HP Spectre x360 15-bl002xx Convertible Review

[Redaktion]

Better yet? HP's 2017 version of the Spectre x360 15-inch convertible features a latest-generation Intel processor alongside a switch to discrete graphics. The updated design incorporates smaller bezels a la Spectre x360 13 and the 4K display - improved over last year's model - is now the sole panel option.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/HP-Spectre-x360-15-bl002xx-Convertible-Review.196694.0.html

[Alexander Wuttke]

I am surprised.
Most of the reviews out there applaus this laptop, often calling it the best notebook out there.
I´ve been waiting for the review at notebookcheck for about two weeks and I am puzzled.
There isn´t much to complain about. However, the rating of 82% is far from outstanding.
One major deficiency that is mentioned is the audio which is puzzling given that most other reviews list the speakers as a major advantage. Here they only get 41%. Interestingly, the audio-stats say that only 20% of notebooks offer better audio...
The other outlier in the ratings is the camera with 46%. However, the camera isn´t mentioned a single time in the text. I´d be interested to know what´s wrong with it.
The rewiew mentions that lacking stiffness of the hinge which seems a major problem in a notebook that is supposed to be portable. Yet, chassis still receives above-average 86% (although there are also other things wrong with it).
The review has (almost) nothing to complain about the keyboard and most reviews praise it as one of the best on the market. Still, keyboard only receives 81%.

One final remark. This is one of the very few (the only?) 15 inch Convertible. Obviously, this is going to be heavier than all other convertibles and less portable. This is in the bad rating for weight which is the single most influential indicator for the overall rating. But if you compare apples to oranges, the rating should reflect that a 15 inch notebook has one advantage over all the other convertibles: you can see more on the display.
Is that reflected anywhere in the rating? Because thats the display size is main difference that distinguishes the 13 inch x360 from the 15 inch x360. And if you downgrade notebooks with larger display for the higher weights, you should also downgrade notebooks with smaller display for the fewer content they can show in their displays. Otherwise you get distorted ratings like this one.

[edit1754]

Great review! I like the design and the new display.

However I do want to mention that I don't think the difference between PenTile and RGB was described accurately. The RG/BW PenTile matrix used in last year's model was a subpixel matrix that replaced the RGB in each pixel with either only RG or only BW. The hardware and software would still prepare a full RGB 3840x2160 picture, but the display itself didn't have enough components to fully display it. It is regarded by many to be a deceptive marketing practice: a 'cheap' way to produce displays that can still be sold as a particular resolution.

The panel does provide better contrast than last year's model, which is a good thing, but that isn't a characteristic of the new RGB matrix. What the RGB matrix means is that the panel is now capable of providing the full chromatic detail of 3840x2160, rather than just part of it. I think it's important to give HP the proper credit for making this change.

I'll also add that I'm not really a fan of the term 'PenTile-technology'. I feel as though it idolizes something that more people consider to be a negative than a positive. Some use the term 'PenTile arrangement' but I think that can confuse people into thinking it provides the same amount of 'stuff' arranged differently, which isn't accurate. I think the term 'PenTile matrix' fits best, because it doesn't carry any of those implications.

[Alberto Paco]

Great review, thanks for the thorough analysis.

One quick note, you can change the size of the right click zone in the settings so perhaps that isn't quite a negative.

Furthermore, HP seems to have two suppliers for their SSD's the other being Samsung (my model) with a faster read and write speed. So this might attribute to inconsistencies with other review sites. I posted a quick link on reddit of my findings. ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/5ucup3/spectre_x360_152017_has_two_different_ssd/)

[Alberto Paco]

Upon further research, it appears that the RAM IS upgradable according to the HP Service Manual linked here (page 27) --> http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05357610

[Alexander Wuttke]

Still, thank you for all the information, however .)

[sper]

I also found review to be weird. I have had last years Spectre which was highly rated everywhere. This version seems considerably better due to much better battery life, much better gpu which is a middle ground and minimum if you want to play a game occasionally (I had Iris Pro version, Intel drivers suck for gaming).

Compared to XPS 15, not only it is significantly cheaper, it also has a metal build which is very nice, and it also heats up less, fans are a lot more silent, and batteries last longer.

One last thing, complaining about charger is idiotic. They added fast charger with double the power from last years model. This charges full laptop in less than 1:30h, 50% in 30m... last years took 3hrs to charge it was huge defficiency that nobody wrote about because they dont review laptops realistically. Big kudos for HP on doing fast chargers on most of their new models!

[wuttkea]

I also found review to be weird. I have had last years Spectre which was highly rated everywhere. This version seems considerably better due to much better battery life, much better gpu which is a middle ground and minimum if you want to play a game occasionally (I had Iris Pro version, Intel drivers suck for gaming).

Compared to XPS 15, not only it is significantly cheaper, it also has a metal build which is very nice, and it also heats up less, fans are a lot more silent, and batteries last longer.

One last thing, complaining about charger is idiotic. They added fast charger with double the power from last years model. This charges full laptop in less than 1:30h, 50% in 30m... last years took 3hrs to charge it was huge defficiency that nobody wrote about because they dont review laptops realistically. Big kudos for HP on doing fast chargers on most of their new models!

However, I do appreciate the information on the considerable weight of the charger. It´s something you notice and you have to take into account and not many reviews talk about it (although they focus on every single gram in the notebook itself).

