 2 hours of a Monday night football game and the battery only went down 10 to 15%. This is one of the best examples of a laptop and tablet all in one. With the leather it feels so much better to use in tablet mode than other 2-in-1s. Using it in tablet mode with the stylus the palm rejection isn’t very good at all, I think this is more a software issue than the hardware itself. Besides this my only other knock would be the track pad is on the smaller size, It’s not really an issue once you get use to it. If you are a windows user and want something that has the brains, the brawn and without a doubt the looks, then this is the laptop you’ve been waiting for!

I have to say that this is the most beautiful laptop I have ever seen and I am partial towards MacBooks. The reason I love the look of this notebook is because it doesn't look like a notebook, it looks like a handsome leather portfolio case. If I walked down the street with it under my arm, no one would suspect it was a full blown 8th generation i7 touchscreen laptop. The fact that it is a 2-in-1 makes it very versatile to use. The screen moves from a standard laptop screen position to a media viewing position to a tablet position very easily. Speaking of tablet, it comes with a 2 button pen stylus that seems to be very accurate. the pen attaches to the side of the notebook in a leather loop and comes with additional nibs. The keyboard is illuminated making it easy to see the black keyboard in dim light. The battery charges very quickly but I haven't drained the battery down enough to see how long it takes to do a full charge from empty. There are 3 USB-C ports that can be used for charging, flash drives, external hard drives etc. as well as a headphone jack. It came with a USB-A to USB-C adapter so I could use older drives or peripherals such as microphones. This model came with 8Gb of RAM and a 256Gb SSD which seems pretty fast. The screen is 1920x1080 and is extremely bright. The sound is pretty good as well as the sound fires upward from the bar above the keyboard which is where the heat emanates from as well. Even when the notebook is in tablet mode, the sound and heat comes out the side of the fold since the screen folds over with a gap between itself and the keyboard. It of course came with a fairly small USB-C charger. The model I got doesn't have LTE capability but from what I read HP makes a model that can accept a SIM card but that would mean an additional monthly cell line. When I need, I can always use my iPhone as a portable hot spot. I can't wait to show it off at my camera club and my computer user group as well.