HP - Spectre x360 2-in-1 15.6" 4K Ultra HD Touch-Screen Laptop - Intel Core i7 - 16GB Memory - 512GB Solid State Drive - Dark Ash Silver

I had gone with the previous generation via open box with the 7550U cpu and because of the huge enhancement to the architecture Intel released with the 8550U I had to return it and go with this model. Some processor design gymnastics was done to go from a 2 to 4 core processor by lowering the idle frequency but jumping up the turbo frequency. Just check out some of the bench marks out there for the 8550u compared to the 7550u and its astonishing. However as I will mention later in the review some of these benchmarks can be misleading. So I'm going to write this review a little differently by listing what I absolutely love about it and then some challenges I see coming up trying to put all this power in an ultra book chassis. Pros: laptop charges through USB-C, convertible 2-1,Lightning fast ssd, 4 core 8th gen intel processor, Thunderbolt 3 port , onboard audio I am enjoying, stunning 4K glossy display, and a rakishly built chassis, comes with high quality travel sleeve. Ability to add an external eGPU....yes I said an external eGPU, the Spectre x360 has played very friendly with this technology(in short ability to run desktop graphic cards through thunderbolt 3 port, lots of success stories out there) From an ergonomic and design perspective, I would recommend seeing this laptop in person, the Spectre series, last generation and this generation, are absolutely beautiful. Really have not encountered anything negative yet however I am seeing the following potential issue, Synonymous to having a big car engine under the hood but not enough road to test it out. For the car it would be available road, for this laptop it would be temperature constraints on the cpu I'm getting excessive cpu throttling(meaning to cool unit cpu speed is cut, so although it can turbo up to near 4k frequency you might be pinned at 1.8k because of cpu throttling). Running initial tests on temperatures I am seeing this. For multi threaded driven applications I see this not being much of a problem. But single threaded may cause premature throttling. I'm still looking into this, I would recommend an external vacuum cooler to explore solutions to this). I haven't spent much time in the BIOS yet but some BIOS all intel step technology to be disabled which could alleviated some of these symptoms but research is showing HP has removed this from the BIOS. For my test I had the cpu load at 100% per core, and my cpu was pinned to near 1.8 rather than the full cpu capacity. The laptop was doing prime number analysis on a 4 cores in a well ventilated room and position. If anyone finds heating solutions for this please let me know! I am curious.

Did a lot of research prior to making my mind to go for the 15.6 inch 4k Spectre 360 with 8th Gen i7-8550U processor. My other options that I was interested in was the Dell XPS 15 (9560) or the Lenovo 920 (coming out soon). The Dell XPS is a powerhouse machine with i7-7700HQ processor & GTX 1050 GPU but the 15 inch does not come with 2in1 option...also I have not heard about when dell will refresh with model 9570,,maybe with i7-8700HQ whenever it launched in 2018..The Lenovo was interesting as well as it will have the i7-8650U & that awesome hinge for the 2in1 but i backed off because of the 14 inch display...I was set to get a 15.6 inch 2in1. So now to this Hp Spectre...my favorites on this are First the craftsmanship of this machine..its beautiful & very steady...very luxurious. I tried it on display at Best Buy & fell in love with the low key keyboard & the trackpad...both of which are way better than Dell & Lenovo. Secondly the 4k screen of this HP is awesome..Dell is right there is well with thin bezels but I do not like the camera at the bottom of the dell. The spectre's touchscreen & ability with windows ink is awesome..the touchscreen works as a charm on all 3 modes. Top notch display I would say. The laptop is very thin overall the screen & design overall compliments each other. Thirdly the 8th generation intel processor upgrade here is awesome...4 cores, its fast & the SSD is super duper quick on shut down & start up.. I do not do a lot of graphics or video editing but I do use a lot of tabs on internet browsing & multi task with excel & word at the same time...In the 5-6 days I have used this with multitasking, this laptop handles it smoothly..did not experience any lags or throttling. Other Notes - Online on BB it states to come with a stylus but as I read on the first couple of reviews that the stylus was missing, I had BB rep open the box in BB & yes the stylus was missing. They offered me the Wacom Bamboo Ink pen which is actually better than the HP active pen so I was lucky to get it free. I would recommend you do the same if buying in the store. The stylus synced via bluetooth with no issues...works like a charm. Battery life is ok...I keep the machine at 4k setting so it gives me less than the stated battery life in the specifications. I have not had any cons yet but will update so if I do face anything. Overall this Spectre 360 15 with 8th gen i7 processor is a beauty with great processing power so my needs. I would definitely recommend to anyone that has ~same needs. This is my 2nd HP laptop so I am glad I stayed with HP.

