HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch Review: A Superfly 2-in-1

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: At First Glance

Honestly, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch belongs to the class of HP’s premium laptops. This is because it comes with a sleek design and adequate build quality.

Impressively, this laptop isn’t just appealing to the eyes; it also offers optimal performance through its excellent list of specs. A few of these specs include a powerful Intel Core i7 processor, a 4K display, and a dedicated NVIDIA GPU.

However, this laptop is somewhat expensive. It had a starting price of $1,219 as of May 2022, when I published this review article.

Does the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch actually worth this expensive price tag. Why not read on to find an answer to that question?

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Design, Display, Ports, and Connectivity

As mentioned earlier in the previous section above, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is pretty sleek. To give more details, the laptop comes with an aluminum chassis in a nightfall black color and a matte finish.

Although this nightfall black color makes the laptop look bold and tough, the laptop is also available in Poseidon blue color. That aside, the shining gold-plaited “HP” logo on the center of the laptop’s lid is just a beauty to behold.

As if that’s not enough, the laptop’s sides and dual hinges feature a rose-gold accent that adds a striking color balance to the laptop. Speaking of which, the dual hinges firmly attach the lid of the laptop to the base.

Also, as a 2-in-1 convertible laptop, these hinges allow the lid to be rotated a full 360 degrees. Due to this, you should be able to use the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch in various modes.

These modes are tablet mode, stand mode, tent mode, and the conventional laptop model. Impressively, because the hinges are not too tight and flexible, transitioning between these modes should be seamless.

Besides, the lid is sturdy and tight enough to prevent the lid from wobbling too much when nudged. By the way, when you open the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s lid, the first thing you will come across is a 15.6-inch display.

Obviously, as a convertible laptop, this laptop’s display is a touchscreen. Also, it features a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) resolution that allows it to deliver expectational and realistic picture quality.

Apart from this 4K UHD resolution, the laptop’s display also features an IPS panel. Thanks to this IPS panel, the display offers wide viewing angles.

Thus, when watching the display from the sides or off-center, pictures shouldn’t lose quality or look washed out. In addition to the IPS panel, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s display also comes with a glossy coating on its surface.

This coating makes the colors on the display appear really vivid and accurate. However, the glossy coating makes the display prone to reflection and sun glares when used in well-lit areas.

Also, the coating tends to cause eye strain when you stare at the display for a long period of time. On a positive note, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s display offers a maximum brightness of 400 nits.

Hence, using the laptop outdoors or in bright areas should be less bothersome. That aside, ultra-slim bezels surround this laptop’s display.

Impressively, HP managed to include an IR webcam with an integrated dual-array digital microphone in the center of the top bezel. This webcam features an HD (720p) resolution.

However, unlike some HD webcams, this webcam isn’t suitable for taking selfies or groupies as it produces blurry images. On the bright side, the webcam is very ideal for video calls via Zoom or Skype.

Meanwhile, the bottom bezel features an “HP” logo coated with a reflective silver finish. Due to the reflective nature of this logo, it shines gracefully when exposed to sunlight.

Moving on to the base of the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch, there is a full-size ebony-black keyboard with a dedicated NumPad. Moreover, this keyboard is backlit, making it easy for users to type in dark areas.

Also, the keys on the keyboard are well-spaced and offer adequate feedback with a decent amount of key travel. Hence, the keyboard should offer a comfortable typing experience.

In case you’re curious, key travel is the distance between a key’s rest point to full depression. Beneath the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s keyboard is a touchpad with dedicated click buttons.

Appreciably, golden highlights or lines surround this touchpad, which adds to the overall elegance of the laptop. Moreover, the surface of the touchpad is very smooth and responsive.

Also, the touchpad supports multi-touch gestures such as pinch-to-zoom. To the right side of this touchpad, there is a fingerprint sensor for easy login into Windows via Windows Hello.

Port-wise, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is adequate. Basically, the laptop comes with a decent port selection.

Specifically, the left side of the laptop features an HDMI 2.0b port and a headphone/microphone combo jack. Likewise, on the right side of this laptop, you’ll find a Thunderbolt 3 port, a USB Type-A port, a USB Type-C port, and a microSD card reader.

