Hardware Overview and System Performance

Thanks to HP's simple laptop configuring tool, it'south piece of cake to understand what sort of hardware combinations are possible in the Spectre x360.

The base model is kitted out with an Intel Core i5-7200U processor, 8 GB of LPDDR3 RAM, and a 256 GB PCIe NVMe solid land bulldoze. This model volition currently set yous back $1,049.99. Upgrades to the CPU, RAM and SSD are bachelor every bit follows:

  • Intel Core i7-7500U CPU (+$110)
  • 16 GB of RAM (+$xl, restricted to models with the i7-7500U)
  • 512 GB SSD (+$100)
  • 1 TB SSD (+$420)

With this range of options, the mid-spec model is affordably priced: you can become a Core i7-7500U, xvi GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD for but $1,299.99. My review unit was kitted out with every upgrade possible, including the 1 TB SSD upgrade, bringing the total price to $i,619.99. While the 1 TB SSD upgrade is expensive, the full system price for a laptop with this hardware is like and often slightly cheaper than its competitors.

The HP Spectre x360 isn't the first laptop I've tested that includes an Intel 'Kaby Lake' Core i7-7500U processor inside. This 14nm CPU contains two physical cores and four threads with a base clock of 2.seventy GHz and a boost clock of iii.50 GHz, plus a Hd Graphics 620 GPU clocked up to 1.05 GHz, all inside a 15W ability envelope. This CPU is very similar to the Skylake Core i7-6500U, except with clock speeds slightly increased.

All three storage options see the Spectre x360 kitted out with a PCIe NVMe 1000.ii SSD, which provides excellent performance equally we'll discuss later. I'chiliad glad HP doesn't offer a 128GB option, because 128GB is a scrap slim for laptops these days, even if the toll of the entry-level model would be lower. Similarly, I'thousand happy that 8GB of RAM is standard (Dell, 4GB simply doesn't cut it for the XPS thirteen) with an option to upgrade to 16GB.

Allow'south accept a look at how the Spectre x360 performs and stacks up against other Kaby Lake laptops nosotros've tested.

The Spectre x360 performs in the range of other laptops I've tested that are powered by the Intel Cadre i7-7500U; it'due south slower in a few tests, and faster in some others. In one case once again, this means in that location's little reason to upgrade from a Skylake-powered system, every bit gains over the i7-6500U are just a few percent, in line with the higher CPU clock speed.

Those upgrading from a mid-spec Broadwell system, say a two-year-former laptop powered by the Cadre i5-5200U, will run across a performance comeback of around 25 percentage. This is a meaning merely not earth shattering gain, though information technology could help creatives who want to use their laptop for video editing: the Spectre x360 can render H.264 video at a decent 8 frames per second faster than a Broadwell Cadre i5 organization.