Customer Ratings & Reviews

======= Summary ======= The HP Spectre 13 (2017) in Ceramic White is a very nice laptop that is gorgeous-looking, attractively designed, thin, light, very fast, and well-constructed with premium materials. A couple of minor shortcomings include lack of ports and just a decent, not great, battery life. ======= Design ======= Just wow~!! The Spectre 13 in Ceramic White is highly attractive~! For me, it's the best-looking laptop I've ever laid my eyes on. Several adjectives sprang into my mind when I first saw it - gorgeous, beautiful, awesome, pretty, sophisticated, elegant...You get the point. I really LOVE its design. :D More specifically, I like the design for its slimness, thiness, and lightness (2.4 lbs). The laptop feels premium and solid with no creaking, no wobbling, and no loose hinges. I also like the Ceramic White color paired with the Pale Gold. It's smooth to the touch and resists fingerprints very well. Being a fan of both white and gold colors, my house and rooms contain white furniture (including my desktop PC and its accessories). The Spectre 13 fits in perfectly. The white lid, however, scratches very easily. So be careful and try not to put anything on top of the laptop. Not all scratches can be buffed out. Other design touches I like are the speakers located above the keyboard area. As a result, the sound is louder and closer to me when I watch videos and listen to music. Brilliant~! With the speakers up there, HP was able to make the keyboard go edge-to-edge and give the keys more spacing which resulted in a more comfortable typing experience for me. I don't like keyboards where it is too cramped and the keys are too close to each other. Speaking of the keyboard, the typing experience is wonderful. The keys have good travel, it's well-dampened and respond very well, and feels nice under the fingertips due to its matte coating. It's not slippery and it's not sticky-feeling either. I think it's just right with good grip and texture and a springy feel. The Synaptic TouchPad is nicely sized and I like that it's centered and not off to one side. It's smooth and solid-feeling and my fingertip glides across it very easily and precisely. The button presses (Left-Click and Right-Click) require more force than I like and more than what I'm used to but I did get used to it. If there is one design feature I wish HP had done differently, it would be for them to place some USB Type C ports on the side of the laptop. I know they couldn't because they wanted to make the laptop thinner but I still wish they had at the expense of a couple of millimeters of extra thickness. Overall, I give the Design a 9.8 out of 10. ======= Display ======= The 1080P Full HD display is bright and crispy with great viewing angles, color fidelity, and accuracy. There are absolutely no complaints here. ======= Speakers ======= For laptop speakers, I find the sound volume and quality to be above average. Thanks to its location above the keyboard, the sound is closer and louder. The bass, as expected, isn't great but that is expected from such a thin and light laptop chassis. ======= Network & Connectivity Options ======= The 2x2 MIMO Wifi and Bluetooth 4.2 performance are excellent. ======= Ports ======= With just 4 ports - one Audio Jack and three USB Type C - I feel kind of restricted and inconvenienced. I know why HP did this - to make the world's most thinnest laptop and looking toward the future. Still, I miss having an HDMI port, a SD card reader, and some USB Type A ports. It was nice that HP included one USB Type A to USB Type C dongle in the box. For my needs, though, I will be needing and getting a USB Type C hub that supports at least HDMI and USB Type A. ======= Performance ======= With the 8th-Generation Intel Core i7 8550U CPU (4 cores, 8 threads, 1.8GHz boosted up to 4 GHz), 8GB of DDR3 RAM, 256GB NVME PCIe SSD, and the Intel UHD Graphics 620, the Spectre will plow through everything very fast except for graphic-intensive 3D games. Opening Chrome or Firefox with ~20 tabs doesn't slow the machine down. Multi-tasking with multiple applications and background processes is also very good. Installation of large filesize applications, such as Office 2013, goes by very fast. Love it~! Bootup time is super fast and all the apps, processes and services that kick in upon startup load very quickly. As for upgradeability, only the size of the SSD is user-serviceable. The RAM is soldered to the board, which is a shame. I will be upgrading to a 1TB SSD in the near future. Since I don't game on a laptop, the performance of the Spectre is a 10 out of 10 from me. ======= Typing and TouchPad Useability ======= As mentioned above, I have absolutely no issues with the keyboard and I love everything about it. The Synaptic TouchPad, however, left me feeling wanted. I REALLY wanted a Microsoft Precision Pad due to its great support for 3-Finger and 4-Finger custom gestures. The options available from Synaptic is just so-so and I had a really difficult time adjusting to it from using a Precision Pad for a while. I was so used to custom finger gesture shortcuts for navigating around, it felt like a rude awakening and a massive downgrade having to use the Home, End, Pg Up, and Pg Down keys again. Luckily, I found a solution~! The app is called "MultiSwipe" and it costs just $5.00. It works on the Spectre 13 and allows me custom-program 2-finger, 3-finger, 4-finger, and 5-finger custom gestures~!! I'm a very happy person now. :D ======= Battery life ======= After experiencing dismal battery life for the first 2-3 days (most likely due to all the background Window Updates), I'm now experiencing pretty good battery life. I can easily obtain 6 to 8 hours of battery life before needing a recharge, which is more than good enough for me. In addition to charging the laptop via the included wall power adapter, one can also charge up with a power bank and a USB Type C cable which is very, very cool. ======= Pre-Installed Software ======= There were several Microsoft-included apps and "bloatware" I didn't need so they were almost all uninstalled. It wasn't too bad though. I kept all the HP Software because they're actually useful and will help me keep track of driver and BIOS updates. ======= So, is it any good? Is it a good buy? ======= Yes and Yes~! Out of 10, I rate the HP Spectre 13 laptop a 9.5 out of 10. It gets right the main crucial and important aspects of a good laptop experience - easy portability (thin, light, and good battery life), bright & crispy display, superb fit-and-finish with premium build materials, excellent keyboard, pretty good touchpad, fast storage (user-upgradeable), fast performance, and stable software. Supporting more ports (HDMI, USB Type A) and including the PrecisionPad would've increased the overall score to 10 out of 10 for me. With that said, this is a high-quality and premium machine from HP.

