The latest HP Spectre x360 14 has thawed my cold, icy traitor heart. Finally! We've got a Windows laptop that won't chain you to an outlet all day.
It’s no secret that I recently turned my back on Windows laptops. As a former Windows stan, I’ve been open about my transition to the MacBook world (I've been disappointed with PCs' battery life).
I don’t necessarily need Windows laptops to meet the runtimes of the latest MacBooks, which can climb to 19 hours. But at the very least, they should last 10 hours on a single charge — and I wasn’t seeing that in my testing for quite some time.
But here comes the Spectre x360 14, finally breaking Windows’ poor battery life trend with an acceptable runtime that makes it one of the best — if not the best — Windows laptops you can buy (for now).
HP Spectre x360 14 price and specs
The Spectre x360 14 I tested costs $1,888.99 via HP's official website (starting price: $1099.99) and has the following specs:
Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU
Intel Arc graphics
32GB of RAM
2TB SSD
14-inch, 2,880 x 1800-pixel, 120Hz display
The cheapest configuration you can get is $1,099, which downgrades you to an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H CPU (with Intel Arc graphics), 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. You still get the same 14-inch, 2,888 x 1800-pixel, 120Hz display.
What I like about the HP Spectre x360 14
The Spectre x360 14’s enduring battery life (for a Windows laptop) captured my heart, but of course, there’s a lot more to a notebook beyond its power efficiency.
An addictive keyboard
There are very few keyboards that take my breath away. Not even the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, my current daily driver, tops my “laptops with the best keyboards” list.
However, when I first tested the Spectre x360 14, I couldn’t stop typing on it. It was so damn clicky, in the best of ways, springing me from one key to another with rhythmic ease. If you didn't know any better, you'd think I'm a pianist.
I also noticed that, compared to the last-generation laptop (2022 HP Spectre x360 13.5), the keys seem larger. As it turns out, HP increased the keycaps' size (by 12 percent, to be specific).
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3, despite its quirks, had taken the throne, offering the best typing experience so far, but now the Spectre x360 14 has snatched its crown.
As a cherry on top, the new Spectre x360 14 has a larger touchpad; compared to the last-generation model, it's 19 percent bigger. In testing it for myself, I found it has the perfect balance of smoothness and resistance — and it responded well to Windows 11 gestures, like pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling.
You can also adjust brightness and volume, directly from the touchpad, by dragging down the left and right sides of the trackpad, respectively. However, this feature is not on by default. You must navigate to the myHP app to turn it on.
An eye-catching display
Compared to its predecessor, with the new HP Spectre x360, you’re getting a larger 14-inch display with a 16:10 aspect ratio. That's a step up from the last generation’s 13.5-inch, 3:2 panel.
What does this mean for you? More vertical and horizontal screen real estate for your viewing pleasure.
I watched the Monkey Man YouTube trailer on the Spectre x360’s 14’s 2,880 x 1800-pixel panel — and the rich, colorful visuals that emanated from the screen were stunning. From the vibrant orange-and-red hues from vivid explosions to textures like fur and whiskers that seem tangible enough to touch, streaming your favorite films and shows on this HP notebook is entertainment heaven.
Crisp sound
The Spectre x360 14’s predecessor has bottom-firing speakers. Boo! Tomato, tomato!
However, HP changed things up with its newly refreshed notebook. It has top-firing speakers now, which means music will no longer be stifled by the laptop’s underside. Woo-hoo!
I played Dua Lipa’s “Don’t Start Now” on Spotify. If sound were edible, the songstress' voice on the Spectre x360 14 would definitely be a decadent piece of apple pie. The funky pop song sounded like sweet honey to my ears.
Flexible like a contortionist
As the name suggests, the HP Spectre x360 14 can transform into a number of different postures, including tablet mode, and my favorite, tent mode.
I’ve always found tablet mode for 2-in-1 PCs to be a bit awkward, particularly with the keys being annoyingly situated where one’s fingers naturally rest. However, I found myself enjoying tent mode while watching some of my favorite Netflix shows, including Love Is Blind — I loved having the keyboard flipped out of sight for distraction-free viewing.
Great battery life
As mentioned at the outset, the HP Spectre x360 14 delivers the best runtime I’ve seen in a Windows laptop this year so far, surpassing 11 hours on a single charge.
