HP - Spectre x2 2-in-1 12.3" Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 8GB Memory - Intel 360GB Solid State Drive - Black

The HP Spectre line of product is HP’s bid into the premium market. My first look into the Spectre came when they announced the Spectre laptop that had a very stylish and premium design. The unfortunate drawback to that is the high asking price for the laptop. Having now the opportunity to test and try out the Spectre X2, an update to the previous year’s X2, I now get to see how this device performs and feel when handled. This year’s X2, model 12c012dx, features an updated Intel CPU. It’s a i7 7560U clocked in at 2.4GHz. There’s 8GB of RAM but part of it is allocated for Intel’s Iris GPU. For space, there’s 360GB of SSD capacity using M.2 interface. While this doesn’t allow much in terms of file storage, this can be offset using Microsoft’s OneDrive. However, free OneDrive users are limited to 5GB when signing up. This pales in comparison to the space you get when using Google’s Drive cloud storage. And other than the popular Dropbox, there are probably other cloud storage services that offer more space for free users. The X2 is designed overall to be more like a tablet than a laptop. However, HP includes a detachable keyboard that’s designed akin to the Microsoft Surface tablet. There is also a pen stylus that integrates well with Windows Ink. The stylus requires a single AAA battery so this is something to keep in mind when using this device. It has a microSD card slot accessible with a pin to eject the tray. But this appear to be only used to access media stored on the SD card rather than used as an expandable storage. There’s a Windows Hello compatible front facing camera along with a rear facing camera for quick picture taking. And lastly, there’s stereo front-facing speakers (in landscape orientation) and a 3.5mm headphone jacks for audio output. Setting up Windows 10 Home on the X2 is a breeze. It comes preinstalled with the Creators Update and its voice assistant, Cortana, helped guide me through the setup process. It was a surprise experience coming from a longtime keyboard and mouse user. But that doesn’t stop me from using the detachable keyboard to type in my password whenever I log in. While on that topic, using Windows Hello’s facial recognition is a new experience. Setup was simple and recognition is instantaneous. I believe that more Windows 10 devices should come with a Hello compatible front-facing camera in order to make the login process more seamless. When using the X2 with the keyboard, it becomes just like a laptop. Yet at the same time, it doesn’t have the laptop feel. This is likely due to how the keyboard is also a cover and thus doesn’t have the sturdy feel that traditional laptops have. This isn’t a negative point but it does takes some time to get used to this different feel. The trackpad has no obvious mouse button but the button orientation is standard -- bottom left and bottom right for left mouse button and right mouse button respectively. The function row keys are set to special functions by default (ie. screen brightness, mute, volume control, media playback). And for those who like typing in the dark or in poorly lit rooms, the keyboard comes with backlighting. But beware of using this for long, as it’ll obviously eat away battery life. The tablet slab has a 3000x2000 screen resolution, which looks quite amazing for a 12.3 inch display. Physically, it feels compact enough to be carried around with ease. However, on the flip side, it also weighs over 2.5lbs, much heavier than an Apple 12.9 inch iPad Pro. I personally feel weight is not much of an issue or factor when it comes to portable devices, as performance and battery life should be the top factors when shopping, with specs coming in behind. As for specs, the device feels snappy thanks to the M.2 SSD and Intel’s i7 CPU. I could only wish I had more time to play with the X2 so I can find some heavy software to push the CPU. Its (slightly less) 8GB memory will make multi-tasking and switching between software responsive and fast. Wireless networking performance is as good as it gets, allowing me to download the Guild Wars 2 client and data and fully saturating the download bandwidth to the maximum allowed by my ISP (25mbit/s down, 15mbit/s up). Reviewing the Bluetooth side is a bit tricky, as I pushed myself into buying a Logitech MX Master mouse. Connecting took a couple of minutes but only due to how Logitech didn’t come with any setup guide on its ability to connect using two methods (Bluetooth or via Logitech’s wireless dongle). But once connected, using the BT mouse makes using Windows a little easier than trying to manipulate the mouse via trackpad. On the software side, and like any manufacturer branded devices, the X2 comes preloaded with HP’s own suite of software, a couple of which I do not mind such as warranty status/registration. But Windows itself comes loaded with several unnecessities pinned to the Start Menu, all of which can be unpinned while some are just there for no reason at