Features & Performance
The Intel Core i5-3317U processor clocking at 1.7GHz and 4GB of RAM powers the Spectre XT that we received for review. This is pretty much in line with the ultrabook specifications in this price bracket.
The Intel Core i5-3317U processor clocking at 1.7GHz and 4GB of RAM powers the Spectre XT that we received for review. This is pretty much in line with the ultrabook specifications in this price bracket.
The interesting bit is the 128GB SSD that the HP Spectre XT packs in. This gives it a huge performance advantage over the rivals who mostly have an HDD along with an mSATA SSD for caching tasks.
Where the Spectre XT compromises a bit is with the graphics. There is no dedicated graphics card, with just the Intel HD 4000 taking charge of the very limited gaming capabilities.
The 13.3-inch display has a 1366 x 768 pixel resolution. As against its sibling’s display, the Envy 4 ultrabook, the Spectre XT is brighter and slightly sharper in terms of text reproduction. That being said, the same reflective nature is prevalent here as well, which will somewhat ruin the experience of using it in any brightly lit environment. But there are the good things still - the black level test results pegged the scores in the top half. Also, watching videos on this screen is a lot of fun, since the colour vividness is quite good.
When we saw the Beats Audio branding on the HP Spectre XT, a grimace was in order! Not again, we said! But the fact is simple - the speakers are rather good. Maybe the reason is that there are four speakers – two upward firing and two down firing. And when we say the speakers are good, we mean the Spectre XT bears among the better laptop speakers out there in terms of clarity and holding its solidity as you go higher up the volume graph.
HP has preloaded the Spectre XT with Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit), after inexplicably sending out the Envy 4 with Windows 7 Home Basic.