This may not be impressive in the MacBook world (the 15-inch M2 MacBook Air, for example, can last over 19 hours), but in the realm of Windows, a runtime that steps beyond the 10-hour mark is praiseworthy.
What's "eh" about the HP Spectre x360 14
You won't find any drastic design changes with the HP Spectre x360 14, which, on one hand, makes this laptop refresh a bit of a snoozefest. But on the other, as they say, why fix something that's not broken?
The minor design tweaks are, er, interesting
The HP Spectre line arguably has one of the sexiest laptop designs on the market. It's beveled-edge chassis makes it so stylish, slick, and snazzy.
Fortunately, compared to its predecessor (the 2022 HP Spectre x360 13.5), the new HP Spectre x360 14 keeps this fashionable, edgy style, but I'm ever-so-slightly disappointed that it ditches the eye-catching gold accent that once wrapped around the chassis.
HP said it left this behind for a more minimalist look, but I've always been a sucker for a black-and-gold themed laptop. It's also worth noting that HP dropped its dedicated fingerprint reader, integrating it within the power button instead. I've always preferred independent fingerprint sensors, but of course, this isn't a dealbreaker.
On the plus side, HP engineered the hinges to be a lot stronger. I gave the lid a good wobble test, and like HP claims, the screen is solid.
Fingerprint-attracting chassis
As a reader correctly pointed out, if you look at the photos throughout this review, you'll notice some fingerprint smudges on the chassis. For this laptop, you better keep a microfiber cloth handy. You'll definitely find yourself removing unwanted marks from the lid and deck quite often.
What I don't like about the Spectre x360 14
If you’re looking for an ultralight, featherweight laptop, you may want to consider something else.
Temper your expectations about weight
Don’t get me wrong. The Spectre x360 14 isn’t heavy. However, it’s definitely not light. Admittedly, HP isn’t trying to market it as such.
The Spectre x360 14, which weighs 3.19 pounds and has a thickness of 0.67 inches, is for on-the-go freelancers who mainly use their laptops inside their home offices, but occasionally step out to do work at nearby parks and cafes. If you’re looking for a lightweight, ultrathin laptop that barely moves the needle weight-wise for frequent travel, the Spectre x360 14 may not be for you.
Oddly placed ports
Optimistically, the Spectre x360 has a respectable variation of modern and legacy ports that include a drop-jaw USB-A port, a headset jack, and two USB-C ports (Thunderbolt 4). However, I would have loved it if HP, instead of crowding two USB-C ports in a corner, placed a USB-C port on each side of the chassis.
My “charging station” is situated on the left side of me, so with the USB-C ports placed on the right, the charging cable awkwardly stretches across the chassis to reach the opposite side.
HP Spectre x360 14 Geekbench 6 score
Curious about the Spectre x360 14’s performance?
The configuration I tested has an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU, which delivered a multi-core score of 12,955 via Geekbench 6. This is the best score we’ve seen so far this year. In other words, this is the most powerful Windows laptop we’ve tested in 2024.
HP Spectre x360 14 battery life
We ran the PCMark 10 battery life test on the HP notebook with the brightness set to the max.
It lasted 11 hours and 27 minutes on a single charge. This is the best we've seen this year so far (among Windows laptops).
HP Spectre x360 14 webcam
I love that the laptop industry is leaving the struggle era of 720p and 1080p webcams behind us. Say hello to the HP Spectre x360 14's 9-megapixel webcam.
It's excellent at recreating colors; it accurately rendered my complexion. Plus, for better or worse, it picked up on some facial blemishes that wouldn’t be visible on other webcams with poorer resolution.
I also noticed that the webcam has a wide viewing angle, showing a lot of the scenery behind me as I sat in a large conference room.
Is the HP Spectre x360 14 worth it?
I’ve been disappointed in Windows laptops lately. They’ve been excelling in many different areas (e.g., webcam quality and AI performance), but for some reason, they can’t quite nail it in the power-efficiency arena.
The HP Spectre x360 14 seems to finally cover all the bases necessary for a satisfying Windows experience, including decent battery life, smooth performance, crisp sound, and more.
If you’re looking for a Windows laptop, the HP Spectre x360 14 is the best you can get.
UPDATE: Feb. 28, 2024, 10:51 a.m. EST This review was updated to add an observation from a hawk-eyed reader: this laptop does, indeed, attract fingerprints.
Topics Mashable Choice
