HP Spectre x360: My Comprehensive Review

HP Spectre x360 Review
I recently picked up the HP Spectre X360, the newer version the a 7th Gen i7 processor and the 4K screen. It's an impressive machine. I decided to keep this computer over my Porsche Design Book One, mainly because this machine was about $1000 less and does almost everything my Porsche did.
In my review I take a look at the specs, hardware build quality, keyboard, speakers, and the pen.

[@AnomthePhenom]

Came for the line test. Thanks so much :)

[@christiethorold]

Thank you. Great review.

[@LeakyBuffer]

Once I got my Spectre, I found some things that reviews generally did not seem to cover as I watched a lot of them before purchasing. 1) When you plug in headphones, the audio quality gets drastically reduced with absolutely no bass, or other EQ tuning to make the music rock-like, or cinema etc. The Bang & Olfsen software disables the EQ when something is plugged in. I had to revert the SST driver to a 'simpler' Realtek High Definition Audio driver which instantly made the headphone music full of bass and overall MUCH better sounding. There is no fix otherwise for this as the B&O software does not support headjack EQ and seems to literally zero everything out. Something to note for folks that like to listen to anything with headphones as you will notice it instantly as it sounds like your listening out of $1 ear buds regardless how expensive your headphones are. 2) Also the laptop does randomly freeze up where the mouse doesn't move from track pad input from time to time (somewhat rarely, but when it happens its super annoying) for periods of 5 seconds to over a minute with each freeze event and when this happens I notice that a lot of the time I can still navigate via the touchscreen... that part I have not been able to fix and shutting off all user programs/services does not solve it, even tried different Anti-Virus solutions so this issue seems more systemic or maybe a limit of those 2 cores. 3) When I use my business apps on it like dropbox, skype for business (IM only), OneDrive personal and business (so 2 instances), Evernote, work related web browsing (not much media), VPN, and office apps (outlook, word, excel), I can get maybe 1.5-2 hours from a full charge before it starts to get down to like 30 minutes remaining or less. To really get say 3 hours or 4 hours of use I need to kill all those apps and system tray services, lower the screen brightness etc. and go into a only watch static videos. Another aspect may be that I like to use the laptop on the bed, couch etc, so it may heat up as I typically don't use a laptop coaster which may cause the fans to ramp up and eat the battery faster. Eitherway if your a pretty solid power user, your battery life may not be anywhere near that 9+ hours they tout in the real world like what I see. This isn't a deal killer for me though as I tend to try to keep things on power cord out of habit anyway. 4) If you do things like remote desktop sessions for work etc., the 4K resolution really screws you up as everything is almost un-readably small unless your remote machine can scale appropriately which is more like an early adopter problem. 5) I also ran into an application that didn't scale at all for 4K, so it's program window was literally like 2" x 2" making it unusable. Luckily I found that editing the EXE properties and changing scaling to 'system' fixed it for me. But there may be plenty more applications like that which are not 4K ready. 6) When I first even barely started using the laptop web browsing was driving me crazy as I use two-fingers to scroll (came from a Macbook Pro), and when you touch the trackpad with two fingers it defaults to issuing a right-click event. So when your scrolling a web page you would routinely get interrupted by a right-click. It was so bad I had thoughts of returning it as I was trying to dig around the device/mouse/trackpad settings for a while, but eventually found the settings to completely disable that in the track pad software... they should try to consider changing those settings from factory - I changed the settings to where you have to physically depress the track pad to get a right-click, not barely even touch it two-finger wise with no physically forceful pressure as it conflicts with natural trackpad scrolling. But admittedly this may just be a difference in opinion for how people like that stuff to work, I know I didn't. Sorry for this massive post, but these are my real-world con's I experienced with it that, after finding fixes, allowed me to keep it and made the end user experience MUCH better. Aside from living with the sporadic freezing of the mouse pointer when using the track pad from time to time. The touch screen really is a thing of beauty and my daughter (6) uses it a ton to practice hand writing and overall just being creative with the apps that work seamlessly with the pen.

