The newly announced HP Envy x2 is designed to be the most portable, connected device yet released by the company. Packing a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4G LTE connectivity, and up to 20 hours of battery life, HP is offering reliable internet access wherever you go and for as long as you want.
As impressed as we were with the Surface Book 2’s 15+ hour battery life, HP’s Envy x2 heads to new heights with its claimed 20-hour rating. In fact HP goes so far as to claim that it’s the world’s longest battery life in a detachable Windows PC. There may be others who would contend that — especially in ideal scenarios — but it’s certainly an impressive keystone feature of the new HP convertible tablet.
A big part of that efficiency is the use of a mobile processor in the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835. The HP Envy x2, along with the Asus NovaGo, is one of the first laptops announced to use that chip. Other specifications include a 12.3-inch diagonal 1,920 x 1,200 display, 8GB of LPDDR4X memory, and up to 256GB of solid-state storage.
As a “detachable PC,” you can break off the keyboard to put the device into tablet mode, as well as sit in laptop mode at 110 to 150 degrees for different typing configurations. The keyboard is backlit to aid typing in darkened environments and has a short, 1.3mm travel distance to facilitate faster input.
Another major component of HP’s sales pitch for the Envy x2 is its connectivity. Along with support for the latest Wi-Fi standards, it can also connect to wireless data without that local connection. With 4G LTE-Advanced support, it can get high-speed broadband internet just about wherever you want to go, with support for slower speeds when in less well-connected parts of the world.
The operating system the convertible tablet ships with is Windows 10 S, which is more streamlined than other versions of the operating system. That does mean however, that it only supports Windows Store applications, among other restrictions.
The entire physical footprint of the HP Envy x2 is a small one, as you might expect for a device aimed at portability. Weighing in at just 1.54 pounds, the aluminum frame measures in at just shy of 7mm at its thinnest point when in tablet mode. The keyboard itself weighs 1.12 pounds, so the entire device is still under 3 pounds with keyboard attached.
The HP Envy x2 is slated to go on sale in the spring of 2018, with pricing and other information set to be announced closer to that time.
