HP Spectre x360 14 Convertible Review: An Instant Favorite

[David Loper]

I bought the oled 3000/ 2000 version from Best buy durring cyber week. It also came with a1 tb ssd with 32 gb optane. Discounted from 1699.00 to 1399.00. Couldn't pass it up.

[xpclient]

No touchpad buttons=no buy.

[iUser]

It might seem overpriced, but HP has some sort of deal with Best Buy, and over there, you can get this exact same config for 300 less, making it much better value.

Not all NBC readers live in areas with Best Buy.
Tested configuration cost 1599€ in Germany.

No touchscreen, not 2in1... You might as well recommend to buy a refrigerator :)

1) I didn't recommended or compared this laptop with HP, I'm just asked if NBC plans to review it any soon.
2) ThinkBook 13s G2 with Intel have touch screen option.

[bruh]

No touchpad buttons=no buy.

Almost no laptop nowadays has touchpad buttons. Look at the MacBooks. They are known for having the best touchpad out of any laptop, and they don't have buttons on the. Once you use a touchpad which doesn't have buttons, then you'll get used to it and regret having that wasted space for buttons.

[Handy]

Does the power button on the keyboard work, if it is in tablet or tent mode?

(This is at least an issue on this years Envy x360 13" where the power button is also builtin the keyboard. But in tent and tablet mode the keyboard incl. power button is disabled, so one need to fold it back to power it on or wake it from standby. HP knows about the issue, but for the Envys HP did not release a fix.)

[Joe Smith]

Does the power button on the keyboard work, if it is in tablet or tent mode?

(This is at least an issue on this years Envy x360 13" where the power button is also builtin the keyboard. But in tent and tablet mode the keyboard incl. power button is disabled, so one need to fold it back to power it on or wake it from standby. HP knows about the issue, but for the Envys HP did not release a fix.)

Though the power button on the keyboard doesn't work, HP does keep the digitizer on the display on, meaning that if the laptop is sleeping in tablet mode, then with just a tap of the display, it wakes up. When the laptop is shut down in tablet mode, the digitizer is off, BUT they do keep the keyboard on in that mode.

[dannymckb]

I received a custom config Spectre X360 14 from HP. I ordered an i7 with 16GB RAM, 512gb ssd and the 1920x1200 IPS 400 nits panel (not the sureview one)

Overall I'm pleased with the laptop, but I am extremely disappointed by the screen compared to my wife's Lenovo Yoga C940 (FHD). Viewing angles are narrower, screen is dimmer, there is a noticeable vignette effect around the edges and the picture looks grainy, specially with white images.

The panel ID is LG06663, same one as the one in this review.

I avoided the OLED version because of the shorter battery life, and I thought that the IPS screen would be fine. I usually buy laptops with the FHD option instead of 4k panels, but this is ridiculous.

I'm hating it to the point I'm considering to return this laptop and buy something else, even though I have to pay a 15% restocking fee.

[I Carumba]

Nobody cares about Intel 'Evo' certification.  Give me the 15" version with the AMD cpu please.

[Bobby]

@dannymckb The problem with the C940 FHD screen is that it is super reflective and even indoors this becomes very annoying. I'm waiting for the spectre to arrive but I know what you describe will be due to the anti-reflective coating present on the spectre's screen. I don't need my laptop to have wide viewing angles (I never look at my laptop from extreme angles) and the benefit of being able to look at a less reflective screen is well worth it.

[John smith]

I received a custom config Spectre X360 14 from HP. I ordered an i7 with 16GB RAM, 512gb ssd and the 1920x1200 IPS 400 nits panel (not the sureview one)

Overall I'm pleased with the laptop, but I am extremely disappointed by the screen compared to my wife's Lenovo Yoga C940 (FHD). Viewing angles are narrower, screen is dimmer, there is a noticeable vignette effect around the edges and the picture looks grainy, specially with white images.

The panel ID is LG06663, same one as the one in this review.

I avoided the OLED version because of the shorter battery life, and I thought that the IPS screen would be fine. I usually buy laptops with the FHD option instead of 4k panels, but this is ridiculous.

I'm hating it to the point I'm considering to return this laptop and buy something else, even though I have to pay a 15% restocking fee.

I'm pretty sure you have a defective model, since I have the exact same laptop, the one with the LG06663, and I do not notice any vignette effect around the display, viewing angles are perfect, and the display seems very bright. Try contacting HP support to get this figured out, since I believe you have a defective model.

[Dorby]

I get consist 6 hours of battery life on the OLED model and let me tell you, the trade off is 100% worth it.

[Boojor]

I get consist 6 hours of battery life on the OLED model and let me tell you, the trade off is 100% worth it.

Especially with that amazing contrast ratio and perfect blacks, along with excellent viewing angles, the OLED panel is the way to go.

[S.Yu]

Overall, I'm positively impressed. I didn't realize there was such a potential viable alternative to my XPS132N1 but since the digitizer of the XPS is a huge annoyance I could upgrade to this if I'm able to confirm that this digitizer works as well as a SP. The additional card reader and USB slot are also bonuses, the price also seems lower...

Really confused about some of the performance figures though, like one of the PCMark ones that show the 1065G7 XPS to be ~60% faster. It can be deducted that the fans in this model dissipate about 4W less heat max than the XPS, which is acceptable, but some figures still seem irregular.

[Scott]

I opted to get the 15t but customized to get the oled screen... no definitive reviews yet but it seems the 15t handles thermals with tigerlake much better than these smaller versions, should translate in to a win... also battery life even with the 15.6 amoled should be much better than the ice lake , both because of efficiency and integrated graphics}

[dadankboi]

I got the OLED spectre x360 14, and my thoughts on it so far are that first off, the display is literally the best. It does use PWM, but it's at 240 hz under 30% brightness, and above that, I don't notice it. The colors are amazing, brightness is exceptional, and the infinite contrast ratio is breathtaking. I watched one of those LG OLED TV showcase videos, and compared to my 2017 MacBook Pro, the HP is insanely better. Even though it's not 4k (which isn't really necessary at 13.5 in), the 3000x2000 display resolution is better than 1920x1280. Furthermore the 3:2 aspect ratio really does make a difference when it comes to productivity, and I really love it. Also, the keyboard, trackpad, and I/O are spot on, since it still retains a USB type A port, which neither the XPS 13 or 15 or even 17 offer. It's really nice when you have to plug in a mouse or two factor authentication key and you don't need to reach for a stupid dongle. Lastly, the battery life is still respectable, even though it has an OLED display. It lasted about 7 hours of light usage (5.5 hours for light & mixed usage), which is surprising considering the high resolution and OLED display. Note: I did keep the laptop on quiet mode. Having it on the smart sense would decrease the battery by around two or three hours, so make sure it's on quiet. All in all, this laptop at the price of 1399 is quite a steal of a deal, considering what it's offering at that price, when compared to say, the XPS 13 or even the 15.