Summary: HP has made great strides with the Spectre line of laptops over the past few years. The use of high-quality materials like Gorilla Glass and aluminum for the enclosure, a keyboard with good keytravel and feel, and strong performance from the quad-core i7 processor and PCIe solid-state drive offset a poor trackpad and a few other small details. If you're looking for an attractive, portable, high-end Windows 10 laptop, the Spectre 13 is a good choice. Introduction: Intel introduced the "Ultrabook" (a portmanteau of "ultraportable" and "notebook") specification in 2011 to try to help Windows laptop makers compete with Apple's premium laptops, in particular, the MacBook Air series. The idea was to make thin, light laptops with low-power processors (not necessarily *slow*, just low power consumption) providing excellent battery life. While Intel walked away from the Ultrabook terminology almost four years ago, the HP Spectre 13 is clearly designed against that same concept of premium materials, thin, light, and good battery life. About me: I am reviewing the Spectre 13 primarily as someone familiar with Apple products as the benchmark for a premium laptop; I have no experience with the ThinkPad X1 Carbon or other premium ultrabooks. I am familiar with business-class ThinkPad T-series and Dell Latitude products, as well as lower-end ThinkPad G-series laptops and HP's Omen line of gaming laptops. The Good: The built-in 1920x1080 IPS screen is clear and bright, with good color rendition and wide viewing angles, as one would expect of a premium laptop. The Gorilla Glass overlay on the screen is high quality and doesn't distort images, though it does pick up glare due to its glossy nature. The hinge on the screen is firm, and the screen does not "wobble". (This has been a major issue with other thin-and-light Windows laptops I've tried, like the Omen 15.) The Spectre 13 slots in between the 12" Retina MacBook and 13" Retina MacBook Pro in terms of size, weight, and thickness - heavier and larger than the 12, smaller and lighter than the 13 - so it's in a good place in terms of portability. The keyboard has "full travel" (by laptop standards) keys, which are actually quite pleasant to type on, and the keyboard has an adjustable backlight. Sound quality from the built-in Bang & Olufsen speakers is above average, though it falls a hair short of the current MacBooks in bass response. Includes three USB-C ports, which worked as expected with various USB-C accessories I have (such has the Apple Digital Multiport AV Adaptor, which converts a USB-C port into an HDMI and USB-A port, as well as providing power passthrough), an Apple 29W MacBook charger, and a CalDigit USB-C dock. I was encouraged to see that it didn't seem to matter which USB-C ports I plugged things into; charging, video output, etc. all worked as expected (with one small hitch - the 29W Apple USB-C adaptor, when plugged into the AV adaptor, didn't charge the Spectre...though it worked fine when connected directly to the laptop). Includes a 65W charger, which fills the battery quickly. The Windows "Hello" face recognition works well and works quickly, though it was confused once when I was wearing a hat (which is not HP's fault). The Bad: The 65W charger, while it charges the laptop quickly, is nearly four times the size/weight of Apple's 29W charger for the Retina MacBook - a major issue when dealing with a thin-and-light laptop. A smaller power cord that charged the laptop more slowly would have been a good tradeoff. Also, every single time. you plug the laptop in, or wake it from sleep with a non-HP charger, the Spectre 13 displays a "nag" message, complaining about how HP recommends you use their power cord. The Ugly: The trackpad is a bad joke; it feels cheap and flimsy - and worse, it's very inaccurate and inconsistent - which seems like an anomaly on an otherwise premium laptop. (This is not a problem limited to HP by any means; Apple has some kind of trackpad "magic" that no one else has been able to replicate, though Logitech was able to make the tolerable T650 trackpads.) I would probably have abandoned the review because of the trackpad if I didn't have a Logitech Bluetooth mouse to use with the Spectre 13. Also, the keyboard is white, and has a white backlight...so when the backlight is on, you can't read the text on the keys, as shown in the photos below. Ooops! Might be less of a problem on the black version of the Spectre 13.

