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HP Envy x2 13

Editor's rating (1-5): Where to Buy

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What's Hot: Basically Surface Pro 3 for those who want 13 and 15 inch screen options. Attractive design and materials, more ports than average for a tablet, keyboard included in the box, lovely full HD display with pen support. Uses Intel 5th generation CPUs.

What's Not: Heavy and not shaped for comfortable portrait orientation use. Battery life and performance are OK but not impressive.

Reviewed December 11, 2014 by Lisa Gade, Editor in Chief (twitter: @lisagade)

What if HP was in charge of designing the Surface Pro 3? You'd have their latest Windows 8.1 detachable, the HP Envy x2 13t. This isn't the first Envy x2 model we've seen; the first iteration was a very different 11.6" detachable running on the Intel Atom platform. Though the second generation x2 shares the name and detachable keyboard concept, they have little in common. The HP Envy x2 is available in the 13.3" size we look at in this review and there's a 15.6" 15t model too. Both are higher end machines with a metal casing, excellent fit and finish and a pleasing 1080p IPS display. They start at $749 to $799, depending on size. The 2014 Envy x2 has a detachable thin keyboard with a faux suede or gabardine-like back that's a larger interpretation of the Surface Pro Type Cover, and an integrated kickstand that works in a variety of positions. Unlike Surface Pro 3, there's no fan and this is thus a silent machine. It runs on the new Intel Haswell 5th generation Core M 5Y10 and 5Y70 CPUs, that are the equivalent of the Y series CPUs in the last gen Haswell line, but with performance that's more in line with the Intel Core i3 U series Ultrabook CPUs (in fact, it sometimes approaches the Core i5). Our review unit has a 1080p display, Core M 5Y70 CPU, 8 gigs of RAM, a 256 gig SSD and dual band WiFi 802.11ac and it sells for $1,099, though some stores have had it on sale for as little as $899 for the holiday 2014 shopping season.

Who's it for?

I've eavesdropped at our local consumer electronics stores often enough to notice that lots and lots of folks look at Microsoft Surface Pro 3. It's unique looking, cutting edge and generally has a large and attractive display to show it off. A good number of folks gather around and test it, commenting that they'd buy one if it were larger. Though Microsoft made the Pro 3 bigger than the previous two models, it's still a 12" machine in a world where 13.3" Ultrabooks are considered the small kids on the block and 15.6" is mainstream. Enter the HP Envy x2 2014 models in 13.3 and 15.6 sizes. You still get the crazy thin removable keyboard held in place by magnets, an integrated kickstand and a high resolution IPS touch screen--but in mainstream sizes. At 2.8 lbs. for the tablet itself and 4 lbs. for the tablet plus included keyboard, it's no stand-in for the iPad Air or even the Surface Pro models. It's widescreen and even the 13.3" model feels awkward to hold in portrait mode. It's way too heavy to use as a tablet in two hands for long, and in a way HP didn't even try to make that work. While Surface Pro and similar smaller Windows tablets minimize the bezels and drop weight as much as possible, the Envy x2 13t is more a designer lifestyle device. It's clearly meant to stand on a coffee table, kitchen center island or in your bedroom. It's for watching movies and spending time on Facebook, email and the web. Carry it to the home office and it can get work done in MS Office and other productivity applications. It's not for those who want to slide something incredibly light but powerful into a bag and hit the road. You could... but with keyboard it's actually heavier than the average Ultrabook. Surface Pro 3 is still the best insanely portable yet powerful tablet with a detachable keyboard for those on the go.

More on Design and Keyboard

The design is part home appliance of the future and part Ultrabook. The wide stance and front-facing stereo Beats speakers have that Jetsons for the 21st century look. From the side, it looks like the bottom half of the HP Spectre 13 Ultrabook, complete with a taper from bottom to top that mirrors the front to back taper on some Ultrabooks like the Spectre 13. The aluminum alloy casing with polished rim looks classy and feels extremely solid. Again, it's a high end HP model, and it looks and feels the part. The metal kickstand is stiff yet smooth, and like Surface Pro 3, it works at a variety of angles. We appreciate the rubberized bottom kickstand edge that stops it from digging into palms and legs. The larger casing and "half a laptop" design afford room for more ports than small Windows tablets that typically have just one USB port and a display out port (if that). The Envy x2 2014 models have two USB 3.0 ports, full size HDMI, a 3.5mm combo audio port and a microSD card slot, similar to Ultrabooks.

The black display bezel isn't particularly small, and the large speaker grilles on each side make for an even larger front face. Again, it's meant to be supported by the kickstand more than the hands. The included keyboard (take that Microsoft, you don't have to pay extra for the keyboard with the x2) is very similar to the Surface Pro Type Cover with its suede-like back that's available in a few colors, and it has the same traditional moving keys with backlight and a trackpad. HP's is larger since they have more room to work with, and that makes for a more comfortable typing experience. Travel is about the same as the Surface Pro Type Cover, which is to say remarkably good for something this thin, but not nearly as long as Lenovo ThinkPads of yore. The 13t has a standard oversized trackpad that's pretty good. The 15t moves the trackpad to the right of the keyboard (argh), and the area where the trackpad would normally be can fold at an embossed seam (why?). We like the 13t keyboard design, but as you can guess, we think HP was just being downright weird with the 15t keyboard. Unlike Surface Pro 3, the keyboard uses Bluetooth, so you can detach it and use it on your lap while the tablet sits on a desk. The magnetic connection looks similar to Surface's, but it's not nearly as strong. There are magnets along the edge that hold the cover to the screen very strongly. Beware putting credit cards near those magnets!

Those of you who like to tinker and upgrade your laptops... this is more like the typical tablet. It's not designed to be easily opened up. There are several Phillips head screws in the kickstand area, and it might be that removing those and then working your way around the edge with a pry tool might gain you access to the internals, but we didn't want to mangle our review unit trying. My educated guess is that the back cover is removable and once inside you'd be able to service the battery, replace the SSD and access the wireless card. RAM seems to be soldered on.

Pen

Here we go again: a manufacturer makes a digital pen compatible product but doesn't include the pen. This leads to confusion as to whether all models support the pen, and where to procure one. All models of the 13t and 15t are compatible with the HP Active Stylus, and HP sells the pen on their website for $60 (Best Buy also sells it). The pen has an aluminum barrel and it's a good size--we like it. It has a side button and uses a single AAAA battery. It's a Synaptics pen, and before you run away, hear us out. Synaptics has improved from their first rocky 6 months on the Dell Venue Pro line. It's no longer a jumpy and devilishly unpredictable experience. The pen works fine as a pointer and it's OK for note taking. You get palm rejection so you can rest your hand on the glass when writing, and it supports 255 levels of pressure sensitivity. The bad news is that it's still slow to track quick movements, such as several quick strokes in an art program. When handwriting, it does better with cursive than print--it seems to track a single line better than the several marks used to print letters. For casual note taking it's passable, but for art work, it's not quite there when compared to the well established Wacom and N-Trig digitizer-pen combos (Surface Pro 3 uses N-Trig). There are no WinTab drivers for pressure sensitivity in Photoshop for the Synaptics pen, but programs that support the more modern Windows Ink API do have pressure sensitivity (e.g.: Fresh Paint and Art Rage).

HP Envy x2 13t Video Review

Microsoft Surface Pro 3 vs. HP Envy x2 13" Comparison

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