all. It also comes with McAfee, which I immediately uninstall due to its subscription requirement. There are other antivirus software that can do the same or better but without the subscription fee requirement. As for the little things that makes this laptop/tablet very nice to use, there’s a kickstand that allows the tablet to stand up with or without the keyboard. The kickstand can be oriented for a wide range of angles, thus allowing you to use the X2 in many viewing scenarios. But the kickstand can only be used in landscape mode. There is, unfortunately, no other angle when in portrait mode. Charging the X2 is easy and simple, as it uses USB Type-C. There are two ports, one per side in landscape, and either side can be used for charging. Using Type-C makes charging faster. It took about maybe an hour to go from 20-30% left in battery to 98%. From there, I was able to get a good 2+ hours before it is down to 30% with very heavy usage. That ranges from video playback, music playback, typing this review up using Chrome, installing Ilomilo from Windows Store, and (still) downloading Guild Wars 2 data from the server. Overall, I am liking the X2. The premium build and feel makes using it all the more better. The inclusion of a pen stylus in addition to the touchscreen only adds to the versatile value. The detachable keyboard is a good idea for how this device is designed. With a starting base price of $999, it’s $200 higher than the baseline Microsoft Surface Pro. However, with Microsoft’s current offering, and to come close to matching what the X2 offers, you’re looking at $1599 or $2199. And the Surface Pro is currently one CPU generation behind. The X2 is about as close to getting a Surface Pro without paying the high price of it. (post-draft addition) After finally getting the game data downloaded for Guild Wars 2, I did a quick run to check for performance quality. At 3000x2000 resolution, the game is able to run but all settings and details needed to be dialed down to the absolute minimal. I have not yet tested its performance using windowed mode and sized as close to 1920x1080. But framerate hovers around 20fps in sub-sample rendering (as opposed to native rendering which would have crippled the rendering performance). Needless to say, it’s not the best performing GPU but it’ll handle light 3D games without a problem.

I've used both Laptops and Tablets but this is my first experience with a 2-1 system so I was looking forward to receiving this to demo. Unpacking: inside the first box was a very nice black HP box. Different look for the HP logo and I like it! Everything was well packed and protected, The tablet on top in a protective cover, detachable keyboard and then power cable on the bottom. This comes with everything you need right out of the box, including both the keyboard which was much nicer than I expected from other detachable keyboard systems I'd seen in the store. Also included were a USB C to USB A adapter cable, a digital pen and even a nice storage sleeve. Nice job! Turning it on it quickly booted up to the initial setup screen thanks to the SSD drive. Getting WIndows 10 up and running was straight forward, answering the usual questions about language, region etc. Once the initial setup was complete the first step was creating recovery media so I could set it back to initial factory specs if needed. I had a spare 16gb flash drive so I connected up to started the process. There are two USB C ports one on either side of the tablet and I quickly realized they both accept the charging cable as well. This will come in handy when working while plugged in, not having to worry about which side you're plugging into the wall as you can always have the power cable on the same side of the tablet. Again a nice touch. Creating the recovery media on a flash drive was much faster than using DVD's and it wasn't long before I could start playing around. First off the display is outstanding. At a 3000x2000 it's very sharp. I was impressed by the included backgrounds and after connecting to my home network, I moved over a couple of movies to try out. Picture was very crisp and I was also impressed by the audio quality from such a thin device even at full volume. Connecting my noise cancelling Bluetooth headphones was a snap and this perfect for watching movies when travelling. The next step was checking the internet speed. I put it on the desk where I could run the test at the same time on the tablet and my desktop (both running over wireless). I ran the test multiple times and both upload and download speeds varied quite a bit on the tablet compared to the desktop. My connection is 75/75 and the desktop was consistently within 5Mbps, averaging 60 Mbs down and 80 Mbps up. The tablet on the other hand was all over the place, as low as 6Mbps down and 20Mbps Up and as high as 50Mbps Down and 70Mbps Up, but the results were always lower than the desktop on the same run, not sure why, but something I'll continue to play with. The 360Gb SSD drive and i7 processor kept everything moving along nicely, surfing the internet in