That means you'll never face the dilemma of choosing between recharging your laptop and plugging in a peripheral.Īll three ports can be used for charging, data transfer and video out. But, as opposed to the single connection you get on Apple's 12-inch MacBook, HP provides three USB-C ports, one with USB 3.1 and two with Thunderbolt 3. Ports and Webcam: Boldly embracing our USB-C futureīecause this laptop is so thin, there's room only for USB Type-C ports, which are located on the back of the system, instead of the traditional Type-A slot. And depending on how hot things get, the fan can become pretty loud, to the point that it sometimes becomes a nuisance. A number of times while I was multitasking, the space between the two bottom vents measured over 120 degrees, which is when heat stops being annoying and starts getting a bit painful. Thankfully, the touchpad and the space between the G and H keys were significantly cooler, at 86.5 and 92.5 degrees, respectively.Īnd if you're doing much more than surfing the web or watching some Netflix, the Spectre's temperature can get even higher. After the machine streamed HD video from Hulu for 15 minutes, the bottom vent measured 100 degrees Fahrenheit, which is only slightly above our comfort threshold of 95 degrees. If you're just streaming a movie, the fans may not turn on, but temps can still get high enough that using the system on your lap is a bad idea.
Unfortunately, if you do more than simple web surfing and light productivity, the bottom of the laptop gets uncomfortably warm. In an attempt to keep this superthin laptop from getting sweltering hot, HP designed a "hyperbaric" cooling chamber, which uses fans to create a pocket, suck in cool air from the vent on the bottom and release hot air from the vent on the machine's back. But when I listened to Fred Falke's "Radio Days," the Spectre's Bang & Olufsen speakers did a surprisingly decent job re-creating "Shotgun" Tom Kelly's gravelly voice and the song's rich piano chords. As with a lot of other notebooks, there's not as much bass as I'd like, and audio can sound a bit flat at times.
Good sound is hard to find on a laptop, and despite having almost no room for speakers, the Spectre acquits itself pretty well. With a Delta-E of 4.13, Acer's Swift 7 was somewhere in between (numbers closer to 0 are better).
The 12-inch Apple MacBook (1), Dell XPS 13 (1.3) and Lenovo Yoga 910 (0.76) all feature screens with much more exact colors. That's nearly the same as showings by Apple's 12-inch MacBook (107 percent) and the Acer Swift 7 (106 nits), and better than the Dell XPS 13 (94 percent).įinally, with a Delta-E of 6.93, the Spectre's color accuracy was a bit disappointing. The Spectre also covered 106.4 percent of the sRGB color spectrum. The 12-inch MacBook and Acer Swift 7 were in same league, at 327 and 319 nits, respectively, while Dell's XPS 13 trailed slightly behind, at 303 nits. When I switched to other laptops, I often found myself longing for the Spectre's keyboard.Īt 319 nits, the Spectre's brightness is among the best in its class. While 1.15mm of travel might sound a bit short, the keyboard's strong but not-too-stiff 65-gram actuation weight and crisp action were great.
In fact, the backlit keyboard on the Spectre is one of the best I've used, regardless of size. Unlike many other superthin laptops, the Spectre doesn't compromise on typing comfort. Keyboard and Touchpad: Deliciously snappy
#Spector pro review windows#
MORE: Best Ultrabooks (Thin-and-Light Windows Laptops) However, as you'll see, the Swift made even more sacrifices than the HP to achieve its sleek dimensions. The one 13-inch system that's even thinner than the Spectre is Acer's Swift 7, which measures 12.8 x 9 x 0.39 inches and weights 2.46 pounds. However, because of the Spectre's larger bezel, it has a slightly bigger footprint than the other two. That includes superthin 2-in-1s like the Lenovo Yoga 910 (12.72 x 8.84 x 0.56 inches and 3.04 pounds) and our top notebook overall, the Dell XPS 13 (11.98 x 7.88 x 0.33-0.6 inches and 2.7 pounds). Measuring 12.8 x 9.03 x 0.41 inches and weighing 2.45 pounds, the Spectre makes systems that would normally be considered slim seem fat.
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