HP Spectre X360

THIS GOLD GHOST SHOOTS FIRST AND ASKS THERMAL MANAGEMENT QUESTIONS LATER.

THIS 2-IN-1 IS a lot like Lenovo’s leading Yoga 920 convertible. The Spectre x360 shares the same Core i7-8550U CPU, Intel HD 620 Graphics GPU, 16GB RAM allocation and a 512GB Samsung NVMe SSD. It even has a similar 13-inch form factor and flaunts a full metal body and similarly elegant-looking hinge mechanism. However, the x360’s 13.3-inch FHD IPS touchscreen display isn’t as nice as the Yoga 920’s 13.9-inch 4K screen when you put them side by side, and although the resolution boost often isn’t worth what you pay, in this instance, it’ll only set you back an extra $200.

The Spectre x360 got the highest score of all the devices we tested on PCMark’s Work (accelerated) benchmark and it pulled near top scores for many other CPU driven tasks. The integrated GPU performed as good as any of the other devices lacking a discrete graphics chip, but the NVMe SSD was faster than most pegging 3,221/1,550.6MB/s read and write speeds, respectively. This solid performance did come at a thermal cost, however, with the Spectre x360 often pushing up to 100°C while benchmarking, which will be detrimental to its overall longevity.

Only lighting up 1,920 x 1,080 pixels helps the Spectre get 6:24 hours in movie playback, meaning you’ll be able to tease a full day out of it. The speakers are good and although the keyboard and trackpad weren’t our favourites, they did the job. While there was decent travel distance in the keys, there was a little more resistance than we’d like and the decision to squeeze in the extra row of the editing block keys will be a hindrance for many. Similarly, we appreciated the extra width in the touchpad, but it wasn’t quite as silky as our favourite 2-in-1s.