The IT sector is very rich in variety, we have equipment to meet all our needs, whether for performance or mobility. Thanks to Intel and HP today we can analyze one of the products with better mobility together with focused performance for the professional or educational sector.
Design and build
A very serious box in brown contains a small but powerful ultrabook, well protected we find the HP ultrabook, its charger with American plug and manual. The model for review does not include accessories but you can find RJ45 adapters, touch pen or video output adapters
The body is made of aluminum and gray plastic with the HP logo on the top chrome. We can find it in 3 colors, the model we are analyzing is Natural Silver. The first thing that caught my attention are the hinges, large and resistant, they are also chrome-plated. Below we have the design finding two non-slip rubber bands that serve to raise it from the surface. On the sides we find perforations for the audio output and it contains 2 2W speakers. We also have another large perforated area that runs practically from side to side through the model for air intake and cooling.
On the left side we have a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port, 3.5 jack output and in the corner the power button. On the right we have a microsd port, lever for the webcam and two Thunderbolt 4 Type C ports serving the one in the corner for charging.
Its dimensions are ultra-thin, being one of the most comfortable laptops included to use with one hand in its convertible mode. When closed, it has a maximum width of 1.8 cm while its dimensions reach 30.5 x 19.5 cm. So in its tablet mode it is very manageable and even with one hand
Intel EVO Certification
Intel EVO is a certification that combines several requirements such as mobility, quality, speed and power. Its use is reduced to laptops between 12 and 15.6 inches with standards provided by Intel. In addition, there are many other requirements, the most prominent being:
- Fast charging with at least 9 hours of autonomy
- Start from sleep in less than 1 second
- Have 256GB NVMe at least
- 8GB RAM or more
- Passive cooling or fans with a maximum of 15 mm
- Intel WiFi 6
- Thunderbolt 4
We will also find adapted software designed by Intel and adapted by companies, for example to manage energy
Screen
We have a very thin 13-inch screen with 10-point multi-touch capability that is compatible with the HP writing pen. The panel that it mounts is an IPS with Full HD resolution (1920x1080p) not counting on freesync support and with a refresh rate of 60hz.
As we have mentioned, it is a team focused on the professional or educational aspect with a maximum brightness of 400 nits and a contrast of 1000: 1. With a size of 13 inches and such thin bezels, it is easy to hold in tablet mode with one hand.
To protect the screen from scratches, the HP incorporates glass Gorilla Glass NBT high resistance. Its frames are quite small, being 5 mm on the side edges, 7 mm on the top and 20 mm on the bottom. The edges are behind the protective glass so the finish is very premium. This system is known as Edge-to-Edge Y BrightView, a polycarbonate filter that increases brightness.
The touch section is simply excellent, quick and accurate response to our gestures and actions. By turning the keyboard to a certain degree, the laptop itself will detect that we want to use its convertible mode by deactivating it.
Testing with SpyderXPro
The color gamut offered by the screen is very rich in sRGB, falling short for AdobeRGB, so for a professional photography it is a team that falls short. However, for multimedia use, navigation or office automation, it more than meets expectations.
Keyboard, touchpad and fingerprint sensor
The keys come in a considerable size facilitating their keystroke and made of gray aluminum. It has a backlight only in white, with no other settings than its brightness. With an ANSI distribution and TKL format we can find it in several languages, the sample being American. It also adds function keys to the right of it.
Just below the space bar we have the touchpad / trackpad with dimensions of 110 x 55 mm made of high quality glass. The precision in the gestures and movements is perfect, the pressing of the buttons emits a certain appreciable but fast-moving click.
Just to the right of the touchpad we have the fingerprint sensor that integrates with Windows biometric systems. After configuring it by posing our finger rotating and in various ways to improve recognition, we will be able to log in in less than a second.
Sound by Bang & Olufsen
When we open the laptop we see the brand in black silkscreen Bang & Olufsen consisting of two 2 watt speakers at the bottom. The sound is quite clean and flat, the absence of bass is notable especially in music. B & O’s own application includes different equalizations for different moments either with music, movies or for voice chat.
In addition, this software includes AI noise cancellation in both the audio input and output, something that improves our conversations in confluent places. Although also just as effective in places with children or pets that usually intervene.
Webcam
We have an HP True Vision sensor with 720p resolution and 30 fps recording being compatible with Windows Hello and biometric authentication. As we indicated at the beginning we have a lever to activate / deactivate the camera, due to its resolution and quality it is ideal for video calls.
The quality of it is not very high and it needs a lot of light, in fact I have 2 lights on to capture this level. So using the camera for anything other than video calling would be a waste of time.
Components (edit)
CPU
We are facing the new low-power generation of Intel Gen 11 Tiger Lake, the version that we analyze mounts an i7 1165G7. Manufactured in 10 nm SuperFin arrives with a configuration of 4 cores and 8 threads with 12 MB of L3 cache.
Although it has a maximum frequency of 4.7 GHz, this will only reach performance peaks since in most cases the frequencies will work between 1.3-3.9 GHz. This ensures a maximum load consumption of 15W while we can get to register 37W at certain times. Frequency limits and their variation help keep equipment temperatures and noise at very low levels.
In the event of an intense workload, the frequencies will still be more relaxed, reaching a maximum of 2.3 GHz and a minimum of 1.9 GHz. All this while maintaining a consumption of 15W being exceptional for the performance that we obtain close to of desktop CPUs that have consumptions of up to 90W and higher cooling.