For wireless connectivity, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is equipped with Bluetooth 5.0 and an integrated 6 AX 201 2 x 2 Wi-Fi.

In terms of weight and dimension, this laptop weighs 1920 g and measures 359.9 x 226.4 x 19.9 mm (W x D x H). Comparatively, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is lighter but thicker than one of its closest competitors, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531.

To be more specific, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S GX531 measures 360 x 268 x 15.3 – 16.1 mm (W x D x H) and weighs 2100 g.

Finally, I will rate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch a nine out of ten in this design review section.

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Processor (CPU) Performance

It is very important for a computer to feature a powerful processor for optimal performance. In that regard, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is equipped with a very powerful 10th generation Intel Core i7-10750H processor.

This processor is a Hexa-core processor, meaning it has 6 cores. Also, it comes with a cache memory of 12 MB.

That’s not all; in terms of speed, the CPU has a base and maximum frequency of 2.60 GHz and 5.0 GHz, respectively. Performance-wise, due to its specs, this processor should be able to handle any computing task that comes its way.

Hence, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch shouldn’t have any problem carrying out demanding tasks such as video editing. To further verify how well this laptop’s CPU can perform, I’ll be discussing its result on a Cinebench R15 test.

For clarity, the Cinebench R15 test is a benchmark test that evaluates a computer’s processor abilities by utilizing its cores. Moreover, this test is carried out in two distinct aspects which are the single-core test and the multi-core test.

While the single-core test uses just one of the processor’s cores to evaluate its abilities, the multi-core does the opposite. To be more specific, the multi-core test evaluates a computer’s processor abilities by using all of its available cores to carry out certain workloads.

Besides, the higher the scores on these tests, the better the processor’s abilities. Hence, from the test results, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch scored 196.7 points on the Cinebench R15 single-core test.

Meanwhile, on the multi-core test, this laptop scored 1263 points. In comparison with the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S, this HP laptop performed way better.

Specifically, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S, which uses an Intel Core i7-8750H CPU, scored 168 points on the single-core test. Likewise, on the Cinebench R15 multi-core test, this ASUS laptop scored 1122 points.

All things considered, I will rate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch a nine out of ten in this processor review section.

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Memory (RAM) Performance

To start with, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch comes with a standard memory of 8 GB DDR4-2666 MHz SDRAM. Sadly, this memory is onboard, meaning it is soldered directly on the laptop’s motherboard.

Hence, upgrading or removing the memory is impossible. Before you get frustrated, you need to be aware that there is another model of this laptop that offers 16 GB RAM.

Thus, if you feel 8 GB RAM is limited for the tasks you intend to perform on the laptop, you can simply opt for the model that offers 16 GB RAM. However, the price of that model will be higher than the one with 8 GB RAM.

Nevertheless, with 8 GB RAM, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch should be able to perform adequately. As a matter of fact, this laptop will be able to multitask effectively with this amount of memory.

For example, while running about 15 Chrome tabs and two YouTube videos simultaneously, the laptop didn’t lag a bit. In fact, switching between these tabs and videos should be seamless and problem-free.

To validate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s performance with 8 GB RAM, I will be sharing its result on a PCMark 10 test. In brief, the PCMark 10 test is a benchmark tool for evaluating a computer’s memory performance by simulating office-related productivity tasks like web browsing.

Moreover, on this test, the higher the score value, the better the computer’s memory performance. Thus, based on the test result, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch recorded a score of 5430 points.

Although this score is impressive, it is about 300 points below the score of one of its closest competitors, the EVOO EG-LP6-BK. Specifically, the EVOO EG-LP6-BK recorded a score of 5797 points on the PCMark 10 test.

Considering all we’ve discussed in this memory review section, I will rate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch an eight out of ten.

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Storage Options and Performance

The HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is available in two storage options. Basically, one can purchase this laptop either with PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD or Intel SSD.

Both storage options support a maximum storage capacity of up to 1 TB. Although this amount of maximum storage capacity should be sufficient, some people might find it limited.

