HP Pavilion X360 review

The Pavilion X360 isn’t just another boring me-too laptop. This £349 Windows 8 hybrid bravely takes on Lenovo’s double-jointed Yoga range with a twin-hinge convertible design and one of Intel’s Bay Trail Celeron CPUs. See also: what’s the best laptop you can buy in 2014?

HP Pavilion X360: Design

It’s certainly a distinctive-looking hybrid, and it feels like a high-quality piece of kit. Available in eye-popping red or a more subdued silver, the Pavilion X360’s soft-touch plastics have a pleasantly rubbery feel, and the sturdy base and lid are connected by a strong-feeling hinge. HP’s done a grand job of squeezing in a fine keyboard and usable touchpad, too.

Push the display backwards and – as with Lenovo’s IdeaPad Yoga 2 – it’s possible to use the HP in a variety of positions. The display can swivel all the way back into tablet mode, or fold around to turn the base into a makeshift stand. It works well, but it feels unwieldy in tablet mode – it’s 22mm thick, and, at 1.48kg, it’s immensely heavy by tablet standards.

HP Pavilion X360: Performance

An Intel Celeron N2820 CPU joins forces with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB HDD. This low-power, dual-core processor provides a usable level of performance – in our Real World Benchmarks, the HP scored 0.36 – but in combination with a mechanical hard disk it suffers the occasional bout of hiccuping and grinding. Battery life is poor, too: the Pavilion X360 lasted only 4hrs 25mins in our light-use test.

It’s the X360’s touchscreen that really lets the side down. To keep the budget in check, HP has used a low-quality TN panel, and it shows. The maximum brightness of 202cd/m2 is mediocre, and the contrast ratio of 217:1 is disappointing even by budget standards. For a display designed to be viewed from every angle, the washed-out colours, low brightness and narrow viewing angles are a terrible combination.

HP Pavilion X360: Verdict

Even though the price is appealing, the HP Pavilion X360 suffers from too many compromises. The Asus VivoBook X200CA offers similar performance and battery life for £50 less, while the Lenovo IdeaPad Yoga 2 11in shows exactly how a hybrid should be made for £500. It is a promising effort, though, and a better quality screen would transform the HP’s appeal.

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