HP Spectre x360 15" AMD Vega vs. Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 vs. Surface Book 2 Smackdown

[@okashi10]

OMG LISA YOU DID IT I've literally been googling and youtubing and researching this smackdown for weeks with no luck. THANK YOU

[@sangar197]

What did you decide ?

[@nickfotopoulos5323]

That's rare. 15 minutes review video that doesn't have 10 minutes of fluff I have to skip past. Three arm Lisa for president 2020!

[@kevincarver4759]

THANK YOU! You truly care about your subscribers.

[@supremeomegacompany]

Thanks for this hard work!

[@Unkn0wnC0mmand]

I was wanting to see this smackdown so so badly. Exactly what I was looking for. Thanks so much, Lisa! Perfect video.

[@ritualj0int]

Im not sure why im watching these videos, its not like i can afford any one of them. lol Thanks Lisa, great vid!

[@MrNosugarcoating]

András Egyed ikr me too

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

Same XD

[@skepticalmechanic]

Same here... but it’s free and ok to dream....

[@agustianzafreddy3217]

let's look at it as an exercise, for when we have one :P

[@whatisbestinlife8112]

She does great reviews.

[@kristinas1646]

Found this channel while laptop shopping and needed someone knowledgeable, impartial, and able to speak without too much jargon. Finally decided which one to go for (Dell XPS) but I still come back here because it's a joy watching. Thank you!

[@maiosui4023]

Kristina Shands so.... how’s the dell xps? I’m thinking on buying it but I heard complains about the fan noise and thermal problems. I mean every computer gets hot when doing hard work but does it get really hot? To the point of being uncomfortable? As the hp?

[@daedgoco]

Nobody else goes in depth like you, I always wait for your laptop reviews.

[@arcooke]

I actually bought the x360 with Vega M and have been kind of annoyed by the fan noise. It's a great laptop, but the fan is ALWAYS on. It drives me nuts in a quiet environment, even when it's just idling. Would have much preferred rear vents, the constant fan sound from the left vent really gets on my nerves. I'm sure I'll get used to it in time but it was a lot louder than I was expecting. EDIT: I ended up returning it. Between the crappy battery life, awful speakers, and non-stop fan noise, I didn't feel like it was worth the $1800 price tag. Everything else about the laptop was fantastic, but for that price, I have high expectations and HP didn't deliver on that.

[@hansgrietjes7310]

N.ESS i also just got the Spectre and don't have any issues with the fan/noise. it's quite low when doing simple desktop stuff ( you don't really notice it) and only turns up when playing games. Try looking at your power/performance settings and/or do a default settings reset, like suggested on the spectre review video.

[@McGreish]

It's set to have the fans always running in the BIOS. You might hear the fan less if you turn that setting off though do anything slightly demanding they're going to turn on anyways.

[@roadrat11s]

I also have a Spectre x360 with the Vega graphiocs I just got and I initially would have agreed with thermal issues and BSOD crashes (mentioned elsewhere) but I did a factory reset and I couldn't be happier now. Great performance - about 50-70 FPS in Doom on ultra @1080 along with about 7 hours of productivity work with mid brightness. I don't think any other computer touches this for flexibility, but I think the initial image from HP has some issues that the factory reset took care of some how. Hope this helps.

[@McGreish]

roadrat11s I'd be wary a BIOS update fixed most issues for me but I was testing GTA V to see if it would give me a bsod and it still does it just takes a lot longer for it to happen. So if you're playing say the old doom something less graphically demanding it may be fixed... To a certain extent but if you ever try anything more demanding it could possibly still occur. I'm not guaranteeing it will but everyone claims it fixes their problems but for me it made a huge improvement but the bsod still lingered.

[@itisbarneyk]

Hi, I too have a Vega Spectre 15 - Just wondering, did you do a factory reset via HP's recovery partition, or simply a clean reinstall from Microsoft? Thanks

[@Wishwellpomeyie]

Thanks for the comparison, been waiting for this for a while

[@skullaveraz]

Lisa, I've been watching your videos for years now. Always great watching your in-depth reviews! Love the comparisons and your opinions!