Simply put, this is one of the most beautiful functioning pieces of technology I have ever seen. It comes in a jewel-box-like gold and white packaging. The laptop itself is the same colors and they are gorgeous. The keys and keyboard are white (see below) and can be back lit with gentle blue lighting.* The tactile feedback is excellent. Just opening the box tells you this is a premium laptop in virtually every respect. It is thin and relatively light. Overall visual and tactile effects are terrific, and my photos can’t do it justice. The screen’s resolution (1920 x 1080, refresh @ 60 HZ) is excellent and the it really “pops.” It, too, is a delight on the eyes and, more critically, the touchscreen is very responsive. It has the capability to responds to taps and slide finger inputs as does the touch pad. Anyone who has used an IPhone or Android will find this an easy transition. With 8 gigs of RAM and a Core I7 (Gen 8) processor, it is fast! HP clearly went to a lot of trouble to distinguish this computer from others by including many thoughtful and useful features. Like music or want to hear your Skype communications more clearly? The Bang and Olufsen speakers that stretch across the top of the keyboard offer surprisingly good output and enhanced voice clarity. Speaking of which, if you need to be seen over the Internet, the dual cameras are flanked by 2 LED lights that will be useful in a dark setting. Need to carry the Spectre? A thought faux-leather slip case comes with it. Working on a small airplane table? You can activate airplane mode with one button tap and be confident your laptop won’t slide thanks to 3 very grippy “feet” that run the width of the machine. Is it a perfect laptop? Not totally, but very close. Gripes are few and do not affect its great functionality. Like most, I dislike the “bloatware” that came preloaded, but I can’t tell which wonderfully useful apps were install by Windows or HP. The converter “brick” seems ridiculously oversized. The farthest the screen will tilt is just about ½ inch from ideal for those of us who occasionally like to work standing up. There are no USB ports or card readers, but there are 3 USB-C and Thunderbolt ports which will require adapters for many users with traditional flash drives or SD cards. Obviously the smaller ports contribute to the trim size of the Spectre, a good tradeoff. The lovely white keyboard stayed cleaned during my use, but over time might get pretty grimy. In sum, if your company won’t buy one of these gorgeous, high-powered laptops for you, splurged on yourself. You won’t regret it. *The literature that came with the Spectre included the standard disclaimer that colors and features “may vary.” I hope not!

