Unboxing HP Spectre x360 13-AC010CA 13.3" Touchscreen Laptop

Unboxing

Right off the bat the packaging of this beautiful machine has its premium feel to it. Encased inside a black box that looks like it holds the key to the world, actually contains the silver HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 ten-point touchscreen laptop and a lot of other goodies.

As a high-end laptop that boast productivity and ultra-portability, the sleek packaging is something you'd already expect from HP's design team. HP just make aesthetically great looking computers all around.

What you get inside the box would excite many buyers. With the $1399.99 you spend for this laptop, it comes with:

1 stylus powered by a AAA battery (included),
1 USB-C to HDMI adapter,
and 1 soft leather pouch to transport your laptop safely to places.

I love ultra-portable laptops and generally like to sit in my local coffee shops to pound out work on the computer. Having a custom premium leather pouch that's made just for this laptop was the cherry on top, and was the little push I needed to convince me to keep the Spectre x360 as my daily driver. It even has a small pouch to stow the stylus securely!

Performance

Speaking of being my daily driver, the performance of this laptop is amazing.

Right out of the box there is Windows 10 with little to no bloatware, it has an instantaneous start up due to the 256GB SSD hard drive, and for powering out all the documents and spreadsheets? No sweat. Try throwing something harder at the Intel i5-7200U dual-core processor.

Under a Maxon R15 Cinebench test of the CPU and GPU, it scored a 43.26 OPEN GL and 330 in CPU, making this one of the top tier performer in it's class with its integrated Intel HD Graphics 620 card.

Under a CrystalDiskMark benchmark test of the harddrive's read/write speed, the HP spectre x360 tested at a whopping 3180 MB/s read and 1322 MB/s write.

To show in comparison, the 2016 Apple MacBook Pro (space grey) tested at 3271 MB/s read and 905.4 MB/s write under the same controlled settings. This results in basically getting the same performance that you would get from the MacBook Pro, but at a much cheaper price.

One of the bonuses with the HP is that it comes with 2 USB-C ports and 1 USB. This is the pefect balance of ports for people who are looking to upgrade now and want their laptop to be able to work with devices later in the future. You get the USB port for your older to present day devices, and the USB-C for present to future devices.

The 2016 MacBook Pro on the other hand has only 2 USB-C ports, forcing you to buy additional adapters for any of your devices you currently have that requires the regular USB.

High-Definition Display

When it comes to the screen, HP just nailed it again. Equipped with 13.3-inch Full HD UWVA BrightView WLED-backlit multitouch-enabled display with 1920 x 1080 resolution, it delivers crystal-clear visuals and vibrant colours, while the narrow bezel maximizes screen real estate. I can't emphasize enough on how crisp images and videos look on it. The colors on the screen? They really "pop".

The thinness of the screen allows for compact stowing, but thinness wasn't compromised for durability in this case. Surprisingly, we're impressed how tough and well built the screen feels for withstanding impacts and bends because of the aluminum backing on the screen that doesn't budge.

Built into the screen contains an additional layer of technology that allows you to use HP's include stylus for your note-taking and drawings. My experience with it has been pleasurable, due to the fact that it is pressure sensitive, accurate, and has 2 programmable quick buttons for whatever works for you. By default, button 1 is to erase your writing mistakes quickly and button 2 is a right-click. Coupled with Microsoft OneNote, you wonder, who needs to buy paper notebooks anymore?

One of the Spectre x360 new feature is Windows HELLO. Using the built-in infrared/night vision camera, it detects and analyze your face to use in place of a password in unlocking your screen - Yes, even when you're using you laptop in a completely dark room. I've found this feature isn't just a gimmick because how reliably it works 99.9% of the time. When you flip open your laptop and wait a split second for it initializes the night vision, it detects your face, and you're logged in ready to go. Sometimes it's so quick that it unlocks my laptop as I'm just about to complete the flipping up the screen process.

So you're a music junky? You're going to love the Bang & Olufsen speakers on this baby. By far the best speakers on the market right now. Even at 100% volume the speakers maintain its crisp and clean sounds, with no indication of muffling or buzzing from what you'd find of speaker that couldn't handle the higher decibels.

In our test, compared to the 2016 MacBook Pro, the HP sounds just as great when trying to fill up an apartment with music.

Battery consumption wise, I think most of the weight of this laptop comes from it's big slim batteries underneath the keyboard, and is designed to take you throughout your entire day with a single charge. I can vouch for this because I can  work on Microsoft Office for at least 10 hours before the next charge up. Really, truly built for the work-horse.

The obvious feature we'll touch on is the ability to turn this laptop into a tablet. Being that it only weights 1.31kg, using it as a tablet actually feels good, unlike other contenders who are too bulky and awkward to hold. A nice feature when you flip it into a tablet is that you are prompt with a option to turn the system into tablet mode. In this mode everything, including the size of tiles, optimizes for a finger navigating experience.

Overall

If you're in the market for a laptop that does it all at a reasonable price, HP Spectre x360 is for you. If you're power hungry and do a ton of intensive graphical gaming, or work as a professional video editor as your bread and butter - better look for something with an i7 Quad-Core. But if you're none of those, you'll be really happy with it's all-around functions, performance, and premium build.
It truly is one of the best laptop ever made for modern life.

Full Specs:

Display

Screen Size
13.3 in
Native Screen Resolution
1920 x 1080
LED Backlit Display
Yes
Touchscreen Display
Yes
3D Capable Display
No
Convertible/Hybrid Display
Yes

Processor

Processor Type
Intel Core i5-7200U
Processor Cores
2
Processor Speed
2.5 GHz
Processor Cache
3 MB L3
VR Ready
No

Storage & Memory

Hard Drive
Solid-State Drive Capacity 256 GB
RAM Size
8 GB
RAM Type
LPDDR3 SDRAM
RAM Slots
0 Available
Optical Drive
No
Built-in Memory Card Reader
No

Graphics

Graphics Chipset
Intel HD Graphics 620
Video Memory Configuration
Integrated
Dedicated Video Memory Size
0 MB
Wireless Display (WiDi) Capable
No

Audio

Integrated Microphone
Yes
Microphone Input
Yes
Digital Audio Output
No
Hardware Volume Control
No

Inputs & Outputs

Webcam
Yes
Keyboard Language
Bilingual
Numeric Keypad
No
Backlit Keyboard
Yes
Type of Pointing Device
HP Imagepad
USB 2.0 Ports
0
USB 3.0 Ports
0
VGA Output
No
HDMI Output
No
HDCP Compliant
Yes
IEEE 1394 Input/Output
No
eSATA Port
No
ExpressCard/34 Input
No
ExpressCard/54 Input
No
IR Receiver
No
Other Input or Output Ports
2 x USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 2/ Thunderbolt 3; 1 x USB 3.1 Type-A Gen 1

Networking

Ethernet Port
No
Integrated Wi-Fi
2x2 802.11ac
Integrated Bluetooth
Yes

Power

Battery Type
1 x Lithium-ion Polymer
Battery - Number of Cells
3
Battery - Capacity
57.8 Wh
ENERGY STAR Qualified
Yes

Software

Pre-loaded Operating System
Windows 10 Home
Operating System Language
Bilingual
Loaded Software
HP ePrint; HP Support Assistant; HP Orbit; HP Recovery Manager

Physical Features

Colour
Silver
Laptop Thickness (closed)
1.4 cm
Laptop Depth
21.79 cm
Laptop Width
30.66 cm
Laptop Thickness (closed) (Inches)
0.55 in
Laptop Depth (Inches)
8.58 in
Laptop Width (Inches)
12.07 in
Laptop Weight (including battery)
1.31 kg