HP Spectre X360 (8th Gen) Review - It's Beautiful and it Comes With a Pen!

My review of the HP Spectre X360 13" 8th Gen. This is the late 2017 model. It's a beautiful portable ultrabook. It does a lot of things right. It only falls slightly short in two areas. Watch for the full review!
Buy here on Amazon:
HP Spectre X360 13" (8th Gen) - geni.us/wf8YT
-
-
-
-
Follow me on Social Media:
Twitter: / mattmoniz
Instagram: / mattmoniz123
Facebook: / mattmoniz123
Website: www.matthewmoniz.com

[@MatthewMoniz]

I made a mistake there's 4 speakers instead of 2. What do you guys think of the HP Spectre X360 ??

[@TeddyTechTV]

The fact that they include the pen in the box makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.

[@Laura98423]

It looks so good. I have a one year old 700€ acer but when i graduate from university I'd love to get a high end laptop. But the acers track pad is really good as well as the keyboard. If the HP spectr isn't as good I wouldn't buy it.

[@D3D587]

They use synaptics driver, but you can install precision drivers.

[@hegelianlover]

I just got it, the speakers are horrendous, fans run up all the time, came with a dent out of the box, ratty inconsistent touchpad etc.

[@jason_v12345]

Also, it's "sod-dered" :) I can't get over the awkward feeling of a keyboard on the backside of my tablet, so these will never appeal to me.

[@afsarabenazir8558]

just discovered this channel. great review, included every aspect I believe. subscribed!

[@MatthewMoniz]

Thanks man ! Welcome !

[@elle-qv2mq]

I actually appreciate your camera test. I have been looking for a review that has one because I will be teaching online and I was curious about the camera.

[@smhan280]

Just gotta say, LOVE the thermal imaging segment!! Thanks for that!

[@MatthewMoniz]

You're very welcome!

[@JasonJaikaran]

I have the 7th gen version and it's amazing.

[@MetalMusicMan]

Great reviews, thank you for making good content

[@MisstechyBlog]

Superb video as always.

[@harshp2140]

I like your work. Thanks for your hard work.

[@spudalicious9509]

I am considering buying this, looks amazing! Thankyou for this review!

[@MatthewMoniz]

+Spudalicious you're welcome glad I could help ! Let me know how you like it if you get it

[@spudalicious9509]

Matthew Moniz Got it yesterday! Love it so far, it will be perfect to use at school. Thanks for this review again!

[@3212seis]

Nice. The 13 inch with the i7/16/512 config was 999 on black friday. Missed it - hopefully will come back after Christmas sale.

[@LoverOfTech]

Matt Man at it again. Work rate on fleek lol

[@MatthewMoniz]

Haha I’m going to take a nice vacation in January ! Thanks man for the love!

[@LoverOfTech]

Matthew Moniz you deserve it Matt. Inspiring work rate man. And always here to support 👊🏿

[@Gan_Gineandro]

Thanks for reviewing this one! Got it with a 320GB SSD and new titlt pen and spent 1010 after taxes. Couldn't be beaten at price by my alternative, the Surface Book 2. And it supports thunderbolt external graphics. Too bad about the screen resolution and I hope the pen latency isn't too bad, but it's a relative bargain. Hopefully it's not programmed to die in 2 years like my last HP laptop.

[@christoft6883]

lovely video matt!! I personally love the hp spectre x360, but I hav an mac so I gotta wait some years too get it hahah

[@HermannTheGreat]

I had a 2015 Spectre X 360 and it was built very well with great materials, had a great keyboard and screen, and for the money was really only be rivaled by the Macbook Pro retina.

[@melchormikhael]

It has 4 speakers, not 2. The grill at the top has speakers. Also, the touchpad does NOT use windows precision drivers.

[@Grey366]

Few mistakes around the 4:43 mark but overall amazing vid Love your dedication

[@coffeytnmilk]

Great review!

[@Gan_Gineandro]

I have on on order with the new Tilt pen.. was actually cheaper than digital pen which sales rep said is inferior to new tilt one. cool! Ordered by phone and got additional $40 discount that way... Shipping Jan 9, can't wait to see how she goes!

