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Effortlessly converting from a notebook to a tablet on the fly, HP’s x360 Spectre G2 can help you stay productive whether you’re working around the office or across the globe.
The quest for thinner and lighter notebooks often comes at the expense of usability, so it’s unwise to shop for a tech travel companion on dimensions alone. Thankfully, the x360 Spectre G2’s beauty is more than skin deep, ensuring you’ve got everything you need at your fingertips when it’s time to get things done.
It features a 13.3-inch display, which tends to be the sweet spot between portability and usability for people who need to stay productive on the move. Much larger and a device becomes too bulky to carry around, while much smaller and you start to lament the cramped keyboard and lack of screen real estate. In terms of grunt under the bonnet, you have the choice of a Core i5 processor for everyday computing tasks or stepping up to the more powerful Core i7 with up to 16GB of RAM.
The hybrid design puts a solid keyboard at your disposal, but the keyboard folds up behind the screen when you don’t need it, leaving you with a powerful tablet that tips the scales at 1.3kg so it’s light enough to carry around on your arm like a clipboard. Windows 10 offers touch-friendly applications and menus, making it much easier and more intuitive to use on touchscreen devices than previous versions of Windows.
If you’ve never been enamoured with the idea of a touchscreen PC then it’s really worth taking the time to appreciate what Windows 10 has to offer on a touchscreen when combined with an active stylus and powerful note-taking tools like Microsoft’s OneNote. You can fold back the keyboard and take handwritten notes on the screen, relying on the handwriting recognition to convert it into text. OneNote also lets you sketch ideas, attach documents, link to web pages and even embed multimedia into your notes.
The real power of OneNote is the way it helps you organise your notes, making them easier to save, search, share and backup than notes scrawled on paper. Your notes are also automatically synced across all your devices. OneNote works with computers, tablets and smartphones – Apple, Android and Windows Phone – so it’s great for people who tend to jump between devices during the day.
To help you stay productive on the move, HP’s x360 Spectre G2 also offers the option of built-in 3G/4G mobile broadband – ensuring you’re always connected rather than needing to mess around with portable Wi-Fi hotspots or generating a network with your smartphone.
Of course, all these features are for naught if your device runs flat on you. Fortunately, the x360 Spectre G2 offers around a 10-hour battery life to help get you through a busy day. Keep in mind that HP offers a choice of Full HD or Ultra HD screen resolution, and while the super-sharp Ultra HD screen is easy on the eyes, it takes a toll on your battery life, so you’ll need to decide where your priorities lie.
Combine all this and you’ve got yourself the perfect portable productivity tool. Whether you want a keyboard at your fingertips or a stylus in your hand, HP’s x360 Spectre G2 hybrid is the device for all occasions.
