HP Chromebook X2 11 review: Plays hard, but can’t work hard

HP became quite a lot of heads when it first introduced the HP Chromebook X2 11. This used to be our first top class Chrome pill because the Google Pixel Slate again in 2018, and it regarded a lot more polished. Not like the Pixel Slate, it got here with the kickstand and keyboard within the field, and in contrast to the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, the keyboard would if truth be told magnetize to the pill when it used to be closed for more uncomplicated sporting and higher coverage of the display screen.

On the other hand, the opposite reason why for that head-turning used to be the beginning worth hooked up to the X2 11: $600. That is upper than one of the most perfect Chromebooks in the marketplace, together with many tough laptops just like the ASUS Chromebook Turn 536. Folks be expecting so much from capsules priced that top — that is entering iPad Professional and Floor Professional territory — but the HP Chromebook X2 11 can’t fairly ship the facility of that worth bracket.

So, why am I in love with this teal pill? Since the HP Chromebook X2 11 completely fills its area of interest — it is simply now not the only folks have been anticipating.

HP Chromebook X2 11 Value and availability

The HP Chromebook X2 11 used to be introduced in August 2021 and bought that month in North The us at a beginning worth of $600.

The X2 11 may also be bought with both 4 or 8GB of RAM and 64GB or 128GB of garage. LTE-capable fashions are to be had as smartly. The LTE slot can be utilized as a microSD slot as a substitute, and on Bluetooth fashions, the slot is there for microSD garage.

HP has adopted within the footsteps of Apple and Samsung with the X2 11: a groovy aluminum unibody design with flat bezels. When conserving the pill with out the keyboard or kickstand, it has a fair weight and it is simple to steadiness in a single hand whilst tapping or typing with the opposite. A rear webcam sits close to the highest proper nook at the again, and the entrance webcam is focused when the pill is in panorama/computer mode. HP gave us two USB-C ports — double that of the Lenovo Duet — but it lacks a headphone jack and either one of the USB-C ports are at the left aspect of the pill.

HP did this so the appropriate bezel is loose to function a magnetic perch for its magnetic, wirelessly charging USI pen, in case your fashion comes with one. At the backside sits two divots and POGO pins for the incorporated keyboard quilt. The amount rocker sits useless middle at the left bumper whilst the facility button — which draws double responsibility as a handy guide a rough and really constant fingerprint sensor — sits at the top-left fringe of the pill.

That is the keyboard quilt the Lenovo Duet will have to’ve had.

The HP keyboard feels about 5 instances higher than the Lenovo Duet. The keys do not really feel fairly as cramped and the rear lip of the keyboard magnetizes to the display screen, which creates a greater viewing perspective and guarantees the keyboard would possibly not flop about such a lot when sitting to your lap or at the sofa. In truth, the entire keyboard magnetizes to the display screen you probably have it closed, conserving it protected from scratches and particles — regardless that it additionally transfers any oils out of your arms to the touchscreen, the place they may be able to consume away on the display screen’s coating over the years. So give the keyboard a typical wipedown. Finally, the display screen is the most efficient a part of the HP Chromebook X2 11.

The 11-inch show HP is the use of right here makes it sufficiently big to rather use for mild work as a substitute of simply emails, but the three:2 side ratio nonetheless assists in keeping it compact sufficient that it’s going to are compatible in maximum pill sleeves or pill slots to your backpack or handbag. That is the primary pill to suit completely within the outdated iPad pill fit in my Dakine crossbody, and it is mild sufficient to simply throw in my handbag and move spend a Sunday morning studying out of doors Cinderella Citadel on a lovely 72-degree October morning. I may even stay studying in complete solar because the solar rose and took away my color, for the reason that display screen has 400 nits of brightness.

Matching that stellar 400-nit brightness is a solution of 2160 x 1440, relatively above 2K. Now, do you truly want 2K solution on an 11-inch pill? Almost definitely now not, but it shall we webcomics, e-books, and, after all, movies completely pop. I were given misplaced for hours thumbing thru outdated Batman volumes and streaming part a season of the Witcher prior to I spotted what time it used to be. The audio system listed here are front-facing, and they are nice for impromptu film marathons in lodge rooms or automobile journeys. If you want headphones, they’re going to wish to be Bluetooth or hooked up to a three.5mm-to-USB-C adapter.

Whilst you will not get the marketed 11 hours battery lifestyles the use of the X2 11 in complete solar, I nonetheless were given about six on complete brightness and 8-10 hours on common brightness with blended use. If there is something Qualcomm chipsets are excellent at, it is squeezing each and every drop from your battery lifestyles it could possibly. When it is time to payment, you get the overall 45W Energy Supply charging each and every different Chromebook does — no piddly 18W charging just like the Lenovo Duet. When you run it useless, you’ll be able to get again to 50% in half-hour, but a complete charge-up will nonetheless take over an hour, now not that you can wish to do this continuously; I normally had the pill ultimate 1.5-2 days of informal use.

