HP Spectre x360 14 review: OLED makes a great 2-in-1 even better

Price When Reviewed

$1,424.99

Best Prices Today: HP Spectre x360 14

$1229.99

$1409.99

$1667.00

With the newest iteration of its premium Spectre x360 14, HP provides two new premium options not discovered on final yr’s convertible alongside the requisite replace to 12th-generation Intel silicon. The largest addition is the high-resolution OLED panel that delivers distinctive picture high quality. The second addition is a high-resolution webcam, shifting from an underwhelming 720p digital camera to a crisp and dynamic 1080p webcam.

The Spectre x360’s general design stays unchanged. The all-metal chassis with gold accents provides a stable really feel and opulent appears to be like, whereas the show’s 3:2 facet ratio is geared towards enterprise use moderately than leisure pursuits that may profit from a wider display screen. It’s nonetheless a tad heavy for a 14-inch convertible, and the battery life is shorter than final yr’s mannequin, however the Spectre stays a terrific choose for government and different professionals in search of a conveyable and versatile two-in-one convertible.

HP Spectre x360 specs and options

Our HP Spectre x360 14 check system options the next specs:

• CPU: Quad-core Intel Core i7-1255U
• Memory: 16GB
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
• Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
• Display: 13.5-inch 3000×2000, OLED contact panel
• Webcam: 1080p with bodily digital camera shutter
• Connectivity: 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, combo audio jack, microSD card reader
• Networking: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
• Biometrics: IR facial recognition, fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 66.5 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 11.75 x 8.67 x 0.67 inches
• Measured weight: 3 kilos (laptop computer), 0.6 kilos (AC adapter)
• Price: $1,424.99

The HP Spectre x360 sequence begins at $999.99. The baseline mannequin includes a 12th-gen Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, a 512GB SSD and a Full HD show. Our check system options CPU, reminiscence, storage and show upgrades that raised the worth. At HP.com, it’s priced at $1,424.99, which displays a $250 low cost. Our check mannequin can also be obtainable at Best Buy for $1,749.99, and it has sometimes been discounted to $1,399.99.

OLED goodness

This yr’s Spectre x360 trots out the identical appears to be like as final yr’s mannequin and stays a stunner. The all-metal chassis boasts a beautiful, subtle design and rugged really feel. There are three shade choices — silver, black, and a deep blue. (The latter two colours add $15 to the invoice.) We obtained it in black. With the matte end, it has refined brown undertones that offers it a singular look amongst a sea of silver brushed aluminum laptops. The gem-cut edges and different gold accents create a satisfying distinction with the matte black surfaces.

The chassis stays the identical as final yr’s mannequin and due to this fact the burden stays the identical at three kilos. That’s a bit heavy for this class of 2-in-1, however most are shut to a few kilos. The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, for instance, with its 13.4-inch 16:10 show weighs 2.9 kilos. With the added heft, nevertheless, comes a stable really feel. There is nothing flimsy in regards to the Spectre x360. 

When we regarded on the Spectre x360 final yr, it featured an IPS panel with a 1920×1280-pixel decision and a boxy 3:2 facet ratio. An 3000×2000 OLED mannequin was bought as a Best Buy unique, which you might need missed. Now the OLED show is out there direct from HP. It provides an inexpensive $110 to the worth of the system. It’s effectively well worth the value. The OLED panel delivers unbelievable distinction with good blacks and vibrant whites. Colors are correct and vivid. And the 3000×2000 decision throughout the 13.5-inch panel creates a pointy picture with crisp textual content.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

The show’s 3:2 facet ratio is taller than a 16:10 or 16:9 widescreen. Movies and exhibits don’t match in addition to they do on a wider display screen, however the boxier ratio is suited effectively for looking the online and dealing on lengthy paperwork. The 3:2 show can also be a great slot in pill mode. The squarer form makes it really feel extra like an iPad than utilizing a laptop computer spun round.

The contact show options pen assist, and HP contains its Rechargeable MPP2.0 Tilt Pen. Tapping, swiping, and scribbling on the show felt pure with each a fingertip and the pen. There’s no storage for the pen, however it connects magnetically to the aspect of the system.

Befitting of the premium Spectre x360 are its 4 audio system that produce premium sound. The audio system create dynamic audio with crisp highs and a little bit of a bass response. The audio begins to lose some readability whenever you push the quantity previous 80% however at that stage there’s nonetheless sufficient oomph to fill a small room. 

Webcam goes to 1080p

A 720p webcam has no place on a premium Spectre mannequin, and HP made the transfer to a 1080p digital camera with this yr’s Spectre x360. It produces a clear, well-balanced picture that has not one of the grainy blotchiness of a 720p cam. If Zoom conferences and different video calls are a big a part of your job, the 1080p could have you wanting clearer to co-workers and purchasers. The digital camera has IR capabilities so you may log into the machine through facial recognition. And in case you’d moderately use your finger as an alternative of your face, there’s a fingerprint reader tucked in between the spacebar and arrow keys on the backside of the keyboard. Both biometric strategies labored flawlessly.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

The keyboard sacrifices the best Control key for the fingerprint reader, leaving solely a Control key within the left nook. The keys supply a quick response and quiet motion for an general pleasing and premium typing expertise. One change from final yr’s mannequin — HP removed the right-side column of Home, Page Up/Down, and End keys. Those keys at the moment are doubled mapped to the 4 arrow keys, which can disappoint some typists. In the row of Function keys on the high, there’s a key to cycle via the keyboard’s two-level backlight and two others to mute the microphone and canopy the digital camera. When the digital camera’s bodily cowl is in place, you may see its white and black stripes to present you peace of thoughts that your privateness is protected. The mute and digital camera shutter keys themselves even have orange LEDs to present you visible proof that every gadget is deactivated.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

The gold-edged touchpad provides a quiet, agency click on response and correct recording of mousing gestures. It’s close to good. If I had a nit to choose, it could be the semi-glossy end doesn’t supply as clean gliding as would a extra matte end.

