According to
CNet.com, there's been no shortage of praise for HP's line of Spectre x360
hybrid laptops. Both an early-2016 model and a late-2016 update received high
marks in our reviews, thanks to a slim aluminum body, excellent keyboard and a
good selection of ports (even if the late-2016 version retained only one
full-size USB port).
The lead update
for CES 2017 is a new 15-inch version of the Spectre x360, and it looks and
feels different from its predecessor, but not always in the way you'd expect.
This new x360 has a slimmer screen bezel, which is a trendy new feature to add
right now, down to just 4.65mm on the left and right sides of the 15.6-inch
display. The overall footprint is also smaller, while the glass trackpad has
gotten wider, although not nearly as big as the massive trackpad in the 15-inch
MacBook Pro.
But there's a
trade-off involved. This new version is actually a little thicker and heavier
than the one it replaces, moving up to 4.4 pounds and 17.9mm thick. That's
because there's an Nvidia GeForce 940MX discrete graphics option, as well as a
battery that HP says is 23 percent larger than before.
The new 15-inch
Spectre x360 will be available around the end of February, starting at $1,249
in the US (£1,017 or AU$1,737). The smaller 13-inch Spectre x360 is also
getting a 4K screen option, plus optional Intel Iris graphics (slightly better
than the default Intel graphics in most laptops), and the same cool-looking ash
silver color as the 15-inch model.
HP is doing a
good job of focusing on growth and emerging areas while still supporting legacy
markets for the volume it provides. By investing a lot into innovation and
taking risks and it’s really starting to show with their latest products like
the HP Spectre, HP ENVY Curved AIO, Folio G1, the Elite X3 smartphone, HP has
amped up their premium notebook game over the course of the past few years more
than any company tracked. Those new products are paying off financially or, if
nothing else, from an ‘innovator’ brand metric giving HP some technology
leadership points with customers and channels. Many of these improvements have
been driven by HP’s own ‘insights engine’ where the company listens and reacts
to consumer input. HP wants these improvements to translate into net promoter
score which HP watches like a hawk. This
brings us to CES where HP updated a bevy of products as well as releasing some
brand new ones.
HP is leading
CES off with a series of new products that build on the creative products that
HP has been working on over the past few years and boosting their premium
profile. The HP EliteBook x360 is one of those products, made for the enterprise bringing durability, manageability
and security along with it. HP says that their north stars are design,
security, and collaboration to address a future workforce and workplace where
millennials and their co-workers are more mobile and working together is both easier
and more challenging in some ways more than ever before. I believe the better
the tools that IT provides and the more consumer-looking and acting they are,
the less likely their employees will bring their own devices and create more
security challenges.
HP says the
EliteBook x360 is the thinnest business convertible in the world at 14.9mm,
which should come as a relief for a lot of business users looking for a
convertible.
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