HP Elite x3 review

Windows phones aren't in a good place, with its awfully slow rollout, limited app support and Microsoft's own underwhelming handsets. HP wants to turn the tide with its new business-focused Elite x3 phablet.

This massive phone promises to be your all-in-one device for your computing needs.

The 5.96-inch phablet comes well stocked with a 2.15GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB of DDR4 RAM. That's more than enough power to drive your average smartphone, and that's because HP has designed the x3 to work in three different modes.

Like the Microsoft Lumia 950 and 950XL, you can hook this handset up to an external monitor for a desktop experience. What's more, the Elite x3 can power HP's new, Wi-Fi controlled laptop, called the Mobile Extender, when you need a mobile workstation.

Design

As a standalone handset, the HP Elite x3 is just fine but it's almost too big to call it a handset, with its 5.96-inch screen. The display is one of the largest used, and it's actually bigger than that of the 5.7-inch Nexus 6 and Samsung Galaxy Note 5.

Two tenths of an inch might not sound like a lot, but the Elite x3 feels as big as a Kindle. I find it nearly impossible to hold and use the device one-handed.

Although the phone is massive in-hand, it is practically all screen with minimal bezels. There are thin slivers on the side, while the top and bottom extend by roughly a centimeter to make room for the smartphone's Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers.

The bottom speaker grille also features an equalizer-like pattern that I wasn't expecting for a business-oriented device. The extra design element helps liven up this otherwise suit-and-tie-looking device.

Though the front face and edges of the HP Elite x3 are made of metal, it also has a polycarbonate backside. Combined with the smooth glass front, this is definitely one device you'll want a case for lest you end up dropping it like I did – more on that soon.

Specs

The Elite x3's 5.96-inch screen is larger than most competing phablets, but it features the same 2,560 x 1,440 resolution. By the numbers, its display should have a fewer pixels per inch than its rivals, but the drop in sharpness isn't really noticeable.

More likely, you'll be too busy appreciating the vibrant colors and sharp contrast on the AMOLED panel HP chose for the x3. The screen is also protected by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 4 that should endure scratches and accidental drops rather well.

Like other enterprise devices, the Elite x3 has been designed to be durable and meet the 810G military spec. I can confirm it is as durable as it claims, because I accidentally dropped the phone during a preview event onto a metal-clad Dell XPS 13. I was relieved to find that the glass screen wasn't cracked.

The phone is also waterproof up to IP67, which should protect it from rainy days and close calls with the faucet. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to test these claims by also accidentally spilling a bottle of water onto it.

Waterproofing isn't anything new when it comes to smartphones. However, HP went through the trouble of installing the seals internally, ensuring the shell is smooth and seamless and free of any unsightly plastic tabs.

The phone's other specs include an Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU integrated into the Snapdragon chip, paired with a massive, 4,150mAh battery you can charge through the USB-C port. You'll also get 64GB of storage with that 4GB of DDR4 RAM – a debut for this quicker-grade memory on a mobile device.

On the imaging side, the HP Elite x3 comes equipped with a 16 megapixel (MP) rear facing camera. Meanwhile, the front facing webcam sports a 8MP sensor that actually captures two images while in Skype chats and combines them to create an balanced, HDR-like image.

HP has not announced pricing for the HP Elite x3, but based on this spec sheet, you should expect it to cost a pretty penny. The Windows 10 smartphone is expected to arrive sometime later this summer.

Desktop anywhere

Already a seemingly top-notch Windows phone, the HP Elite x3 can expand into a laptop called the Mobile Extender. This is essentially a shell of a notebook featuring a 12.5-inch, 1,080p display with a working trackpad and keyboard.

In place of a processor, GPU, RAM and everything else found in a typical laptop, the Elite x3 transmits and powers the entire Windows 10 experience through Miracast and WiGig technologies. That said, you can still plug in the handset for a wired Windows 10 Continuum experience while charging your device with the Mobile Extender's massive 46W/hr battery.

The Mobile Extender feels similar to a Chromebook in that it's lightweight and almost entirely plastic without feeling chintzy at all. The keyboard's travel felt a bit short for HP's typical keyboard design, but – then again – this was a pre-production model.

At the very least, you can't say the Mobile Extender isn't lacking on the ports front. Along the sides you'll find two USB-C ports along with a mini HDMI and even a battery life indicator − an endangered feature we only see on a few select machines like the Dell XPS 13 and Google Chromebook Pixel.

The screen also rotates on an L-shaped hinge, which props the keyboard up by a few centimeters for an angled typing experience. Unfortunately, the laptop isn't a 2-in-1 device.

While the ability to transform into a Windows 10 tablet seems like a no brainer, HP's Mike Nash explains it would have added too many layers to Microsoft's Continuum.

