It took Microsoft three attempts to come up with a Surface concept that had broad appeal. With the combination of screen size, resolution, system flexibility, and performance, the Surface Pro 3 became a PC that worked for a lot of people. As a tablet, it was thinner and lighter and better to use handheld than any laptop, but its kickstand and magnetic keyboard meant that it offered much of the productivity that laptops boast.

Now that Microsoft has found a formula that works and demonstrated that it has some user appeal, we've seen a proliferation of similar devices from other manufacturers. The Spectre x2 is HP's consumer-oriented iteration of the concept: a 12-inch tablet with an integrated kickstand, a magnetically attached keyboard, an x86 processor, and a full desktop operating system.

Nailing the basics

Specs at a glance: HP Spectre x2 Base Best As reviewed Screen 1920×1280 12.0" (192 PPI), 10-point capacitive WLED-backlist IPS touchscreen OS Windows 10 Home CPU Intel 6th generation Core m3 Intel 6th generation Core m7 Intel 6th generation Core m7 RAM 4GB 8GB 8GB GPU Intel HD Graphics 515 SSD 128GB 512GB 256GB Networking 802.11ac/a/b/g/n with 2x2 MIMO antennas, Bluetooth 4.0 Ports 2 USB Type-C, microSD Cameras Rear: 8MP autofocus, plus 1920×1080 stereoscopic

Front: 5MP Size 11.81×8.23×0.31" (tablet only)

11.81×8.23×0.52" (tablet with keyboard) Weight 1.84lb (tablet only)

2.68lb (tablet with keyboard) Battery 42Wh Warranty 1 year Price $799 $1,399 $1,149 Other features 45W charger, TPM 2.0, integrated LTE, keyboard

For me, the most important parts of just about any computer are the parts you have to touch and look at; the keyboard, the touchpad, and the screen. These things have to be done right before I ever care about what's on the inside of the system, because if I hate using a computer, I don't really care about its speed.

Like the Surface Pro 4, the Spectre x2 is not great for using on your lap. This is contentious, I know. Some people, presumably with much longer legs than my own, think it's fine. For me, the kickstand design doesn't provide enough stability and rigidity to support comfortable on-lap usage. This is a desk/table-bound design, not a full laptop replacement.

But when used on a desk or table, the Spectre x2 is very good. The backlit metal keyboard feels very sturdy, the key travel is excellent (1.5mm, according to HP), and the layout is pretty sensible. This is a good keyboard. Like the Surface Pro 3 and 4, the keyboard has a magnetic strip that gives it a slight angle for more comfortable typing.

This is a keyboard that anyone would be happy with, one that puts many laptops, much less tablets, to shame.

The touchpad is also pretty decent. Its shape is a little unusual; as we've seen on some other HP machines, it's very wide without being tremendously tall. I found it tracked accurately and had a nice smooth surface. It supports the Precision Touchpad spec, too, so it provides the full range of Windows 10 touchpad gestures.

The screen is a decently bright and crisp 1920×1280 3:2 WLED-backlit affair. There are higher resolutions available from competing systems, but I didn't feel that I was missing out on much here. Viewing angles are good, the backlight seems even, and the brightness was sufficient for most viewing conditions.

But it is a touchscreen, and everything worked in that regard. More unusually, it has Wacom pen support. HP sells (though does not supply in the box) a pen for use with the Spectre x2 that supports 2048 pressure levels. The pen is an active design, using a AAAA battery that HP says will last for about 700 hours. I can't speak to the finer points of this feature based on my mediocre attempts at doodling, but tracking seemed accurate, with little discernible gap between the pen point and cursor and good precision even at low speeds. Palm rejection was also reliable.

