NotebookCHECK - Notebook Forum

I am surprised.
Most of the reviews out there applaus this laptop, often calling it the best notebook out there.
I´ve been waiting for the review at notebookcheck for about two weeks and I am puzzled.
There isn´t much to complain about. However, the rating of 82% is far from outstanding.
One major deficiency that is mentioned is the audio which is puzzling given that most other reviews list the speakers as a major advantage. Here they only get 41%. Interestingly, the audio-stats say that only 20% of notebooks offer better audio...
The other outlier in the ratings is the camera with 46%. However, the camera isn´t mentioned a single time in the text. I´d be interested to know what´s wrong with it.
The rewiew mentions that lacking stiffness of the hinge which seems a major problem in a notebook that is supposed to be portable. Yet, chassis still receives above-average 86% (although there are also other things wrong with it).
The review has (almost) nothing to complain about the keyboard and most reviews praise it as one of the best on the market. Still, keyboard only receives 81%.

One final remark. This is one of the very few (the only?) 15 inch Convertible. Obviously, this is going to be heavier than all other convertibles and less portable. This is in the bad rating for weight which is the single most influential indicator for the overall rating. But if you compare apples to oranges, the rating should reflect that a 15 inch notebook has one advantage over all the other convertibles: you can see more on the display.
Is that reflected anywhere in the rating? Because thats the display size is main difference that distinguishes the 13 inch x360 from the 15 inch x360. And if you downgrade notebooks with larger display for the higher weights, you should also downgrade notebooks with smaller display for the fewer content they can show in their displays. Otherwise you get distorted ratings like this one.

Great review! I like the design and the new display.

However I do want to mention that I don't think the difference between PenTile and RGB was described accurately. The RG/BW PenTile matrix used in last year's model was a subpixel matrix that replaced the RGB in each pixel with either only RG or only BW. The hardware and software would still prepare a full RGB 3840x2160 picture, but the display itself didn't have enough components to fully display it. It is regarded by many to be a deceptive marketing practice: a 'cheap' way to produce displays that can still be sold as a particular resolution.

The panel does provide better contrast than last year's model, which is a good thing, but that isn't a characteristic of the new RGB matrix. What the RGB matrix means is that the panel is now capable of providing the full chromatic detail of 3840x2160, rather than just part of it. I think it's important to give HP the proper credit for making this change.

I'll also add that I'm not really a fan of the term 'PenTile-technology'. I feel as though it idolizes something that more people consider to be a negative than a positive. Some use the term 'PenTile arrangement' but I think that can confuse people into thinking it provides the same amount of 'stuff' arranged differently, which isn't accurate. I think the term 'PenTile matrix' fits best, because it doesn't carry any of those implications.

Great review, thanks for the thorough analysis.

One quick note, you can change the size of the right click zone in the settings so perhaps that isn't quite a negative.

Furthermore, HP seems to have two suppliers for their SSD's the other being Samsung (my model) with a faster read and write speed. So this might attribute to inconsistencies with other review sites. I posted a quick link on reddit of my findings. ( https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/5ucup3/spectre_x360_152017_has_two_different_ssd/)

Upon further research, it appears that the RAM IS upgradable according to the HP Service Manual linked here (page 27) --> http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c05357610

Still, thank you for all the information, however .)

I also found review to be weird. I have had last years Spectre which was highly rated everywhere. This version seems considerably better due to much better battery life, much better gpu which is a middle ground and minimum if you want to play a game occasionally (I had Iris Pro version, Intel drivers suck for gaming).

Compared to XPS 15, not only it is significantly cheaper, it also has a metal build which is very nice, and it also heats up less, fans are a lot more silent, and batteries last longer.

One last thing, complaining about charger is idiotic. They added fast charger with double the power from last years model. This charges full laptop in less than 1:30h, 50% in 30m... last years took 3hrs to charge it was huge defficiency that nobody wrote about because they dont review laptops realistically. Big kudos for HP on doing fast chargers on most of their new models!

