HP Spectre X2 (2017)

VERDICT

HP’s glamorous 2-in-1 makes some key improvements, but still can’t stand up to Microsoft’s Surface Pro

- Christopher Minasians

LAST YEAR’S HP Spectre x2 (Shopper 346) was a worthy rival to Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4, offering similar features in a sleek and affordable package, but it was held back by its poor-quality screen, speakers and stylus.

These are the issues HP has looked to fix in the Spectre x2’s 2017 remake, which takes a more overtly premium approach to 2-in-1 design. Its dark grey aluminium body and copper-coloured trim look great, and the folding kickstand – a fiddly weakness of the old model – is easy to set up at just the right angle, providing up to 165° of adjustment.

At less than 8mm thin, it’s just as svelte as a smartphone, and weighs a very reasonable 1.15kg with the bundled keyboard attached (or 780g without). The downside is that there’s no room for full-size USB ports, but you do get two USB Type-C connectors for charging, display output and data transfers. A 3.5mm headphone jack and microSD card slot can be found on the left-hand side.

PEN PUSHER

The speakers are much improved; branded by Bang & Olufsen, they sound remarkably rich and full-bodied for such a slim device. The HP Active Pen stylus also works much better than its 2016 equivalent – it’s not tilt capable, and the Microsoft Surface Pen has better sensitivity, but it’s wonderfully responsive and the nib has a nice grippy feel on the surface of the tablet. Palm rejection is effective as well.