The helpful port choice stays the identical as final yr’s mannequin. There’s a pair of USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB Type-A port, an audio jack, and a microSD card reader. One of the Thunderbolt 4 ports and the headphone jack are situated on every of the again corners of the system. These corners are trimmed so every port sits on the diagonal. It’s an uncommon design level, and one I doubt will catch on as a result of it makes it a bit more durable to entry these ports than in the event that they have been merely situated on the aspect. And if I might, I’d swap out the headphone jack and have a Thunderbolt 4 port in every nook. Not solely would I have the ability to cost the Spectre x360 from both aspect, however the headphone jack could be nearer to the entrance of the system and my ears.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

IDG / Matthew Elliott

One final word on the ability adapter. It additionally lives as much as the premium Spectre identify. The energy brick is tiny and simply moveable, and the twine is braided so it by no means tangles. 

Performance

Our HP Spectre x360 check system options the Core i7-1255U processor, 16GB of RAM, built-in Intel Iris Xe graphics, and a 1TB SSD. The Core i7-1255U is a member of Intel’s 12th-gen Alder Lake U sequence of environment friendly, 15-watt cellular chips that characteristic Intel’s new hybrid structure. It has two efficiency cores, eight effectivity cores, and a complete of 12 processing threads. 

We in contrast the Spectre x360’s efficiency to a mixture of equally sized laptops with 12th-gen Intel Core processors from each the environment friendly 15-watt U sequence and extra balanced 28-watt P sequence that sits between the U sequence and high-powered 45-watt P sequence. Rounding out the charts are a few laptops primarily based on AMD’s Ryzen 7 5800U processor and a Dell XPS 13 primarily based on an 11th-gen Core i7.

The system felt peppy throughout our time with it and operated in close to silence. We did see the battery life decline from final yr’s mannequin; the OLED panel is the doubtless trigger for the shorter operating time (extra on that beneath).

Our first benchmark is PCMark 10, which measures efficiency on on a regular basis computing work together with workplace productiveness duties, net looking, and video chats. All of the laptops listed below are overqualified for operating basic workplace apps. The Spectre x360 completed in the course of the pack. With solely two efficiency cores within the Core i7-1255U, the system couldn’t preserve tempo with the 2 AMD-based laptops — the Ryzen 7 5800U has eight processing cores and 16 processing threads. And the subsequent two finishers characteristic the Core i7-1260P, which has 4 efficiency cores together with eight effectivity cores and a complete of 16 processing threads. 

IDG / Matthew Elliott

Our HandBrake benchmark assessments how a laptop computer is ready to deal with crushing CPU masses over a prolonged interval—on this case, transcoding a 30GB MKV file to a format appropriate for Android tablets utilizing HandBrake, the free video encoding utility. The Spectre x360 once more completed with a middling consequence and located itself effectively off the tempo set by the programs with CPUs with extra processing cores and threads. 

IDG / Matthew Elliott

Next up is Cinebench, one other CPU-intensive check however one which renders a fancy 2D scene over a brief time period. The Spectre x360’s Cinebench result’s underwhelming. Its U sequence CPU is constructed for effectivity and never cranking via multithreaded multimedia functions. The Spectre x360 is a greater match for executives and different enterprise customers than inventive professionals.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

On our 3DMark benchmark, not one of the laptops right here — the Spectre x360 included — distinguished themselves. But that’s hardly a shock given all of them options built-in graphics. 

To check a laptop computer’s battery life, we loop a 4K video utilizing Windows 11’s Movies & TV app, with the laptop computer set to Airplane mode and earbuds plugged in. We set the display screen brightness at a comparatively vibrant 250 nits to 260 nits, which is an effective brightness for watching a film in an workplace with the lights on. The Spectre x360 lasted for greater than 11 hours, which is able to get you thru the longest workdays without having to retreat to a wall outlet. That’s a formidable determine, however different fashions supply runtimes which might be hours longer.

Last yr’s Spectre x360 ran for greater than three hours longer than this yr’s mannequin. With each programs that includes the identical 66.5Whr battery, I believe the wrongdoer of the shorter runtime is the high-resolution OLED show. Even although an OLED can flip off particular person pixels, a larger variety of pixels means a larger drain on the battery. And we’ve but to see any profit by way of battery life from an OLED laptop computer. In truth, we’ve typically seen that an OLED panel has a slight adversarial impact on a laptop computer’s battery life.

IDG / Matthew Elliott

Spectre nonetheless a favourite

Even with the lower in battery life, we welcome the addition of the OLED show to the Spectre x360. It’s a type of options that after you’ve skilled it, you’ll by no means return to the previous approach of a plain-Jane IPS LCD show. The positive aspects in distinction and shade dynamics are simply too nice. Plus, with OLED shows starting to trickle all the way down to midrange laptops, patrons ought to actually anticipate an OLED on a high-end mannequin just like the Spectre x360. 

OLED apart, it’s top-of-the-line wanting 2-in-1 convertibles available on the market. The brownish-black chassis is exclusive with out being garish, and the all-metal chassis is rock-solid if a tad heavy. With its U sequence processor and built-in graphics, it’s a greater match for basic workplace duties than inventive work. Despite the drop in battery life, the Spectre x360 stays one in every of our favourite 2-in-1 enterprise convertibles.