multiple windows and running the various included programs, even while streaming a movie through Netflix which I wasn't sure about after the internet test, but once the movie started I didn't have any problems with buffering. I have mixed feelings about the keyboard. The keys have a great feel to them and feel more like a good desktop keyboard than a laptop or detachable tablet keyboard. The track pad when moving the cursor around and clicking is nice, but I had the same problem as many laptops that don't have a button to disable the pad, the heel of my hand contacting the pad and having undesirable results. Maybe I'm just a lazy typist but I always have the heels of my hands resting on the desk with a desktop keyboard and that puts them right on the edges of the track pad. Trying to write this review on the tablet didn't go well for me so I had to move over to the desktop. I'd never used a digital pen before and I was surprised at how well it worked. My handwriting with the pen was pretty comparable to pen and paper. It was nice being able to open a document and write notes instead of having to have the keyboard connected and pounding away on the keys. There are two buttons on the pen, one serves as an eraser and the other is a right click button. Overall I'm impressed with the build quality of this tablet. It comes with everything you need and with quality components. If I had to choose between this and any of the laptops I've used in the past I'd go with the Spectre X2. It's a perfect size and weight for the person on the go.

The HP Spectre X2 (2017 Edition) is HP’s answer to Microsoft’s Surface Pro. It is a premium 2-in-1 product with beautiful build quality and a 3000x2000 high resolution screen that supports an active stylus. The stylus uses an AAAA battery which is included and works great with programs like CLIP Studio Paint. It is pressure sensitive so the harder you press, the darker the lines are drawn which can produce drawings with a pencil or brush like appearance. I think this product will be popular with aspiring artists. Like the other reviewer, I could not get the pen to fit into the fabric pen holder on the keyboard. As a 2-in-1, it can function like a tablet or laptop. With 8 GB of memory and an Intel i7 7560U mobile CPU, the Spectre X2 is powerful enough to handle most any tasks without bogging down. I installed Visual Studio 2017 Community from a flash drive in about 30 minutes and in my brief use, it felt pretty zippy. The included keyboard easily snaps into place using magnets and the feel and layout is good for typing code. A clever built-in kickstand allows you to adjust the screen’s angle to your liking. There were times when the back can get warm and the fan will spin up and push warm air out the tiny vents. Streaming Netflix worked great. I watched the first episode of Glow and it played flawlessly with no buffering. The video quality was excellent on the high resolution screen. This is my first computer with a super high resolution screen and some older programs are hard to use because the text and menu items are so tiny. Manga Studio Ex4 was one program that had really tiny text and menus. Luckily, it’s successor (CLIP Studio Paint) is able to take advantage of high resolution screens and text and menu items were able to scale up to be usable. In my brief use, the included webcam seemed to produce very good quality video compared to webcams on other tablets and laptops that I’ve used. I was very impressed with the quality. I think it might be the best webcam that I’ve used. The HP Spectre comes with 2 USB Type-C ports and an included USB Type-C to USB 3.0 adapter cable. Using the adapter cable, I was able to hook up a USB DVD drive to install programs. You can use either USB Type-C ports for charging. It comes with a 320 GB SSD but I wanted to expand the storage so I bought a SanDisk 200GB Micro SD card. You have to use an included pin to push into a tiny hole in the Micro SD cover/caddy. This pops out the cover/caddy and you can then remove it to reveal an empty slot. The Micro SD card fits into the caddy and then you just plug the caddy (with the Micro SD card) back into the empty slot. When I did this, the Spectre X2 did not recognize the card. I unplugged and replugged the SD card a couple of times but it still wouldn’t see it. It turns out that I had to update the Realtek PCIE CardReader driver (in Device Manager under the Memory Technology devices node) by right clicking it and selecting “Update driver”. As soon as the driver was updated, the Spectre X2 saw the card as an SDXC drive. Wireless performance is excellent with my Linksys Velop router. I am able to get 30MB/s from my NAS. So far, I’ve been using the Spectre X2 mostly in laptop mode. I am not that familiar with how Windows works in tablet mode so this is something that I will need to set aside some time in the future to experiment more with. This is an excellent device. I’m very pleased with it and it just seems really neat that something so light and portable is so much more powerful than my old bulky and heavy laptop.