[@dowerchin]

Thanks for the extensive comment. I've not tried any of my plug-in headphones on this system, but I've used some BT ones and didn't notice any particular problems. Mine doesn't seem to suffer from your freezing issue. You might want to run some diagnostics on your system to see what might be going on. I'm also running Dropbox, OneDrive, VPN software, etc, and the battery doesn't seem to suffer as much. But I've not had the need to be on battery for extended periods of time lately. I do agree that 4K screens on Windows machines can cause problems with some applications that don't support high DPI displays. It's rather annoying too. Luckily many of the apps I use have started to support them, so it's not as bad anymore.

[@mangel5474]

I'm getting my in end of August for school and editing my videos. You think the computer will be fine?

[@vaishaksanthoshnair3002]

thankyou very much, nicely explained. i like to know one thing. how can we pair the pen with bluetooth?. i found it smoewhere. but pairing was not shown

[@kevol.a.2307]

Good morning. An you tell me what type of cover is that for the computer I need one..thank you

[@2011Kestrel]

Thought I'd start a new comment regarding the finish. The Spectre's pretty finish is a selling point for a lot of people, but I would love to hear how the ash/copper finish is holding up six months from now. How quickly/easily/badly the finish gets scratched up, etc. I'm currently looking for a laptop for everyday use, both at work and home. Since work is a combination of office, shop floor and occasionally construction site, I can expect my laptop to experience a little bit of rough treatment. The finish on a (plain) silver laptop might hold up better for me in the long run. So if you have the time please do a follow-up video regarding how the Spectre's finish is holding up. Thanks.

[@dowerchin]

Sure, I'll do a follow-up video... Although I'll confess, I'm a bit of a desk-jockey. I take my laptop around, but it's not in any rough places. The unit also comes with a nice leather pouch, which I use when I transport it around. I actually tent this device quite a bit, I'm wondering how well the hinge will hold up in a few months.

[@MARCALZ30]

Dower Chin t

[@aleolaiz]

I bought one an 10th Dec 2017 ash/copper. Up to date (5 month of continual use), surface finish is GREAT! But I loves it and I take a reazonable care of it (As a teacher, I bring it every day al work!).

[@jimko97]

Hey Dower! Nice video. We're looking for a laptop for Andy starting school next year. He's going into the IT Security program at MCC. Any thoughts? Not sure yet if he needs something powerful (like to run a VM) or if he could get by with something easy to tote like this one.

[@dowerchin]

Hey Jim, good to hear from you. Wow, Andy's off to college already! Well, you have plenty of nice options these days. I've been using this HP for over a month now, and I really do like it. You can probably run a few (1-3) VM's if Andy needs to; it'll depend on how he configures them. I'd think he'll be doing that if he's doing IT Security. The nice thing about this laptop is it's easy to carry around and quite capable. Price is decent too. If he needs to do many more VM's or more powerful VM's, he'll probably need something with more RAM and CPU. This HP only has a Dual Core, so that may affect how well VM's will run.

[@bluerose4647]

Dell xps 13 9350 with i7 - 6560u or hp spectre x360 with i5 - 8250u processor?

[@maxfrombeyblade]

I jst got one of these. Works like a charm. Love it. One question though, are apple earbuds compatible with this laptop? I tried plugging mine in and it doesn't fit. Is it supposed to be like this or is there a problem with my computer.

[@dowerchin]

I'm not sure. Are the Apple Earbud's you refer to the standard wired ones or the wireless ones? I've been using my Sony MDR-1000X and mPow bluetooth earbuds on this device with no issues. I also plugged in some wired earbuds from Philips with no issues.

[@Jazz914]

The reason for the home row is for us programmers. We use those keys pretty religiously whilst coding as they're pretty essential shortcuts for workflow reasons. I know this probably doesn't help the off-center issue, but it might help understand why they have it as opposed to cutting it out.

[@JanetWhiteE]

Not just programmers. Anyone who uses MS Office will use the Home/End row extensively. Its also kinder on joints to use keyboard rather than mouse or touchpad for moving through web pages etc.

[@CaptainShorif]

the fan noise is very loud. Anything I can do to reduce the sound?

[@jjy365959]

Undervolt

[@jackklnet2458]

You should review the Yoga 720 15 inch.