[@TheMunk23]

Has anyone used the HP specter x360 for Video editing. Is it worth it to get this computer for the purpose?

[@timml2]

Won’t by it probably because of the screen ratio/resolution and because I need the pen to work flawless in terms of feedback/feeling. But very nice review, you managed to cover everything important which other reviewers won't get in 30min. videos within 7 minutes. Thx..., have my subscribe

[@smit__k_4564]

Great video matt

[@manrex5238]

hey man how do I know what ssd brand I got

[@salamkatir2794]

I only watched HP 360 review cause it popped up while I was searching for LTE enables laptops, you are a better reviewer than others I watched (truth be told) , you didn’t say anything bout the feature I’m mostly interested in 🤔

[@erikamartintaylor8818]

Great video as always! Curious what the build quality is like on it.

[@TimPearcy]

Great review, although I got a kick out of the lack of a magnet to hold the pen. Basics physics my friend, aluminum isn't magnetic. I guess they could have tucked in some steel or iron somewhere, but that adds weight.

[@2chicos]

I have one, there is no USB-C to HDMI in the box. Is it hidden and I can't find it? Missing? I'd like to connect to my external monitor.

[@nitishkumarsharma6326]

Been using it for 3 weeks now, solid machine. Impressed so far. :) My reasons for picking it over dell xps 13 2 in1 are two: camera on top with windows hello IR and included pen. My reason for picking it over Yoga 920 are again same, Windows hello camera and included pen and also smaller footprint. Windows hello IR cameras are actually significant improvement in user experience. My favourite feature for sure these days...

[@umeshantapurkar3341]

Any issues like overheating?

[@nitishkumarsharma6326]

Not for me. Although I have read couple of people in the comments have said they had to replace theirs. But no, my unit has been performing perfectly.

[@dave5194]

You should take a look at the Asus Zenbook UX430UA. I've had it for 2 weeks so far and it is the perfect school laptop for me. Battery life is excellent, it can handle a large workload, less than 3 pounds, screen is bright, and it looks gorgeous. Only downsides is back cover is a fingerprint magnet, fan is always on (that can easily be fixed with Notebook FanControl though) and coil whine just loud enough that it's noticeable that annoyingly peaks every so often, but I can live with that.

[@MatthewMoniz]

I have it : ) review coming soon!

[@heynow3802]

The flamingsword I just bought the Zenbook pro 550, loving it so far.

[@Philosophey]

I got an older generation x360 with 7th gen intel processors. I can say that you get a really good hardware for the price you pay. I use it regularly in tablet mode for note-taking in onenote and even though pen is not the greatest it gets the job done. Classic n-trig jitter is present, but definitely not worse than recent surface devices. Forgot to add some cons for the people interested in this laptop. It can get really hot. And if you try to use it on a bed or another soft material it is literally burning. It has some coil whine, but room has to be almost completely silent to hear it. Worst thing is quality control though. I had to exchange 3 units before I get a decent enough one. I don't know how QC is for these new models, but older gen had trackpad and dead pixel issues. I hope they have fixed these problems.

[@nicoletran3224]

Wow I just bought the early 2017 version of this in August

[@bas3386]

A few things to point out, since I just bought the laptop: 1. The speakers are very, very tinny relative to other laptops (especially macbooks) 2. The keyboard is pretty stiff if you're not used to it, but after a few days I thought they were great. 3. The touchpad uses SYNAPTIC drivers. In my piece, it is absolutely horrible with awful accelleration and everytime I try to press something, the cursor jumps back a couple of pixels so that the click doesnt register. Very annoying. Also, hope you're not going to click the touchpad, because it is really hard to do so. All the way at the bottom of the trackpad it is doable, but everywhere else is a nightmare. 4. While downloading Windows Update the laptop was screaming its fans as if I was playing crisis. Doesnt seem so heavy to me, but it had a hard time. It also got very hot. 5. Here in the Netherlands, the pen doesnt come with the 13", pretty annoyed about that since it is €65 extra of you want it. (you probably dont care about this though.) Not all hate though, here are my tops: 1. Windows Hello is extremely fast and easy to use instead of a password. 2. I love the touchpad. Its very responsive and handy in certain apps. 3. The looks, duh 4. The free (?!) faux leather cover is a nice one.

