The results? Fantastic, but its performance gains still don’t quite match the top-end notebooks we’ve seen this year. But this time, it boasts an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU and a 1TB SSD. Same impeccable design, same triumphant touch display, same booming audio, same everything. Oh, and it even threw in its handy HP Rechargeable Tilt Pen stylus for good measure.Īnd so, I have a fresh HP Spectre x360 16 to review. HP knew it could do better, though, so decided to show me what its latest model could do. It was hardly the Spectre x360 16’s fault, as it was just a little behind on the times. Why? Well, it was sporting an 11th Gen Intel CPU in a world where 12th Gen Intel processors run rampant. I was dazzled by its 16-inch OLED touchscreen, stylishly compact design, great Bang & Olufsen audio, and comfortable keyboard - but I couldn’t say the same about its performance. It was only recently that I reviewed the HP Spectre x360 16, the company’s giant take on the popular Spectre x360 lineup. Even at the higher price, I'd say the exceptional performance, battery life, and usability options merit the outlay.Price: $1,649 (starting), $2,129 (as tested)ĭisplay: 16-inch UHD+ (3840 x 2400) OLED touch display You can get a close version for $1,400 on HP.com with 16 GB of RAM, but if you configure it on HP's website, you'll come up with a price of around $1,850. Pricing is tricky, as the exact specification I was sent isn’t readily available. It has arguably improved a bit with the new touchpad, but it’s still a thorny problem that created a minor headache for me during extended use. I don’t know whether this is a simple user error due to freakishly long fingers, but it’s an issue I’ve had with various Spectres for years.

While the Spectre’s keyboard is fine, the haptic touchpad can be erratic, missing taps and clicks, depending on where you hit it. My only real complaint is a fairly mild one. The speakers on the unit are also excellent, with top-firing tweeters and two front-firing woofers, improved by an impressive cooling system that barely saw the super-silent fan kicking in at all. The OLED screen is dazzlingly bright, which is right in line with the rest of the market today. My testing (with a YouTube video playback at full brightness) achieved 10.5 hours of running time-significantly better than other Core Ultra laptops I’ve tested to date. The extra weight may also reflect a slightly larger battery. That’s not bad considering the inclusion of a touchscreen and the 360-degree hinge. Size and weight are fine, although the unit is heavier than the similarly sized Lenovo X1 Carbon, with 19 millimeters of thickness and a 2.4-pound weight. On AI tasks, the Spectre fell just a hair shy of the high mark set by the MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo in my prior testing. Despite improvements in the Core Ultra’s integrated GPU, you’ll still need to upgrade to a laptop with a discrete graphics processor if you want to undertake significant gaming or rendering activities. It was about par for the course on graphics apps, though no slouch in this department either. Sure enough, there’s ample power in those specs, and the Spectre x360 turned in the best performance I’ve seen to date on general business apps-by a healthy margin of 20 percent or more versus other Core Ultra laptops on many tests. The unit is a bit light on ports, with two USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports (one used for charging) and a single USB-A port partially covered by an awkward and unnecessary spring-loaded, flip-out panel. A fingertip works on the screen, as does the stylus included in the box, and the rechargeable active pen snaps magnetically to the side of the chassis when not in use.Īs with most new machines hitting the market this season, the major upgrade here is the introduction of the AI-infused Intel Core Ultra CPU-in this instance, the Ultra 7 155H model, backed up by a beefy 32 GB of RAM and a 2-TB solid state drive. A pair of hinges allows the screen to fold back 180 degrees, converting the laptop into a 14-inch tablet. The 2024 rendition of the Spectre x360 sticks closely to the design of the 2023 model, all built around showcasing the “360” portion of the name.

All-gentle, OSHA-friendly curves clad in corporate black, silver, and blue give the sense that the Spectre didn’t sell out, but rather bought in. Back in the late 2010s, Spectres looked like props from Tron, with sharp edges, cut corners, and gold trim on some models, for Pete’s sake.Īlas, those days are over, and while the Spectre x360 is still a top-shelf ultralight Windows laptop, it has traded in style for consistency. Once an edgy alternative to stuffier laptops like the Lenovo ThinkPad line, the HP Spectre x360 series has settled into a much more corporate groove of late.

Spectre laptop gold