Full disclosure, I received an XP Spectre X2 in exchange for an honest and timely review. Bottom Line: I found the HP Spectre x2 to be a high quality product that is functional, good looking and speedy. Based on my limited experience, I’d recommend it to anyone looking for a premium quality extremely light weight, hybrid Windows tablet/laptop. Though I am primarily a user of Apple products, I was intrigued by the HP Spectre x2 because it appeared to be a very high quality and well thought out platform. Now that I have started using it, my suspicion is fully confirmed. The x2 came in a compact outer box with excellent foam padding suspending and scuring the inner box safely in the middle. The inner box, reminded me of the sort of packaging I have come to expect from Apple. It was clearly well thought out and very high quality in material and presentation. The first item in the box is the x2 tablet without the keyboard attached. The x2 is beautiful. It is sleek, well made and refined. I was amazed at how thin it is and took a photo of the x2 next to my Apple Watch. The x2 is actually a bit thinner than my watch! There is a sturdy, but nice looking kickstand on the back, a USB-C port, headphone jack and what appears to be a microSD card slot on the left side. On the right side there is a USB-C port and volume controls. B&O audio appears to be part of this system and it is rich and clear. There are small speakers on the left and right side at the top of the display. While examinin the tablet I accidentally turned it on and was greeted by Cortana. The digital assistant was actually very helpful in walking me through the initial setup of the x2. Make sure you are not in a place that requires silence when you start up the x2 for the first time. I didn’t need the keyboard for the first part of the setup, so I pulled it out and attached it part way through. The process was trivial. The x2 attaches to the keyboard pretty much identically to how the iPad Pro keyboard attaches, but without the awkward folding required on the iPad Pro keyboard. However, the x2 keyboard is much nicer. It is backlit and has keys that are more like those on a MacBook. It also has a decent trackpad. It is a real keyboard, not a near-keyboard that many tablets have. As I type this, I’m on a screen porch at 9:00PM with low light and the keyboard is fully lit and very easy to use. I already had a Microsoft account and Office 365 subscription, so getting up and running was extremely fast for me. My OneDrive files all appeared after I installed Office. This latter experience is what I have come to know and love on the Apple platforms and I really enjoyed that same experience on the x2. I placed my iPad Pro next to the x2 and found them quite similar in size and weight. The x2, as I’ve said, has a much nicer keyboard and a trackpad. As a result, the x2 keyboard also sticks out a lot farther from the display, so it might not fit as well on the little fold down table in a coach airplane seat. However, that the only downside I could see. It is very nice. The display is very bright, colorful and very high resolution…very crisp. It is lovely. There are front and back cameras on the x2. In low light the front camera seemed a bit marginal, but during the setup I was prompted to use my face as my login credentials, so it is clearly good for that purpose as well as Skype, etc. I haven’t used it during full sun yet. The x2 appears to come with a trial subscription to McAfee LiveSafe. I was prompted to allow HP to connect me to McAfee which I allowed. Very quickly McAfee was up and running. The x2 has a 7th generation i7 processor and it is very responsive. I haven’t run any true benchmarks, but the real-feel is great for general use. Next morning… The facial recognition worked very well in full light today. It is humorous to open the laptop and be greeted by recognition. My MacBook Pro unlocks via connection to my watch, so the experience for me is very similar, but with facial recognition, you don’t need to own the watch and you always have it with you (short of an accident or bad hair day). I checked my printers and found my HP M477fdw MFP was already set up. I don’t recall if I was prompted to connect to this last night or if Windows just connected automatically. Either way, it was very