[@warriors3422]

The touchpad drivers can be changed to the microsoft precision drivers which completely changes everything. Its a different touchpad with the new drivers and i'd definitely recommend updating.

[@bas3386]

Dylan Anderson Yeah I've seen the video from Dave2D, have you tried that? The trackpad is very inconsistent with random clicks and such, but I'm not as far as to replace the drivers. But if you did it, did you have any problems and how is the difference?

[@rad8177]

Dutchie You just pounted out u hated the touchpad, now u suddenly love it

[@Kerveros1904]

Dutchie 4. But the good thing is that it can play crisis. Always look at the bright side of things!

[@stephenvsawyer]

The Synaptic drivers are literally the reason I'm returning this for a Macbook Pro

[@Arpith1996]

The design of Spectre X360 is 🔥!!

[@reasat]

Antonio Lansang I really like their designs too (I own the 7th gen i5 version with the stylus), but they don't pay attention to details the way Apple does. Example: hinges are not flush with the laptop's lid and base when closed, and they have sharp edges. Other than these little details, it's among my top 5 laptop designs.

[@jadem1481]

🔥 as in burning hot, gets pretty warm, but still a beautiful design!

[@nireshbehari8333]

I bought mine end Nov2017, and the camera does not take crisp videos, the battery overheats, fans are noisy so you need to adjust the temperature settings, and the trackpad is not very sensitive. I do enjoy the flexibility of the screen though. You will need to install driver updates for the trackpad, CPU BIOS, NVIDIA Graphics and Windows 10.

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Niresh Behari: Grasp a sledgehammer and kill the beast.

[@w0by]

He forgot to mention even though The battery life isn’t that great, it comes with quick charge so it charges really fast - I don’t know how you could leave that out of the review even if you are going to complain about the battery....plus the 15 inch model has a built-in privacy screen which is really cool.

[@BrandonLeProktor]

Good job as usual ! Any french people here ??

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Brandon Le Proktor: French? Is this a new computer brand I am not aware of? What are the specs and the price tag?

[@leilamoh878]

Hello!! I have this computer and I really love it. But I’ve been looking for a case to cover the back of the top, and I have not found a single one that fits this screen! (17”) Id like one that covers the top and is a hard shell. Do you know of any where that I might find one?

[@jjmisclove]

When talking about the pen latency, did you make a mistake? I think you meant to say it has more latency? Since you were speaking of it like it's a con of this pen...

[@MatthewMoniz]

That’s correct higher latency not lower.

[@Gan_Gineandro]

Can you find out more about the new "Tilt" pen/stylus? Got an i5 model on order with one.. just released a few days ago.

[@MrEro1]

Tried out one of these. Hated the TouchPad (buttons on the lowest part of it), it was way to strung (?) so it required a very hard press to register a click. Also, had bad experience with the pointer moving when trying to click on the trackpad buttons, resulting in a lot of misses. Had to return it, as the internet seems to have the same experience with older gen x360s.

[@cabdulahihussein9650]

If I’m starting college and majoring on biology, do you think the hp pavilion x360 would be a great idea? I’m on a budget. If not, what other laptops would you recommend for students?

[@Alezcollection]

Which is worse when it comes to heat: SurfaceBook or HP Spectre x360?

[@MaddyinUSA]

which is better for running multiple vms(like big data) ; you mentioned about faster ssd speeds for spectre ; spectre or yoga 920

[@ametemihret1632]

I have this laptop but I face difficulty of extremely blurred screen, especially when I look for the sides. What can I do? Thanks

[@Lu-yg7bc]

i got a new Spectre X360 after the first one had a crooked hinge. This one does too but not as bad. Is this how the laptop is supposed to be built and do i have to worry about this? Please respond. It’s only the right one that’s crooked

[@Akki-hg9rh]

Hi bro, my screen/display is not rotating automatic, could you please tell me if there is any addition setting I've to make for this

[@coffeytnmilk]

Do you have a review or opinion on the hp 1040 g4? Seems similar without 5e flip screen

[@korpulian]

So, the active pen (and the HDMI Connector, in some cases) and the case from this video are not included in Germany (included only with ng0048, which can be purchased from HP). The laptop is compatible with other styluses (like MS Surface Pro etc) and if you want the HP pen, it costs € 59,- extra. The screen of the HD-Version is dark (pale colors), UHD-Version much better. And be careful tilting the laptop, as the internet is full of stories on how those screws get screwed up!

