Review HP Envy x2 11-g000eg Tablet and battery life

HP's Envy x2 11-g000eg also belongs to this versatile hybrid category. It basically is an 11.6-inch Windows 8 tablet that can be converted to a conventional laptop via the included keyboard dock. Hp HSTNN-LB2I Battery Equipped with Intel's Atom Z2760, 2 GB of RAM and a 64 GB SSD, the user has the entire software diversity of the x86 universe available. This is a big advantage in contrast to competing Windows RT or Android solutions such as Asus' Transformer Pad Infinity.

HP sets the Envy x2's price with according confidence. The potential buyer has to shell out around 900 Euros (~$1221) with which HP penetrates into the price region of the unequally stronger Acer Iconia Tab W700 featuring a Core i5 processor (from 900 Euros, ~$1221). Comparable contenders, such as Samsung's ATIV Smart PC, are partly much less expensive. Hp HSTNN-OB2F Battery We want to find out whether HP's tablet/convertible justifies its steep price in this review.

We will begin with the actual tablet. Although it features a bigger screen diagonal, it is only insignificantly heavier than the latest iPad 4 by a good 700 grams and is comfortable to hold even for a longer time. The display's entire back is made of a solid aluminum tray that not only bestows the Envy x2 elegant looks but also an exemplary rigidness. The casing hardly warps or dents even when high force is applied. Hp HSTNN-OB2G Charger The build quality is just as excellent and excels with accurate material transitions and cleanly rounded edges in detail. The gap to the industry leader, Apple, is at most marginal.

Our verdict about the dedicated keyboard dock is almost just as good. Although only the bottom is comprised of high-quality aluminum, the silver-gray painted plastic on the top hardly gives reason for complaint. Perhaps the stability in the center area could be improved a bit, but the offer is fully acceptable in total. Hp HSTNN-OB2N Battery

The tablet and dock connection is not quite as optimal. The display wobbles a bit in its mount in laptop mode although the hinges are agreeably firm and precise. A switch has to be pushed and the tablet has to be pulled upward with some force when both parts are to be disconnected. This is quite tricky even with both hands. HP has apparently designed the magnets that keep the display in the mount a bit too strong. Although this is not a major flaw, it is something that needs a certain amount of getting used to. Hp HSTNN-UB2F Battery

Performance

The Atom Z2760 comes from Intel's latest Clover Trail platform, which was specifically designed for use in Windows 8 tablets. Both computing cores clock with 1.8 GHz each (no Turbo) and can process up to 4 threads at the same time owing to Hyper Threading. Although the Z2760 is closely related to netbook SoCs, such as the N2800, there are a few additional restrictions. Hp HSTNN-W81C Battery For example, the memory controller has been slimmed down (2 GB LPDDR2 maximum) and the 64 bit extension has been omitted in order to reduce the power consumption. This results in a remarkably low TDP of only 1.7 watts.

The chip-integrated graphics unit PowerVR SGX 545 (533 MHz) is known from the sister platform Cedar Trail, but is marketed under the name GMA 3600/3650. Technically, the GPU is very outdated. The feature set is limited to DirectX9 and the performance cannot compete with the fastest ARM SoCs either. Hp QK639AA Charger

HP configures the Envy x2 with the maximum memory capacity of 2 GB LPDDR2-800 and installs a 64 GB SSD. Other configurations are currently not available.

Processor
Intel's Atom models are well-known for their modest computing power and the rather new Z2760 is no exception. The chip only achieves 1644 points in Cinebench R10 32 bit and is not even 15% faster than AMD's C-60 netbook CPU. Here, the Atom strongly benefits from Hyper Threading technology. Without it, the score would be much lower. Battery for Hp QK640AA

This becomes particularly evident in Cinebench's single-thread test. The score drops to a poor 592 points, which is 25% lower than the equally slow C-60. For comparison: even a ULV CPU, such as the Core i5 3317U, performs 4 to 6 times better depending on the application. Compared with ARM chips, the Z2760 looks quite good and places itself roughly between models based on Cortex A9 and Cortex A15 architecture. Hp QK642AA Battery

Since the Clover Trail platform does not support SATA drives, the integrated 64 GB SSD (47 GB available for the operating system and files) is actually a kind of memory card based on eMMC standard. These storage devices regrettably usually do not operate very quickly, as we previously ascertained in Samsung's ATIV.

We determined sequential transfer rates of around 81 MB/s in read and 34 MB/s in write using CrystalDiskMark, which exactly corresponds to the aforementioned contender. Hp QK643AA Battery replacement The Envy x2 does a slightly better job in small 4K files, but the rates remain behind a "genuine" SATA SSD. The flash memory should nevertheless provide an advantage in contrast to conventional hard drives in practical use, irrespective of space requirements and power consumption.