Build quality should not just be by how the laptop looks and feels on the outside. Build quality is also about the inside of a laptop. Like the motherboard, connecters, processor, type of ssd used, and things one cannot find out about until actually purchased. And of course, based on performance. This is my experience in search of hoping to get one that didn't have some kind of defect or serious issue. Pro's: 1. They all looked good in dark ash. 2. They all had a great keyboard 3. All came with 8th gen I7 8550U processor. Negatives: 1. All had some light-bleed/light-glow (one was so bad the top left screen looked like the sun just without the yellow. 2. Color accurracy was off on all except for one. 3. Three had loose usb type-C connecters, which are used for charging, or to connect adapters for ethernet, monitors, or thunderbolt docks. Loose connecters lead to premature wear and shortens the lifespan of the unit. 4. On 2 laptops, I experienced random blue screen freezes, when opening the "settings" window". 5. Only the 1st one came with a Samsung SSD! It was an early Oct build. All the rest had Toshiba SSD, no matter the batch, or build date. I was lead to believe from pro reviews that this Spectre model from BestBuy came with top of the line Samsung SSD. 6. Sound from speakers was not good, only one produced clear sound and provided some instrument separation, when listening to music. 7. All had had "coil whine!", when unplugged (not charging). However, coil whine was only audible in quiet settings and was of the "high pitch hum" variety. Sounds like faint ringing in the ear, which can be quite annoying. 8. Trackpads also need serious improvement. You can either softly tap on center of trackpad to single/double click, or press down firmly to left/right click, and in both scenarios the cursor would often jump off target causing either nothing to happen, or opening/performing an unintended command. Sometimes, when the cursor stayed put, and eventhough the computer sounded out my single, or double clicks, nothing would happen, and I found myself having to repeat my single, or double clicks more often than l would like to open applications. 9. Two had deformed bottoms, which caused one to rest on the table where the vent is located blocking any air from reaching the cooling fans. Since the feet were hardly touching the table I could not even open the lid with two hands because the laptop would slide so easily. One had a bent boottom, which caused the front left foot to not rest on the table also causing the laptop to slide back too easily. At this time, I CANNOT recommend this laptop! HP ?????

This laptop was fast, ascetically pleasing and fun to operate while i had it. As a web developer and graphic designer, this laptop really appealed to me and i waited half a year to get for the right price along with Lenovo Yoga 720. Unfortunately, it had a couple issues that were hard to overlook for the money i paid for it. I actually went through 2 before i decided to not bother with it anymore. For some reason, the laptops had a hard time being quiet. The fans would constantly run and get really hot, even while only just web browsing. It got really annoying running Photoshop and apps that even used a slight amount of power. The fans would get louder constantly until you close what your were doing. Only for it to do it again shortly after. Off the charger, the laptop would emit a high pitch noise if the brightness was turned on high enough. The laptop also emitted some kind of electric, scratchy noise occasionally. I believe it was called "coil whine" and there was a Youtube video that demonstrates what it sounds like. If you are in an open room/environment, you probably wouldn't notice too much but you will when you are working in a quiet room. Tried doing a clean install and install updates to the drivers, but most were completely useless. It may have possibly gotten worse when i updated the BIOs, and the files provided would not allow me to rollback. As for positives, the screen was great to look at and very responsive. The laptop was really fast and the speakers sounded great. Plenty of space & ram to do your everyday tasks. Too bad this version did not provide the pen for me to try Windows Ink. Tablet mode was cool but the laptop was kind of awkward to handle since it is near bezel-less and pretty heavy. I almost hated how you had to be really careful so you would not scruff or scratch the finish on the laptop. You will want to baby this laptop if you care about it. Tried to look for solutions to keep it before i returned my last one but none were available. It's a shame because i really liked it, but it's hard to consider keeping when you have issues and see more coming in the future. Too bad, since it seems like everyone else sending in reviews got the "perfect laptop with no noise". Maybe i was at the wrong end of HP's quality control. Moving on to a better deal.