Quote from: sper on February 16, 2017, 14:51:12
I also found review to be weird. I have had last years Spectre which was highly rated everywhere. This version seems considerably better due to much better battery life, much better gpu which is a middle ground and minimum if you want to play a game occasionally (I had Iris Pro version, Intel drivers suck for gaming).

Compared to XPS 15, not only it is significantly cheaper, it also has a metal build which is very nice, and it also heats up less, fans are a lot more silent, and batteries last longer.

One last thing, complaining about charger is idiotic. They added fast charger with double the power from last years model. This charges full laptop in less than 1:30h, 50% in 30m... last years took 3hrs to charge it was huge defficiency that nobody wrote about because they dont review laptops realistically. Big kudos for HP on doing fast chargers on most of their new models!

However, I do appreciate the information on the considerable weight of the charger. It´s something you notice and you have to take into account and not many reviews talk about it (although they focus on every single gram in the notebook itself).

For everyone else interested in this notebook here is a list of reviews:
http://www.goandroidauthority.com/2017/02/review-hp-spectre-x360-15.html
http://www.digitaltrends.com/laptop-reviews/hp-spectre-x360-15-review/
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/02/hp-spectre-x360-15-review-a-large-convertible-thats-easy-to-love/
http://www.techradar.com/reviews/hp-spectre-x360-15-2017
https://www.reddit.com/r/Hewlett_Packard/comments/5qpwla/just_got_the_new_hp_spectre_x360_15_2017/
https://www.cnet.com/products/hp-spectre-x360-15-inch-2017/review/#ftag=CADe9e329a
http://www.pcmag.com/review/351559/hp-spectre-x360-15-2017
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-spectre-x360-15-inch
http://www.windowscentral.com/hp-spectre-x360-15

charger is heavier because it is 2x more powerful than the last years model that took 3hrs to charge the laptop.

New one has fast charge capability, it is a big plus because laptop is charged much faster.

It was most annoying feature of last years model, because it would last for 5 hrs and then to re-use it again as portable, you would have to wait for 3 full hours. This is what cheapening out with 45w chargers has led to.

We appreciate the feedback - allow me to address a few of the comments:

The hinges are indeed a bit weak, so the Spectre didn't get a top score here...but since we have quite a few subscores (almost 10) within the chassis rating - ranging from material and build quality to evenness of the gaps to ease of maintenance - the positives simply outweigh the negatives. The keyboard got dinged for the noise the space bar produces as well as the fact that there's only one backlight level (many competitors offer at least 2). The arrangement of the up/down arrow keys - consolidated into a single key -  is also not ideal, although increasingly common (the Thinkpad Yoga, for example, still features individual up/down arrow keys).

Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

Regarding the webcam: I have included a section in the review above with a webcam photo taken inside with artificial (indoor) lighting. The evaluation in this case is subjective - we don't have an objective testing methodology for webcams -  but the camera clearly suffers in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

As far as the audio goes: we conduct measurements and record the frequency response. Yes, the Spectre 15 sounds indeed better than many other notebooks - particularly entry level ones - but I honestly had hoped for more. This is, after all, an upscale 15-inch notebook. When I played the same tracks (I tried quite a few different ones) on both the Spectre 15 and the much smaller 13-inch, 15 mm-thick MacBook Pro 13, I was amazed at how much better the MacBook actually sounded - not only was the bass more pronounced, but the lows sounded a lot less muddled compared to the HP convertible (and no, I'm not biased as I don't own a MacBook).


Thanks,

Bernie

Hello, I would like to know if you guys are going to review the new HP EliteBook X360?