convenient. The trackpad is generally very good. It is handles both touch gestures and physical depressions. I have to be careful about touching the pad before I take actions that are sensitive to where the cursor is positioned because it is easy to move the cursor without intending to do so. In terms of general functionality, one finger moves the cursor, two fingers scrolls the page. Depressing (or double-tapping) the pad is a left-click unless you use the lower right corner of the touchpad, when it is a right-click. The only odd behavior is the top edge of the touchpad which required more force to achieve a click. The middle and bottom seem more responsive. The function keys all look fairly standard. The one key that seemed like it was new and improved is F12 which has the icon of an airplane on it and turns on airplane mode as you would expect. Handy! I installed Axis Camera Companion (one of the few apps I must run on Windows). I forget about the Windows progress bar for installations, since I do so few and the Mac installs are instantaneous, but even the normally tedious progress bar sped through very quickly and I was up and running fast. I looked at my camera feeds. I have some 4K cameras and I could see the finest detail very crisply. Very nice!

I received the HP Spectre X2 12-C012DX a few days ago and now that I have had a little time to use it seems that HP has designed a very competitive entry to the cutting edge premium 2 in 1 convertible laptop class of PC which has the Microsoft Surface Pro as the archetype. Physically the HP X2 differs from the archetype Surface Pro's length and width only by about two tenths of an inch in one dimension and a tenth of for the other. Weight is different by only a fraction of an ounce for the tablet alone and the tablet and keyboard. Hp's choice of charging the tablet by a USB C port was something I wanted to look at when I received the X2, there have been issues with a micro USB port getting damaged on other tablets with the wear of repeatedly connecting the cable for data and charging tasks. But the USB C port HP built into the X2 is very solidly constructed and I don't see any concern. It is also convenient to be able to charge the tablet from either of the two USB C ports on opposite edges of the tablet. I normally use an active stylus when I use a tablet for taking notes and the HP stylus provided with the tablet works perfectly for that use, and note-taking is one of the significant rationals for choosing a detachable 2 in 1 over other designs in my opinion. I didn't try the capability of the stylus to support a drawing/graphic generation task. It looks like there is full support for Windows Ink though from what is in Windows Setup, and I will explore the graphic generation aspect in the future. The X2 with the i7 processor is not passively cooled tablet but has a fan which you can hear softly at times. Other tablets is this class device. with 7th Gen Core i7 CPU also use active cooling as far as I can tell from current reviews. Battery life seems to be about what HP claims. Battery life while Streaming Netflix video was about 4.5 hours from 100% battery charge to 20%, at a comfortable brightness and with the volume turned down to 18%, this tablet is not weak on audio output. The battery life was about 7 hours for the drop from 100% to 20% while typing this review, handling a little email and web browsing for reviews of other new tablets with the 7th Gen Core i7 CPU, (YMMV). It looks like the HP X2 starting with a full charge could last a normal business day without special measures or an AC outlet depending on usage. I haven't had a chance to test the HP claim of 50% recharge from empty in 30 minutes yet but its one of the things I'll be looking at for my own information. The only annoyance I encountered with the X2 was the loop on the Keyboard intended to store the active stylus/pen. The loop seems like an after thought, it is made of a inelastic rubberized fabric, the loop is to small for the pen to go into, you can only clip the pen to the outside of the loop. It may just be an early production hiccup. The HP Spectre X2 12-C012DX is a cutting edge premium 2 in 1 convertible laptop/tablet it seems an excellent value and worth serious consideration by someone in the market for a 2 in 1 convertible.

