HP Spectre x360 14 Review: A Premium 2-in-1 Experience

The HP Spectre x360 14 is one of the most refined and premium convertible laptops on the market, combining power, portability, and an exquisite design. Featuring Intel’s latest processors, a stunning OLED display, and a well-crafted chassis, the Spectre x360 14 is built for professionals, creatives, and anyone who values a premium laptop experience.

In this detailed review, we will break down its design, display, performance, battery life, and overall user experience to help you decide whether or not it’s worth the money.

HP Spectre x360 14 offers the right bang for the buck

Design and build quality

The Spectre x360 14 stands out with its sleek aluminum build, which means it’s not only elegant but also durable and light at the same time. You can choose between the Nightfall Black, Poseidon Blue, and Natural Silver color options if you also care about the fashion appeal.

One of the standout aspects of the Spectre x360 14 is its convertible 2-in-1 form factor, which makes it a good choice for business users, but also for designers or simply note-takers.

The Spectre x360 14 comes with a 13.5-inch OLED or IPS touchscreen with a 3:2 aspect ratio, offering more vertical screen space compared to traditional 16:9 displays. We’ve got the OLED display variant and the image was great. That is also thanks to the 100% DCI-P3 color coverage of the display.

Performance and hardware

Equipped with Intel’s 11th and 12th Gen Core i5/i7 processors, the Spectre x360 14 and 16 GB oF LPDDR4X RAM, HP Spectre x360 is pretty well balanced between efficiency and power. It’s not a device built for gaming, but the built-in Intel Iris Xe Graphics will do just great for light gaming and streaming.

Key specifications include:

• Processor: Intel Core i5-1135G7 / i7-1165G7 (11th Gen) or i5-1235U / i7-1255U (12th Gen)
• RAM: 8GB / 16GB LPDDR4X
• Display: OLED touch 3K
• Storage: 256GB / 512GB / 1TB NVMe SSD
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics

For everyday tasks like web browsing, document editing, and media streaming, the Spectre x360 14 performed flawlessly in our tests. However, we tried to run some 3D rendering apps, and the laptop was getting a little hot in about 10 minutes of continuous strain.

Keyboard, trackpad, and stylus

Spectre x360 14 comes with a backlit chiclet-style keyboard with a 1.5mm travel distance. We can’t say it offers a premium tactile experience, but it’s not too bad either. The trackpad is pretty large and features Windows Precision drivers, delivering smooth and precise navigation. It supports multi-finger gestures, and it comes with a glass surface that adds a premium touch.

The included HP Rechargeable MPP2.0 Tilt Pen is quite good. We’re no artists, but we could definitely feel the effect of the 4096 pressure sensitivity levels. Writing with the stylus is about as natural as writing on a piece of paper. It is comparable to premium alternatives like the Surface Pen or Apple Pencil.

Battery life and charging

HP advertises 10-12 hours of battery life for Spectre x360 14, and that is not so far off. The 66Wh battery is really powerful for such a slim laptop and it really reached 10 hours for office work. However, when we watched videos and ran 3D apps, battery life went down to around 8 hours.

HP includes a 65W USB-C fast charger, which charges the laptop to 50% in about 30 minutes.

Connectivity and ports

Spectre x360 14 has all the ports you would expect from such a slim 2-in-1 convertible. All configurations include 2 x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) with support for fast charging, DisplayPort, and data transfer, which covers all the options. You also get a USB-A 3.2 port, a MicroSD card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The laptop also features Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, but that’s the norm nowadays for modern laptops.

Pricing and availability

The HP Spectre x360 14 is priced between $1,199 and $1,699, depending on the configuration. While it’s more expensive than traditional ultrabooks, the premium design, OLED display, and 2-in-1 functionality are on par with the cost.

Pros:

✔ Great OLED display with 3:2 aspect ratio
✔ Elegant and slim design
✔ Good battery life
✔ Versatile 2-in-1 convertible functionality
✔ Fast performance with Intel’s latest processors
✔ Includes stylus for creative work
✔ Good port selection for an ultrabook

Cons:

❌ Expensive compared to traditional laptops
❌ No dedicated GPU, limiting gaming performance
❌ OLED model consumes more battery than the IPS version
❌ Can get warm under heavy loads

If you’re a businessman or a design artist, the HP Spectre x360 14 convertible laptop might become the best choice for a new portable. The OLED screen and the precise stylus, and the pretty good battery certainly recommend it.

If you’re in the market for a premium 2-in-1 laptop that offers both style and substance, you should definitely consider the HP Spectre x360 14.