[@MrGrownman455]

Most people will let the surface book's price keep them from even trying it out but once you pick up a surface book it's hard to put down. I have to admit I can almost agree with the price range after playing around with one my friend's surfacebook.

[@aaronharris5275]

wow what detail! In depth reviews, very good work indeed!

[@muhammadshwan8161]

It's simply a joy to watch ur videos! Thank u and keep up the good work Lisa.

[@papykog7772]

Hi Lisa, love your reviews keep coming back to them. I am a Sound Designer and fan noise is a bit of an issue to me for recording and so forth. You mentioned fan noise from the x360 and xps but I was wondering what the noise is like on the Surface Book 2 15inch? Also have you ever thought of reviewing the HP Zbook x2? It is pretty much designed for creatives/artists with a Wacom style screen with pen and assignable buttons on the bezels. Thanks for your time if you read this and keep up the good work!

[@herranonym5725]

I love your reviews, they are really great!

[@ohmysoul]

This is what I've been looking for. Thank you!

[@LeahCanadian]

I went from a 2017 MBP to the SB2 and it's by far the best device I've owned. I'm not a huge fan of windows but damn... the build quality is good on this thing.

[@omkarghorpade5729]

Thanks for this great review ma'am!!

[@nickscott447]

Always enjoy all your videos. Thanks for the comparison. Just ordered a Surface Book 2. For me it seems like the best choice. Keep those videos coming!!!!!!

[@JodyLifeofAMom]

This is so helpful, thank you!

[@ClectaSkiMusic]

Great stuff, do keep up the good work Lisa

[@Mipso96]

I really appreciate your neat work Lisa!!! hope you get more subscribers!

[@technicalman]

Best reviews for all of these so far. I appreciate the personal opinions that you lend us

[@SilentTrip]

You are a life saver, thank you. Subscribed

[@riaazmohammed1]

Lots of love for this SMACK DOWN! GREAT JOB LISA & MOBILETECHREVIEW TEAM!

[@philippsarnes]

Thank you so much for the smackdown, i also watched the review of the spectre. Great job. Greetings from germany!

[@Asck96]

thanks for the review!!! got one question though, can you charge these laptops with a power bank?

[@robertcollis7951]

Thanks. You offer the best reviews and comparisons on KZbin. I’m so sick of these wannabe reviewers. I can always count on you for an honest opinion.

[@pamreis]

Agreed

[@justlikeorf]

Thank you so much for your in depth reviews! You're by far my favorite tech youtuber. I'd love to see your review of the HP ZBook x2!

[@rbsr99]

Nice! Thank you for another awesome video!

[@IonutTudorMusic]

Thank you for the very professional way of explaining. You helped me choose the right laptop, I think.

[@ruskreeder2434]

A realy great review as always.

[@Cenot4ph]

The surface book is notorious for not being able to be serviced. It's a no go for me because of that

[@Tn089-b6g]

Tm m not the case with the surface book. It's top notch engineering by microsoft. I have the first sb in 2015 version and is still runing flawlessly

[@Cenot4ph]

Cate4life untill it's not and then what do you do? Everything fails at some point, I've been buying laptops for decades now and this has been true for any brand

[@Tn089-b6g]

Cenot4ph Lol you use a laptop for a decade ? Even if it still runs after 10 years, no one is gonna keep holding on to that obsoleted piece of tech. It's been with me for 3 damn good years to make it worth the price and i will probably have it replaced by the end of this year or the next.

[@CommentFanatic]

Cenot4ph Well my father's old laptop, a Sony Vaio, is still running decently after 8 years. It depends how you use it.

[@MadelnMachines]

I'm still using my late 2008 macbook pro. I would expect something similar from the next laptop I buy. I've been through 3 batteries, 3 chargers and 1 hard drive.

