HP Makes Mainstream Pavilion x360 and Notebook Laptops Surprisingly Premium

HP redesigned its Pavilion x360 2-in-1 and conventional notebooks to give them all-new, surprisingly premium-looking chassis. There are 14” and 15.6” versions of both configurations on offer.

Starting with the 2-in-1 x360, the new version has what HP calls a unibody-like design. The keyboard deck, bottom plate, and main chassis still seem to be separate components, but they’re supposedly fitted together quite seamlessly. Other premium design touches include a fingerprint reader that is located on the side of the notebook, chromed hinges, and a strange secondary camera that is flush with the deck of the keyboard. The last point is what HP calls the “world-facing camera,” and it’s actually supposed to be the rear camera when the notebook is folded over into tablet mode. HP uses software distortion correction to normalize the view of the wide-angle camera. As a tablet, the Pavilion x360 also supports stylus input.

Those who don’t like contorting notebooks can opt for the conventional Pavilion laptop. It has also been redesigned with a more premium-looking chassis. HP highlights its hourglass design, which describes how the sides of the chassis and lid are angled inwards. The laptop adopts the type of clamshell design that lifts the laptop up on its central hinge when opened.

Both the x360 and conventional Pavilion 14” and 15.6” notebooks run on 8th-gen Intel Core i3 and i5 processors. This means that six-core processors are likely unavailable for it. HP’s press material mentions that both also have options for discrete AMD or Nvidia graphics. The conventional Pavilion laptop will also have the option of an AMD Ryzen processor.

HP didn’t give the full specs and configuration options for the new Pavilion laptops. The 14” x360 will have a starting price of $500, whereas the 15.6” x360 will have a price of $760. The 14” and 15.6” versions of the conventional Pavilion have starting prices of $629 and $740, respectively. All models are expected to be available in May.