[@shisirsahani333]

What are the deferences x360 and envy 13..! Which you would prefer.. Any recommendations please..

[@charlottevilla2557]

I purchased this computer two months ago and haven’t used it yet. I’m watching reviews on it first to get a feel for it. I’ve watched several reviews now and noticed there are slight differences and I didn’t get a pen and sleeve for it. Why so many variations of this computer?

[@justsomebody2403]

I think it would be better if the pen can be inserted within the loptop.. coz i offen loss pens 😅

[@fatshibe787]

Often*

[@lionelb8227]

Got mine this week and it's awesome! But it has 4 speakers, 2 on the bottom and 2 at the top. And when the laptop is under load I nearly can't touch the top surface, it's crazy hot!!!

[@nitishkumarsharma6326]

Got mine in black Friday week. and yes its a quad speaker machine. The grill on top has two speakers as well as you said, I don't know why he said they are not speakers. Good enough speakers although they are very shrill to my taste... and yes it does get crazy hot on top under moderately heavy load. in a normal use case when ram is 50% utilized, its pretty chilled, doesn't even turn on the fan.

[@lionelb8227]

Nitish Kumar Sharma I'm pretty sure it can be improved by a clean Windows install, just need the time to do that.

[@nitishkumarsharma6326]

Liion B yeah yeah yeah I am also very positive that it will improve with clean install. I'll do it soon too. There are useless services running all the time.... Would have to do cleans install sooner than later

[@lionelb8227]

Nitish Kumar Sharma I'll do that when switching SSD, because the only available model was the one with 128GB. It's a little too short! Also I wanted to ask you, are the two fans running together or one is spinning and when it starts to become hotter, the other one "helps"?

[@user-rd3jw7pv7i]

sorry kinda new here. but what's a "clean windows install" ?

[@John1212168]

Do you think it would have some good performance with Sony Vegas Pro 15?

[@metalhammer5]

This or the Surface Pro 6? I am thinking of using it for my university (graduate studies )..

[@SolarSailor]

Hey Matt did you experience any coil whine when the backlighting for the keyboard is on? I absolutely love my x360, but that's my only issue. It gets pretty loud.

[@Mtz.LuisAlfonso]

Andrew I get a lot of coil wine when I start mine up. Then it eventually dies down or my ears just get use to it

[@jaypatel-xz6tr]

Can you do a review on the HP ENVY X360 2 in 1 Convertible

[@VolTagex3]

i bought this laptop few weeks ago with the i7 8th gen and nvidia mx150 The laptop in overall is fine. The Issues i personally found annoying are : -The fan turns randomly on but they aren`t heaviely loud only if u are playing some games . -The speakers are sometime shit sometime they work really good?? dunno why performance is really good also the touchscreen is amazing and i freakin love the tastatur . Overall i thing its compared to the other convertible`s the best choice even with those fails i mentioned because of the good price balance .

[@ms5682]

do you face heat / fan issues ( working most of the time with light use)

[@LAGxMoDzz1]

Can you review the ASUS GL503VM Hero Edition?

[@shawnorjiakor]

Great review, Matthew. The computer looks great, but I never was interested in 2-in-1 laptops. I buy the Microsoft Surface Laptop instead and I have a great experience.

[@tdrawup]

Thanks for explaining 8th 7th gen cpu differences, everyone mentions it has more cores but never explains where I can see actual difference

[@IDiggPattyMayonnaise]

I have the last gen x360 and my biggest con is that the palm rest has been scratching my screen. At first I thought it was just dirty, but now its pretty bad. I have the HP laptop program so if this doesnt do that I'll probably upgrade.