For its last magic trick, you can slot the Elite x3 into HP's new USB-C dock to connect it to a screen, keyboard and mouse for a full desktop experience. It's quite similar to how Microsoft's own phones handle it, the only difference being a simple dock rather than a long cable to connect the phone.

Early verdict

Windows 10 Mobile is already in a slump, with almost no devices coming out. Enter the 5.96-inch HP Elite x3: one of the most intriguing, versatile and overpowered phones on any platform.

That said, good hardware doesn't fix Windows 10 Mobile's other big problem: a stagnant app store. Until I have more time with it, I'm also not 100% confident the Elite x3 can smoothly transition between its three modes.

Regardless, I have high hopes for this extreme Windows 10 smartphone.

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Workstation Specialists WS-M151 review

The mobile workstation market has evolved significantly over the last decade, as computer parts have become more commoditised and consumer components turned out to be as powerful and feature-laden as their professional counterparts.

This explains why the likes of SGI, DEC and Sun Microsystems faltered and eventually disappeared completely. It also explains recent developments in this market: unless you are Lenovo, Dell or HP, there's next to no chance that you can develop a true mobile workstation from scratch.

Instead, what is becoming increasingly common is that one base unit (commonly known as the chassis) is given a dual personality. A gaming laptop can be transformed into a workstation simply by swapping the graphics subsystem and beefing up the support and after-sales.

This is what MSI has successfully done; others, such as Schenker, Overclockers, Novatech, Scan and PC Specialist have used products from a massive Taiwanese laptop vendor called Clevo. In the US, Sager, AVADirect and Cyberpower are some of the better-known companies that use Clevo's kit.

Workstation Specialists, whose WS-M151 workstation we're checking out today, doesn't even try to hide the fact that it doesn't actually build the workstation.

You will even find the Clevo branding on the base of the laptop, together with the model number (P751DM) which corresponds to the XMG U506, a model from one competitor.

Indeed, there is no Workstation Specialists logo on the top of this laptop, only a small sticker on the palm rest.

The model (WS-M151) that was sent to us costs a cool £2,152 including VAT and delivery which is about the same price as the PC Specialist Octane II Pro, a notebook which sports a 17.3-inch display.

This offering is configured with a 15.6-inch full HD screen (a 4K model is available), a Core i7-6700K processor (no Xeon options are offered), 32GB of RAM (maximum is 64GB), a 512GB Samsung SM961 PCIe NVMe SSD, a 1TB HGST hard disk drive (7200RPM, 32MB cache) and an Nvidia Quadro M3000M graphics card with 4GB GDDR5, all handled by Windows 7 Pro (with a free upgrade path to Windows 10 Pro).

The SSD sported impressive numbers with rated read/write speeds of 3.2 and 1.7GBps respectively. Workstation Specialists judiciously bundled a three-year warranty (on parts and labour) with next business day engineer response.

Sadly, it is a return-to-base warranty which is standard with non-tier-1 workstation vendors and requires you to ship back the laptop. Not ideal when you are on a tight deadline and require your work machine ASAP.

This is probably the only weak point, and the obvious penalty for not being a global company with a massive tech support team. But then again, having such a workforce costs money which explains why buying a workstation from a tier-1 vendor costs more for the same configuration.

As with all Clevo models we've reviewed in the past, this one is as underwhelming as it can be. It boasts a bland chassis with a soft rubber finish and a power supply unit that weighs a ton – but that is both expected and preferred.

The massive PSU is justified by the power requirements of the GPU and the CPU, while the rubber finish suits a professional environment: subdued and self-effacing.

The constantly spinning fan underlines the fact that the device is powered by a desktop processor. The K in the 6700K model number means that this is an unlocked CPU that is clocked at 4GHz with a tiny 200MHz turbo boost.

Such high CPU speeds – especially with four cores, even on a 14nm manufacturing process – translate into a rather high TDP (91W). This explains why the fans spin so loudly even when at rest and why the keyboard and the base of the workstation were relatively warm.

The rest of the specification sheet includes: 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, one Gigabit Ethernet port, four USB 3.0 ports, one USB 3.1/Thunderbolt 3 one, a card reader, and at the back, two massive air vents, two full-sized DisplayPort outputs and an HDMI 2.0 port.

It's clear that this laptop was designed first and foremost for the gaming community: the typography on the keys, the glowing lights at the front, the green-coloured strip at the top of the keyboard, plus the fact that it has a backlit keyboard with the WASD keys highlighted (and customisable keys).

Not necessarily a bad thing, more of a heads-up as to why Workstation Specialists opted for that particular design. The keyboard offers nice feedback, perhaps a bit too soft to our tastes but it's very usable.

