A full-size laptop that doubles as a full-size tablet
Next month, Apple will start selling the iPad Pro, a tablet with a screen as big as a laptop. Not a full-size 15.6in laptop, because that would be crazy. It will have an optional keyboard, albeit a special flat, lightweight keyboard, not a full-size laptop keyboard that’s permanently attached, because that would be crazy. And it’s fairly heavy compared to a regular iPad, but not as heavy as a full-size laptop, because – yes, you guessed – that would be crazy.
Meanwhile, here’s the HP Envy x360, a full-size 15.6in laptop with a full-size keyboard that folds back so you can carry the whole thing around and use it like a tablet. Although at 2.3kg, that’s like carrying a bag of spanners.
Okay, on the face of it this might not sound like 2015’s greatest concept for a portable computer. Think of it more as a proper laptop that you can use as a touchscreen device only when it suits you. That makes more sense – especially given Windows 10’s Tablet mode (Windows 8.1 comes installed for now, making it eligible for the free upgrade).
The 360-degree hinge is easy to manipulate while sufficiently stiff to stay in place at your chosen angle. That might be in standard laptop mode, ‘tented’ in an ‘A’ shape to stand it on a desk, folded under to hold the screen the other way up, or in the tablet configuration.
The screen is bright and with decent contrast, but it doesn’t do much justice to deep colours, and the glossy touchscreen finish means reflections and fingerprints can be distracting. The keyboard is fine, as long as you can get used to the silver-on-silver styling, which makes individual keys quite hard to see. Our favourite feature is the touchpad: so many machines like this are spoiled by bad ones, but HP’s is wonderfully responsive to both one-finger cursor movement and two-finger scrolling, so you needn’t rely on the touchscreen in laptop mode.
Inside is a 1TB hard drive, bulkier than the flash memory in smaller mobile devices, but providing far more room for all your programs and files. It’s also slower, but the 2.2GHz quad-core Intel i5 processor and 8GB of memory still make this a proper all-round Windows computer, ready for tasks like editing photos as well as the basics. The integrated Intel HD Graphics 5500 chip won’t cope with serious 3D games, but that’s the only major limitation. At a touch under five hours watching videos, battery life is acceptable.
Although not light, the Envy x360 is surprisingly slim, and it does work well. It’s only the dull screen that stops us recommending it.
VERDICT
It’s not a bargain, given its specification, but this oversized hybrid feels less cumbersome than expected.
SPECIFICATIONS
2.2GHz Intel Core i5 5200U processor • 8GB memory • 1TB hard drive • 15.6in 1366x768-pixel touchscreen • Webcam • 802.11ac Wi-Fi • 2x USB 3.0 ports • USB 2.0 port • HDMI port • Ethernet • Windows 8.1 • 19.8x264x173mm (HxWxD) • 1.18kg • One-year warranty