HP Spectre x360 Review: One Of The Best Laptops For Business

HP Spectre x360 (2021) is the company’s latest premium offer. It’s powered by Intel’s 11th-generation processors and has Intel Evo certification.

Only laptops that meet Intel’s standards are certified and basically, they are the best to showcase what Intel chips can do.

Price And Availability

HP Spectre x360 is retailed at various prices and configurations. The model with Intel Core i5 -1135G7 processor, a 256GB SSD, and 8GB of RAM will set users back $1,149.99. The one on review here has an Intel Core i7 -1165G7 processor, 512GB SSD, and 16GB of RAM.

Users have the choice to acquire the laptop in a variety of screen size. The one we have here is 13 inches, other options include 13.5 inches and 15 inches.

While there are no short of choices with different screen sizes and specs, the base model of HP Spectre x360 is way more expensive than many other options on the market, so let’s see if the device is worth what you have to pay to get it.

Design

You pay a premium price so there is nothing wrong in expecting a premium appearance, in this respect, HP has managed to deliver what many users want. The HP Spectre x360 (2021) shares the same design language as its predecessors, which isn’t bad given how gorgeous this laptop line looks. 

You can choose from a variety of colour options for the brushed-metal look. The laptop can flip back completely thanks to the solid 360-degree hinge.

Connection-wise, on the right you have a full-size USB port and an audio-in jack while on the left, you will find a physical webcam kill switch, a microSD port, and two USB-C ports.

HP Spectre x360 (2021) catches your eye with its bright and vibrant screen, surrounded by minimal bezels. This helps to keep the laptop compact and modern.

The compactness doesn’t affect the size of the keyboard. In fact, it’s large enough and the keys have nice travel, making for a comfortable typing experience. It’s backlit so users can still use the laptop in the dark.

It comes as a surprise that a 13-inch laptop can have such a large touchpad. Besides being highly responsive, the touchpad has a fingerprint scanner on the right to log into Windows 10.

Performance

The most noticeable upgrades of HP Spectre x360 over its predecessor are performance and components.

Our review unit runs on an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor capable of boost speed of 4.70GHz, a real leap from the Intel Core i7-1065G7 inside last year’s model.

The power of Intel chip paired with RAM of 16GB makes HP Spectre x360 (2021) a fast and responsive laptop. It can handle multitasking and several apps open at the same time.

On a daily basis, users get everything they would expect in a premium laptop. One of the biggest upgrades here is the integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics that promises an enhanced performance compared to previous generations.

While HP Spectre x360 (2021) is far from being a gaming laptop, it can certainly handle some PC titles that other thin and light laptops will struggle to run. Games like League of Legends, CS: GO, and Rocket League are playable, while HP claims that users can run GTA 5 at 60FPS.

In our tests, Total War: Three Kingdoms run fine in low settings at 30FPS, anything more demanding than that won’t do.

One of the most annoying downsides of the laptop is how loud it fan is. Even when you do simple tasks like downloading an app, the fan will come into play. It’s easy to understand though, such a thin laptop needs its components to be cool all the time. However, it’s a stark contrast to how silent other thin laptops like MacBook Air is.

Battery Life

In our battery life test, HP Spectre x360 (2021) managed 11 hours and 22 minutes playing a 1080p video at 50% brightness.

Its predecessor came really close to this performance, scoring 10 hours and 55 minutes, proving that the higher-end components don’t come at the expense of battery life.

We also did the PCMark 10 test which replicates normal daily use. The HP Spectre x360 (2021) came out with 13 hours, again, very impressive.

Overall, in both medium and light use cases, the battery can last a full workday, which makes the laptop an excellent choice for business users.

>>> HP Omen 15 Review: A Gaming Laptop With Top-Notch Performance