HP Spectre x360 review: the attractive, long lasting 13-inch laptop starts at a reasonable $900, but its weight makes the device hard to use as tablet
HP Spectre x360 review: What happens when Microsoft helps build a laptop? — The Spectre x360 is HP's newest flagship notebook.
Context & Ripple Effects
HP launched the Spectre x360 as its new flagship notebook built with Microsoft's help — a 13-inch Broadwell convertible promising up to 12.5 hours of battery life at $899, undercutting the premium tier it was aimed at. This review confirms the value pitch while flagging the design trade-off that shadows the whole line: the same heft that makes it feel substantial as a laptop makes it awkward to hold as a tablet.
The line's subsequent history shows HP iterating rather than abandoning the formula — a Kaby Lake refresh in 2016 added Thunderbolt 3 and a bigger battery at a higher $1,050 price, and by 2020 HP had grown the machine into a 14-inch x360 with a 3:2 aspect ratio, suggesting the convertible kept drifting toward laptop-first proportions.
First-order effects
- Buyers get an attractive 13-inch convertible with class-leading battery life starting at $900 — but reviewers' weight complaint means the tablet half of the 2-in-1 promise is compromised in daily use.
- HP's Microsoft-assisted flagship lands below the typical premium price point, pressuring rivals to justify their higher-priced convertibles on more than spec sheets.
Second-order effects
- HP responds to the critique through iteration rather than redesign: successive annual updates raise the price floor past $1,000 while adding ports, batteries, and displays — the weight problem persists across generations of reviews.
- The premium convertible market consolidates around an annual Intel-tick cadence, with each refresh resetting the value comparison against last year's discounted stock.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, 2-in-1s settle into laptop-first designs — the 2020 move to a larger 14-inch chassis with a taller aspect ratio reads as HP prioritizing keyboard-and-screen ergonomics over genuine handheld tablet use.
- Microsoft's involvement in OEM hardware becomes a template for co-engineered Windows flagships, tying premium laptop roadmaps to Intel's processor cycle.
The trend: The Spectre x360 is one data point in premium convertibles evolving from tablet-laptop hybrids into annually refreshed, laptop-first machines whose pricing tracks the Intel upgrade cycle.