[@dowerchin]

Wow, that's a nice looking machine. It even packs an NVidia 1050, and stylus support!

[@vision32601]

but only 13.5inch available. I tried HP official HP WEBSITE but the problem is, it only covers USA shipping. Can you help me How can i buy Spectre x360 15inches. ???

[@BullyMeBoy]

I've pre-ordered the i7-8th gen, 16 gb, 512ssd, 4k display, pen included. But after learning more about the x360 I found out that the predecessor with 4k display had horrible battery life (6-8hrs). According to HP, the new model is supposed to have up-to 16hrs but i doubt it. I mean as long as its gives between 10-12hrs I'm perfectly fine. Now i am confused whether i should exchange for the fhd model? Like i said anything between 10-12hrs -16 hrs would be great! (btw i just surf the web 7-10 tabs, Netflix, bunch of documents, KZbin and little editing.)

[@dowerchin]

Battery life definitely fluctuates. Yesterday, I got about 3-4 hours, but I was docked to a USB3 docking station. The battery meter this morning fluctuates between 2-4 hours, but I'm not using any aggressive power management, and I have my screen at 100%. I don't usually run on a battery, because typically I'm plugged into a USB-C dock or my Razer Core, which charges the device. The few times I've been outside, I've gotten around 3-4 hours of battery time... I've also loaded a ton of things onto this computer, which may explain why my battery time never gets close to the advertised time. I'm sure if I was more aggressive with power management I can get more time. The new version should serve you well, the addition of a real Quad Core processor will make certain tasks better. the 4K display is nice, but there are still some apps that don't scale well and will be harder to use, so the 4K display has been an issue at times for me. In general, I really enjoy using this laptop, and it's still my main computer I use daily, although I'm mainly a desk jockey, I do enjoy to easy to carry form factor.

[@antoniomikkonen4935]

Great review and good comments from other users. Thinking of buying but that wobbling problem scared me a bit.

[@OsazeAkil]

Thanks for the review! Have you had any issues with the sound? I bought my HP Spectre x360 15" only a week ago and the right speaker blew out while listening to music. I'm within my two week return period with Best Buy and I plan on taking it back today, but I'm wondering if I should get the same one. I love everything about the laptop, but having one functioning speaker is something I'm definitely not quite as fond of. I've looked up the issue and it's happened to several other people. I just don't want to replace it and have the same issue. Thanks!

[@dowerchin]

I haven't had any issues with this computer. I'm enjoying the 13" model for it's portability. I've hooked mine up with a RazerCore for gaming. The nice thing about the 15" model is it has the dedicated GPU, so it has some gaming ability. You'll need to decide if that's important to you. I would definitely take it back to Best Buy if you're in your return window. You've used it now, so you can decide if this machine is still for you. Sometimes defects can make it through, but between mine, and two other co-workers, they've not had a problem with their Spectre's. Time will tell if things go wrong, but I'm hoping this machine will last me a few years (at least 2 - 3).

[@Daniel-if6gk]

How is your Spectre doing with running hot ? As in CPU temperature? My fan is making a lot of noise with just watching youtube, windows fresh install.. no additional software installed. This machine is driving me crazy. Would love to love it but this fan noise and heat is making it hard to love this machine. Can't hold it on my lap, way to hot. this is my second machine as HP swapped the machine for this problem.

[@dowerchin]

If there is one con with this laptop is it does run hot, and the fans do kick in quite a bit. I've been able to ignore it for the most part because I've been using it off to the side. I've paired it up to my Razer Core with an external monitor, keyboard and mouse. I do hear it though, even as I type this message to you. I suppose it's the price you pay for miniaturizing a laptop with these guts in such a thin package (Oh, the fans just stopped). At work I also pair it up with a Plugable USB-C dock, so I'm not always on the device in laptop mode, in both case, I have the device in "Tent" mode. I do take it into meetings and use it in tablet mode, but I've not had heat or fan issues in meetings; probably because I'm just in OneNote. Overall, I do like this machine quite a lot, and at the moment, I'm able to look over the fan noise and heat. I do worry about the device in the long term. The heat hasn't affected me using the device, so in the few times in laptop mode, the heat seems well isolated to the back part of the device, so the keyboard and trackpad area does't become uncomfortable to use.

