The HP Spectre x360 13 (priced at $1,149.99, $1,749.99 in our testing) isn't a new convertible laptop. It is an updated version of the Spectre x360 14 which won PCMag Editors Choice honors for January 2021. The 13.5 inch OLED touch screen has a resolution of 3,000 x 2,000 pixels and is refreshed with 12th Generation Intel Silicon.
Although the new HP is a top-of-the-line 2-in-1 with an OLED touch screen, it easily wins Editors Choice. However, this award goes to the Lenovo Yoga 9i Generation 7, a high-end convertible that has an OLED display and dazzling features. The decision is up to you: do you prefer the Spectre with its 3:2 aspect ratio, or the Yoga with 16:10.
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A Eighth of an Ounce Over The Line
The Spectre x360 133.5 weighs 3.01 pounds. Only a fool would consider it an ultraportable. However, the Yoga 9i is a quarter pound lighter. The HP is 0.67 inches by 11.1.7 inches by 8.7 inch. The Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 2 is a 14 inch convertible that measures 0.67 inches by 12.6 inches by 8.5.
The $1,149.99 base model at HP.com pairs an Intel Core i5-1235U processor with a 1,920-by-1,280-pixel IPS touch screen, along with 8GB of RAM and a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive. A version of that display with an integrated privacy filter is $40 more. Our $1,749.99 test unit is a Best Buy config with a Core i7-1255U chip (two Performance cores, eight Efficient cores, 12 threads); what HP calls a "3K2K" OLED panel; doubled memory (16GB) and storage (1TB); and Windows 11 Pro instead of Home.
Although the x360 13.5 is slightly less wedge-shaped that previous models, it still retains Spectre trademarks like contrasting brass accents, diagonal-cut back corners, and diagonal-cut ports for (the left-hand audio jack, and a USB/Thunderbolt4 port to the right). A USB 3.2 Type A port is located on the left, while a Thunderbolt 4 port can be found at the right. An AC adapter is equipped with a USB-C connector; Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth and Bluetooth can handle wireless connections.
The absence of an HDMI port to connect an external monitor is a major omission. HP partially compensates for this by including a USB mini-dock inside the box. The dock includes an HDMI output and two USB-A ports. The package includes a carry sleeve, HP's Rechargeable MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen and a 5.5 inch stylus. It has two buttons and can be charged via a USB-C port. Magnetically, the pen sticks to the sides of your screen.
Although it is difficult to lift the lid using one hand, the Spectre x360 133.5 is a joy to carry and handle. It is slim but sturdy, with almost no flex if your fingers touch the keyboard or grasp the corners of the screen. The bezels are thin (HP boasts a 90% screen-to-body ratio), and a face-recognition webcam and fingerprint reader—the latter replacing the right Control key—provide two ways to skip typing passwords with Windows Hello.
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A Clever Camera
This 5-megapixel camera captures sharp and vibrant selfies. It offers a choice of three high-resolution aspect ratios—16:9 (2,560 by 1,440 pixels), 4:3 (2,560 by 1,920), or 3:2 (2,560 by 1,706)—as well as capturing 1080p videos at 30fps. The camera is disabled by pressing the top row key. This can be indicated with a small LED on the keypad and diagonal lines along the lens. Backlighting, appearance filters to correct blemishes and an auto frame allow you to move (within limits) while on conference calls. The HP Enhanced Lighting App mimics the effects of a ringlight onscreen.
HP Command Center is another top-row key. It combines webcam extras like GlamCam with network traffic optimization, and manual or automatic cooling fan control. For benchmark testing, we used Performance mode which was pleasantly silent. To extend the battery life, you can choose to dim all windows except those that are active.
The keyboard has a brightly lit backlit keypad that gives you a snappy, comfortable typing experience. We're disappointed it no longer has the right-hand column of dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys found in the Spectre x360 14, and that it follows HP's annoying policy of placing the cursor arrow keys in a clumsy row—with half-size, hard-to-hit up and down arrows stacked between left and right—instead of the correct inverted T. The large, buttonless touchpad glides and taps smoothly and takes just the right amount of pressure for a quiet click.
Quad speakers pump out crisp and clear sound, short on bass but with fine highs and midtones. It's easy to make out overlapping tracks. Bang & Olufsen Audio Control software provides music, movie, and voice presets and an equalizer, as well as microphone noise cancellation for single or multiple speakers.
OLED screens are stunning with vivid, rich colors, strong contrast, and intense contrast. The OLED screen looks great on white backgrounds. They are clean and not dingy. The details of even the smallest detail are clear and sharp with little to no pixelation. Although viewing angles can be wide, the touch glass will pick up reflections from extreme angles. Brightness is good. You can choose from sRGB or DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, and default colors.
