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The new HP Spectre 13 is surely a main show act in the Ultrabook. HP Spectre, world’s thinnest laptop. HP Spectre is a conventional notebook with a thickness of about 10 millimeters. HP accomplished a fully featured Window 10 PC into one of the thinnest design available now.
Spectre 13 is a value for money Ultrabook, it gives an attractive design, bright display, generous warranty and, good performance. But the trackpad, middling battery life and, shallow keys are a little frustrating.
The ultraportable category is high at competition nowadays, with many manufacturers making long-lasting, ultra slim, with fast and powerful processors. The Spectre 13 comes with quality materials, excellent components, and USB-c with Thunderbolt 3 support.
Pros
Attractive design
Generous warranty
Good specs for the money
Fast performance
Bright display
Cons
Middling battery life
Shallow keys feel sticky sometimes
Trackpad needs a driver update
It is heavy for a 13-inch Ultrabook
Design and feature
It is world’s thinnest laptop available now, the laptop measures 0.41 x 12.8 x 9.02 inches and weighs 2.45 pounds with a 13-inch display. This thin build has been possible by its unique and compact design. It also contains pistons to give resistance so the lid can be kept from slamming shut.
Its smooth design carries on with the anodized aluminum and carbon fiber chassis, which gives a classic color combination of steely gray with reflected copper on the rear and on the HP logo. The Spectre 13 has both looks and high-end configuration.
Specifications
Processor
Intel Core i7-6500U 2.5 GHz (Intel Core i7)
Graphics adapter
Intel HD Graphics 520
Memory
8192 MB, LPDDR3-1866SDRAM
Display
13.3 inch 16:9, 1920×1080 pixels 166 PPI, No, IPS UWVA, Corning Gorilla Glass, glossy: yes
Size
height x width x depth (in mm): 10.4 x 325 x 229 ( = 0.41 x 12.8 x 9.02 in)
Mainboard
Intel Skylake-U Premium PCH
Storage
Samsung PM951 NVMe MZVLV256, 256 GB
Connections
1 USB 3.0 / 3.1 Gen1, 2 USB 3.1 Gen2, 2 Thunderbolt, 2 Display Port, Audio Connections: 3.5 mm Headset
Networking
802.11 a/b/g/n/ac (a/b/g/n/ac), Bluetooth 4.2
Camera
Webcam: HP TrueVision HD-Camera
Battery
38 Wh Lithium-Ion, 4 cells
Operating System
Microsoft Windows 10 Home 64 Bit
Additional features
Speakers: 4x Bang & Olufsen, Keyboard: Chiclet, Keyboard Light: yes, USB Type-C to USB Type-A adapter, 2-year Warranty
Weight
1.16 kg ( = 40.92 oz / 2.56 pounds), Power Supply: 330 g ( = 11.64 oz / 0.73 pounds)
Performance
It is equipped with a 2.5GHz Intel Core i7-6500U processor with 8GB of RAM memory and a 256GB PCle-based solid-state drive which can be upgradable to 512GB for around $250 or more. The Spectre has also completed the multimedia tasks quicker than others.
Battery
At best it gives about 12 hours of runtime when the desktop is at the minimum brightness setting. To charge it from nearly empty to full capacity it will take about 2.5 hours approximately. Besides, for many people, 8 hours battery life counts as all day battery life and actually most of the notebook don’t last that long. So if you might need more runtime then it is nearly The Best option.
Accessories
HP offered branded accessories for the Spectre 13, which includes a wireless mouse which is a bit small in size but has a convenient mechanical pressure point for both of the buttons. Other accessories include color coordination headphones (HP H3100), a wireless speaker (HP S6500), a leather carrying case and, a vital USB Type-C to Type-A adapter.
Keyboard and Touchpad
The keyboard is chiclet-style with regular sized keys in a diameter of 27 x 10 cm, it also has one-level white LED backlight. It has small direction keys, Shallow keys which sometimes feel sticky and the key clatter is slightly louder which is a bit of a hinder.
The touchpad is been in the Spectre 13 in the form of Click Pad, which does not include any dedicated buttons. It is a glass touchpad with multi-touch gesture support. The touchpad recognizes up to three-finger inputs without any major issues, its touchpad smooth surface accumulates fingerprints very easily. There might be some possibilities of accidental clicks which is uncomfortable to use for long period.
Warranty
It will be sold with a manufacturing warranty of two years which may depend on region. The manufacturing warranty can be expanded for one more year for an additional charge. This warranty includes pickup and return services in some region.
Conclusion
The Spectre 13 is recommended for its incredible thin body, premium looks and, good configuration. It is very easy to give a good review to the Spectre 13 basically due to its reasonable price. Because of its reasonable price the hinder with the sticky keyboard or the problems with the touchpad is not much of a big deal. HP’s Spectre 13 is totally recommended as a high-end ultraportable Ultrabook which comes in a metal gray and copper on side and HP’s logo which combine give a classic look.
Image source: Wired.com