HP Takes on iPad Pro With First Detachable Chromebook

Now that nosotros live in a globe where Chromebooks can run Android applications every bit natively every bit a Google Pixel 2, information technology makes sense that we're starting to meet detachable, hybrid Chromebooks that double every bit tablets. Acer, for case, appear the first Chrome Os tablet just two weeks agone, which sports a high-resolution touch screen and the aforementioned $329 price as the new iPad.

Now HP is leading the accuse in the two-in-1 detachable Chromebook space with its Chromebook x2. Like the HP Spectre x2 before information technology, the HP Chromebook x2 is a thin and lightweight tablet that tin can be magnetically hinged to and unhinged from its included keyboard at will. That'southward where the similarities end between the HP Chromebook x2 and its Windows-based forebear, notwithstanding.

Priced at $599.99, similar to the smaller iPad Pro, and bachelor from Best Buy starting June 10, the HP Chromebook x2 is designed to be affordable without compromising on looks. To no one's surprise, then, it comes equipped with a seventh-generation Intel Core m3 processor, and a relatively skimpy 4GB of soldered RAM and 32GB of eMMC storage. A college-end model with 8GB of RAM will besides be available.

HP is a little more generous with the display, a 12.three-inch, QHD+ (ii,400-by-1,600) WLED-backlit touch on panel with a 5MP HP Broad Vision camera located above information technology. There's also a 13MP rear camera devoted to mirror selfie loyalists.

Boasting a "sleek pattern" that can be taken "from room to room or on the route," the HP Chromebook x2 weighs just 1.62 pounds in tablet mode and 3.07 pounds when the keyboard is fastened. It measures 12 by ii.72 past 17.68 inches (HWD).

Within those dimensions, you lot'll find a small-scale array of ports. In that location are two USB-C ports, both of which can exist used for charging, transferring data, and outputting to external displays. There'southward an audio jack for headphones and stereo speakers, too, along with a microSD card slot, an increasingly rare appendage, which supports expansion upwards to 256GB. Fortunately, you may not have to worry near plugging it into a wall outlet oftentimes, as HP promises all-day use from its 48 watt-hour battery.

The finish on the HP Chromebook x2 is ceramic white anodized aluminum. For that reason, it reminds me of the alpine white Dell XPS xiii, captivating the centre similar to the mode the MacBook Air did in its early days. The backlighting on its leather-similar Oxford Blue keyboard adds to its appeal, making it non only easier to use in the dark, just besides giving it a primo flair.

In addition to its proclivity to dock to the keyboard in a forward-facing orientation, the HP Chromebook x2 tin exist positioned in the contrary management likewise. In doing so, you can use the tablet in a number of different modes, including a tent mode and a tabletop display mode in which the keyboard essentially serves as a kickstand.

As is the instance with many of HP'south convertibles, the Chromebook x2 supports an active pen that is enclosed in the box. The ii-button stylus is meant for cartoon, underlining, writing, and highlighting, though it might come in handy for doodling in class (or fifty-fifty more ambitious artistic pursuits) because of its 255 force per unit area levels.