Quote from: Bernie Pechlaner on February 22, 2017, 04:53:53
We appreciate the feedback - allow me to address a few of the comments:

The hinges are indeed a bit weak, so the Spectre didn't get a top score here...but since we have quite a few subscores (almost 10) within the chassis rating - ranging from material and build quality to evenness of the gaps to ease of maintenance - the positives simply outweigh the negatives. The keyboard got dinged for the noise the space bar produces as well as the fact that there's only one backlight level (many competitors offer at least 2). The arrangement of the up/down arrow keys - consolidated into a single key -  is also not ideal, although increasingly common (the Thinkpad Yoga, for example, still features individual up/down arrow keys).

Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

Regarding the webcam: I have included a section in the review above with a webcam photo taken inside with artificial (indoor) lighting. The evaluation in this case is subjective - we don't have an objective testing methodology for webcams -  but the camera clearly suffers in less-than-ideal lighting conditions.

As far as the audio goes: we conduct measurements and record the frequency response. Yes, the Spectre 15 sounds indeed better than many other notebooks - particularly entry level ones - but I honestly had hoped for more. This is, after all, an upscale 15-inch notebook. When I played the same tracks (I tried quite a few different ones) on both the Spectre 15 and the much smaller 13-inch, 15 mm-thick MacBook Pro 13, I was amazed at how much better the MacBook actually sounded - not only was the bass more pronounced, but the lows sounded a lot less muddled compared to the HP convertible (and no, I'm not biased as I don't own a MacBook).


Thanks,

Bernie

Thanks.

Quote from: Bernie Pechlaner on February 22, 2017, 04:53:53
Yes, the charger now supplies 90 watts, so it's significantly more powerful (HP obviously allowed for some headroom here) and fast charging is certainly a nice-to-have feature. That's certainly a positive change - but having to carry a much larger and bulkier adapter around while traveling WILL be a concern to some users - and I consider myself to be one of them. I thought it was worth mentioning.

thanks bernie, it is definitely worth mentioning both things, usually reviews do not mention charging time at all and I think we all agree that supplying 45w charger that takes 3hrs to charge these ultrabooks is crazy, no matter how light it is.

It would be greatly appreciated if charging time gets mentioned in the reviews, and graph supplied like in new Asus Zenbook review.

thanks a lot!

Quote from: sper on February 24, 2017, 23:25:48

......It would be greatly appreciated if charging time gets mentioned in the reviews, and graph supplied like in new Asus Zenbook review.

thanks a lot!

Hi Sper,

Well - the charging graph you saw in the other review requires the notebook to be up and running, so it can be limited in its usefulness depending on how many watts the power adapter can supply in the first place and how much the notebook is consuming at the time. That said, I'll try to incorporate such data in the future.

Thanks,

Bernie

I find your ratings more and more inconsistent - a fast, light, solidly built and thin laptop with good battery life, 4k display and pen input gets an 82% rating? While a MacBook Pro that everyone thinks is a regression to last year's model, with its fewer ports and joint-torturing, shallow keyboard gets rated as insanely high as 89% regardless? And you snub the Spectre's Keyboard for not having much travel and the arrow keys not being to your liking? Sorry, but this site has stopped being useful for my shopping decisions now.

Quote from: Chrissssss on February 27, 2017, 00:45:45
"......and you snub the Spectre's Keyboard for not having much travel and the arrow keys not being to your liking? Sorry, but this site has stopped being useful for my shopping decisions now...."

Sorry you feel that way. I'm not entirely sure where I said that the keyboard has shallow travel (it doesn't). And yes, coming from HP EliteBooks, Thinkpads and Latitudes with individual up/down arrow keys (which I happen to use quite frequently), I DO believe that the combined keys are nuisance. The deductions for the keyboard are absolutely minor, however - even if I had given the highest possible score, it wouldn't have had much of an impact, as a lot the scores are calculated automatically based on the test data entered.
As an owner of quite a few different notebooks (Lenovo, HP, Asus, Dell - including some ancient ones as well which I can't seem to part with), I try to be as fair as possible.
And BTW - I am with you: I personally wouldn't get the new MacBook regardless of the price simply for the extremely shallow keyboard which I don't think I could ever get used to. Not everybody agrees and I know people who couldn't care less how shallow the travel is.