[@mlatief5865]

Thank you great work

[@parkflyerindonesia]

Awesome smackdown Lisa 😎👍 Always enjoyed your video. Keep up the good stuffs.

[@Dori_1111]

Excellent! Thanks for this comparison. And the winner is: HP ZBook X360. Just kidding, but hopefully you will get to review the ZBook X360. With Xeon processors, 600 nits display, and NVidia graphics, the ZBook will be certainly hard to beat (if not the top product in the market for performance users, period!). Will wait until May (when the ZBook is out) before any decision. Thanks for commenting about the noise also. It's a very important aspect for some of us...

[@haroldlauhoyan]

omg,, i didn't know about this laptop,, but how good would the p1000 gpu compete with the 1060 in terms of video render and (a bit of gaming lol)

[@phillipmorales8213]

I really hope she reviews it!! I wanted to get a zbook instead of the Spectre but I couldn't wait for even the Vega version of the Spectre. So I got the MX-150 with an RX 580 egpu.

[@Miluchoonn]

Dori S

[@jaychoirenderender]

Well, if you are going to compare, then compare things that are more appropriate. ZBook vs Precision sounds right. ZBook vs XPS 15 or Spectre, or even Surface doesn't make sense.

[@jaychoirenderender]

not much of a difference, unless you are working with CAD programs.

[@mr_red13]

Please review the Aero 15!! Love your vids, keep it up!

[@IMZ44]

I love the channel. Laptops keep getting more powerful as time goes by.

[@IMZ44]

Ray Shaw sadly true

[@laurarossi7634]

Awesome Videos Thank you

[@fwng69420]

thanks for doing this! any chance you'll be doing a full review of the acer switch 7 any time soon?

[@itaco8066]

Very good video ! Thank you

[@DNA7URE]

Thanks for the video Lisa. I don't remember if you did a video comparison for the pens on the three laptops. I'm trying to see if the surface pen will work on the Dell xps

[@willx2018]

Can you test battery life of the Spectre when you turn the resolution down to 1080p? And also, how's the fan noise on that thing? I heard that just using the internet makes the fans rev up.

[@jessebull4375]

Will Xu I’ve had the hp spectre for a couple months now and I’ve only heard the fan kick on Once.

[@fnscomedycrew]

Thanks for the comparison! I bought the surface book 2 hoping to utilize the 1060 for VR also but... those silly engineers designed the usb-c port to utilize the integrated gpu first, even if you change all settings to dedicated. It's a hardware bus issue. Therefore, you get unavoidable latency with high frame rates while using that one and only video port... buzz kill...

[@CaptainNemo6]

Hey Lisa, what is the best ultrabook right now? Would l love to see a video about this

[@juanfranciscojesushernande3396]

I just started watching this and I'm already thrilled!!!! 😀😀😀😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁

[@MantisRay861]

Very nice video! You should use an ESD strap when touching the internals.

[@sushantodas5948]

The most awaited video ....thanks a lot

[@DragonClaudz]

Excellent comparison! Can you do a review on the zenbook flip?

[@harinarayan1000]

Can you do a comparison of dell XPS 15 2 in 1 vs MacBook Pro 15 inch?

[@knuthaake1368]

Great Video. Can the HP Spectre with I8705g hold a second SSD Drive like 1 TB?

[@9amir6]

Is there a noticable difference in photoshop and Lightroom between these? I understand that the CPU is quite different between them, but I wanted to know if there is significant difference in real world usage? Very good comparison. Keep up the good work.

[@LG-jn5fx]

Great job Lisa and thanks for the smackdown. I will take a risk on the HP. By far the best value option in the UK and if the thermals seem to high I will try a factory reset and hope that helps. I truly adore the SB2 but the complete lack of repair-ability and poor warranty means it is a no go for me, I need the machine to perform for a few years for it to be a good purchase. The lack of Thunderbolt 3 on the SB3 also hurts its longevity, once the 1060 is old and slow there is no way to boost the performance via an egpu. With the Dell/HP you can connect an egpu and get a full fat 65w cpu with the latest gpu power.

