26 OCTOBER 2019|COMPUTERSHOPPER|ISSUE 380
WHENLAPTOPSAGE,theytend to get
worse; when leather ages, it gets better.For
HP to createaleather-clad 2-in-1 laptop is an
unusual move,tosay the least.
Whether it’s class or crass is a
matter of taste, but the Spectre
Folio certainly pulls attention.
This unusual machine is, at its core,a
fairly standard low-powered ultraportable
laptop that can pull double duties as an
oversized Windows 10 tablet. Keyspecs
include a13.3in display, Intel’s Core i7-8500Y
processor,8GB of RAM and a256GB SSD.
This is abasic if potentially capable set of
hardware,leaving the centrepiece to be the
leather cladding. In chocolatebrown –official
name Cognac Brown –itlooks like afancy
folio when the laptop is closed.
HOLYCOW
While we had reservations about the quality
of the material, it feels nice to the touch and
has that pleasing whiff of premium leather.
Naturally,itwon’t appeal to vegans, but those
fond of leather accessories might be smitten.
The leather finish means the Spectre Folio
is larger and alittle chunkier than other 13.3in
ultraportables. Measuring 320x234x15mm and
weighing 1.5kg, it isn’t the slimmest or lightest
2-in-1 around, but it’s still easy enough to slip
intoalaptop bag and carry around without
noticing the shoulder strain.
Take the leather out of the equation and
the actual chassis of the Spectre Folio is
pretty slim, meaning you’ll have to make do
with only three USB Type-C ports –one is
USB3.1, while the other two are Thunderbolt
3-compatible and can be used with the
charging cable.Ifyou want to add more
peripherals or external storage devices, be
prepared to carry around adongle.
Forthose who want to work on the go and
don’t trust public Wi-Fi, there’s also aSIM slot
forproviding amobile LTEdata connection,
and a3.5mm headphone jack is here,too.
There’s a1080p webcam sitting in the
centre of the topbezel spot; it’s serviceable
but it won’t beat the front-facing camera of
any decent smartphone.Itdoes, however,
support Windows 10 Hello thanks to the use
of an IR scanner,which provides an easy way
to unlock the machine.
Like other members of the Spectre family,
the Folio has aBang &Olufsen
speaker bar above the keyboard that
runs the length of the laptop,serving
as ventilation as well as an audio output.
HP SpectreFolio
★★★★★
£1,499•From store.hp.com
WINDOWS 10 CONVERTIBLE
While theylook good, these speakers
didn’t blow us awayinterms of audio quality,
sounding more like generic laptop stereo
speakers rather than those worthy of the
B&Obranding. The speakers can also get
muffled when the Spectre Folio is flipped into
its tablet mode,which covers the keyboard
deck and the speaker bar.
Speaking of which, thanks to the waythe
displaysits on adual-hinge design, it can be
lifted and laid on topofthe keyboard deck
rather than flipped around on its screen hinge
like most 2-in-1 designs. This means your
hands end up holding the Spectre Folio’s
leathery backside rather than gripping the
keyboard deck, which makes foramuch
better hybrid device experience.
The displaycan also be propped up so that
it sits in an easel-like fashion, meaning you can
sit watching afilm on your commuteyet still
use acursor either to easily rewind or
fast-forward without trying to do it with aless
precise tap on the touchscreen. It’s aclever bit
of design, and surprisingly elegant to use.
All in all, from an aesthetic perspective,the
Spectre Folio is arather good-looking and
uniquely designed 2-in-1 machine.
Where the Spectre Folio starts to lose
points is with the keyboard and trackpad.
The latter feels imprecise and fiddly,oftentoo
fast or slow to respond, and while the
trackpad’s surface feels nice to the touch, it
doesn’t always register taps.
These issues could be attributed to HP
deciding not to use Windows Precision drivers
forits trackpad, going forSynaptics drivers
instead, which simply can’t competewith the
accuracy and fluidity of Microsoft’s drivers.
FLEXTENSION
There’s also afair bit of flex in the Spectre
Folio’s keyboard, but typing on it is mostly
fine even with some rather shallow keytravel.
While there isn’t afull-sized keyboard on
offer,HPmanages to fit in arow of Page up/
down, End and Home keys on the farright.
These keys are normally consigned to the
number pad area of afull-sized keyboard,
and we found we kept hitting the Page down
keyrather than the Enter key.
Still, the keys are neatly spaced, and there’s
enough tactile feedback foraccurate
touch-typing. However,whether it’s acommon
problem or an issue with our review unit, we
found the spacebar would often not recognise
inputs unless we really hammered it. This
became very frustrating, very quickly; HP told
us this isn’t acommon complaint, but you
should take it intoconsideration and ideally
try before you buy.
The Spectre Folio uses a13.3in IPS display
with a1,920x1,080 resolution, producing a
pixel density of 166ppi. While some
ultraportable laptops beat the Spectre Folio
in terms of pure sharpness, with 4K displays
and better resulting pixel density,everything
from text and icons to photos and video is
sharp and clear here.
The colours and contrast that the
Spectre Folio’s panel produces are
strong, with plenty of vibrancy.
Testing yielded acontrast ratio of
1,789:1, which is exceptional, and adds depth
to dark scenes in films and videos.
VERDICT
HPtriesto dosomethingdifferentwiththis
leather-boundhybrid,andnearlymissesthemark