[@Daniel-if6gk]

Well today I decided to send the laptop back to HP and get a refund. With a load of 30 - 40% the temp got at 93degr Celsius and I can tell you , that's not pleasant at your lap. To bad because I do love the build and functionality of this device. But for me this was a big deal breaker

[@dowerchin]

That's too bad, but is definitely understandable. My office just ordered a new Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon. I've been wanting to take a look at that. Maybe that could be an option. Hopefully i'll get a chance to play with it a little when that comes in.

[@kevol.a.2307]

Good morning I have the Chromebook I bought a stylus what do I have to do to use it with the chrome book can you help me?

[@dowerchin]

This completely depends on your Chromebook and if it has digitizer support, if it does, it will depend on what kind of digitizer. I believe most Chromebook’s do NOT have digitizer support, most that do will usually include them. I recommend looking up the make/model of your Chromebook to be sure. If no digitizer is supported and it has a touch screen, you might be able to use a passive stylus, which are nubby pens with a mesh or rubberized tip.

[@CaioMarino]

Please tell me which pen is this? In Brazil there are few active pens. How do I know which ones work with the 13-inch Spectre X360?

[@dowerchin]

The Spectre's use the same type of pen that you find on the Surface Pro 3 and 4. I would also recommend the Wacom Bamboo Ink smart stylus.

[@CaioMarino]

Tks a lot, Dower!!

[@emmanuelbonney32]

Caio Marino 8

[@2011Kestrel]

What is the model number for this unit? With the specs you've shown, I've only seen the 13' available in silver - I would much prefer to get one with the ash/copper colour scheme.

[@dowerchin]

Mine is a 13-ac033dx. I picked it up at Best Buy. HP was reserving this color for the higher end 4K model. I'm not sure if they stopped that or not. At Best Buy's web site, it looks like this version is still available, but the HP site doesn't seem to show it anymore.

[@2011Kestrel]

From what I can tell, it's a BestBuy.com exclusive. I'm in Canada, so I'm a bit out of luck there - unless I can get a relative to grab one for me.

[@dowerchin]

That's a bummer. I thought I saw that unit on the store at one point. Not sure why it's gone now. The copper/dark theme is nice. At first I didn't think it looked that good, but it's grown on me. It looks less generic.

[@donnyspeed]

Actually, on HP's website, you can select the Ash Grey color scheme for an extra $10 usd

[@LoveLea333]

What do you think of the HP x360 Pavilion 14 ba007ca please :)

[@dowerchin]

That's not a bad system, and it can be pretty inexpensive (depending on how you configure it). It looks like you can customize it to be pretty powerful, even with a GPU. It doesn't have digitizer support, if you care about that, and it'll be obviously heavier than the 13. The design is also a little more basic. Another alternative would be the 15" Spectre X360.

[@nidalabdulkarim1091]

Just wanted to know how does it perform if you are using the web to remote into a work station from home? keep in mind that the work station is 27 inch screen. Does it resize properly? or is it difficult to use? I have seen how the iPad performs using remote access and it pretty much resizes and computer screen into the iPad screen which is a 12.9 inch. Reading and access information is very easy so not sure how this one performs. If you could give me a review or an opinion that would be great!.

[@dowerchin]

I can tell you I remote to computers all the time on my Spectre. I suppose it depends on how you are remoting? I use both Windows Remote Desktop and Teamviewer on a daily basis. Both tools allow for scaling, and Windows Remote Desktop allows you to specify the resolution of the session.

[@nidalabdulkarim1091]

Thank you so much! I will be using Teamviewer.

[@MARCALZ30]

What's the difference between the 13 inch and the 15 inch? Which one is a better bang for the buck? Please please reply asap

[@dowerchin]

The only major difference besides size, is the 15" has a dedicated GPU, the NVidia 940MX. That means the machine has some gaming ability built in. The trade off is size and weight. So, you will need to decide if you want a bigger physical screen size and gaming ability vs lighter and more portable.

[@TheMrhaaks]

hi, whats the difference between usb c and thunderbolt?