System Performance
Experience shows that PCMark 7 from Futuremark highly benefits from an SSD drive so that the score of 1430 points should not be overrated. It seems that the Envy x2 comes close to entry-level laptops, such as HP's ProBook 4545s (1763 points), which will only be an exception in practice. Hp ST09 Battery

The tablet awed with extremely short load times and very smooth use as long as we only worked on Windows 8's Metro interface. Our test device achieved 712.3 milliseconds in Sunspider's JavaScript benchmark version 0.9.1 and even outperformed the latest iPad 4 that needed almost 900 milliseconds. It is no problem to play a 1080p video on YouTube and even scroll smoothly at the same time. HP 671277-171 Battery However, those who use the "conventional" Windows will soon find the Atom chip's limits during light multitasking, for example when performing an installation in the background or running moderately demanding software. Switching between portrait or landscape mode could also be a bit faster.

Graphics Card
The most important task for the PowerVR SGX 545 is video acceleration, which works perfectly with the right player and codec. However, the tablet already partly fails with 720p material lacking GPU support.

The available graphics power is really disappointing and is excelled by every better current smartphone. A modest 401 points in 3DMark06 contradict playing any 3D games from the last 5 years on the Envy x2. Every modern Celeron processor is many times faster here. HP 671518-800 Charger

Gaming Performance
We did not want to waive on a short practical test to substantiate this statement. We recorded an awesome 2.1 fps in Anno 2070 and 3.3 fps in Diablo 3 after the games took minutes to load, with virtually unusable menus and severe graphical bugs. Users who seriously want to play on their tablet will either have to look for another model featuring a stronger graphics card or be content with undemanding 2D games from the app store. HP 671602-001 adapter

Despite the omitted fan, the energy-efficient Atom Z2760 only insignificantly heats up the casing. The surface temperatures stayed far below 40 °C even during maximum load. We only measured an average of 30 °C during idle. A few Android tablets can score with even lower temperatures but the temperature of the Envy x2 is in no way distracting during routine use.

The user does not have to worry about the SoC's core temperatures either. The integrated sensor recorded an absolutely safe 65 °C after one hour of our stress test via Prime95 and FurMark. The upcoming hot summer days should not cause throttling or stability issues. Hp 671567-831 Battery

Power Consumption

With 2.7 - 5.9 watts the Envy x2 cannot quite compete with the extremely low idle power consumption of the identically equipped Samsung ATIV Smart PC (1.4 - 4 watts), but it at least undercuts the latest iPad 4 (2.6 - 8.4 watts). Who would have thought this possible with x86 hardware a few years ago?

The consumption increased by just 5 watts to a total of 7.2 - 10.9 watts during full load, which underlines the Atom SoC's excellent energy-efficiency. Hp H2L56AA Battery Even the most economic ultrabooks based on a ULV processor from the Ivy Bridge generation need a minimum of 30 watts in the same load scenario (however, with significantly higher computing power).

Battery Runtime

Besides the 26 Wh battery in the tablet, HP installs another battery in the keyboard dock that contributes an additional 21 Wh. Consequently, an impressive total of 47 Wh is available and should bestow the Envy x2 with excellent runtimes. Hp H2L55AA#ABB adapter

In fact, our test device was first drained after 20 hours and 34 minutes in Battery Eater's Reader's test with minimum brightness and disabled Wi-Fi, a rate that only few devices, such as Apple's iPad, achieved until now.

The practical runtimes using enabled Wi-Fi and adapted brightness (approx. 150 cd/m²) are just as impressive. The user can browse and watch HD videos for almost 12 hours before the power reserves are exhausted under these conditions. Hp HSTNN-LB3N Battery

HP's tablet ends this part with a record-breaking time of over 7 hours in Battery Eater's Classic test (maximum brightness, Wi-Fi on). The dock was connected in all runtime assessments. It was always discharged before the tests. The runtimes will decrease by about 40% without this additional energy capacity. A long four and a half hours are needed for completely recharging both the tablet and the dock. Hp HSTNN-LB3P Charger

The longer we dealt with HP's Envy x2 11, the more the concept appealed to us. Laptop and tablet in one - why wasn't this invented years ago? We look back at the awkward convertibles of the past...

Windows 8 and up-to-date hardware first make such devices possible without making painful compromises in use or mobility. We particularly liked the tablet mode: silky scrolling, great casing quality, good (though not first-rate) IPS screen - if we disregard the fairly low app availability, the Envy x2 could be a real alternative to the iPad & co. Hp HSTNN-YB3N Battery

However, our test device left us with mixed feelings in laptop mode. The energy-efficient Atom SoC will simply be too slow and the connectivity too limited for many Windows users. But not all of that is HP's fault - a faster Ivy Bridge CPU would have included other drawbacks. One of the next Atom generations or Haswell will likely manage the balancing act between power consumption and performance a lot better. Hp HSTNN-YB3P Battery

The functional tablet-laptop combination is quite worth considering if the user can disregard these restrictions and is willing to pay a steep price of just under 900 Euros (~$1221). However, users who are not dependent on Windows will find many just as attractive (and usually much cheaper) models among Android devices.

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