Bernie

Hey Bernie and others owning the Spectre x360,

few days ago I got mine with a 256 GB SSD. It's a great product but i can hear a horrible high frequency sound (maybe coil whine) coming from the laptop. I can hear it most on the left side, especially in the front corner on the left side of the touchpad.
And there is another sound I can't really discribe, but it mostly occures when there is written on or read from the SSD (which in my model is a Samsung one) and when I use the Touch-Screen.

Is that with your test model too?

Greetings
Tim

So it's not available with 1920x1080?  :(

Quote from: TimP on March 04, 2017, 12:07:28
"....but i can hear a horrible high frequency sound (maybe coil whine) coming from the laptop. I can hear it most on the left side, especially in the front corner on the left side of the touchpad.
And there is another sound I can't really discribe, but it mostly occures when there is written on or read from the SSD (which in my model is a Samsung one) and when I use the Touch-Screen...."

Hi Tim,

No, our Spectre was completely silent. That said, I have a Latitude right now which makes the sound you describe when the SSD is accessed - particularly noticeable when running drive benchmarks.

Thanks,

Bernie

I'm confused... Last time I visited this review the rating was 82%, now it's 86%. What changed?

Having owned this laptop for less than a week before returning it. Have you experienced any game breaking issues with the touchpad?

I returned my Spectre, because the touchpad simply did not work the way you would expect it to work. Coming from a late 2013 MBPr and having an HP EliteBook X360 in the office, it just seemed dismal. 1 finger click and drag releasing and not being consistent, cursor movement upon click release and really just random jumpiness or accuracy issues.

I'm really debating on giving the XPS 15 a shot. Unfortunately I'd be sacrificing some of my wishlist for it (Windows hello, Type-C charging and even though I may not use it much, the whole 2-in-1/pen concept).

Quote from: dthrp on March 11, 2017, 14:17:24
I'm confused... Last time I visited this review the rating was 82%, now it's 86%. What changed?

Hi,

We've reclassified the Spectre - it's now in the Multimedia category (see the comment in the intro)

Thanks,

Bernie

Quote from: julez82 on March 12, 2017, 22:03:05
Having owned this laptop for less than a week before returning it. Have you experienced any game breaking issues with the touchpad?

I returned my Spectre, because the touchpad simply did not work the way you would expect it to work. Coming from a late 2013 MBPr and having an HP EliteBook X360 in the office, it just seemed dismal....

Hi julez82,

No - no major issues even before the driver update. That said, most people will agree that the MacBook's touchpad is simply superior to anything out there (can't comment on the EliteBook)....

Thanks,

Bernie

be warned!!! the PWM on this screen is there even at 100% brightness and looked with a camera with high shutter speed is VERY worrying. It's identical to my Mi Air 13 which should have 50Hz of PWM but here they write 1000Hz for the spectre. Try yourself! I also tested the older x360 spectre and it did not have any PWM, as notebookcheck said. Don't buy displays with pwm, especially if they have it over 30% brightness

Quote from: Bernie Pechlaner on February 27, 2017, 03:53:53
It wouldn't have had much of an impact, as a lot the scores are calculated automatically based on the test data entered.
As an owner of quite a few different notebooks (Lenovo, HP, Asus, Dell - including some ancient ones as well which I can't seem to part with), I try to be as fair as possible.

Bernie

Bernie

There is a big, big mistake on the evaluation of the display, the contrast of the display you measured is actually 1200:1 rather than 700:1.

Let me explain: for some reason there is an adaptative brightness mechanism on this notebook, however it adapts very slowly (within 15 seconds). This means when you measure black levels coming from a brighter APL, you will grossly overestimate them (therefore underestimating contrast).

You need to set a latency time of 15 seconds in your measurements and measure a constant APL greyscale OR measure an ANSI pattern.