I have been looking to replace my current laptop and tablet with a capable 2 in 1 device, but was waiting for certain features to standardize before making a purchase. With the newest version of the HP Spectre 15t (8th Gen Intel CPU), I have finally found what I need. The device size offers a perfect combination of portability yet enough screen real estate to get work done. The 4K screen is beautiful by the way, but is glossy so will reflect light. I use a MS Surface Pen, and it works perfectly with OneNote. Ample IO ports including Headphone Jack, Full Size HDMI, SD card reader, 1x standard USB Type A, and 2x Thunderbolt 3 enabled USB Type-C ports. Both ports will charge and provide Thunderbolt3 data speeds, including all 4x PCIe lanes being open so it will work perfectly with an eGPU enclosure for added graphical performance. I am Currently using this as a desktop replacement at work, where 1 USB Type-C cable goes into my dock, and provides power, keyboard, mouse, speakers, and outputs to Dual Displays. The backlit keyboard is excellent and provides a great typing experience. Large track pad feels great and supports Win 10 gestures. Performance wise, this thing rocks. It has the newest 8th Gen Intel CPU with Quad Core support, 16GB od RAM, and a dedicated Nvidia MX150 GPU. While not as powerful graphically as an actual "Gaming Laptop"(nor as bulky) it is way ahead of integrated graphics found of most notebooks. Screen shot attached of a 3DMark benchmark score to compare performance for those interested. Overall I have been very pleased with this laptop, and love the added functionality of the 2 in 1 design.

I have looked for a new notebook for YEARS and have spent countless hours looking at videos, reviews, and comments and this looked like a sure bet. Got it on Black Friday for $400 off, which was added incentive to buy such a high-price machine. Opened it up and noticed the leather sleeve/folio, but no smart pen (shown in multiple pics and included direct from HP and from many other retailers). I contacted HP and Best Buy customer service and Best Buy was "pretty sure" it didn't come with the pen from them but linked me to a pen that's not made for this machine. HP was sure that Best Buy didn't include the smart stylus pen but said they did. They couldn't sell it separately though, because even THEY didn't have it outside of the bundle, with the Spectre and pen matching, which is what I wanted. I waited and finally both offered it (though not exactly as shown) as a separate purchase. I went to go through set up and the power button was so touchy it turned the machine on before I wanted and before I'd plugged it in. When Cortana spoke, her voice was distorted in the PATHETIC speakers, which sounded like tin cans. I'm a musician and knew that didn't bode well. The speakers at 50% with just her spoken voice were clipping and buzzing. Then Windows setup said "Taking longer than expected" and then suddenly appeared to stop and I got a black screen with white cursor and no idea what to do. I looked it up on my phone and this is a common HP issue after a Windows update, but the update was long enough ago it should be rectified. I waited a half hour and finally things got going again. Then I got a desktop, but couldn't open ANYTHING. All apps/features were shadowed/pale and couldn't be clicked on. Furthermore, the huge, awkward trackpad lacks a scroll feature (my 2007 HP had one, why doesn't this?) and froze EVERY SINGLE TIME I used it. I had to swipe across the entire thing multiple times to "wake it up" and it often jumped around on screen, failed to click, or clicked the wrong things--another issue that's rampant on these according to a year's worth of forums or more. At this point, I knew I was taking it back. Finally got that all fixed (except the freezing trackpad) and watched 4K video on YouTube. It looked no better than my 2007 HP Pavilion's 768p screen and at times worse. Sound is distant and doesn't "match up" naturally with speaker's face. It was obvious sound and visuals came from different places, if that makes sense, vs it looking and sounding like someone speaking has the sound coming from the screen where they are. The sharp metal edge looks good and feels horrible. It cut into my wrists as I typed and I see this is a years-old complaint. It was uncomfortable at best and painful at worst and I'd never be able to type for extended periods, which I need to do. Finally, while playing Microsoft Jigsaw to test a simple game and the touch screen, I found it started to lag significantly and even freeze. I'd touch a puzzle piece and move it but it would trail behind my finger significantly, or not move at all. Like that minimal game was overtaxing it. I factory reset it and took it back for a refund. I really hated it for the price, despite beautiful design and new tech. Too expensive for a barely-functional, heavy, uncomfortable 2-in-1 that doesn't even include the pen designed for it for Windows Ink and full use of the screen.

