Just looking at the HP Spectre x360's 12.79 x 8.6 x 0.63 inches or 324 x 218 x 16mm (W x D x H) dimensions, there's no doubt this is one of the smallest 2-in-1 hybrid laptops ever made. However, with this convertible notebook weighing in at 3.26 pounds (1.47 kg), it's also quite unwieldy as a tablet.
You'll have a much easier time holding up the 1.76-pound (7.98 kg) Surface Pro 3. Even with the Type Cover attached, Microsoft's tablet-laptop combo still weighs in at a lower 2.62 pounds (1.18 kg). The Surface Pro 3 dimensions, meanwhile, are 11.5 x 7.93 x 0.36 inches (292 x 201 x 9 mm), making it considerably thinner than HP's hybrid.
The Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi is an even lighter tablet device that weighs in at 1.58 pounds (7.2 kg). With the Bluetooth-connected magnetic keyboard attached, the T300 Chi comes closer to tipping the scales at 3.14 pounds (1.43 kg) as a full-on laptop.
Here is the HP Spectre x360 configuration sent to TechRadar for review.
Spec Sheet
- CPU: 2.2GHz Intel Core i5-5200 (dual-core, 3MB cache, up to 2.7GHz with Turbo Boost)
- Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 5500
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 (1600Mhz)
- Screen: 13.3-inch, 1,920 x 1,080 FHD Radiance LED-backlit touchscreen
- Storage: 256GB SSD
- Ports: 3x USB 3.0; HDMI, mini DisplayPort, headphone/microphone combo
- Connectivity: 802.11ac (2x2) and Bluetooth 4.0 combo
- Camera: HP TrueVision Full HD WVA Webcam (front-facing); Integrated dual digital microphones
- Weight: 3.26 pounds
- Size: 12.79 x 8.6 x 0.63 inches (W x D x H)
Priced at $999 (£899, AU$1,899), HP offers up the Spectre x360 with the well rounded package you see above. All-in-all, it's a full option that comes outfitted with 8GB of memory, 256GB SSD (128GB SSD for those in the UK) and a gorgeous 1080p screen, which I'll get into more later on.
Those who want to save a bit more scratch can buy the Spectre x360 at its base configuration for $899 (or AU$1,499) at the expense of halving the machine's available memory and storage space. That's hardly a fair trade, and so I recommend you get the configuration I tested instead.
Alternatively, users bump up the configuration with a 2,560 x 1,440 display, faster Intel Core i7-5500U processor and 512GB SSD for $1,399 (or AU$2,399). A similarly specced machine is available to those in the UK for £1,225. However, the flash storage options are limited to only 256GB and the processor upgrade jumps to an Intel Core i7-5600U chip instead.
In some ways, the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi comes even better stocked at $899 (£799, AU$1,299). For the price, this tablet-laptop hybrid comes outfitted with a 2,560 x 1,440 WQHD resolution display and 8GB of RAM. That said, the T300 Chi comes packing half as much SSD storage and a significantly slower-clocked Intel Core M 5Y71 running at 1.2GHz to the Spectre x360's 2.2GHz CPU.
Microsoft's darling Surface Pro 3 is looking very long in the tooth these days, since it was introduced over a year ago, but it's still a contender into today's field of 2-in-1 computers. Expect to shell out $999 (£769, AU$979) to get set up with a comparable 1.9GHz processor from Intel's aging Haswell days. Going with this route also means having to contend with a small 128GB SSD, only 4GB of RAM and the added expense of a $129 (£109, AU$149) Type Cover.
