HP lives in Apple’s shadow, and between those tech giants, there’s no lack of passion. Both of them once collaborated with the iPod, and like most of the companies we know going down that path, HP got screwed. As a result, while retaining the x86 and Windows requirements, HP has increasingly concentrated on attractive designs as crucial differentiators.
I’m often reminded of James Bond by his new flagship luxury line of laptops using the Spectre brand. HP has also been working furiously to become the greenest of all PC vendors on top of design leadership and has promoted measures to minimize waste, such as using Ocean Born plastics and other recycled material.
With this line, HP has adopted Project Athena (branded Evo) from Intel, which adds another layer of quality assurance. Evo suggests that these laptops have the latest high-performance Intel graphics components, quick charging, better battery life (usually 9 hours to 15 hours), Wi-Fi 6, instant wake, and Thunderbolt 4.
“Beauty Meets Intellect” is the tag line for this new line, spanning 13 to 14-inch displays. In addition to this current Intel technology, expect up to 34 percent increase in CPU technology and a whopping 79 percent over past Intel GPU technology.
There is also a focus mode in this line that dims the background; auto color ensures you see what you are meant to see in a picture and AI noise reduction to remove the distracting background noises that pollute Zoom meetings.
Spectre x360 14 inside improvements
Eyesafe, which blocks the blue light to secure your eyes and sleep cycle; a physical shutter compatible Microsoft Hello camera so that people cannot spy on you; a fingerprint reader; and the option of a Sure View Reflect panel that stops anyone from seeing your screen when working at a Starbucks or anywhere else.
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You can even get up to a 4K OLED panel in these things, and once you have a TV or PC with an OLED panel, you cannot believe how the colors pop in OLED.
The base price is US$ 1,199.99, but I can at least prefer the high-nit screen and the best experience with Sure View. Now, last Friday, they just went out. So, if you are shopping, look for the 11th generation Intel processor and Evo branded models as these new laptops are significantly better in terms of functionality and power than the last generation.
Ultimately, these have a gold and black paint scheme or silver. I like the black and gold (pictured above) because it looks like the laptop should belong to royalty. The Spectre x360 14 will be my option on this line because I can use all the screens I can get right now, and I’m not traveling much, so the trade-off in weight and size is appropriate.
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