The new HP Spectre X2 is proof positive that Microsoft has been successful in encouraging it's OEM partners to produce higher quality and more thoughtful PC experiences. This new tablet is lightweight, well constructed from high quality materials, and offers solid performance. Included items: Out of the box, the Spectre X2 comes with the tablet style computer itself, a thin keyboard with attaches via magnets with a look and method which is highly reminiscent of Microsoft's Surface keyboard, and a pen for writing or drawing on the screen. Also included is a high speed USB-C charger and a USB-C to USB-A dongle. It's great to have USB-C ports on the device, but I'd much prefer both USB-C and USB-A rather than needing to use the dongle for all legacy USB-A devices. Design: The tablet is attractively designed with a dark matt grey finish accented by the gold toned kickstand and HP logo. The kickstand is more stable and rigid than it appears. Bezels are small, but still provide enough space around the edge of the display to hold the tablet without triggering the touch screen and to use Win10 swiping gestures. The keyboard is solid and attractive with a rubberized base. So close is the design that it really looks like it could be interchangeable with a Surface Pro keyboard (I tried - it doesn't fit). There are two forward firing speakers, apparently courtesy of Bang and Olufsen, which sound quite good with the volume up. In addition to the dual USB-C ports (one each side, which is smart) there are two volume buttons, the sleep/wake button on top, and an SD card slot. Having an SD card on a Windows tablet is very useful as it works just like an additional hard drive (other than performance). The only negative here is that the SD slot requires a paperclip or sim ejection tool to open. On the plus side, the card will stay securely in place and does not protrude like it does on some laptops. There is no DisplayPort, micro HDMI, or other standard video port, although obviously USB-C and Miracast alleviate that issue. Overall the design of the unit is excellent. Setup / Software: For some reason, OEMs still feel the need to load up their Win10 installs with unnecessary custom software, and unfortunately this HP is no exception. It came preloaded with McAfee antivirus and various HP utilities for support, driver updates, and an out-of-the-box setup program to help users get familiar with their new machine. Not one of the installed HP programs actually worked. Literally every one of them failed to run for some reason. I uninstalled them all except the support assistant in the hopes that they might fix it and it would make driver updates easier. I also uninstalled McAfee and went with the built-in Windows Defender, which performs fine for most regular users and exerts much less influence on system performance. Performance: I've tested everything from web browsing to video streaming to Office applications to 3D gaming. In all cases, the Spectre X2 has performed admirably. I'll leave benchmarks to the tech sites, but my personal experience has been that the CPU and local storage are quick, and the built-in Intel 3D hardware is adequate for running recent 3D games as long as you don't mind reducing resolution and detail options. Obviously not a gaming PC, but works just fine if there's some light gaming in the mix. The screen is gorgeous. Great resolution, color rendering, and brightness across a range of applications. The included pen provides reasonable accuracy and better than expected pressure sensitivity. It probably won't win awards in the art world, but for signing and marking up documents and for amateur artists it's a great option that performs well from a subjective standpoint. The keyboard and trackpad are not quite polished as the most recent efforts from Microsoft, but they're really strong. The trackpad is a good size, very smooth, and supports multi-touch gestures. There is a fan in this unit, but it tends to be both quiet and seldom used. Battery Life: Battery performance has been impressive. The biggest contributor to this is that I've experienced literally zero measurable leakage in standby / sleep mode. This is truly a computer that you can use for an hour each day for a week and not charge until the weekend. For an i7, the battery also holds up well under regular web, video, and productivity loads, although gaming will obviously drain it much more quickly. Overall: Overall this device is easy to recommend to somebody how needs a solid general purpose PC that combines usability as a either tablet or a laptop. It's easily one of the best executed convertibles I've seen and should perform admirably for home, business (especially road warriors), and students alike.