For everyone else interested in this notebook here is a list of reviews:
http://www.goandroidauthority.com/2017/02/review-hp-spectre-x360-15.html
http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/hp-spectre-x360-15-review/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/02/hp-spectre-x360-15-review-a-large-convertible-thats-easy-to-love/
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/hp-spectre-x360-15-2017
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/5qpwla/just_got_the_new_hp_spectre_x360_15_2017/
https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-spectre-x360-15-inch-2017/review/#ftag=CADe9e329a
http://www.pcmag.com/review/351559/hp-spectre-x360-15-2017
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-spectre-x360-15-inch
http://www.windowscentral.com/hp-spectre-x360-15

[sper]

charger is heavier because it is 2x more powerful than the last years model that took 3hrs to charge the laptop.

New one has fast charge capability, it is a big plus because laptop is charged much faster.

It was most annoying feature of last years model, because it would last for 5 hrs and then to re-use it again as portable, you would have to wait for 3 full hours. This is what cheapening out with 45w chargers has led to.

[Bernie Pechlaner]

We appreciate the feedback - allow me to address a few of the comments:

The hinges are indeed a bit weak, so the Spectre didn't get a top score here...but since we have quite a few subscores (almost 10) within the chassis rating - ranging from material and build quality to evenness of the gaps to ease of maintenance - the positives simply outweigh the negatives. The keyboard got dinged for the noise the space bar produces as well as the fact that there's only one backlight level (many competitors offer at least 2). The arrangement of the up/down arrow keys - consolidated into a single key -  is also not ideal, although increasingly common (the Thinkpad Yoga, for example, still features individual up/down arrow keys).

Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

Regarding the webcam: I have included a section in the review above with a webcam photo taken inside with artificial (indoor) lighting. The evaluation in this case is subjective - we don't have an objective testing methodology for webcams -  but the camera clearly suffers in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

As far as the audio goes: we conduct measurements and record the frequency response. Yes, the Spectre 15 sounds indeed better than many other notebooks - particularly entry level ones - but I honestly had hoped for more. This is, after all, an upscale 15-inch notebook. When I played the same tracks (I tried quite a few different ones) on both the Spectre 15 and the much smaller 13-inch, 15 mm-thick MacBook Pro 13, I was amazed at how much better the MacBook actually sounded - not only was the bass more pronounced, but the lows sounded a lot less muddled compared to the HP convertible (and no, I'm not biased as I don't own a MacBook).


Thanks,

Bernie

[NCYu]

Hello, I would like to know if you guys are going to review the new HP EliteBook X360?

[wuttkea]

We appreciate the feedback - allow me to address a few of the comments:

The hinges are indeed a bit weak, so the Spectre didn't get a top score here...but since we have quite a few subscores (almost 10) within the chassis rating - ranging from material and build quality to evenness of the gaps to ease of maintenance - the positives simply outweigh the negatives. The keyboard got dinged for the noise the space bar produces as well as the fact that there's only one backlight level (many competitors offer at least 2). The arrangement of the up/down arrow keys - consolidated into a single key -  is also not ideal, although increasingly common (the Thinkpad Yoga, for example, still features individual up/down arrow keys).

Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

Regarding the webcam: I have included a section in the review above with a webcam photo taken inside with artificial (indoor) lighting. The evaluation in this case is subjective - we don't have an objective testing methodology for webcams -  but the camera clearly suffers in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

As far as the audio goes: we conduct measurements and record the frequency response. Yes, the Spectre 15 sounds indeed better than many other notebooks - particularly entry level ones - but I honestly had hoped for more. This is, after all, an upscale 15-inch notebook. When I played the same tracks (I tried quite a few different ones) on both the Spectre 15 and the much smaller 13-inch, 15 mm-thick MacBook Pro 13, I was amazed at how much better the MacBook actually sounded - not only was the bass more pronounced, but the lows sounded a lot less muddled compared to the HP convertible (and no, I'm not biased as I don't own a MacBook).


Thanks,

Bernie

Thanks.

[sper]

Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

thanks bernie, it is definitely worth mentioning both things, usually reviews do not mention charging time at all and I think we all agree that supplying 45w charger that takes 3hrs to charge these ultrabooks is crazy, no matter how light it is.

It would be greatly appreciated if charging time gets mentioned in the reviews, and graph supplied like in new Asus Zenbook review.

thanks a lot!

[Bernie Pechlaner]

......It would be greatly appreciated if charging time gets mentioned in the reviews, and graph supplied like in new Asus Zenbook review.

thanks a lot!

Hi Sper,

Well - the charging graph you saw in the other review requires the notebook to be up and running, so it can be limited in its usefulness depending on how many watts the power adapter can supply in the first place and how much the notebook is consuming at the time. That said, I'll try to incorporate such data in the future.

Thanks,

Bernie

[Chrissssss]

I find your ratings more and more inconsistent - a fast, light, solidly built and thin laptop with good battery life, 4k display and pen input gets an 82% rating? While a MacBook Pro that everyone thinks is a regression to last year's model, with its fewer ports and joint-torturing, shallow keyboard gets rated as insanely high as 89% regardless? And you snub the Spectre's Keyboard for not having much travel and the arrow keys not being to your liking? Sorry, but this site has stopped being useful for my shopping decisions now.