[@mbaljeetsingh]

Just bought it few week ago. It is a wonderful laptop. The only problem I'm facing is it often gets very hot at the back.

[@Gan_Gineandro]

i5 or i7?

[@mbaljeetsingh]

Giovanni Roverso i7

[@Gan_Gineandro]

hopefully the i5 is not as bad D: already ordered

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Even i3 and i5.

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Giovanni Roverso: Is it still alive and kicking? Alternatively, do you use it for heating purposes in your room?

[@NetvoTV]

Why the 15 inch had less features and no 2 Thunderbolt 3?

[@Sheamber]

ordering mine now... ypu didnt mention the power button i know on the 10th generation it is on the side is it the same way on here.? Also what video editting do you use for this i have used filmora with my old HP's and i hateee it so much..

[@Bigsargewaymo7]

I have been having a tough time finding sub 15" laptops with the specs I want while also sporting Thunderbolt 3. I don't like 15" laptops, they're too big for my taste. I have a powerful desktop, but laptops should be ultra portable, and the power should be there if I need it. If I want to game or content create, that's when the eGPU comes in handy because.... You're most likely going to be sitting while doing so, so no need for portability at that point. One thing I notice reviewers are doing when talking about Thunderbolt 3 on some of these laptops is that they're failing to mention the express lanes used which hurts your eGPU performance and may disable some I/O features. After lots of research I settled on the Huewai Matebook Pro X, Razer Blade Stealth, or Dell XPS 13. Well, Matebook and Dell (all except for one variant) neutered their Thunderbolt 3 ports. They're running PCIe x 2 instead of the full power of the Thunderbolt 3 port utilizing PCIe x 4. So instead of getting 40 GBps, you're getting 20 GBps. I wasn't digging Razer's price on the Stealth and after Linus's review of it... was a little turned off.... So..... I found this HP Spectre. Evidently, it's all good, full Thunderbolt 3, and great specs for a good price while keeping the thin and light ultra portable thing going on. I think this is a big push to use the HP Omen eGPU in conjunction with it. See... I have always hated HP. They used to be known for selling the biggest, cheapest most plasticy POS... But now, they're trying to redeem themselves and I hate it, but I think I am about to give them another try. We'll see how it goes.

[@CamilaGarcia-cb9sz]

Matt I'd like to buy a computer for photo and video editing (intel core i7, good graphics). Also I am a student so I need it to be very light and sleek and not to expensive. Can you help me with at least 3 options? Thanks!

[@ahmedal-ali6568]

What is the best laptop with touch screen for students in your opinion? Thank you

[@durden02]

6:28 , they also come with free hidden keyloggers.

[@tomyt2220]

Cant you some how deal for me a 360 hp device with 4.or more gb grapiccard and with touchscreen and pen ?? I have a lit of contact posibilities but im not beneficiate from no where :) i just have a phone and my parents are sustaining me for dental isues temporary plus i have a 13yold brother :)

[@zynan]

Great work.

[@MatthewMoniz]

Thanks Xavier!

[@jacobvazquez1919]

Bro the pen sticks to the laptop surface on both: left and right side of the touch pad to keep it safe. Do your full play before you leave a spec out.

[@demirarkman]

I am using LG 4k monitor, can i get 4k an 60hz using this laptop?

[@sush007able]

I was thinking to buy hp envy 13" with ryzen 2500U I'm a graphic designer i want portable device to work can you help me with moderate rage of laptop options??

[@Hamzaabbasi1989]

Hey Mat. Very simple question. Dell xps 13 or spectre 360 ? Also for office use do u think 13 inch screen would be ok or should go for 15 inch display?

[@berneymark]

13" would be fine for office use. I don't know enough about the Spectre 360 to answer you there, but XPS is really good.

[@georgespirides4716]

a

[@michaelclermont]

15" would be best for office use if you don't need to move a lot or you don't hook up any external screen. Spectres are also made in 15" versions.

