HP has set the golden standard for ultrabooks with its elegant and powerful Spectre lineup, going up against the likes of Lenovo Yoga and LG Gram who have also carved out quite the substantial market share for themselves. We had got the chance to review the 13-inch HP Spectre x360 last year and as my colleague rightly puts it, this HP ultrabook offered users the ultimate premium experience.

Before we delve into my experience with the HP Spectre x360, let’s take a quick look at some key specifications of this ultrabook:

HP Spectre x360: What’s in the Box

Just like its previous iteration, the new gem-cut HP Spectre x360 also comes packed in an exciting retail packaging with a leather cover for the laptop with a velcro flap (which is the best touch here and I love it), a power adapter, along with an attachment for international markets, and most importantly, the HP Pen. You also get a couple of extra tips for the HP Pen, which is great.

Let me start off by saying that if you thought the design of the previous-gen Spectre was something, well, you’ll absolutely love the design of the new Spectre x360 that we’ve got with us here. It was my first instinct when I got the Poseidon Blue variant of the Spectre x360 in for review. It is a mesmerizing color, striking at first glance, and everyone on the Beebom team appreciated the same.

Further, you will notice one thing about the HP Spectre x360 – it boasts quite a solid build but is still quite lightweight, weighing at under 1.3 kgs. While the previous-generation HP Spectre x360 kept the design fairly traditional, the x360 (2019) variant sees the company experimenting with sharp cuts and edges to further the appeal of the machine. I know it can be a bit overwhelming but I love the gold HP logo, as well as the gold hinges with the Spectre branding, that goes well with the blue demeanor of this ultrabook.

HP Spectre x360: Display

HP Spectre x360 (2019) is a likable ultrabook in all aspects, but there’s a minor issue that restricted me from really fancying the display onboard. Talking about the specs first, well, the Spectre x360 features a stunning and vivid 13.3-inch IPS LCD screen, with Full-HD resolution. The Full-HD display is great and I don’t have any major complaints with it except for the brightness, which I seldom felt wasn’t high enough for my liking and I also would have loved to see an anti-glare coating to save me from white lights shining on the screen in some situations.

One of my favorite features of this ultrabook will also have to be the Sure View integrated privacy screen, which you can activate with just the push of a button on the keyboard and it shrouds your screen with a mysterious white layer. This is the perfect addition for users who don’t really like sharing what they’re working on with all those sitting around or nosy neighbors, who we’ve all met in our lifetime. It does turn down the brightness, but those seeing the screen at an angle won’t see anything, which is certainly a perk.

Well, this is the most important section of a laptop review for me. The keyboard is integral for a good typing experience and can make or break a purchase decision. Well, I know the flat square keys on the HP Spectre x360 (2019) don’t look like much for the price and give off the vibe of being like any other laptop out there, but I found this keyboard to be pretty good. I mean, I won’t go to the length to say that it offered me the best typing experience to date but it was quite satisfactory.

I would also like to point out that the keyboard deck here is backlit, with three levels of intensity and is a welcome upgrade over its predecessor. There’s no flex to the keyboard deck and speaking from experience, I don’t expect the same from a Spectre.

The HP Spectre x360 is a powerful and versatile machine, which is powered by the latest Intel 8th-generation Whiskey Lake processor (up to i7-8565U, which is also the processor we’ve been using for this review) coupled with 16GB RAM at 2133MHz and a 512GB PCIe SSD for the lightning-fast boot times and the app loading times.

As for benchmark scores, we didn’t spend a ton of time on them as we were already sure about the Spectre x360 (2019) being a performance powerhouse. Still, it does manage to score an impressive over 5,300 in single-core and 14,000 in multi-core on Geekbench. We also ran PCMark on this laptop and it managed to score around 3,000 points, which surely ranks it above average as compared to other ultrabooks available in the market.

HP Spectre x360: Camera & Biometrics

The HP Spectre x360 comes baked with Windows Hello face authentication feature, thanks to the integration of an IR camera above the display. Your ultrabook will always be looking for you if the screen is on and even when you’re not around. It certainly works as advertised, the unlocking process is pretty fast and works in dimly-lit conditions as well.

Well, from the moment I saw the Bang & Olufsen branding on the speakers just above the keyboard, I knew I was in for a treat and the HP Spectre x360 didn’t disappoint. You have four speakers on this ultrabook – two downward-firing ones at the bottom and two above the keyboard under the speaker grills to create a more immersive audio experience.

Turning our attention to the ports on the Spectre x360 (2019), well, HP has kept it quite minimal and carries forward its commitment towards USB Type-C ports. The gem-cut on the right houses one USB Type-C port and a lot of people are surprised by its placement, but I love the use of space and symmetry with the power button on the left. There’s also the 3.5mm headphone jack, another USB Type-C port, and a microSD card slot here.

Prior to using the HP Spectre x360, I had heard immense praise about the battery life on these machines. Even the company touts that you will be able to extract up to 8 hours of continuous usage and well, it does keep you going for a pretty long time without fail. HP has incorporated inside the Spectre x360(2019) a 60Wh battery pack and I was able to extract over 6-odd hours from the machine on any typical office day at 100% brightness, which is great for productivity buffs.

The Spectre x360 is possibly one of the most premium and attractive ultrabooks, with all the high-end features that we’ve come to expect from laptops in its price range. There’s not only powerful hardware backing the machine, giving it the power to roar through all tasks thrown at it but the Spectre x360 also has the design to match the same.

PROS

CONS

If you’re looking for a classy and elegant ultrabook that will make you stand out from the crowd while also attracting a ton of eyeballs, well, the HP Spectre x360 (2019) should, no doubt, be your pick. It’s a functional powerhouse that exudes elegance and premiumness. However, if you are not looking to splurge a ton of money and would like to get yourself a decent ultrabook, still there are a ton of good options available in the market but with the lack of some additional features like the privacy safeguards, touchscreen, and more.