The 3:2 aspect ratio is the closest available to a pad of paper in tablet mode, and the provided pen offers great palm rejection, 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity, and tilt control. It kept up with my fastest swipes and scribbles.
HP provides a range of utility options for the Spectre x360 135, including Photo Match which scans your images to find a face. HP QuickDrop allows you to move files and photos between your smartphone and the computer. Concepts is able to draw and sketch. Adobe Creative Cloud, McAfee LiveSafe and LastPass are also available. ExpressVPN trial trials can be arranged.
Test the Spectre x360 13.5: Becoming a member of an Elite Productivity Group
We compared the new Spectre with other 14-inch premium laptops to make benchmark comparisons. As mentioned above, the Yoga 9i Gen 7 from Lenovo is the closest competitor. Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio, a hybrid 14.4 inch design with a more game-oriented GPU and at a lower price (2,699 in our test), is an alternative.
The Asus ExpertBook B7 flip 2-in-1 is another product that comes from business, rather than the consumer aisle. Also included in this group are the Asus ExpertBook B7 Flip 2in-1 and the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 carbon Gen 10. This ultraportable 14-inch laptop has been named the Lenovo ThinkPad X1carbon Gen 10. The table below shows their main specs.
Productivity tests
PCMark 10, the main benchmark, simulates a range of content-creation and productivity workflows in real life to assess overall performance on office-centric tasks like word processing, spreadsheeting and web browsing. PCMark 10's Full System Drive is also used to evaluate the storage's load and throughput.
To rate the suitability of a computer for processing-intensive tasks, three benchmarks examine its CPU. They use all cores and threads. Maxon's Cinebench R23 renders complex scenes using Cinema 4D, and Primate Labs Geekbench Pro simulates apps such as PDF rendering, speech recognition, machine learning and more. We use HandBrake, an open-source video converter to transform a 12 minute video clip from 4K resolution to 1080p (lower speeds are better).
Puget Systems' PugetBench Photoshop is our final productivity test. It uses Adobe Creative Cloud 22 to evaluate a computer's ability to create content and multi-media applications. This extension automates various tasks in Photoshop, including opening, rotating and resizing images, saving them, applying filters, gradient fills and masks.
While the Asus failed to achieve its goals, the Spectre won a lot of bronze and silver medals. This demonstrates that it is a great performer in productivity. It easily surpassed the 4,000 points in PCMark 10 that indicate a strong Microsoft Office or Google Workspace platform, and it tied the Yoga 9i in Photoshop—their OLED screens make both superb image editing workstations.
Graphics Testing
Two DirectX 12 simulations are used to test the graphics of Windows PCs. Night Raid is a more modest option for those with integrated graphics, while Time Spy, which requires more effort, can be used for gamers with discrete GPUs.
Two tests were also performed using the cross-platform GPU benchmark GFXBench 5. This test focuses on both low-level tasks like texturing as well as high-level image rendering. To accommodate different resolutions, the Aztec Ruins 1440p and Car Chase 1080p tests were rendered offscreen. They include exercise graphics, compute shaders with OpenGL programming and hardware tessellation, respectively. More frames per second (fps) is better.
Surface Laptop Studio's Nvidia GPU outperforms other Intel integrated graphics systems, but it is fine for streaming and casual gaming.
Testing of the Battery and Display
The battery life of laptops is tested by playing locally saved 720p video files (the Blender movie Tears of SteelOpens in new window)). Display brightness was set at 50%, and the audio volume set at 100%. Before testing, we make sure that the battery has been fully charged.
We also use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Windows software to measure a laptop screen's color saturation—what percentage of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 color gamuts or palettes the display can show—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per square meter).
With more than 15 hours unplugged, the Spectre x360 13.5 was our winner in battery marathon. This means that a day at work or school will not be a problem and you can enjoy a night of Netflix or Spotify. The Yoga is second in brilliant and vivid colors, with the measured screen brightness falling a little short of what we expect from a top-end laptop of 400 nits. However, OLED technology's super-high contrast makes this a much smaller problem than an IPS panel.
Verdict: One Elegant, Classy Convertible
We said that the Yoga 9i by Lenovo is a strong competitor to the Spectre, with a similarly impressive OLED display. Although we are disappointed that neither one has an HDMI port or a slot for holding the stylus in a spot, the HP is commended for the bundled docking station with pen and magnet.
Your choice will come down to screen shape—and in our eyes, just as seeing an OLED screen spoils you for an IPS panel, enjoying a tall 3:2 display spoils you for a more conventional view. The HP Spectre x360 13.5 is our new favorite 2-in-1.