R
emembertheleather-cladHP
SpectreFolio 13 (seeissue 300 ,
p 48 )?Thatclever2-in-1hybrid
eschewedthe360°hingefoundon
mostconvertiblesinfavourofa
foldawayscreenthatofferedthetwin
advantages of reducedthickness and
weight.TheSpectre Foliowas
squarelyaimedatconsumers,but
nowHPbringstheidea to itsElite
rangeforbusinesses.
Notonly that, buttheElite Folio
runson thelatestQualcomm
Snapdragon 8cxchipset,withthe
promiseof exceptionalpower
efficiency. Theflipsideof thatcoinis
theneedtorun32-bitWindowsx 86
softwareinemulation,andyoucan
onlyrun64-bitWindowsappsifyou
signuptoWindowsInsiderandloada
developerversionoftheOS.
What’sthepoint?
HPispitchingtheElite Folioasa
machineforthe on-the-gobusiness
personwhoprioritisesportability and
batterylifeovereverythingelse.
Don’tbuy oneandthencomplainit
can’tplaygames,won’tconnectto
halfa dozenmonitors or houseyour
1TBmediacollection:thatisnotwhat
theEliteFoliohasbeenputonthis
earthto do.
Onlythe entry-levelmodelis
currentlyavailabledirectlyfromHP,
andthiswillsetyouback£1,523.That
buysyou8GBofRAManda 256GB
SSDbutnomodem,andwasthe
modelHPsentinfortesting.If
youwant5G,you’llalsohave
tocough up for16GB of RAM
anda 512GBSSD,which
booststhepricetomore
than£2,500Insight.Quite
a jump.
Builttolast
Openthelid of theElite and
itlooks andfeelslikea regular
laptop;thedifferenceisthatthe
screenis hingedona support
midwayupeachside.Pullthebottom
ofthescreenforwardandyoucanrest
itona lipbetweenthetrackpadand
thekeyboardin“tent”modewithjust
thetrackpadshowing (seeposition
twoopposite).Tiltthescreenfurther
backandyoucanfold it flat,turning
theElite intoa tablet.Magnetskeep
everythingfirmlyinplaceno matter
whichpositionyou’rein.
Onebigdifferencebetweenthis
convertibleandothersthatusea
flippablescreen- suchastheAcer
ConceptD 3 Ezel Pro(seeissue 320 ,
p 46 )-isthattheHP’sscreencan’tbe
usedatanyangle:itflopsaboutuntil
thethreemagnetsinthedisplay
engage.Despitethat,it’sa cleverand
curiously satisfyingdesignthatfeels
asifitwilllast.Intabletmode,it
looksandfeelslesslikea laptop that’s
beenfoldedthe wrongwaythanmost
conventional2-in-1machines.
HPstretchestheboundsof reality
bycallingthesoft-touchcoveringon
thelidandbase“veganleather”
(it’sactually polyurethane
plastic)butitdoeslooklike
leatherandmakestheFolio
appearmorelikea book
thana laptop.Becauseit’s
allonepiece,coveringboth
thebaseandthedisplay,it
hidesthehingemechanism
thatjoinsthescreenmountto
thebody.The rest of theElite
Folioismadefrommagnesium
andis as solidasyou’dlike.
Physicalconnectivityis limitedto
two 5 Gbits/secUSB-C3.1ports, one
oneither side of themachine.Both
supportPowerDelivery and
DisplayPortvideo-out,butit’sa
shametheyaren’tfaster.
Thebacklit keyboardissolidand
thekeyshavea decent 1 .3mmof
travel.I’veno argumentswiththe
layout,whichissurprisinglyspacious
consideringtherearespeakergrilles
oneachsideof it,evenifthehalf-
heightup anddowncursorkeysarea
minorniggle.It’sa quietkeyboard,
ABOVEThelatestHP
convertibleisaimed
squarelyatbusiness
peopleonthego
PRICE£1,269(£1,523incVAT)
fromhp.co.uk
SCORE
HPElite
Folio
RECOMMENDED
ABOVEYoucanfold
thescreenflatto
turntheEliteFolio
intoa tablet
BATTERYVideorundown, 17 hrs 23 mins
Thefoldawayscreen,epic
batterylifeandsheer
stylealladdappeal,but
theARMchipisbotha
strengthandweakness