On the surface (no pun intended), the 2017 version of HP’s Spectre X2 appears very similar to Microsoft’s 2017 Surface Pro (aka Surface Pro 5), as well as other Surface Pro clones, such as Samsung’s Galaxy Book. However, when you compare them…more specifically, the Spectre X2 vs Surface Pro…you quickly see how much HP’s new 2-in-1 convertible shines above the others. All have, essentially, the same screen size, and the same aspect ratios, but screen resolutions vary considerably – the Samsung has a 2160x1440 screen, and the Surface jumps up to 2736x1824, but the HP Spectre X2 has a Retina Display-busting 3000x2000 pixel resolution. Moving to CPU & GPU, the Galaxy Book only offers a lowly Intel Core i5-7200U & HD 620. The Spectre X2 and Surface Pro offer up to an Intel Core i7 CPU & HD 640 GPU (although it needs to be pointed out that Microsoft’s base CPU is a lowly Core m3, while HP starts at a Core i5). Unfortunately for Microsoft, if you want “extras”, such as one of the keyboard covers and/or the Surface Pen, you have to fork out additional cash…with HP’s Spectre X2, as well as Samsung’s Galaxy Book, both are included at no additional charge. When it comes to price, Microsoft thinks they are “Apple”, charging as much for the i5 CPU/8GB RAM/256GB SSD configuration as HP is charging for the i7/8GB RAM/360GB SSD configuration. Based just on this info, the HP is already shining above the others…but, when looking at the build quality & materials, that’s when the new Spectre X2 really starts to shine. The Surface Pro looks boring. If it weren’t for the fact that it’s running Windows 10, one could mistake it for any generic 12” Android tablet…which is not only boring, it’s sad. Microsoft’s Keyboard covers are just as bad, and even feel somewhat on the cheap side. The Galaxy Book’s keyboard cover is a step up the ladder…but only one step…one website even stated “One step forward, One step back”, which is fairly accurate, as it’s just as bad as Microsoft’s keyboard covers, albeit in different ways. HP, on the other hand, went all out on their design, in terms of quality, design, and materials. On a scale of 1-10, I’d rate the Microsoft keyboard cases a 3-4, the Samsung a 5, and the HP an 7-8. Put another way, while there’s still room for improvement, HP’s keyboard case is still the best, even beating the Apple iPad Pro keyboard case. One of the best things about HP’s new design is the stand. It is well thought out, well made, and just all-around outstanding. HP has outshined EVERYONE else (yes, that does include Apple) in their implementation of a built-in stand. Microsoft, Samsung, Apple, and others would do well to look at the Spectre X2’s stand. Lastly, I want to (lightly) touch on the color scheme. While Microsoft & Samsung both appear to be copying Apple’s iPad/iPad Pro, HP chose to go with something far more aesthetically pleasing. People will look at the new Spectre X2, and just go “WOW”. I could keep going on, providing a point-by-point comparison, but, in truth, I don’t believe there’s any need. FINAL VERDICT: Yes, the Microsoft Surface has a longer (claimed…but not yet proven) battery life (13.5 hrs, compared to 8 hrs with the Spectre X2), and, if battery life is all you care about, then, by all means, get yourself a Surface Pro. However, if you care about far more important things…price, build quality, materials, features, functions, etc…then, in all honesty, there’s only one realistic choice – the new HP Spectre X2. This thing is so great, I’m actually considering buying a second one for my wife, as well as a third one for my parents. I’d never really considered getting a 2-in-1 convertible, as I already had a very good gaming laptop, and didn’t need what, essentially, equates to a second laptop (ok, third, if you include the 15” MacBook Pro I have for my church). Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond my control, said laptop had to be replaced about a month ago, and was replaced with a desktop (although it’s an OUTSTANDING desktop, with a liquid-cooled Core i7-7700K, liquid-cooled GTX 1080, 32GB DDR4 RAM @ 3000MHz, 1TB SSD, & 2TB HDD)…and, because of said circumstances, the HP Spectre X2 makes an excellent portable computer. Would I recommend this to others? The fact that I’m considering purchasing two more should answer that question. Disclaimer: This product was provided free, or at reduced cost, for the purpose of reviewing the product. Nevertheless, the above review, be it positive, negative, or anywhere in-between, is a 100% honest review, and the price paid played absolutely no part in my review.

