First Look at the HP Spectre

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

The HP Spectre is being touted as the 'World's Thinnest Laptop,' and while that may be true, it is really so much more. HP has set out to design the most impressive and attractive notebook PC and looking at the HP Spectre shows that they have taken great care in creating something truly remarkable. Out of the box, HP provdes a neat carrying case to go along with the power adaptor and the notebooks itself.

There are some outstanding notebooks in the market. The Apple MacBook, the Dell XPS 13 and even Microsoft's Surface Book represent devices that push the boundaries of design, construction and performance in notebooks. The HP Spectre takes a lot of the best features of these devices and creates an entirely new line of super-slim yet wholly capable devices.

Out of the box, the HP Spectre looks and feels like a high-end machine. The thinness and lightness is truly remarkable, it feels more like a Sony VAIO than it does an HP notebook in terms of the level of detail and the materials. The Dark brown carbon fibre and aluminum casing with gold accents is definitely luxurious and the nuanced lattice design on the speaker grilles on the side represent an impressive and cohesive design with other premium HP devices. It is less ostentatious than pure gold or rose gold but is still stylish while communicating a very professional look and feel. 

Few devices have really pushed the Ultrabook class to such a degree that HP is attempting with the Spectre. not only is it the thinnest notebook you can buy today, it also comes with an Intel Core processors and not the power-strapped core m processors. HP also boasts 9-hour battery life which is remarkable for a device in this class.

The 13-inch display is covered with Gorilla Glass and the full IPS HD display is gorgeous for watching videos and movies. The Bang & Olufsen speakers are surprisingly loud and detailed. Watching the Suicide Squad trailer where Viola Davis is slicing through a steak, I was amazed to hear the crisp sound of cutlery as well as the knife tearing through flesh.

The HP Spectre is simply the most inspired design we've seen from HP and is also the most compelling Windows 10 notebook I have had the chance to test this year. I'm looking forward to making this my daily driver to complete my full review in the coming weeks.