PC World - USA (2019-11)

NOVEMBER 2019 PCWorld 33

comes to multi-core encryption and encoding

tasks, while integrated Iris Plus graphics

performance rivaled that of entry-level

dedicated graphics cards such as the Nvidia

GeForce MX150.

That said, Ice Lake’s performance

improvements will be far less dramatic for

single-core day-to-day activities like web

browsing and Office, while the Core i5’s

integrated Intel UHD G1 core is more on a par

with previous-gen Whisky Lake processors.

We’ll be curious to see how the i7 and i5 Ice

Lake chips perform in this latest HP Spectre

x360 13.

COOLING AND THERMALS

So, how did HP manage to put a more

demanding Ice Lake CPU into a smaller shell?

First, let’s note that while the new HP Spectre

x360 13 is indeed about an inch less deep

than its predecessor, it’s also 2mm thicker,

while at the same time 10 grams lighter.

In any case, HP says it’s boosted the

laptop’s air outlet height from 2.5mm to

2.8mm while adding an inlet hole to the rear

vent and upping the number of heat pipes

from one to three. There are also more inlet

holes under the keyboard, plus a bottom

graphite sheet for added heat disbursement.

DISPLAY AND BEZELS

Next, let’s jump to the display—or rather, the

ultra-slim top and bottom screen bezels, with

the top bezel now 5.85mm (versus 17.35mm

Intel’s 10th-generation Ice Lake CPU (go.
pcworld.com/10ic), including your choice of
either quad-core i5 ($1,100) and i7 ($1,300
and up) configurations, complete with Iris Plus
integrated graphics on the Core i7 models.
Sweetening the deal is up to 22 hours of
battery life, depending on the panel you pick.

SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Core i7-1065G7 or Core i5-1035G1
Graphics: Integrated Iris Plus (Core i7) or
Intel UHD G1 (Core i5)
Memory: Up to 16GB LPDDR4
Storage: Up to 1TB SSD with 32GB of
Intel Optane memory
Display: 13.3-inch 1W FHD (400 nits),
UHD AMOLED (400 nits), FHD with Sure View
privacy toggle (1,000 nits, available January
2020)
Networking: Wi-Fi 6, optional Gigabit LTE
with 4x4 antennas
Connectivity: Two Thunderbolt 3 ports,
one USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A port, combo
audio jack
Dimensions: 12.08 x 7.66 x 0.67 inches
Weight: 2.88 pounds
First and foremost, let’s talk Ice Lake. We
have two quad-core choices here: the Core
i5-1035G1 with Intel UHD G1 graphics, or the
Core i7-1065G7 with souped-up Iris Plus
graphics. In our general initial Ice Lake
performance preview (go.pcworld.com/ilpr)
this summer, we found that 10th-gen Ice Lake
CPUs cranked out impressive results when it