I cannot be any happier than I am right now. I absolutely love this PC. So why did I choose it? I was stuck between the HP x360 15inch with the nice specs vs the Google PIxelbook with the nice and light design. But then I found this laptop - it was literally the middle ground of both! With a sleek design, amazing feel, thin bezels, great keyboard, lovely color, and good specs - I couldn't pass it up. Most importantly, it had the 8th gen intel i7 processor! The battery is great and exactly what I was looking for. (Replaced an old high performing laptop that I use to have to carry an extra spare battery and a charger - not no more!) I also recommend buying this from Best Buy, as its ready to pick up and return easily or come to for problems. I didn't want to wait for HP to slowly ship to me that was already on back order and risk getting a disfunctional laptop. My PC from Best Buy had no issues!

I really enjoyed this device, and honestly had no problems with it. Until today, 6 days after having this device, I saw scratches all over my laptop corners inside. It completely matches the indents of the screen when you close the device and I'm really sad that this happen, especially when I even purchased a windows 10 pro license for this laptop.

So far I love this laptop. It is very thin and light, but did not compromise on quality. The laptop frame is sturdy and feels like it will hold up well. The screen has bright and well defined colors and the keyboard and touchscreen is very responsive. This is my first touchscreen that is not a tablet and I like being able to do some functions on the keyboard and others on the screen. For the power cord, it has 2 ways to plug it in an outlet. You can plug it in at the brick and the cord is around 5 ft. Or you can add the extra extension to add more feet to the cord. This makes the cord long enough you should be able to reach a plug in most situations when away from home. As an added touch, they included in the box a leather sleeve that is a snug fit for the laptop. Since it is thinner than most, this will help it stay secure in bags made for regular laptops or to carry it in a messenger bag. The Spectre has enough power and ram for most applications out there. So if you are a casual user/internet surfer or use it for business applications, you should be well satisfied. If you are into heavy gaming which requires a high end video card, then you need to look at one of HP's gaming laptops. Overall, I love the looks of it and the functionality, so a win win for me.

I got this in the mail and opened the box. My first impression was amazement as I pulled out this white and gold box. I've never seen a laptop presented or shipped like this one. I took the plastic wrap off the box and the box had that rubber feel to it like quality. When I got to the laptop, OMG, was it sleek looking! So thin! Not heavy at all! It looked so stylish and high end! I love the combination of gold and white! The first thing the start up directions said was to charge the unit, so I did. There was a nice sleek looking white charger and a way different plug in than what I was used to. I liked it! I turned it on and the keyboard keys lit up and even the power button was designed differently and was sleek looking if that is even possible! I went through the steps for set up, which were real easy, and in no time was surfing in the internet checking my eBay account! When I had the need to transfer some images from my iPad to the computer, I automatically reached for my jump drive and then realized that there were no USB ports in the computer, and no CD drive either. Thank goodness they included an adapter cord so I could attach my jump drive! They thought of everything! I have been using it now for my computer and can honestly say that I love it!

HP has restored by faith in their products with this one. This is a very well put together unit. Fit and finish are appleesque, vey thin light great looking laptop. It doesn't stop there however the boot up time on this is roughly 7-9 seconds and the facial recognition is a-w-e-s-o-m-e. After getting it out of the box and setting up with my microsoft account I was all set. The processor speed was more than adequate to multitask me through working on a spreadsheet, streaming music and surfing the net in between. There are no USB A inputs, only USB C but it does come with an adapter. Also included is a AC power adapter with grounded and two blade optional plugs. A laptop sleeve is included but for better protection I will find another case. Touch screen is excellent and responsive, low glare and color rendering is beautiful. With all this comes a price tag but given the specs and performance, worth every penny.

