Screen
Even with those bezels, though, HP’s screen isn’t bad, with a 12 inch Full HD display sitting behind a layer of Corning’s scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass.
That’s Full HD at 1920×1280, by the way, a little different from the usual Full HD setting of 1920×1080 or 1920×1200, meaning there’s a little taller widescreen aspect ratio of 16:11 here compared to other models.
Support for touch is here, of course — it’s a tablet, after all — and there’s even a pen in the box, so if you need to do some accurate pinpointing with the mouse or writing or even drawing, it supports some of that, too.
Mostly, though, we’re interested in if this is a nice a screen, and it is, though HP isn’t exactly leading the field when it comes to game-changing technology here.
It’s nice enough and certainly pleasing on the eyes, but Microsoft’s Surface Pro 4 and even the newly announced Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S both look better thanks to the extra pixels and larger resolution these arrive with.
Performance
At least there’s a decent computer under the hood, and thanks to Intel’s sixth-generation Core processors in the “m” or “mobile” variety, you’ll find a reasonable amount of speed for your productivity.
We’re not talking the same amount of performance as say a proper Intel “i” series processor, but the recent “m” variety is also nothing to sneeze at, so if you have a lot of work to do, the m5 chip clocked at 1.1GHz will still let you get something done, as will the 8GB RAM.
Overall, we found little to no lag in most of what we threw the way of the laptop, and it was nice to see a hybrid like this not run an Intel Atom.
It’s not that the Atom range is bad, but rather this puts out the surprising amount of performance you get in computers like the Macbook, with apps like Google Chrome supporting more tabs than you might expect a small computer to put up with, while Adobe’s suite can run, even if applications like Photoshop don’t quite pull their weight the same way they might on a machine with a better process.
Sufficed to say, if you still need to get some work done, HP’s Elite x2 handles its own better than we anticipated, and it does so with some extras that we wish more manufacturers thought of.
The keyboard is one such inclusion, because while Microsoft’s Type Cover is an optional extra on the Surface tablets, it’s one of those “optional extras” that really needs to be classed as a “necessary extra that should be in the box”.
HP seems to agree and even has its own variety in its box, with the HP Elite x2 featuring a metal keyboard with fabric backing and backlighting. A trackpad is also factored in, and all in all, the accessory isn’t bad, with a decent amount of travel we could get used to, even if it needs to be a little more spacious.
That said, it’s not bad, especially since it’s free.
We’re also fans of HP using a magnetic connection, meaning the keyboard can be used mid-flight without Bluetooth, super handy when you’re in situations like an aeroplane where that isn’t allowed (except when you’re asked to stow the tray table, because you should be putting away the computer at the same time, also).
HP’s inclusion of a pen is also a handy thing, though it does feel a little flimsy and only really sticks to the side of the Elite x2 by way of the magnet on the hinge and the cover. That means it’ll rest there nicely while you walk, but brush it slightly and the thing will fall off.
But at least you get one, meaning there’s another style of input outside of the keyboard’s trackpad and your finger, and we even found Windows Hello has been considered, but just not in the way we expected.
For those who don’t know, Windows Hello is one of those features in Windows 10 we’ve grown to love, providing a login based on your actual presence, whether it’s through camera and 3D tracking of your face as it is on the Microsoft Surface Book, eye-based retina scanning on the Windows 10 phones, or some other biometric login.
On the HP Elite x2, you don’t get the camera support — which is a bit of a shame given how fairly customisable the hybrid is — but you can get a fingerprint scanner on the back, which works just as well.
Granted, you still need to swipe your finger across to open the computer up without typing, but it’s still a great option, especially if you opt for that fingerprint support.
There’s even an option for 4G LTE, which our review unit had and provided a nice sense of “always on” connectivity we so rarely get with Windows laptops… or any laptop, for that matter.
Battery
Battery life was one area where it felt like we started to see the Elite x2 fall a little, because as good as the hardware is, the combination of an Intel Core m5 and the 4-cell battery doesn’t always mean great battery life.
We found runtime ranges from four to six hours, which is about on par with what we found in the practically identical Spectre x2 model, though if you turned down brightness and switched off all connections, you may find a little more.
At least HP doesn’t have some of the power issues where the machine switches on when it’s on standby, which affects some machines built in this particular hybrid style.