Thankfully, there is a microSD card reader on the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch for storage expansion. That aside, with either of the storage options, this HP laptop should offer fast transfer speed and rapid boot time.

Also, the laptop should be able to open and save files very fast. This is because SSDs are the fastest storage drives available on the market.

Having said that, it is important to mention that this review is based on the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch with Intel SSD. Hence, to measure the laptop’s performance with this storage drive option, let us consider its result on a file transfer test.

This test involves copying a certain amount of multimedia files so as to find out the speed and transfer rate of a storage drive. Moreover, the higher the “MBps” value on this test, the faster the speed of the storage drive.

So, on the test, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch’s Intel SSD was able to copy 4.97 GB of multimedia files in just 4 seconds. This equates to a transfer rate of 1161.3 MBps.

Impressively, this transfer rate is way faster than the category average of 747.55 MBps. Moreover, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch performed better than most of its competitors that also use SSD.

For example, on the same file transfer test, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga‘s SSD delivered a transfer rate of 978.7 MBps. Also, ASUS ZenBook Flip S‘ SSD recorded a transfer rate of 145.4 MBps.

Hence, I will rate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch a nine out of ten in this storage review section.

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Graphics Card Performance

The HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch comes with a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU. This graphics card operates at a base frequency of 1035 Mhz and a maximum frequency of 1200 MHz

Also, as a dedicated graphics card, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU comes with a dedicated VRAM. It features a dedicated VRAM of 4 GB GDDR6.

Hence, unlike integrated graphics cards, this GPU doesn’t have to share the system memory with the laptop’s CPU to perform graphics-related tasks. As a result, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch should be able to smoothly run graphics-intensive apps like AutoCAD.

Not just that, the laptop should also be able to play most high-end games effectively. For example, while playing Yakuza: Like a Dragon, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch delivered an impressive frame rate of 101 fps.

That said, I will now share the laptop’s result on a 3DMark test so as to further verify its graphics performance. In case you’re wondering, 3DMark is a benchmark test that evaluates a computer’s graphics rendering capabilities.

Additionally, the higher the score on this test, the better the performance of the computer’s graphics card. Therefore, based on the test result, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch recorded a score of 11796 points.

Sadly, compared to the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S, this laptop performed less. To be more specific, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S recorded an impressive score of 21237 points on the same 3DMark test.

However, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus S is a gaming laptop that uses an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics card.

In conclusion, considering the fact that the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch isn’t a gaming laptop, it featuring a dedicated GPU is impressive. Thus, I will be rating the laptop a nine out of ten in this graphics card review section.

HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch: Battery Life and Performance

The HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is powered by a 6-cell 72.9 WHr Li-ion polymer battery. However, HP didn’t mention how long the laptop could last with this battery.

Therefore, to find out the laptop’s battery life, I will discuss its result on a battery rundown test. This test involves continuously browsing the web over a Wi-Fi connection while the screen brightness is set to 250 nits.

Thus, at the end of this test, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch delivered a battery life of just 2 hours and 51 minutes. Sadly, this feat is nearly 7 hours less than the category average of 9 hours and 56 minutes.

Also, compared with the Lenovo Yoga C630, the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch has a really poor battery life. Specifically, on the same battery rundown test, the Lenovo Yoga C630 delivered a battery life of 12 hours and 14 minutes.

Hence, I will rate the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch a six out of ten in this battery review section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is a premium laptop that features a stylish design with amazing design aesthetics. This laptop isn’t just attractive; it is also very powerful.

Specifically, it comes with a list of amazing hardware specs. To mention a few, the laptop features a dedicated NVIDIA graphics card and a powerful 10th-generation processor.

However, the battery life of the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch is subpar. Also, the laptop is quite expensive, costing over $1000 as of the time I published this article in May 2022.

Nevertheless, with its amazing features and attractive design, the laptop is totally worth its heavy price tag. Hence, if you need a beautiful convertible laptop with awesome performance, you have to consider the HP Spectre x360 Laptop – 15t Touch.

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