[@jamieharmoosh]

Lee Greenway I'm returning my HP Spectre x360 ch004. The screen wobbles a stupid amount in laptop mode. The fans are always on and audible. Add to that the camera and fingerprint sensor don't teliably detect properly. I'm gutted as I waited ages to get one. I'm now waiting for the 9570 and giving up on convertible devices.

[@yahyakebbe1205]

Long awaited Smackdown. Thank you :D

[@Drahngis]

great video, would like to add suggestions. when you're talking about the dell xps, please only show video of the dell xps. it's kind of confusing when you're talking about the surfacebook 2 screen specs, and us viewers are seeing the hp screen. also when talking about ports, don't show the right side of the ports on the pc while showing the keyboard or the left side of the port. show what you're talking about, at all times. :) EDIT: I'd prefer if you only mentioned the laptops full name at the start of the video and not throughout the video, it's annoying to hear the full names for all these pc at all times, if you only mention "HP" we know you're talking about the HP spectre x360 with AMD graphics with 16gb of ram with 4k screen, because you said that at the start of the video. PS: if I had the money, i'd pick Surfacebook at any day, seems like the better choice overall

[@DesignDebtClub]

Tanks for the vid Lisa! I'm coming from a surface pro 4 and considering the HP. I draw and note take a lot and am concerned about the pen accuracy and palm rejection being worse than my current laptop? (Watched your 2017 vid of the HP and it looked fairly bad) Whats your experience with the 2018 model been like?

[@Thirsty_Fox]

I was going to save up for the Spectre x360 15" (which I really like), but found a nearly brand-new ThinkPad L470 (8 GB DDR4, SSD, 1080p IPS) for $290 US (CAD$375). I couldn't turn it down!

[@thibaldus3]

Be careful with the PWM.

[@Thirsty_Fox]

I don't think the IPS panel uses PWM. I run it at or near 100% brightness anyhow as it's only around 250 nits.

[@AlecSong]

Was the pen video removed from KZbin?

[@barskorkmaz8323]

I bought Surface book 1 for my big brother after 1 year his laptop's screen died and microsoft said we can replace it for 600 pounds...

[@JWard2]

I wish she would mention how the Dell has FFC (far field communion) and the charger doubles as a battery bank. The HP and notebook doesn't.

[@danielee8418]

J. Ward She also didn’t mention the webcams I think.

[@JWard2]

Daniel Li correct she did not. Sadly

[@danielee8418]

J. Ward And no sound quality or biometric comparisons. There need to be more details.

[@JWard2]

Daniel Li I agree. It's disheartening

[@cory695]

I must have missed this somewhere but I've never heard anything about the dell coming with a power bank. Got a link to this information?

[@ibrahimalkhatib6252]

Can you please review Hauwei MateBook X pro

[@Rambler358]

How do you think the Surface Book 2 13” GTX1050 model would compare graphics-wise against the 15” Dell and HP here?

[@Faisal-os9ks]

Rambler358 probably not as well

[@KC-bg1th]

1050 mobile is substantially worse than the Vega M GL.

[@cmenjivar813]

Love your videos!!!

[@TechLeatherCraft]

Great comparison, I'm liking the HP, price and ports/SD card support.

[@joanardon6222]

What about using an external GPU with the HP? For example a GTX 1070? Would the CPU hold you back?

[@SHINdanny]

14:37 Lisa: "Oh snap, I´m still holding them..." SNAP: "You got the POOOOOWER! also SNAP: "It's gettin' kinda heavy!"

[@hrishimaniac]

Thanks a lot!!

[@pauiequeson5730]

Please do a comparison on the two HP Spectres? :D I wanna know if getting the more expensive model is a better choice

[@txmoney]

Based solely on this smackdown, (and if money isn't an issue), I'd get the Surface Book 2. The Surface Book 2's versatility, performance, and battery life is unbeatable.

