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HP EliteBook x360 G2 review: The ultra-fast and stylish Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 rival

August 09,2022
Melissa Young

If 2016 was the year of the detachable Surface Pro-style laptop, 2017 is rapidly turning into the rear of the ultra-sleek 2-in-1. The HP EliteBook x360 G2 is the latest challenger and it’s a fine example of the breed.

It’s clad in smart, matte silver aluminium, packed with high-spec internals and, just like the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 it’s slim and light enough that it looks just like a regular laptop, even up close.

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HP EliteBook x360 G2 review: What you need to know

And yet, the HP EliteBook x360 G2 is as flexible as any 2-in-1 convertible laptop. You can use it as a tablet, a laptop or as a media screen in one of its two stand modes. And its 13.3in 1080p display, Core i5-7300U, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage means you can use it for pretty much anything, from light web browsing and movie watching on the move to office work and even intensive creative tasks. It’s a powerful, do-it-all portable business laptop that will take most things you throw at it in its stride.

HP EliteBook x360 G2 review: Price and competition

First, I should state that we received the latest 7th Generation Intel Core i5 7300U model. This model cannot be found on HP’s UK website ; instead, you’ll find a 6th Generation Intel Core i5 7200U model for £1,378. However, it can be found for $1,679 on HP’s US site , alongside the $1,589 Intel Core i5 7200U model and, in reality, there isn’t much to separate the two chips beyond a 0.1GHz difference in base clock speed.

Competitors include the 12.5in Asus Zenbook 3 at £980 , 13.5in Microsoft Surface Laptop at £980 and 13in Huawei MateBook X at around £1,200 which all share similar internals, but don’t offer the same 2-in-1 functions as the HP.

And then we have the convertible rivals: the 13.5in Microsoft Surface Book and Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 . Microsoft’s 2-in-1 is more expensive, at £1,599 for a similar configuration to the EliteBook x360 G2 we have here. The Dell is also pricier at £1,429 and has a lower-end Intel Core i5-7Y54 processor.

HP EliteBook x360 G2 review: Design and build quality

HP’s attention to detail is fantastic. The EliteBook x360’s aluminium unibody, diamond-cut edges and sleek look make for a stunning-looking laptop. It’s flexible, too, with hinges that allow you fold over the screen and use it as a large tablet or in “stand” or “tent” mode.

It’s not just a pretty face, though; that sleek aluminium exterior cloaks a laptop that’s tougher and more rugged than many of its chief rivals. It’s been tested to the US military MIL-STD 810G specification, which means (among other things) that it should survive the odd fall or spillage, while the touchscreen is protected by the scratch- and shatter-resistant Corning Gorilla Glass.

Possibly as a result of this beefing up, the EliteBook x360 isn’t as light or slim as it’s main rival, the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1, but it’s far from bloated, measuring 14.9mm thick and weighing 1.27kg in weight.

That slightly thicker frame does have benefits, too, and the main one is that the laptop is able to accommodate plenty of ports. On its right-hand edge, you’ll find a power, USB-C with Thunderbolt 3, USB 3.1, HDMI 1.4, and a microSD slot. On the left side, there’s an external micro-SIM slot, another USB 3.1 socket and a 3.5mm headphone/mic jack plus, since this is a business laptop, a smart card reader.

Underneath the laptop, you’ll find two stereo speakers with four integrated drivers. They’re Bang & Olufsen-branded, go reasonably loud and I found sound quality adequate for light music listening, with sound filtering from the bottom of the laptop when used in its regular form, and behind the screen when used in tablet mode.

The HP EliteBook x360 G2 also has a fingerprint reader and a RealSense camera, meaning you can unlock the laptop by prodding or merely looking at it. And HP has homed in on security elsewhere, too, with HP Sure Start Gen3 , which protects it against BIOS attacks.

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HP EliteBook x360 G2 review: Keyboard, trackpad and pen

It’s clear that HP knows a thing or two about building business laptops and there’s nowhere this shines through more than in the quality of the keyboard and the touchpad. When I first used the laptop, I was surprised at how satisfying typing on it felt. Although the keys are flat-topped (I prefer a slightly scooped key-top profile), its mechanical-style switches feel fantastic under the finger.

The glass-topped touchpad is one of my favourite features of the EliteBook x360 G2, however. It’s wide and accurate and although the clicking action is mechanical rather than electromechanical (like on the MacBook Pro), you can click almost anywhere on its surface, with only the very top portion resisting clicks. It’s a joy to use and works with Windows 10’s multitouch gestures flawlessly.

HP also supplied the laptop to us with the Active Pen (it’s sold separately for £37), and while it’s perfectly functional, it still doesn’t feel quite as intuitive or as pleasant to use as the Surface Pen.