CES 2017: Hands-on with HP's new Spectre x360 convertibles [Update]

It's only been a couple weeks since I published my review of HP's 13.3-inch Spectre x360, which has been updated with Intel's seventh-generation Kaby Lake processors. I found it to be one of the best laptops around, but I took issue with just two things: there's no pen support - which can be important for a device that can go into tablet mode - and the display is only 1080p, which just seems too low for 13.3-inches.

At CES 2017, the company introduced a new model that solved both of those issues. The new 13.3-inch Spectre x360 comes with a 4K display, as well as support for N-Trig pens, which means that you can use a Surface Pen with it if you'd like. The new model is in a new color, which is ash silver and copper.

But that's not all that HP refreshed. There's a new 15.6-inch model as well, which bumps up the quad-core chips to Kaby Lake. It also packs a 4K display, and includes similar new features that we saw in the 13.3-inch model last year, such as the addition of two Thunderbolt 3 ports.

It also gets a discrete GPU (Nvidia GeForce 940MX), something lacking from its smaller sister. Here's a look at the two of them side-by-side:

Naturally, the larger model is heavier than the 13.3-inch model, coming in at 4.42 pounds while the smaller variant is just 2.89 pounds. Both of them are absolutely stunning though, and seem like a dream to use.

Personally, I find the 15.6-inch model to be particularly interesting, as there simply aren't a lot of high-end quad-core laptops that aren't built for gamers. Some people want the power but aren't interested in an RGB keyboard.

It would certainly seem that HP has knocked it out of the park with both of these new convertibles. I gave the Spectre x360 a 9.5 out of 10 when I reviewed it, only taking off points for the lack of pen support and the display resolution, but both of those minor pain points have been fixed. Without knowing enough to make a final judgment, it could be worth speculating that these new Spectre devices are as close to perfect as you can get.

HP also announced some business laptops at CES, and you can find its collection of those right here.

Update: The 15.6-inch model is dual-core, not quad-core, despite what HP told us at CES.

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