Refreshed in late 2017, the new HP Spectre 13 laptop is as stunning as its predecessor, and it improves on the original in a few key areas. But battery life remains problematic. And the design, while unique and attractive, will be a deal-breaker for some.
Design
The HP Spectre 13 is almost completely about the design. As such, it represents the clearest answer in the PC world to Apple’s pretty but lackluster and underpowered MacBook. But the HP isn’t in any way derivative of MacBook, or of any other laptop for that matter. It is absolutely unique.
Whether that is good or bad will depend, subjectively, on your style and taste. And, more pragmatically, on how you feel about the trade-offs that this design brings with it.
Me? I think its attractive, and very much so. This year, HP’s premium dark ash gray and copper color scheme carries over, but you can also choose a new higher-end model, which I reviewed, that comes in a ceramic white and pale gold color.
In both cases, the smudgy and overly-shiny metal accents have been dulled down nicely, negating both issues to an acceptable level. The effect is particularly nice on the white review unit, where the pale gold accents look classy, not gaudy.
I was initially nervous about the durability of the ceramic white color. It’s not real ceramic, of course, though it looks and feels like it. Instead, HP has essentially painted the aluminum and carbon fiber body bits with multiple coats using a new process. The good news? In months of use, and after a few trips during which I was not at all gentle, the white color has not dulled, stained, or scratched. It’s holding up great.
Compared to its predecessor, which was a thin and light miracle in early 2016, the new HP Spectre is, incredibly, much smaller, with smaller screen bezels on three sides and a new edge-to-edge keyboard design. It is also the same incredible thinness, 10.4 mm, as the 2016 version. Apple’s tiny MacBook is 12.5 mm thick, and Surface Laptop is 14.5 mm.
It is a hair heavier than its predecessor, however, at 2.45 pounds, a gain of .02 pounds. HP says that’s the weight of a number two pencil, and I’ll take their word for it. I assume the extra weight is at least partially the result of the new touchscreen (see below), but I never found it to be top-heavy, and its hinge is impressively stable.
The one major negative on the design—assuming, of course, you like the available color schemes—is that the wide 16:9 display is sitting on a panel that could easily accommodate a taller 3:2 display, so there’s a huge one-inch-ish bezel under the display. This bothered me more and more as I used the device, and I don’t understand why HP and other PC makers don’t move to 3:2 displays on these devices. The good news? HP had room to put the webcam where it belongs at the top of the display, unlike Dell.
Display
The original HP Spectre shipped with a 1080p display that lacked multi-touch capabilities, in part because it was impossible to cram the available options into the tiny frame at the time. For late 2017, touch is now standard equipment, and in a frame that is no bigger than its predecessor. Such is progress.
That said, 1080p is getting long in the tooth, and this is the only available display. I’ve love to see 2160p, if not true 4K options. As important, a brighter display would be welcome, too. Even at the highest brightness setting, the HP’s IPS display is notably dim compared to other recent laptops.
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