HP

Specter x360 Gets Ice Lake, Slimmer Bezels

HP is revamping its Specter x360 13-inch consumer laptop today, with significantly smaller bezels and a more compact footprint. The price starts at $ 1,099.99 with Intel's Core i5 and Core i7 Ice Lake CPUs.
The laptop now boasts a 90 percent screen-body-ratio thanks to what HP says is a 66.3% reduction of the top bezel (now 5.9mm) and a 57 percent shrinking of the bottom bezel (down to 11.1 mm).
In that top bezel, HP has shrunk down its webcam to 2.2mm, down from 6.6mm last year. It also supports IR for Windows Hello login with facial recognition. Dell reduced its XPS 13 camera to a similar size, but doesn't offer IR.
That shrinking makes for a smaller laptop that's 194.5mm long, down from 217.9mm last year. But it's also about 2mm thicker at 0.7 inches.
Despite this, HP says thermals are improved, with new holes under the keyboard as well as a graphite sheet to disperse heat.

The 13.3-inch display surrounded by the new thin bezel is available in either FHD or 4K AMOLED, with options for anti-reflection glass or an HP Sure View privacy screen.
The company is also saying the laptop will have better connectivity. It's promising 4x4 antennas to support Gigabit LTE and Gigabit Wi-Fi.
In addition to the camera kill switch that HP introduced last year, the new model comes with a dedicated keyboard button to mute your microphone (indicating whether it's on or off with an LED light).

HP Spectre x360 (13''2019)
CPU	Intel Core i5-1035G1 or Intel Core i7-1065G7
GPU	Intel Iris Plus
RAM	Up to 16GB LPDDR4-3200
Display	13.3-inchs, FHD or 4K AMOLED
Storage	Up to 1TB Intel SSD and 32GB Intel Optane memory
Stylus	Yes
Size	15.5 x 7.6 x 0.7 inches

Options from HP's website will range from $ 1,099.99 with a Core i5, 13.3-inch FHD display, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD to $ 1,499.99 with a Core i7-1065G7, 4K AMOLED display, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB Intel SSD and 32GB Intel Optane memory. Two more configurations (Core i7 / 8GB / FHD / 512 + 32 and Core i7 / 4K / 16GB / 1TB + 32) are set to be available in Best Buy in October, but prices were not available at publication.

by Andrew E. Freedman