It took me a while to figure this out, but when you come from a dark content to white or near white, it takes a long time for the brightness to pick up. This is supposed to avoid eye-strain.

Likewise, when you move from bright content to a black or near black content, it takes time for the display to dim.

However what matters here is intra-picture contrast or constant APL contrast, as this allows you to find out how good each individual picture of a video or content will look like. An ANSI pattern gives you the contrast and brightness at an APL level of 50% white.

This is why subjectively you found the display attractive but your low contrast measurement unfairly decreased the overall mark for this FANTASTIC laptop.

I myself ALMOST did not buy this laptop because of the 700:1 contrast you measured. You ABSOLUTELY need to correct this and give it the excellent overall score it deserves (and as someone pointed out, you can set up the right click zone, keyboard and touchpad are the best on the market right now for me, I play video games on this laptop and the tactile feedback is nothing short of amazing compared to a MacBook or other competing devices). For me the only thing preventing it from getting perfect marks is the older generation NVIDIA, but the laptop is such a joy to use, I really don't mind for a multimedia laptop.

Another note about the display - the lower priced model has an inferior display, also calibrated to 1250 contrast but with lower peak brightness (270cd/m²). No matter what APL level I used I was not able to trigger a higher brightness level and I am wondering if this is a software limitation as I can find none of the dynamic brightness mechanism on this particular model! The contrast and colors are very good but maximum brightness is limited (even after deactivating auto dimming and setting brightness to 100%).

It seems the more expensive version having the pen is pushed as a device for artists and therefore brightness is better accommodated. I have ordered a replacement for the cheaper variant and will report if I observe the same behaviour again.

Please review the 2017 15" Samsung Notebook 9

Hi! How would you compare the build quality of this one compared to the new Samsung notebook 9 15"?

The specs are fairly similar but for the display, of which I would personally prefer a non touch FHD.

Thank you!

@Emiliano Bolesani:
Depends on what you mean by build quality.
If you're talking about how strong the materials are, then the Spectre is wins by a small margin. It's around 800 g (1.7 lbs) heavier than the Notebook 9, and the chassis is composed of thicker aluminum vs thinner magnesium alloy of the Notebook 9. This would potentially make the Spectre harder and more torsion resistant.

However, if you're talking about actual, real life durability, then Notebook 9 probably takes the crown. The way most of us break laptops, we either bang them repeatedly against tough surfaces, or drop them once or twice from an ample height. There're Youtube videos of reviewers performing drop tests on 2017 LG Gram, a similar ultra-light laptop designed with exactly this kind of durability in mind. So in that regard, the Notebook 9 would make better survivor thanks to its lighter weight and more tensile (shock absorbent) chassis.

Although, I haven't studied physics since middle school so it's all just a wild conjecture here. If you ask me, I'd personally go with the Spectre because of the much better keyboard, but both are some of the best dual-core 15" laptops to date, so it's really hard to go wrong with either of them.

Thank you very much for reply! It has been a difficult choice for me to narrow down to some computers. Don't mind the weight, and I am always very careful with my devices.

The tablet mode and pen support are features which I most probably won't use. But the keyboard is a key issue for me: why do you say the spectre's superior? You feel some flex over the keys in the samsung or is it a typing issue?

As far as I know they both have low travel keys, right?

@Emiliano Bolesani:
No problem, glad I could help!

Something to note is that every keyboard is different, between same models that are a generation apart, and even between two identical models purchased from a same store. Some brands like business laptops, and consumer lines that happen to mention keyboards in their front page (like Macbooks' butterfly or MSI's steelseries) make effort to control quality to certain extent, while others simply don't.

I personally look for 5 things in a keyboard: travel, actuation force, material quality, layout, and backlight quality, in that specific order of importance. Ideal travel is higher than 2.4 mm, but that's not happening in the consumer section anytime soon. :(  So the next thing I look at is the actuation force required to press each key, ideally around 70 g for me. When its lower than that, keys lose tactility, essentially the ability to quickly go down and spring back up, and I easily notice since I'll lose ~10 wpm. Keycaps should be made of anti-microbial plastic (rough grainy texture) or hard metal. Some people are pretty stubborn on layouts hence won't buy laptops without their preferred design, but I've come to live with what I get, so long as the alphabet keys are normally sized and spaced.