All in all, the Spectre x2 gets these essential elements right. I don't want to tempt fate, but I suspect that this is becoming a trend across the industry. While I'm sure that things are less good at the very bottom of the market, I think it's now safe to say that there are good input and output devices across a wide range of the portable PC market. This wasn't the case even two or three years ago, but today, whatever form factor you choose, whether it be the traditional laptop, the 360 degree hinge laptop (the Lenovo Yoga and its competitors), the hinged convertible (such as the Surface Book), or the magnetic detachable (such as the Surface Pro 4 or the Spectre x2), you can find multiple competing options with keyboards, touchpads, and screens that aren't just tolerable—they're actually good. On the one hand it's disappointing that this is a notable landmark for the PC industry, but on the other, it's pleasing that a corner of some kind has been turned.

I think that the Spectre x2 also looks pretty good. The buttons feel high-quality, the detailing around the speaker grilles looks nice, and the soft covering of the keyboard is pleasing to the touch. Again, this isn't something that I felt was necessarily the case four or five years ago; shoddily built, flimsy systems that flexed and wobbled as you used them were commonplace, even on machines commanding premium prices. There's none of that with the Spectre.

Core M continues to confuse

With these basics more than satisfactory, it's time to talk about everything else. Unlike Microsoft, which only uses the Core m3 in the cheapest Surface Pro 4, HP has committed across the full Spectre x2 range to using Intel's Core M Skylake processors with 4 or 8GB of RAM.

The first Core M processors, from the Broadwell processor generation, didn't impress us. They gave up a lot of performance, performed inconsistently from system to system, and didn't seem to win much in the way of battery life in return. The Skylake Core M parts have had wider adoption, finding their way into a much larger range of systems. It's also become clearer how and why manufacturers are using them.

The Skylake Core M parts seem to be better balanced than their predecessors. In extended workloads, their low power rating limits their performance; the processor can sustain a speed of around 1.2GHz (depending on the exact model). But for short bursts, such as the initial hit you take from loading a new webpage or starting a new app, the processor can ramp up to 3.1GHz, making it every bit as quick as any other Skylake processor.

But if you think this low-power processor is going to mean better battery life, well, that's a little more complicated. We ran two battery life tests. One cycles through webpages every fifteen seconds, intended to be representative of a browsing session where you load a page and then read it for a while before moving on. The other is a heavier burden; it runs a WebGL animation continuously.

























These tests have different performance profiles. The first has a burst of activity every fifteen seconds but allows the processor to idle in the gaps. The second keeps both processor and GPU continuously operating. In the first test, the x2's performance wasn't too impressive. Both the x2 and the Surface Pro 4 have 42Wh batteries, but the Surface Pro 4 (with a Core i5) could manage 491 minutes in this test. The x2 with its Core m7 only hit 430 minutes. The lower power processor lost. But perhaps that's not terribly surprising: in this benchmark, both processors idle most of the time, and they both idle at closer to zero watts.

In the second test, however, the situation was different. The x2 managed 260 minutes, compared to Surface Pro 4's 217. In this sustained workload, the Surface Pro 4's processor can run at a sustained higher speed, drawing more power. The x2, in contrast, slashes its clock speed to keep inside its low power envelope. This means that the x2 doesn't go as fast and animate as smoothly as the Surface, but it extends its battery life.

Accordingly, it's not really appropriate to think of Core M as the low power, long life option. Rather, the low power rating means it makes a different trade-off under sustained workloads. It's slower, but it lasts longer.

The low power processor isn't any cheaper, either, than the higher-powered parts. The Core m7-6Y75 in our review Spectre costs $393 from Intel. The Core i7-6600U in the high-end Surface Pro 4 and Surface Book is also $393.

It doesn't appear to translate into a lighter laptop, either. The Spectre x2 is surprisingly heavy. OK, it's still not heavy heavy, but at 1.84lbs for the tablet unit alone, it weighs more than any of Microsoft's latest generation of tablets.

So what's the point of the Core M part? Simple: it obviates the need for a fan. The Spectre x2 is fanless, ensuring silent operation with no moving parts. That feature should let systems be a little slimmer, lighter, and more reliable.

Overall, the Spectre x2 feels perfectly snappy and pleasant to use. I wouldn't get one for gaming or software development or running a ton of virtual machines because I don't think the Core M is really up to it. But for general Office-type tasks, Web browsing, and e-mail, the device is a decent option.