HP EliteBook x360: an ultraportable PC for professionals

Construction

The EliteBook x360, which opts for an undeniably premium design, has not usurped its status as a PC intended for the professional environment. Sober and unadorned, it offers an excellent level of finish where nothing has been left to chance. Somewhat inspired by the Specter range, the aluminum chassis is impeccably assembled and everything is solid. Matt silver dominates; only the HP logo on the hood brings a "shiny" touch. The top of the PC is surprisingly messy, however: it tends to score quickly, unless you regularly wipe it with a cloth.

The two hinges between the keyboard and the screen allow the EliteBook x360 to be convertible. This very popular format at HP allows different possibilities of use (tent mode, tablet mode ...) welcome, even if it is the "classic" notebook use which generally prevails.

Once unfolded, the chassis reveals a beautiful screen well highlighted by a very thin frame. The keyboard occupies a good part of the surface of the product and is effective: despite a fairly short stroke and a little small keys, typing remains precise and pleasant. Note also the possibility of taking advantage of two levels of backlighting, one more than on most models of ultraportable HP convertible. The touchpad, meanwhile, is properly integrated, but we would have liked it to be a little wider.

The connectivity of the EliteBook x360 is quite limited and some frankly regrettable shortcomings for a PC intended for professional use are to be noted. There are two UBS 3.1 Type-C Thunderbolt compatible ports, an HDMI output, but no USB Type-A port or SD or microSD card reader. Too bad, especially since this model is not the thinnest on the market.

The noise and heat management is flawless. After an hour of benchmarking under Unigine Heaven, the PC does not exceed 39.2 ° C at the front, just above the keyboard, and 46.8 ° C under the chassis. Good figures, which are accompanied by a very discreet ventilation not exceeding 37 dB, therefore almost inaudible.

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Screen

The HP EliteBook is equipped with a 12.5-inch (31.8 cm) touchscreen. IPS type, it offers a Full HD definition (1,920 x 1,080 px) and occupies 78% of the chassis surface, thanks to good optimization of the frame on the sides.

The very strong point of this screen is its maximum brightness: it is quite simply one of the strongest recorded on a portable PC, since it reaches 680 cd / m². An excellent score, offset by a limited contrast ratio (810: 1). The readability remains excellent, which is a big advantage for an ultraportable called to be able to be used outside.

The screen of the EliteBook also benefits from a very satisfactory colorimetry. Delta E stands at 2.4 (remember that it represents the difference between the actual colors and the colors displayed and that it is considered excellent below 3). As for the temperature, at 6,410 K, it is very close to the standard at 6,500 K, which ensures a balanced rendering between warm and cold colors. The gamma curve is a bit unstable, however, a sign of a gray gradient that lacks subtlety and burnt white.

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Performances

The configuration tested here consists of an Intel Core i7-7500U, 16 GB of memory and a 256 GB SSD for storage. A solid configuration, in line with the "pro" positioning of the product.

Not surprisingly, this EliteBook is very efficient and suitable for a wide variety of uses. The Intel Core i7-7500U certainly does not reach the performance level of low-power 8th generation processors (Intel Core i7-8550U for example, which is found in particular on the latest HP Specter x360), but remains a value safe. This PC can therefore perform multiple tasks, from simple office automation to heavy work, such as photo editing or processing large Excel spreadsheets.

In terms of performance in 3D, this convertible PC does not have a dedicated graphics card and we must therefore be content with an iGPU Intel HD Graphics 620, which will be incapable of running recent games in 3D, with a few exceptions. You can play titles like Overwatch in 720p, or a number of 2D games "pixel-art" or "independent".

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Mobility / Autonomy

The HP EliteBook x360 undeniably falls into the ultraportable category thanks to its reduced dimensions (31 x 22 x 1.4 cm) and its weight of 1.28 kg. It is certainly not the lightest in its class, but it can still be easily transported in a suitable bag.

Side autonomy, it is in a fairly low range, in any case far from the best ultraportables which now easily exceed 10 hours of use. During our usual autonomy test (Netflix in Chrome, brightness at 200 cd / m², backlight off and headphones plugged in), the EliteBook x360 thus ran for 6 hours 50 minutes before switching off. It will therefore be difficult to use it during a full working day without feeding it.

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Audio

The headphone output of the EliteBook x360 is very good: high output level, fairly low distortion, good reproduction of the sound spectrum ... Everything is very neat and the listening quality is there.

The two speakers located at the front of the chassis, under the keyboard, deliver relatively honest sound for an ultraportable. The rendering focuses without much surprise on the mediums, therefore on the voice, but the sound remains fairly clear and little saturates, even at full volume.

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Conclusion

The HP EliteBook x360 is a very good ultraportable convertible PC, above all intended for a professional public wishing to work in a very secure environment. Well built, with a particularly readable screen, it sins on a few points (lack of connectivity, somewhat tight autonomy, limited contrast of the screen ...), but nonetheless remains a good high-end notebook.

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