HP’s Spectre convertible provides the best of two worlds

What is it that you want most in a laptop? Is it something you can carry easily with you? A workhorse that will cope with the most demanding of tasks? Or is screen space the most important to you?

It’s hard to find a single laptop that will suit everyone’s needs. But when it comes to an all-rounder, the HP Spectre X360 is probably one of the better options on the market.

On the looks front, HP’s Spectre line of laptops does quite well. All metal cases. Thin and light. Edge to edge screen that is crisp, clear and reproduces colour beautifully. A convertible screen that flips over to turn the laptop into a tablet of sorts, if you need it.

The Spectre X360 14-inch device is no exception. The laptop has gone for the taller 3:2 aspect ratio rather than a wide screen, making it more useful for working because you can fit more document on to the screen. See more, scroll less, to quote HP’s own marketing. If you plan to use your device for entertainment, the widescreen aspect ratio will win out. As a user of a widescreen laptop day to day, the HP Spectre is better suited to working on documents and scrolling through web pages.

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Having said that, the screen performs well for video, and the HP laptop also comes with Bang & Olufsen speakers. They are still small laptop speakers but, compared to the standard offering, they have volume and quality on their side. Even at full volume, there was no distortion, with rich sound that you wouldn’t expect from speakers that size. The speaker grille is a design feature too, rather than purely functional.

The angled edges are unusual, but work well; one even houses a USB C port. This is usually where slim laptops fall down a little; in the rush to shrink the devices to practically nothing, ports are sacrificed. But the Spectre has enough to satisfy most uses. There are two USB C ports on the right side of the case, one of which also works for power, and a single high-speed USB A port on the left. A 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card complete the line-up, so if you need an ethernet port or a HDMI connection this laptop won’t suit out of the box. But in general, I didn’t feel the loss of the last two; as long as there were enough USB ports, that did the trick.

The laptop we tested came with 16GB of RAM, powered by an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 2.8GHz processor. As a day-to-day laptop, it was more than capable of dealing with document creation, some image editing and web browsing. The fan didn’t even kick in, or if it did, it wasn’t audible. That could be down to the device’s thermal design, which is meant to keep the laptop cool while you work.

What you might have to consider is one of the laptop’s bigger selling points. Do you really need a convertible device? I’ve had a convertible PC in the past and have rarely used it to its full capabilities. The touch screen comes in handy, but I’ve never flipped the screen to turn it into a notebook, or used it as a drawing pad. That’s not to say that others won’t. HP includes the pen in the box, so you won’t have to shell out on anything extra to get the most out of the device.

However, it is handy to be able to get a different angle for the screen, and if you do plan to use the device for a presentation or to watch video, being able to control it through a greater range of motion makes it much easier.

The good

The laptop hits all the right notes on the looks front. The case is sleek yet tough, and the laptop itself is powerful enough to work for both leisure and business. The 3:2 aspect ratio makes it more suited for documents and web browsers, but the screen’s quality means it will work well for streaming video too. HP’s decision to include the pen for the touchscreen in the box is a nice touch too.

The battery will get you through the day without needing to recharge – crucial if you are on the move.

The not so good

The Spectre X360 isn’t cheap. If you don’t need the extra functionality from the convertible screen, you might be better putting the extra cash towards the tech spec, by going for the more powerful chip or extra RAM.

The rest

The device supports Windows Hello security sign-in, including a fingerprint option, facial recognition or PIN. You can also use a physical security key to sign in. The 14-inch laptop comes in three different colours: silver, blue and black. You can also go for a slightly larger – or smaller – screen, with 13-inch, 15- and 16-inch versions also available.

The verdict

If you want a sleek laptop that will cover your day-to-day needs and then some, the Spectre X360 is a good, if pricey, choice.

hp.com

four stars