[@force1164]

Hi, its the spec. In essence every thunderbolt 3 is also a USB-C but not every USB-C is a thunderbolt. Good article about it is here www.makeuseof.com/tag/thunderbolt-3-device-cable-can-everything/

[@mbjac]

I think your spec sheet is wrong, HPs website states only one on board gpu intel HD Graphics 620 NVIDIA 940MX (2GB) I wish it was 8gb

[@dowerchin]

The 15" version comes with the NVidia 940M. The 13" model only comes with the built in Intel graphics. It would be awesome if the 13" did, but that's not technically possible yet.

[@bennettegeo]

I recently brought an HP Spectre X360, the version with a 7th Gen i7 processor, duration of usage is fluctuated, sometime 3 hours or sometime longer a bit, instead claimed as per user guide should be over 7 hours. I have set the screen brightness to the lowest the duration is never longer that 3.5 hours. I need to obtain all relevant information in the Web or down load from the cloud to perform my work.Can anyone taught/share the correct way to extend the workability and duration for it.Thanks

[@BullyMeBoy]

bennettegeo too bad the i7 8th gen new edge like design is out with 4k, finger print etc. Do you have the Fhd or 4k display?

[@JoaoRaiden]

Um what? I've been using the Spectre X360 for 5 months now and I've been getting a solid 8 hours per charge with the 4k display on maximum brightness

[@TheCrazyGolfer]

any problems with fannoise?

[@dowerchin]

Fan noise wasn't much of a problem for me, but depending on your environment, it can become noticeable, especially if you are really pushing the system.

[@sefa005]

At first I thought my 15"" version would be a fertility killer too but then realized it mostly get hot during charging ( lasts about half an hour ) . Moreover, this might sound like a sacrificial option but turning down the max processor setting to %85 helps keep the machine not hit its 7th gear unnecessarily. I never game or anything but if I were to use intensive numerical processing on my spectre, I'd just revert the setting to 99% ;) . All in all this product is intended for practicality, mobility and a bit of a showing off ! ;) . Especially the 15" version... It is incredibly well designed; very sleek. Lastly, the 13,3 might as well be suffering from even further lack of space internally. 15" is wider and thicker... Though again I am sure mine would be scorching the atmosphere if I ever gamed or did intricate 3D drawings on it... Which I won't! ;) 9hr battery life, Movies on its immaculate display, browsing, youtubing, chitchat... Spectre is just a flashy toy ! :) P.s : my only gripe is the low pitch buzz coming from the left hand side of the chassis... It occurs when used unplugged with brightness level lower than 100%

[@sayresyDevino]

Good riddance old look HP.. Great review - thanks

[@dowerchin]

I was very surprised by this system. I wasn't expecting something like this from HP.

[@shahid-irshad]

Looks like it has a glaring problem in the screen.

[@dowerchin]

It is a glossy display. So, glare can be an issue. I ended up putting a screen protector on my HP to prevent potential scratching from pen use.

[@shahid-irshad]

Dower Chin Thanks man. I just ordered one of this and will be reached to me in next few days.

[@Antler69]

This laptop wobbles and doesn't rest flat on table!! This laptop wobbles and doesn't rest flat on table!! This laptop wobbles and doesn't rest flat on table!!

[@dowerchin]

I've not seen this in any of these systems (I've handled at least 3 of these). Has your battery begun to bulge and deform the case? Is the case bent? If your system is still under warranty I would see if they can help in any way. Have you tried other tables?

[@Antler69]

Dower Chin you can google about this. i am not the only one...and it's my 2nd replacement!

[@dowerchin]

That's a serious bummer. Sorry to hear about that. Any thoughts on what's causing it? Is the chassis deformed?

[@Antler69]

i bought this sometime in June, it's my second device now and tomorrow i need to get my 3rd device...WHOEVER CONSIDER X360 SPECTRE, PLEASE HAVE A SECOND THOUGHT

[@dowerchin]

Are you working with HP to resolve the issue? I'm just wondering, in case I come across any that have this problem.

[@anelabozic7591]

You talk to fast

[@dankestranch8738]

Anđela Božić if he talked slower it would be a 40 minute video