HP Launches an Intel-powered Always Connected PC, Refreshed Spectre x360 15, More at CES

At CES this year, HP is launching a couple of new products. The company’s flagship Spectre x360 15 is being updated with the hottest processor (no pun intended) in town, and it’s launching a new variant of the Envy x2, too.

HP’s new Spectre x360 15 is being updated with Intel’s newest 8th gen Core processors with Radeon graphics. Intel launched its new 8th gen Core processors with Radeon RX Vega M graphics earlier today, and HP’s refreshed Spectre x360 is one of the first devices to feature the new chips. The new chip from Intel and AMD includes 4GB of HMB2 RAM and can be clocked up to 4.1GHz. HP will still sell a variant with NVIDIA’s GeForce MX 150 graphics if that’s what you prefer.

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Much of the new Spectre x360 15 remains unchanged with this year’s refresh. The device continues to come with its beautiful 4K UHD 15.6-inch panel, Windows Hello support, audio from Bang & Olufsen, and offers up to 13.5 hours of battery life (12 hours with the Radeon chipset) with support for HP’s Fast Charge tech. It will be available starting at $1,369.99 on March 18.

Along with the refreshed Spectre x360, HP is introducing a new variant of its Envy x2 convertible. The device originally launched as an Always Connected PC powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 and Windows 10 on ARM, but HP is now introducing a new Intel-powered variant. Instead of a Snapdragon 835, you are getting a 7th gen Intel Core Y-Series processor on this device and Windows 10 Home instead of Windows 10 S. HP is notably marketing the Intel-powered variant of the Envy x2 as an Always Connected PC, making it difficult for regular consumers to distinguish both the variants. The company is yet to unveil pricing details for both the variants, but the company hopes to open up sales this Spring. I am particularly curious about the price difference between the Intel and Snapdragon variants.

As we reported earlier, HP is one of the first companies to bring Amazon Alexa to its PCs. The company is bringing Amazon’s smart assistant to its Pavilion Wave computer which is built to offer premium audio experiences. Alexa will come as a separate app on the Pavilion Wave, and users will still be able to continue using Cortana as usual. And in other news, HP now has its own cloud gaming service called the OMEN Game Stream, which allows users to enjoy top AAA games from their device. The point of the service is to let users enjoy a powerful gaming experience powered by the cloud on their low-end PCs, or when they are on the move. The service will come pre-installed on all of HP’s OMEN machines this Spring.

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Conversation 9 comments

  • OMR

    08 January, 2018 - 9:42 am

    <p>Really? It's called "Spectre"? That seems unfortunate.</p>

    • jimchamplin

      Premium Member
      08 January, 2018 - 12:22 pm

      <blockquote><a href="#235932"><em>In reply to OMR:</em></a></blockquote><p>This series is not new. It's been around for years and is incredibly successful. Appears that the name is the opposite. Very fortunate.</p>

      • OMR

        08 January, 2018 - 6:46 pm

        <blockquote><a href="#235981"><em>In reply to jimchamplin:</em></a></blockquote><p>Until now.</p>

        • William Kempf

          09 January, 2018 - 10:43 am

          <blockquote><a href="#236132"><em>In reply to OMR:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>Maybe. The Spectre exploit is all over the news right now, but there's no evidence it will remain so. In the meantime, Spectre is a strong HP brand that hasn't yet shown any lessening due to the exploit name. Time may cause a re-branding, but it would be foolish of them to assume they need to do that today.</p>

  • RobertJasiek

    08 January, 2018 - 12:36 pm

    <p>I could dispose the keyboard of the Envy x2 so ignore that it is unusable because of tiny arrow keys. However, I do not buy it because the display is still glare instead of matte. A glare display I cannot use well indoors with a window backwards or outdoors. Therefore, for me, the so called mobile device is hardly more mobile than a desktop.</p>

  • pmeinl

    Premium Member
    08 January, 2018 - 1:03 pm

    <p><em>"Intel-powered variant&nbsp;as an Always Connected PC"</em></p><p><br></p><p>I hope HP can actually deliver features like "always connected" and "always on" that MS promised when originally announcing the Surface 2-in-1.</p><p><br></p><p>I sadly remember the following promises about "connected standby" as the first Surface 2-in-1's were announced:</p><p><br></p><p class="ql-indent-1"><em>"Connected Standby systems use low-power memory and power-optimized embedded controllers to consume less than 150 milliwatts in most configurations. This allows the typical platform to remain in Sleep for 300 hours on a full battery charge" …</em></p><p class="ql-indent-1"><br></p><p class="ql-indent-1"><em>"A user of a Connected Standby PC can just shut the lid or press the power button and be assured the system will enter a low-power mode and maintain connectivity—just like a smartphone."</em></p><p><br></p><p>Only to experience my real SP3 shutting down out of standby after an arbitrary 4h – regardless of remaining battery charge.</p>

  • red.radar

    Premium Member
    08 January, 2018 - 1:12 pm

    <p>I imagine road warriors will like this technology. However I don't think this will revolutionize the windows experience too much.</p><p><br></p><p>As a consumer, I am not paying a monthly fee to my cellular provider for my laptop to sit on my desk 90% of the time.</p><p><br></p><p>Maybe I am not understanding the use case…</p><p><br></p><p><br></p>

  • shameermulji

    08 January, 2018 - 1:24 pm

    <p>That Envy X2 is one of the nicest convertible laptops I've seen. Looks nicer than the Surface Pro.</p>

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