The magnetic kickstand does not have fairly as large a variety of angles as Lenovo, but it is nonetheless stable and strong. I had it pop off a couple of instances once I attempted conserving the pill up with the kickstand as a grip level, but that is not what the kickstand is designed for, anyway. The Night time Teal colour at the X2 11 is really stunning, and I desire a matching phone and shoulder holster, please. The coating on each the kickstand and the keyboard feels glorious within the hand, regardless that I want the kickstand used to be a teeny bit larger so the steel hinge would not stick out and make it teeter-totter when it is flat on its again. It will lay completely flat at the keyboard aspect, regardless that, so it is only a minor flaw.

HP Chromebook X2 11 Processor guarantees meet truth

While you have a look at $600-$700 capsules, you are expecting flawless functionality and sufficient uncooked energy to work full-time. The i3-powered Floor Move is on this vary, as are base fashions of the brand new M1-powered iPad Professional. The processor within the HP Chromebook X2 11, the Snapdragon 7c compute platform, is in a unique weight magnificence. Designed for finances Home windows laptops, the Snapdragon 7c is now two years outdated, and it used to be designed particularly with Home windows in thoughts. I used the primary 7c-powered Chromebook, the Acer Chromebook Spin 513, the place I discovered it to be nice for mild surfing and informal Android video games, but it could not get up to full-time work.

Maximum folks equate Snapdragon with the ultra-fast chipsets powering our telephones, and it is simple for any person to think it is the identical for capsules, but it is simply now not the case right here. Do not get me flawed, informal internet surfing and video games like my loved Freecell work simply nice and dandy at the X2 11. But you will not need to move above ten tabs, and also you indubitably would possibly not need to do a lot more than emails and a few mild analysis on right here.

Introduced previous this 12 months, the Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 used to be designed with Home windows and Chrome OS computer systems in thoughts, that includes a large bump in battery lifestyles, a brand new audio stack, and enhancements for video calling. The primary Chromebook powered by way of it launches this month in every other Chromebook pill: the Lenovo Duet 5. The HP X2 has most probably been in construction all 12 months (if now not extra), but I do want that Qualcomm had labored extra carefully with HP in order that they may release the X2 11 with a 2021 chip slightly than a 2019 one.

That stated, I have beloved the use of the X2 11 at the weekends, even with the restrictions of the 7c Gen 1. I will be able to curl up for hours and hours, studying, flicking thru social media, and attempting to achieve the following Grandmaster tier in Microsoft Solitaire. Between that and the 400 nits of brightness, that is my favourite pill ever, bettering at the few shortcomings of ultimate 12 months’s Lenovo Duet.

HP Chromebook X2 11 Pageant

The HP’s Chromebook-based festival is slightly sparse this present day, and HP’s pricing makes it hard to match to its present contemporaries. It feels higher and plays higher than ultimate 12 months’s Lenovo Chromebook Duet, but the Duet is part the cost at $300 — and it is been often losing to $250-$220 all through the 12 months. The Duet’s keyboard does not magnetize to the Duet’s display screen, and it is a smaller 10.1-inch 1080p display screen.

The more moderen Lenovo Chromebook Duet is beginning to move on sale, but that is a 13.3-inch Chrome pill and the one manner it competes with the compact HP X2 11 is that the Lenovo has the second-gen Snapdragon 7c.

The brand new Microsoft Floor Move 3 is usually a competitor relying at the configuration, but as it does not include the Floor Keyboard Move within the field, that is an additional $100-$130 dollars you can wish to spend, which temporarily makes the Move 3 simply as dear because the HP Chromebook X2 11, if now not extra so. The similar argument holds for the brand new iPad Mini 6: the bottom configuration may also be had for $500, but it does not include a keyboard — or a Sensible Connector for a elegant and properly-fitting Apple keyboard quilt — so you can wish to spend extra on a much less polished typing enjoy.

HP Chromebook X2 11 Must you purchase it?

You will have to purchase this if …

• You need a Chromebook you’ll be able to use outdoor
• You might be in quest of a spare laptop or tertiary pill
• You need a pill with 8 years of safety updates
• You need a classy and artful Chrome OS pill

You will have to now not purchase this if …

• You wish to have it for full-time work
• Your finances is restricted
• You propose to present it to a kid

The HP Chromebook X2 11 may scouse borrow the Duet’s throne as the most efficient Chrome OS pill as soon as it will get extra common reductions that put it within the $450-$350 vary. It is the first Chrome OS pill that I if truth be told need to throw in my handbag and run off to Epcot for a day of studying and lightweight gaming whilst I loosen up on Katsura’s wraparound porch. The extent of care concerned about the main points and the {hardware} is classy.

4
out of five

Lots of my fellow reviewers — and plenty of customers — have soured at the HP Chromebook X2 11 as a result of they anticipated it to be a powerhouse at $600. The Snapdragon 7c compute platform excels at informal computing and content material intake, now not full-time work, and as a spouse tool to complement your house desktop or your large, heavy 17-inch computer, the HP Chromebook X2 11 is an improbable tool that simply wishes some fantastical worth cuts to assist it fit the standard and worth it holds.