HP Pavilion X2

A GREAT CONVERTIBLE, YET AVERAGE TABLET.

THE HP PAVILION X2 is arguably the tablet most like a laptop in our roundup. It uses a convertible design, and the keyboard/base is included in the stock price. However, it’s not just a keyboard that makes this feel like a fully- edged laptop – there’s also the Windows 8.1 operating system, which can run all of your favourite so ware.

Despite the small dimensions of the base, the keyboard is a breeze to type on thanks to the elevated island key design. e touchpad is relatively responsive, but it’s easier to simply touch the screen instead. Speaking of which, we love the 10.1-incher on this tablet when it’s in laptop mode; it’s crisp and easy to read, with vivid colours and accurate touch-tracking. However, when in tablet mode, the native resolution of 1,280 x 800 just doesn’t compare with the incredibly high-res screens found on other tablets. A speaker adorns each side of the screen, pumping out surprisingly generous sound for such a small device. e entire unit is built from plastic, and tips the scales at 1.18kg with base, 580 grams without. One minor omission is high-speed 802.11ac Wi-Fi, which is standard on most of the competition.

Tucked away in the tablet is Intel’s Atom Z3736F processor, and its quad cores deliver excellent performance in Windows. We were very surprised at how snappy this machine is given the small amount of onboard memory, though the 64GB SSD no doubt helps.

As a dedicated tablet, there are better options available. However, the inclusion of a serious keyboard makes this a much more versatile device than pure tablets, and as a laptop the Pavilion X2 isn’t half bad at all.