I've had my hands on last gen's Spectres and I measured 1.6 mm of travel and 65 g of pressing force, both of which are rarity in the current ultrabook market. Keys feel metallic which is better than most laptops' smooth plastic, and the deck has little flex to it. As for the layout and backlight, they're decent enough. Samsung apparently falls behind in all five areas according to many reviews, which makes me wary, because the Spectre is only just good enough for my spoiled appetite.

To my knowledge, HP's Envy, Spectre, Probook and Elitebook lines have always made consistently good keyboards. And since I type a lot for a living and use laptops as my daily driver, a bad keyboard really isn't an option for somebody like me.

Some good reviews with commentary regarding keyboards:
Laptopmag
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/samsung-notebook-9-15-inch
http://www.laptopmag.com/reviews/laptops/hp-spectre-x360-15-inch
Daniel Rubino of Windows Central
http://www.windowscentral.com/samsung-notebook-9
http://www.windowscentral.com/hp-spectre-x360-15

OK! Your detailed answers are most welcome!

One last thing, how are the hinges? Does the screen wobble a lot..? I am afraid that in the long run hinges might loose a little..

I want a decently spec laptop (no tablet) that feels sturdy and premium, with thunderbolt 3, and has a beautiful screen. Seems that the spectre ticks most of all but the 2 in 1 thing makes me wonder.. I would have bought a macbook pro if it wasn't for the underwhelming upgrades combined to a steep increase in pricing.

Thanks again.
Emiliano

@Emiliano Bolesani:
Hinges on my Spectre were good, maybe its even better than the Notebook 9.
As for lose hinges, I'm pretty sure you can easily tighten them after dismantling a few parts. Since you mentioned you're not interested in the 2 in 1 aspect, this probably won't concern you, but just in case you do find it useful, I need to point this out. I was a bit disappointed with the Spectre's hinges because it had too much wobble for an adequate 2 in 1 experience, unlike the sturdy watchband hinges on the Lenovo Yoga 910 FHD that I tried in a store (no TB3 and weird key layout were deal breakers).

I almost always prefer hinges with two separate metal caps attached on far ends of the base, to a long hinge that goes down the middle. Reason is that I'm rough with my laptops, and I broke the screen on my Macbooks three times while walking with them open and accidentally slammed them against stuff. Same thing happened to a few other laptops, namely Asus, Acer and Samsung, all consumer units, mind you. Not once, did I have to even think about this issue with the Thinkpads and Latitudes, which always have had great hinges.

You're top priorities are dual-core CPU, long-term durability, at least x1 TB3 and a good 15" screen. I think for a 15", the Spectre x360 is one of the best. But if you're willing to go for a 14" that shaves off around 750 g (1.7 lbs) with even better durability and keyboard, I'd recommend Lenovo Thinkpad X1C5 FHD (7 hrs - 80% brightness, browsing), or its convertible brother X1Y2 OLED (3.5 hrs - same conditions) if you can sacrifice battery life for the best screen.

laptop repair guy discussing hinges:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7XSckjRPo0

Hi tecno people,
I am not. So I would appriciate an advice. I am looking for an ultrabook 15 inch with the same características of the hp but i don't need to be convertible so i don't want to pay for this fratture . Is there any other options on the market chepest that is still  Light and multimedia ,15` Top performance and features? 

Hi,
I have this one and I like it a lot !
Was wondering if it's a hdmi 2.0 or not.
If I well understand thunderbolt also has an HDMI built in. If yes, is hdmi 2.0 as well?
Finally: is there a way to know which hdmi version I have ?
Thanks you!
Charles