[@Bigsargewaymo7]

XPS 13 ha sa watered down Thunderbolt 3 PCIe x 2 port the 360 is PCIe x 4. Pair it with an eGPU and you get a full 20 GBps instead of 40 GBps. Evidently paired with an HP Omen Accelerator... Shit's fire. I hate it, because I hate HP. But they did this 2018 version the right way. Not many 13" laptops attain this.

[@Mrburnxminecraft]

Can't help but notice the guitar in the back, ever wanna make a quick random vid of you playing/talking about it?

[@Agtsmirnoff]

Umm, I have this laptop, there are more than 2 screws on the bottom, they are just hidden behind a rubber strip.

[@libertia]

is that sense8???? if so you're my new favorite KZbinr

[@elvissena8797]

Is the branding 'Envy' on the is hunches familiar on every brand?

[@shrlnzam9570]

which one is more powerful : xps 13 or spectre x360 ?

[@CH-ol5rh]

The design of spectre 13 is more aesthetically appealing to me though..

[@LieutenantButtonMasher]

Can you now do the Intel G series Spectre?

[@shortazn97]

This, or the Samsung Notebook 9 Pen? I'm reading a lot of comments and all the quality issues are making me nervous about considering this device

[@datlechi6646]

Watching on my Spectre x360 (7th gen)

[@e.mejia360]

Does anyone know if the pen requires battery/batteries/charging

[@Jc_raken]

Need quick suggestion! I5 7th gen gtx1050ti 4gb gpu(lenovo y520) or i7 7th gen gtx1050 2gb gpu(acer nitro 5)

[@sadeemzone38]

can it handle adope creative and video edting and light gaming like minecraft

[@dalewangZJ]

I had bad experience with the heat generated which i just watching youtube only . and it's in air condition room.The heat is at speaker location .Do you guys had the same issue ?

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Dale Wang: Yup. HP computers are excellent in cold rooms. It's a jolly good heating system and alternatively, always ready for barbecues.

[@kodiakandgrizzlybears3787]

Design is good but the heatsink and fan are lousy. Too noisy and it gets extremely hot inside.

[@0097King]

whyd they get rid of the hdmi???

[@treasured54]

Ended up taking mine back. Gets way too hot just browsing the internet. The speakers sound kind of echoey as well. The track pad sucked. Had to download precision drivers. I wanted to love it, but I just didn't.

[@syednewaz4872]

Great.loved it...😍😍😍

[@user-ti5fd3gs8z]

Do u have any videos to disassemble them

[@jarifahmed5931]

Should I get this or the Lenovo yoga 920?

[@babaji6288]

please make a review on HP pavillion power. Please make emphasis on office work

[@georgethelender5321]

I’m on the market for one of these but you forgot to mention the price point....unless I missed it

[@agilekm2491]

Nice Laptop..!! HP s should Insist on Improved Battery Life instead of Sleek and Thin Design.

[@bartdemczuk7111]

Design and build quality are excellent - really a beautiful piece of hardware. Super portable and light. Great for multimedia consumption. Trackpad sucks, there are a lot of people including me that had the clicky, loose trackpad which was annoying. In terms of performance, don't expect anything big. Gaming is really at a minimum. You can edit, but no 4k. This laptop is really for people who want an amazing portable, multimedia consumption with some basic productivity.

[@dulichtaubien]

Agree design and build are good. Also pen is a bit laggy. Exterior surface very easy to scratch. Good thing it came with a nice cover.

[@garvellock2747]

This modification have windows hello or no?

[@joytoall123]

Hi Matthew, if I have a surface pen, does it resolve latency issues? I mean, do things get better for sketching & taking notes with a pen?

[@joytoall123]

Thanks!!!!!

[@linradke1751]

Anyone owns this laptop for more than a year ? Everything alright? I bought one, and after a 10 min use, it had a crazy overwhelming shit going on, and I had to return it. I'm afraid of picking up a new one, as it doesnt seem really reliable ? (Ps, I had the I7, 16g and SSD 512, 13')

[@fahad4212]

Please include even contrast ratio

[@cosmicerror2682]

Video released the same week HP got caught with keylogging software on all their computers. Not thanks.