[@Ron841000]

I would take the xps, with the future proofed ports, and even though the battery life is less, it still gets a respectable 7 hours of routine use, and it also has fast charging via those Thunderbolt ports

[@scottza]

Only one of them ;)

[@TipWorldpl]

Is it worth to buy a version with i7?

[@ravey5408]

I’m happy with my surface pro book 2. But yet I’m still watching this video 🙄😂

[@onode797]

Noah Pearson hey can you give me your old laptop that you don't use anymore?

[@ignacioblacksmith6764]

I'm happy with my Dell XPS 9570 and still watching this for no reason :)

[@809castro]

Same here sb2 I still believe is the best out there...

[@pamreis]

I gonna do the same and smiling hehe

[@robertc574]

I was hoping you did a benchmark stress test on the Dell & Hp Even though they are using the same setup, difference is reviews are comparing of throttling issues for the Hp

[@cloudflores9838]

So overall which one is the best?

[@chaosofagoose]

How long do you think the spectre would last running Autocad? And how loud do you think the fans would get? I'm getting the spectre for school and have to use CAD a lot

[@haroldlauhoyan]

thx for the smackdown,, but i still not sure what to get,, the battery life and the 1060 in surface is really tempting,, but im afraid if the cpu would last me for a longggg time with that price tag,, im also look forward to the traditional xps 15 later this month with an i9 or the aero 15x,, but then these two would be so much heavier to carry around as i do need a wacom intuos when i travel to work,, what would you guys get if you guys in my position. btw im a fashion photographer and often do video editing for vloggers. so primarily i will use capture one, photoshop and premiere pro. plus some gaming :)

[@CAnVeC33]

Please question to you MobileTechReview: How easy or confortable is to use XPS15 as a tablet or portrait screen to read and content?

[@MrCustomConcrete]

Could you upgrade the HP Spectra x360 to the NVIDIA GTX 1060 graphics card?... and how do any of these computers compare to the HP Omen??

[@lechuza0noct]

So wich is Best overall?

[@henry_2235]

How does the performance for gaming compare for the Spectre and the XPS 15 non convertible?

[@mrzazzaable]

Amazing review

[@midnick2159]

Wonderfully informative! Totally feeling the HP, seems perfectly balanced for my needs and ambitions. Thx for the insight :)

[@ElTamauro]

I really like your videos, mainly I love the way you talk about technology, you make it sound "easy", even if... man you talk fast ! English is not my first lenguage and it's such a struggle to follow you, but totally worth the effort ;) Anyway thanks for your videos and here is the reason of my post: I'm a graphic designer and I'm facing a dilemma so I could use some help. After almost 30 years of using Apple only, and when I say only, I mean ONLY, I come to the decision that is time for the big jump... I'm ready to transition from mac to PC, something that up to a few weeks ago I would have never imagined to say. Why ? Because I lost enthusiasm and trust in Apple and in its "philosophy' years ago, it used to be about innovation and now it's clearly only about profit. In other words, for my needs ( basically I work only within Adobe CC, plus Powerpoint ) I can find way better hardware at a lower cost in the PC World and now Windows 10 is stable and not that ugly anymore. Now I have a macbook pro ( often plugged into a big external monitor) plus an iPad pro with apple pencil and they are OK, but I realized that with this configuration I do not use the pencil as much as I would like to. For example if I'm working in Illustrator or photoshop and at a certain point I would like add a "pencil touch" to my work I would need to export the file to the iPad, open it in another app and than re-export it on the mac again, and at the end I never do that because it would break the workflow, so I never use my "pencil touch". Last week I realized that in the "PC world" they "invented" the convertible laptops or 2-in-1 ( and this tells you how much I was living only in the Apple Ecosystem ) and that would be the perfect hardware for me... and this brings me to my dilemma: which convertible laptop should I buy ? This market is all new for me, there are so many possible choices and I'm totally overwhelmed and confused. As a mac user only, it was easy, I used to buy the best macbook pro within my budget, period. So after a lot of research I come to the conclusion that for me the best solution would be a 13 inches convertible laptop, but which one ? Microsoft Surface Book 2 seems the right choice, but It really feels like with Microsoft you overpay for the brand and this really bothers me ( especially coming from years of overpaying Apple :) ). I really like the Asus ZenBook or the HP Spectre but again... I'm confused with these many choices. Did anyone out there go through my same transition and has some good advice ? or more simply someone with similar needs to mine that has experience with convertible laptop. Thanks