I'm not going to go into detail in this review, as many have done excellent reviews, such as (Sixshot), which helped me make my decision to purchase. I purchased to replace a Surface Pro 4, whose screen mysteriously cracked a day after the new line of Surface Pro series was released. I then looked for more affordable alternatives. The HP Spectre X2, compared favorably and even beat the SP Pro (2017) in many categories. My purchased HP Spectre X2 configuration: i7, 8GB, 360 GB SSD, Black. Pros: 1. This is a beautifully crafted alternative to the 2017 Microsoft Surface Pro(5?). Build quality is exceptional. 2. latest 7th Generation Kaby Lake processors. Very slight speed increase over my i7, 8GB Surface pro 4. For Example launching the same program on both netted the HP Spectre X2 2 seconds faster load time. Startup time on the Spectre X2 (2017) is phenomenal with less than 10 seconds boot time. 3. The Keyboard attaches the same as Surface Pro 4 but has a slightly higher typing angle. The keyboard has a black smooth surface on top with textured rubber on bottom, which I prefer over the Surface Pro 4. 4. the copper colored Kickstand actually suprised me, as I thought it would be a pain, as it's open compared to the all enclosed Surface Pro series. I now actually hold the Spectre X2 in portrait mode stabilized by wrapping my hand around the bar. It's very stable and folds nearly flat. 5. Comes with keyboard and stylus, both which are exceptional. However, the stylus does not have the eraser that I'm used to using on the Surface pro. 6. Stylus pen is the same technology an compatible with Surface Pro series (N-Trig). I can use the Surface pro 4 pen with the HP and Vice Versa. 7. USB-C ports on both sides. This is both a plus and minus, as it requires me to use a dongle to adapt to standard USB-A peripherals. however, the dongle is included and very small dongles can be purchased that make it look as if it's part of the device. Charger can be plugged on either side. 8. Very fast charging with HP Fast charge technology. it seems to charge 1-2% per minute. Incredibly fast charges. 9. Incredible High resolution 3000 x 2000 IPS screen. This is higher than even the 2017 Surface pro. It is also brighter than my Surface Pro 4, with vivid colors. 10. Battery life is much better than my Surface pro 4 because of the larger 41+ Whr battery and Kaby lake processor effeciency. I typically see 1-2 hour differences in use time with the HP Spectre X2. Cons: 1. The HP is slower to recognize the pen than any Surface Pro model I've used (1,2,3 or 4). At times when I tap on the screen to surf, it takes 2-3 taps for it to register (HUGE PROBLEM), in which I almost took it back the first day. However, I found the problem to be a very slight lag as to the distance the screen takes to recognize the pen vs the Surface pro 4. If I quickly move the pen towards the Surface Pro 4 screen it always picks up the pen regardless of speed. The HP has a slightly slower pick up time, making it miss very quick taps with the stylus. I'm hoping HP can correct this with a software patch. As it is, I've had to adjust ever slightly to the delay. This can be a deal killer for some, including me. 2. very noticeable Heat on the back compared to Surface Pro 4 when using it for long periods of time or intensely. As you're using it in tablet mode, you don't really notice the gradual heating in your fingers but if you were to put it down and come back a minute or two later, you immediately notice it can get very warm. I compared the same type of use with my SP4 and the SP4 stayed cool to the touch regardless of use. Very noticeable when picking up the HP Spectre X2 after using the SP4. Again, this could be a deal breaker for some. Hopefully I have a bad unit, so I'm going to return it to see if it's better. 3. The USB-C ports are not Thunderbolt compatible. Not a big deal for me, but definitely needs to be noted for power users. OVERALL: I give the Spectre X2 (2017) 4 out of 5 stars, given the stylus and heat issues. However, if either of those don't bother you, the HP Spectre is a no brainer compared to the Surface Pro (2017) model just released with equivalent specs. After several days of side by side use with my SP4, I prefer the HP Spectre overall, but I may now look to the SP Pro (2017) if the screen and heat issues are prevalent throughout the builds.