Integrated graphics
Being a team of such small dimensions and consumption it is difficult to include a dedicated GPU but luckily we have the new generation of integrated Intel Iris Xe. With a configuration of 96 shaders, 16 TMUs and 8 ROPs it has a great performance that would even allow us to play Counter Strike or Rocket League. Of course, forget about triple A, this is a team designed for work.
| FullHD resolution | TimeSpy | FireStrike |
| Intel IRIS XE (i7 1165G7) | 1961 | 4961 |
| Radeon Vega 11 (Ryzen 3400G) | 1900 | 4024 |
It has a 128-bit controller that provides a bandwidth of 51 GB / s. The frequencies oscillate between 400 MHz and 1300 MHz in its boost mode.
In the tests carried out we can place the Intel graphic above the Vega 11, which is a fairly high qualitative leap to what Intel had us used to, it seems that it has woken up. And especially when we are talking about a computer with reduced consumption.
RAM
The team mounts a 16GB LPDDR4 configuration although we can achieve it with 8 GB. It works at a frequency of 2133 MHz (Dual Channel) with a fairly high latency CAS 36 being soldered to the motherboard. The integrated graphics will absorb automatically and whenever you need it up to a maximum of 2 GB of it.
Storage
The drive we reviewed mounts a 512GB NVMe PCIe 3.0 configuration. We will be able to expand this configuration in the future since it is a removable unit. We can find it by opening the back cover just below a visible metal cover as soon as you access.
On the left we have the performance of the 512 GB unit that mounts the laptop with excellent performance for our use, from 600 MB / s it is difficult to notice a difference unless you are professionals. On the right we have the performance tests with an ASUS ROG Strix Arion with which the performance of the Thunderbolt 4 is excellent also to expand the capabilities of the notebook.
USB ports and connectivity
The body of the Specter does not include an RJ45 port for wired connectivity, we can purchase an adapter and give it this capacity with its Thunderbolt 4 port. In addition, these ports offer a bandwidth of 40 Gbps
The Thunderbolt 4 port in the corner in addition to offering 40 Gbps interface in addition to DisplayPort 1.4 capacity and one of them will allow fast charging of 65W.
As we do not have an ethernet port, we have wireless connectivity of the highest level with Intel’s WiFi 6E with its AX201D2W chipset, with capacity for the 6 GHz frequency.
HP Commander software
The HP software only wants to simplify the task of configuring some aspects of our equipment to adjust it to both our needs and our tastes of use. We can control aspects related to the operation of the fans and the noise that this generates. Control network traffic to give more push to programs that need more bandwidth, for example assigning it to communications in the event of a video call.
Temperatures
The equipment has software to configure the cooling capacities and it has two turbine-type fans together with 3 flat copper heatpipes. In it we can find several balanced, performance, silent or cool modes.
The behavior of the laptop in this field is excellent, in the tests carried out being the balanced mode we have verified how low stress it maintains the type. We have chosen Cinebench R23 looped as our test while the room has an ambient temperature of 20 degrees. Temperatures reached a maximum of 73 degrees which was quickly cooled with little noise until 53 degrees where the fan was turned off.
Although we do not stress the equipment, but rather use it for work or multimedia, it is difficult for it to activate, especially in its silent mode. Staying quite cool and not noticing any heat in our hands.
Autonomy
The Specter X360 is powered by a 4-cell Lithium Polymer battery with a power of 60.76 Wh. The power is made with the Thunderbolt 4 USB port that we find in the right corner of the keyboard. As we have mentioned before, it reaches a fast charge of 65W which allows it to obtain 50% of its capacity in about 30 minutes.
For battery life we have made use of office automation, movie viewing and navigation programs, the balanced mode being used and the screen brightness at half capacity. With all this, the duration depending on how we use it varies between 8 hours and 12 hours at most depending on whether we use more. If we lower the brightness even more we can achieve more than 14 hours of autonomy, which ensures a working day.
It must be said that the laptop has better performance in battery mode than in charging, motivated by the temperatures that are generated during charging. This prevents the overheating of the equipment as well as a greater durability of the battery by avoiding situations of high temperatures.
Verdict and alternatives
The great success of ultrabooks is their mobility, excellent performance and quality in many respects that are part of the requirements of Intel EVO. As we have mentioned at the beginning, it is a laptop intended for the professional or educational user, as well as using it for multimedia or navigation is very interesting due to its tactile and convertible capacity.
The performance of its Intel i7 1165G7 CPU with 4 cores and 8 threads combined with a high performance NVMe unit makes all the tasks we assign it easy. Working with heavy spreadsheets or weighty office tools does it with impressive ease. Although it is even capable of encoding video, it is not a laptop designed for the design sector, where we will find better options in equipment with other features.
The duration of the battery ensures with normal use with the classic stops to last a whole day. Although if necessary, we can carry out a quick charge where it can reach 50% of its capacity in 30 minutes. The temperatures of use as well as the noise it generates are simply excellent, I have given it an office and multimedia use with the silent mode being a real delight. Forget those laptops that constantly turn on their turbines to cool down.
The sound seeing the little space it has for its speakers is really good, that if, forget about the bass. We can select 3 profiles, either multimedia or voice chat for example to improve its use. The volume is really excellent both in its portable mode and in tablet mode.
Access to the rear, whether to change the SSD or the battery, is really simple, which guarantees a great durability of the laptop. It must be said that its performance is reduced at the time of charging so it is perfect for those people who usually leave the charger always on, now it will force you not to always have it. In case the battery suffers wear, you will simply remove the cover to change it for a new one.