This review is for the 15.6 4k 8th Gen I-7 WITH NVIDIA MX150 2 G GPU & 16G Ram! Quality control on my machine is great! The hinge is solid and you are not able to open with one hand. The screen is very nice, not super bright but shows colors as they should be an gorgeous. There were no dings, scratches, or blemishes of any kind upon un-boxing. However the aluminum finish in ash shows finger prints well but cleans easy. The performance of this machine is incredible for how slim & convertible this device actually is. If you are wanting this device as a tablet i would recommend the 13" over the 15" as this is a huge for this purpose. I did not realize how powerful this computer was until i was streaming 4k Video to an external monitor while working remotely via team viewer, downloading large game files (15G) and browsing the internet, all while running AUTO-CAD Lite. While the computer did get warm and the fans did come on this machine kept up with no fuss and i would not hesitate to put it through those conditions again with same results. The thing that really sets this Spectre apart from the others is the Geforce MX150 2gb Dedicated graphics. Seriously it is insane what a computer in this price range can now do and stay physically this small/gorgeous. You wont be playing AAA titles on ultra at 4k but you can play older games flawlessly such as skyrim (4k High Settings) with high FPS & even BF1 high settings at 1080P. All in all i picked this up form black Friday for the astonishing 1199 price tag. I can honestly say i have put this computer through the ringer and for what it is, ( A mid level internally, Beautiful Ultra book with 2 Gb dedicated graphics) this machine performs way past my expectations. The only downside to me is having only 1 usb and no numerical keyboard. But both of these shortcomings can be rendered easily. All in all for the price i paid i am more than satisfied, and would not hesitate purchasing again. (HP Spectre 15.6" W/MX150 Graphics Kills Yoga 920 W/ HD 620 Graphics. )

The Spectre is a laptop that doubles as a tablet. I don't expect to use it much in tablet mode, if ever. Consequently the touch screen is often more an annoyance that a positive feature. I sometimes touch the screen while pointing out something to a colleague only to accidentally make an unintended change to the display. But that's just one of a few minor quibbles. The primary reason I bought this machine was the 500 GB SSD drive. The laptop boots up in seconds, and operations that involve a lot of I/O to the hard drive are very fast. (I mostly use this machine to run ArcGIS Desktop for the class I teach in Geographic Information Systems.) The laptop has a slim form factor which makes it lightweight despite the relatively large 15" screen. My last laptop was a 13.4" screen that was adequate to the job, but the extra real estate offered by the 15" screen is much appreciated. In fact, I had to reduce the Display from its recommended 3840 x 2160 setting to 2048 x 1152 to make it easier to capture readable screenshots. The screen was quite legible at the higher resolution, but the text was too small to project in PowerPoint presentations. Battery life has been quite good. I haven't tested the battery from 100% charge to near 0%, but I've routinely worked 4 - 5 hours without charging. About the quibbles: The matte finish of the device is very attractive, but it shows handling marks that were easily disguised on my previous HP Pavillion's textured surface. The trackpad no longer has dedicated left & right mouse buttons, but instead they are integrated as the lower part of the trackpad. This seems to be the trend with most modern laptops so it isn't a differentiator when buying, just something you may need to adapt to. Finally, the design makes it unusually difficult to raise the screen and open the laptop. There is a small incised space at the front for inserting a fingertip, but raising up at that point usually lifts the entire device rather than raising the screen. None of these quibbles should discourage you from purchasing this otherwise fine laptop.