Hands-on: HP's leather-coated notebook may well be the best convertible on the market

Unveiling its new leather-covered Specter Folio, HP claimed it "reinvented" the PC. At the risk of being described as cynical, I must confess that I roll a little in front of HP's greatness. My skepticism was confirmed when we saw what HP had actually built: it was a new version of the two-in-one convertible, a system that, like Surface Pro and many others, could be used at once. like laptop and tablet. .

But after holding the thing, looked closely, and used a little? I think HP could have something special here.

The big topic of discussion is, of course, leather. The Folio is not a classic metal laptop that has been slipped into a leather case: it's a laptop with a metal skeleton on the inside and a leather on the outside. The leather is not removable and no finished metal surface hides behind: the leather is an integral part of the design. The leather even has a functional role: the seal between the screen and the rest of the system does not contain a metal hinge – its flexibility and bending are all due to the fact that the leather connects the two parts.

The result is a distinctive look and, I think, rather attractive. Folded and worn, it is very comfortable. There are no sharp edges to cut into your wrists, just real soft and supple leather. I'm looking at the contrast with the Microsoft Laptop Surface and I think it's striking. This system also uses unusual materials, with its keyboard tray covered with fabric, but for the laptop, it makes no sense. It does not seem to have a real functional aspect; it's just a design thing. In contrast, the use of leather by the Folio is much more useful. It has a practical function that has been fully adopted as a material.

The other screen seal – the one at the top of the keyboard – is a rigid hinge from a laptop. The use was strange at first. With its leather skin, the Specter Folio looks like one of those folding keyboard covers for tablets around the world – you know, the kind of thing that can hold the screen under one or two particular angles and that will collapse if you try to open and close it as if it 's been from a laptop. Using the Folio for the first time, my instinct was to push the screen to cause such a collapse. But that was not the case. it's a real hinge, as you can find it on a regular laptop, and you can adjust the angle of aperture (up to about 135 degrees). That's about all a real laptop.

But the Folio has a trick. The screen is attached to this rigid hinge at its center with the soft leather seal. Fold it down a bit and it magnetically locks to the base just below the keyboard, leaving only the touchpad exposed. Like that, it is ideal for watching movies or reading, with a very convenient small footprint on an economical tabletop table. Push it further and it stays almost flat, turning the folio into a tablet.

It feels good, it feels good

The result is a system that I liked using. The keyboard, with its 1.3 mm key displacement, was fabulous: crisp, precise and comfortable, with a layout familiar to users of HP systems. The touchpad is not the biggest or the smoothest I've used, but it seems to be ok. I look forward to the adoption of Thunderbolt 3 by HP (two of the three Type-C USB ports are Thunderbolt 3 and all three ports support charging) and use an IR camera for Windows Hello face authentication. .

The display, a 1920 × 1080 13-inch format, was surprising. It's an IPS screen, with a maximum of 400 nits brightness, and it looks decent. But in one way or another, it only uses 1 W of power. At Computex earlier this year, Intel announced (without really describing) the "low energy consumption display technology," which, coupled with Sharp and Innolux panels, dramatically reduces power consumption. energy of the screen. The Folio is one of the first machines to use technology. But the way it works is not clear, and I do not know what that entails. HP insisted that there was none and that it was really better, but for me, it sounds too good to be true.

The low-power display, combined with the Y-series low-power processor and the 54Wh battery, gives the Folio an impressive range. According to the specifications and the workload, HP estimates that it can work up to 21 hours with a load. This is the battery life all day and then some. A more complete picture of battery life and processor performance will of course have to wait for a complete review. The Y Series chip certainly gives up some performance compared to its siblings in the U 15W series, but it should meet the requirements of a Web and Office productivity system.

This feature is enhanced with the built-in LTE option. LTE technology is starting to move from a rare option, included on one or two machines, to an option (or even a standard feature) that we see in a wide range of systems. The use of LTE technology dramatically reduces battery life by about a quarter, according to HP's numbers, but the ability to be online almost anywhere is compelling.

HP is not the first to use this double hinge design; The Vaio Z Flip, for example, was an all-metal version of the same concept, and I'm sure there are others. But I'm delighted to see HP take things in hand because I think for many people it makes more sense than the Surface Pro crutch. I know that Surface Pro has its fans, and for those who really appreciate it as a tablet, it's a solid choice. But if you are looking for a laptop that you can also use as a tablet or stylus, the design of the Folio is much more convenient with this hinge. You can use the Folio on your lap without precariously balancing the crutch on your lap. Most of the weight of the Folio is in the keyboard rather than on the screen, so it is also much better balanced. Not having a crutch means that the footprint is also smaller, making it practical in cramped conditions.

Tomorrow, Microsoft will organize an event during which we will update at least part of the Surface range. I'm not sure what to expect at the moment – not much has filtered out, but the whole range (with the exception of the most recent Surface Go) could benefit from an upgrade. processor level, if nothing else. But already I wonder if HP has eclipsed it. Another minor increment to Pro Surface is not going to make it a better laptop; an iteration of the surface laptop will probably not make it as flexible as a convertible or two in one. For many people, I think the Folio Specter will be better than any Microsoft system. I do not think this is quite the reinvention claimed by HP, but it is definitely a smart refinement and an improvement of the convertible concept.

Announcement image of Valentina Palladino