The item was well packaged. The computer is ultra thin, light and easy to use. It comes with easy instructions to follow. It comes with leather envelope case/cover, dual battery charger and an adaptor to connect your USB. It is faster compared to the older version. Very sleek in appearance, too.

I was very surprised that a laptop could be this thin and yet so fast. I was amazed with how fast it was but mine had a squeak when you pushed an edge and it got really warm within a few minutes. It never slowed down but it got hot enough to bother me. Overall it’s a good computer for light use with a good batery life but I wouldn’t recommend it because it gets hot quickly.

Bought it for the light weight. Added plus was the fast processor and all the features including touchscreen and facial recognition.

Amazing laptop you can also use as a tablet. This computer is also very fast and easy to use

This is by far one of the best laptops I've every own. I must of had over 25 desktops/laptops in my lifetime. It is small, thin, and light. The screen is wonderful to look at and the keys are great to the touch. It ws easy to setup and looks great too!. I would recomment this laptop.

incredibly thin, speedy and stylish. the only problem is the sound isn't as great. it crackles in high volume but i dont turn it that high anyway

Didn’t buy it for gaming and it works great!! Yes, would have loved 16 GB of RAM and be able to upgrade it, but that’s what you get when it is as thin as it is. Not missing the big USB ports - using a dongle is fine.

Purchased this HP for my wife. Was very pleased not only by very light weight but also with its speed and functionality.

Pros: - Very sleek, light weight, portable. - Gorgeous design and color scheme - Bright screen - colors are vivid - Premium experience, stylish - Performance: one of the best laptops with i7 processors. I have a Dell laptop with pretty much the same configuration, but I don't see the same performance as this Spectre laptop. - Speakers produce excellent sound. - Battery life is excellent on this laptop. - I projected this laptop screen using my projector and it displays a wonderful wide-screen with high resolution. Cons: - USB-C is the latest update getting to all the laptops. But the absence of traditional USB ports is frustrating because most of the devices that I own need a normal USB port / VGA port - Mouse, keyboard, monitor. Overall, while it lacks traditional USB ports, the HP Spectre is one of the thinnest, most powerful and best looking ultraportables on the market.

I was more of a black laptop or darker color laptop fan But my I was instantly drawn to this white HP this is an awesome machine it has power versatility and it’s sleek it is nice looking charges with US BC and is unbelievably light you would think you’re carrying no more than a small pad of paper and it’s a complete laptop for office eight gigs of RAM and a core I seven sure make this a powerhouse

Wow! I originally thought I would use this mostly for travel, but it's now replaced my larger high end 15" laptop entirely. The smaller screen is so sharp I haven't really noticed the smaller size. With the performance and utility, I find myself using it more than I ever used my larger laptop, and replacing my phone for some things. HP took the already excellent Spectre 13 ultrabook, improved it, and really got it right. This is not only an everyday laptop, it's an everywhere laptop. With a 13 in screen and at two and a half pounds, it's small and light enough to carry all the time. With the new processor, it's powerful enough to handle just about anything. To an already excellent keyboard and touchpad, they added: * an edge to edge touchscreen (yes, they added a touchscreen with no plastic bezel) that is ultrasharp and beautiful * eighth gen Intel I7 cpu that doubles the cores and significantly improves performance over last year * improved and louder sound * improved battery life (used full time, I am seeing 10% battery drain/hour, or 10 hrs ish battery lifef) * beautiful new white color Although there are only usb-c connectors for expansion, HP includes a usb-c to usb-A adapter in the box which makes it easy to use standard usb accessories. They also include a slipcover, which is a nice touch. All in all, I am really pleased with the new HP Spectre 13 ultrabook and highly recommend it.

It is just the one I am looking forward. Very light, very fast, and very quiet. The lastest 8th generation i7 is a real change. The UHD630 graphic can match most imaging processing work. It's the HP laptop with best design. The box contain the shell and cover for the laptop also, amazing! I do like it.