[@pamreis]

Very cool. I'm going take the surface book and English is not my first language but I really like watching her. Improving our English and she is amazing tho

[@MadelnMachines]

Which is the quietest?

[@809castro]

Sb2

[@PatrickDKing]

Years ago I did all Dell products but they weren't that great, their service at the time was pretty bad, and I found out they would do stupid proprietary things to make self service and upgrades difficult to impossible, things like change the universal standard connection of power supplies so you'd have to get those kinds of things from them. I remember it being a big to do because people wouldn't necessarily be aware of this and pcs would fry and smoke. So since then I've pretty much written Dell off, except I have purchased gaming consoles if the sale was good. My question is, has Dell changed their ways in general, and is everything on this particular Dell model pretty standard so if someone gets it they aren't beholden to Dell for upgrades/replacement parts? Otherwise I'm leaning heavily to the HP, which I think looks rather stunning. How is parts replacement/upgrades on the surface book, better than Dell? Worse? Great job btw!

[@mikkoanthonyting3253]

Please do a review of envy 13 (mx150, 2017/2018) and other counterparts at the same price point

[@aaronwhitehouse42]

Can u do one on the hp envy

[@flfl3969]

Hey good review(s) - kudos

[@yasminsalih9168]

At around the 8 minute mark I’m not sure if it was mentioned but how is the sound of the fans for the surface book 2 compared to the others

[@V3N93ANC394]

dell xps 15 is the less glossy panel of these 3 laptops right?

[@johnnypotato6561]

You are the best! Another mystery of mine solved!

[@Liatin1]

I really wish someone would make a challenge to the surface book 2. Ive yet to see a laptop with an i7 8650u and a gtx 1060

[@mrzazzaable]

Liatin1 Would love a i5 and 1060max q without a gaudy gamer shell.

[@Liatin1]

mrzazzaable yeah. Something industrial looking. Power efficient cpu and a good gpu for when you want to game like the gtx 1060. Decently light and thin and no microsoft tax

[@bradhaines3142]

check out the gigabyte aero 15, its a bit more plain but pretty good looking, i bought the 15x, its a magic ninja i love it

[@fuzziestlumpkin]

To be honest, it's such a niche hardware setup I'm surprised even one exists...

[@Shakiahjprod]

@@fuzziestlumpkin Being a jack of all trades is for people who dabble in everything

[@rashikmasud6582]

but which one is better; hp Spectre or Dell XPS 15?

[@dnsfloren]

thanks for this vid

[@kwinzman]

Can I get the Surface Book 2 with 3 years or 4 years warranty?

[@stephw1363]

But if you calibrate the xps isnt it then a better display than the sb2? You were saying about calibration being better on sb2 but the gamut is lower? So if i understand right calibration you can fix....gamut is not fixable

[@GoProMeetsAeon]

Best one for video editing, picture editing, and music producing? Leaning towards the Dell..

[@KickerHandle]

So in terms of screen, dells 4k display would be best because of the available color gamut?

[@amirmalekahmadi9910]

Is Surface Book 2 good for note taking?

[@809castro]

I have it is good for everything... is a desk top laptop tablet and a note taking device ...

[@feanorkiu]

You helped me make the final decision to get the x360. It's much cheaper in price, and has the best port selection. Not to mention that if gaming is a concern of mine, I can easily hook up an eGPU, which I wouldn't be able to do with the Surface Book 2. My other concern is the moving parts in the Surface Book, which I know are probably fine, I just don't want to take that risk. Thanks!