HP is announcing a new lineup of computers in time for the launch of Windows 11, including a new, 16-inch HP Spectre x360 convertible and an 11-inch tablet PC in the style of Microsoft's own Surface line. The new range of portable PCs, which also includes a budget laptop and an all-in-one, will launch with Windows 11 installed. It seems HP is hoping it has the best ultrabook for anyone who wants to run Microsoft’s latest OS.
The HP Spectre x360 16 is the flagship laptop, with up to an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 "Tiger Lake H35" processor and an option for an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU for a bump with creative work. It goes up to a 16:10, 3840 x 2400 OLED touch screen. This new laptop will replace the 15-inch Spectre x360 in HP's lineup.
| Header Cell - Column 0 | HP Spectre x360 16 | HP 11-inch Tablet PC |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to Intel Core i7-11390H (Tiger Lake H35) | Intel Pentium Silver N6000 (quad-core) |
| Graphics | Intel Iris Xe, Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 | Intel UHD graphics |
| Display | Up to 16-inch, OLED 3840 x 2400, 16:10, touch | 11-inch, 2160 x 1440 IPS, touch |
| RAM | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 MHz (soldered) | 4GB LPDDR4x-2133 MHz (soldered) |
| Storage | Up to 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | UP to 128 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Camera | 5 megapixel IR webcam with camera shutter | 13MP rotatable camera |
| Connectivity | Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX210, Bluetooth 5.2 | Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201, Bluetooth 5 |
| Battery | 6-cell, 83 Wh | 2-cell, 32.2 Wh |
| Release Date | October 2021 | December 2021 |
| Starting Price | $1,639 | $499 (without keyboard), $599 (with keyboard) |
HP is packing the Spectre with software features, including reminders not to sit too close to the screen, presence detection, attention tracking that dims the screen when you're not looking at it, and a "shoulder surfing" mode that blurs the screen when the laptop detects someone looking over your shoulder.
Those who are working remotely or with colleagues elsewhere (and who isn't these days?) may be excited about what HP is calling the "GlamCam," a 5MP camera with autoframe, artificial lighting correction and a "beauty mode" that "to touch up skin, teeth, and eyes."
The Spectre x360 16 will be available on HP's website in October starting at $1,639, and will show up at Best Buy later this year.
HP also has an 11-inch tablet called, well, the "HP 11-inch Tablet PC." This feels like a competitor to Microsoft's Surface Go, with an Intel Pentium Silver N6000 CPU. The tablet, which will be sold both on its own and with a keyboard, depending where you buy it and the configuration, is designed to be used both in portrait and landscape mode, even with the keyboard.
But the showcase feature on the tablet may be the 13MP camera, which you can rotate from its spot on the rear of the device to use as a front-facing webcam. I do expect that some people may be displeased with its placement on the side when using it with a keyboard in landscape (this happens a lot with the iPad Pro), but at least it doesn't leave you with a lackluster camera on the front.
A stylus pen will be an optional accessory. The tablet will also use HP's Palette software, which includes photo searching with face recognition, HP Quick Drop to share photos and images to other devices, "Duet" to use a second device as another monitor, and "Concepts," a quick idea sketching tool.
The tablet has a kickstand on the back, similar to Microsoft's Surface Go and Surface Pro, and uses a magnetic keyboard that connects to the bottom or side with pins. It will come with Windows 11 in S Mode, meaning that you can only install apps from the Windows Store, unless you change that in settings.
The HP 11-inch Tablet PC will launch in December on HP's site starting at $599. Best Buy will have it for $499 without a keyboard and $599 with one.
HP's other announcements today include the HP Laptop 14, running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 with 8GB of RAM, 128GB eMMCC storage and a 14-inch, 1080p screen, which will launch in October, though pricing hasn't been released yet. (While plenty of old Qualcomm machines will be eligible for an upgrade, this is the first we've seen launching with Windows 11 preinstalled.) There is also a HP Envy 34-inch all-in-one-desktop, starting at $1,999 in October with a dedicated external webcam, 11th Gen Intel, a 34-inch 5120 x 2160 IPS display and discrete graphics. There will also be more standard all-in-ones under the HP and HP Pavilion names, as well as a pair of standalone monitors.
Of these devices, all of the PCs will run Windows 11, which launches on October 5, out of the box.
