ISSUE 379|COMPUTERSHOPPER|SEPTEMBER (^201991)
2-IN-1sANDCONVERTIBLES
OUTWARDLY, THEHPEnvy x2 looks like just
any other 2-in-1; inside,however,it’s quite
different.That’s becauseinstead of an Intel or
AMD CPU, it’s poweredby the Qualcomm
Snapdragon835, the same smartphoneSoC
within such handsetsas the OnePlus5T and
Sony Xperia XZ Premium.
Perhaps Qualcommhas been
disappointed that the Envy x2 didn’t
kickstartan industry-wise shift from
traditionalchips to its own processors
–that certainlyseemedthe intention
when Snapdragon-for-laptops was first
revealed –but the conceptstill bears alook.
In hardwareterms, it’s essentiallyahuge
smartphonewith an attachablekeyboard,
right down to how it has 4G capabilitybuilt
in –and with aSIM card installed,it can even
take phone calls.
However,ifyou were hoping aSnapdragon
chip would mean alower price,you’re out of
luck: the Envy x2 we’re testing here,with a
128GB SSD,costs £1,000,and the upgraded
256GB versionis £1,200.Still, at least both
includethe keyboardand astylus.
NEVERFORGETAFACE
The HP Envy x2 isn’t as physically attractive
or as elegant as either the Surface Pro 6or
GooglePixel Slate, but there isn’t anything
significantlywrong with the wayit’s put
together.Built arounda12.3in, 1,920x1,080
IPS display, the Envy x2 is aslim 7mm thick
and weighs avery manageable1.2kg with the
keyboardattached(or just 720g without).
Youdon’t get much in the wayofconnectivity
–there’s asingle USB Type-C port and a
pin-ejectmicroSDtrayonthe left, with a
3.5mm audio jack on the right –but this is
primarilydesignedas amobile device rather
than adesktop replacement.
The keyboarditself is an excellentexample
of the breed. The keys have plenty of travel
and agood positiveaction, and the wide
touchpadbeneathis both sensitiveand
reliable.Ithas aheavy click action, which
takes awhile to get used to,but the HP Envy
x2 is largely an enjoyable device to use from
an ergonomicstandpoint.
The camerasetup is also astepabove
most Windowstablets.The rear 13-megapixel
snappersupportsHDR and takes decent
photos as aresult, while the
front-facing cameracan use
facial recognitionvia
WindowsHello to sign you in
withoutthe need to type in a
passwordor PIN.
HPEnvyx2
★★★★★
£1,000•From http://www.currys.co.uk
VERDICT
OneoftheveryfirstQualcommSnapdragon-
poweredlaptopsshowcasesboththeCPU’s
limitationsanditspotential
Even with its chunkybezels, the displayis
top-notch. Contrastis an excellent1,377:1,
maximumbrightnessreachesastunning
505cd/m^2 ,sRGB gamut coverage comes in at
96.1% and average delta-Eis just 1.45. These
are all excellentresults,and the touch aspect,
includingstylus functionality,works well, too.
Good thoughthe ergonomics,design and
displayare,the successof the HP Envy x2
hinges largely on how the Snapdragonchip
performs in day-to-dayuse.And on that front,
the situationis altogethermore mixed.
In the default Windows10 Soperating
system, where you’re restricted to using
WindowsStore apps, it’s fine: even as you
load up browsertabs, the Envy x2 feels
snappyand responsive.Take the free
upgradeto Windows10 Pro,however,and
it’s clear that the Snapdragon835 isn’t
runningany installedthird-partysoftware
natively.Althoughmost applicationswe tried
to install worked,theydidn’t run particularly
quickly,and some –includingbasic apps such
as Chrome–crashed regularly.
SNAP DRAGGING
This also means there’s no sensiblewayof
runningour 4K applicationbenchmarks.
Instead, we conducted afew cross-platform
mobile tests to get afeel forraw performance.
GFXBenchreported an average frame rateof
28fps in the Manhattan3offscreentest,
while Geekbench4deliveredsingle- and
multicorescores of 842 and 2,981.
These are farfrom stellar results:they’re
not much better than those of the Asus
Transformer Mini (Shopper 349), an Intel
Atom-powereddetachablefrom 2016. The
Surface Pro 6breezes past in comparison.
Storage performanceis middling,too.
Runningthe AS SSD test gave sequentialread
and writespeeds of 430MB/sand 212MB/s
respectively.We’dexpect more from a
machinecostingathousandpounds.
The big attractionsof the Envy x2 are not
outrightperformance,but battery lifeand the
integrated Gigabit-class 4G. On both fronts,
the HP Envy x2 delivers.
In our video rundowntest, forinstance,
the Envy x2 didn’t reach Qualcomm’s claimed
20 hours of battery life, but its final result of
11h 48m is still longer than most Intel-powered
laptops. And that’s forconstantvideo
playback; during regularuse,the Envy x2
displayed exceptionalstamina.We used it for
afull workingday, and still had enoughjuice
leftover foranentire weekend’sworth of
occasionalbrowsing.
The 4G connectivityalso provides flexibility
forworking remotely.The 4G connectionsits
at the topofthe Wi-Fi Connectivitymenu in
Windows10, and switching connections
takes only acouple of taps.
PHONED IN
The HP Envy x2 is afine hybrid in many
respects,but the choice of processorbrings
problemsas well as opportunities.While it
dispatches basic tasks such as web browsing
and online apps with relativeease,general
performanceisn’t up to scratch, especially
with heavyweightx86-basedWindowsapps.
Youcan’t run 64-bit apps at all, and
generalperformanceis very slow fora
machinewith aprice of £1,000.
In other words, this is alikeable device,
but forthe time being you’re better off
stickingwith Intel- or AMD-basedlaptops.
c. jardin
(C. Jardin)
#1