The touchpad had a bit more friction compared to, say, the XPS 13 from Dell. It has proper large physical buttons with a fingerprint reader stuck in the middle. The matt IPS display is superb with well-rendered, vibrant colours, and it's nice and sharp. Note that there is no optical drive and no option to add one internally.

As for battery life, your mileage will vary but place this machine under a heavy load (a rendering session followed by some gaming) and you will likely drain the laptop's juice in just over an hour, even with a massive 8-cell, 82Whr battery.

There's also a pair of Onkyo-powered speakers and a full HD front-facing camera. The laptop is certified for running Solidworks, Autodesk applications and Siemens' Solid Edge.

As expected, the WS-M151 performed spectacularly well: it scored 7.8 out of 8 on Windows' own System Index, a staggering 4,294 and 13,760 points on Geekbench's single and multicore benchmarks, and 2,005 and 7,217 on CPU-Z's single and multi-thread CPU benchmark.

Benchmarks on Cinebench R15 were even more impressive with an OpenGL score of 141.6 fps and the CPU score hitting 763 cb, the highest we've ever seen.

Early verdict

The Workstation Specialists WS-M151 suffers from the same shortcomings as the PC Specialist Octane II Pro.

The lack of softer features like MIL-STD certification, onsite warranties and colour calibration technology might see bigger corporations balking at the prospect of buying a non-tier-1 workstation.

For others though, this laptop makes a compelling option as long as you can live with the fact that you may be in a bit of a pickle if your laptop gives up the ghost during an urgent assignment.

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HP Z1 G3 (2016) Workstation review

Workstations with discrete professional graphics cards are a staple of many, many businesses across the UK. The usual combination consists of a monitor and a base unit with a number of organisations also considering mobile workstations.

Both of these form factors have their pros and cons: traditional base units are great but rolling them out can take time and space. Mobile workstations lack the firepower and expandability associated with their bigger brothers.

All-in-one workstations try to fill a niche that neither of these options have yet fully addressed, and it does seem that only one Tier-1 manufacturer has identified this as being a market worth tackling (neither Dell nor Lenovo have an AIO workstation in their portfolios). This new Z1 workstation is the third-generation offering from HP in this category.

The HP Z1 G3 tries to hit four seemingly disparate targets according to its marketing leaflet: "A space-optimised, uncompromised and fully featured design, at a budget conscious price point".

Compared to its previous iteration (which we reviewed here), the G3 reverts to a simpler stand design; one that slides the AIO's base unit up and down rather than allowing extravagant tilting.

You can also pivot the unit in portrait mode if your tasks require it, although the thicker bezel at the bottom (in landscape mode) makes it look a bit odd.

Out of the box, the thing that struck us the most is how compact this model is compared to the previous generation. It may sport a 23.6-inch display but its 4K definition means that it easily trumps its predecessor which had a 27-inch diagonal and a QHD resolution.

Opting for a different stand and a smaller screen size meant HP engineers could cut down on the weight, trimming it by more than half compared to the Z1 G2. Its size was also reduced by a similar proportion, something HP says makes it ideal for "frequent moves". Sadly, there's no carrying handle.

The Z1 G3 feels solid and compact – yes, it is made of plastic but not the cheap kind. The bezels are thicker than we'd like, but that's partly to accommodate the components. And helpfully, said components can be accessed without the need for any tools.

There's a plastic latch with a blue line that secures the back of the unit. To get to the innards, you just gently move that to the right while pushing the cover up (assuming you've safely put the unit on a flat surface).

Two speakers, powered by DTS Studio Sound, are housed at the bottom of the monitor behind a grill.

The unit can take up to two additional 2.5-inch drives, and it uses a mobile GPU. Expansion slots consists of one MXM for graphics cards and three M.2 slots. Ports and connectors include two USB 3.0, two Thunderbolt 3/USB 3.1 Type-C connectors, one card reader, and one audio combo all of which are on the side.

At the back, you've got one DisplayPort, four more USB 3.0 ports, a Gigabit Ethernet port (powered by Intel) and another audio socket.

There's also a full HD webcam on top, one which can be manually hidden via a flap, plus there's 802.11ac Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 4.2 as well. A USB business slim wireless keyboard and mouse are provided with the AIO and the entire lot is powered by a 330W 90% efficient power supply unit.

The unit sent to us was equipped with an Intel Xeon E3-1270 v5, 64GB of SODIMM ECC DDR4 RAM, two 512GB HP Z Turbo Drive PCIe SSDs in RAID-0 and an Nvidia Quadro M2000M professional graphics chip with 4GB of RAM – pretty much the top of the range model HP has in store. It will cost you a lot though – £2,615 (around $3,430, AU$4,500) to be precise.

Should your budget or hardware demands not stretch to that, however, HP offers a lesser model with a slower CPU (E3-1225), 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and an Nvidia Quadro M1000M for £1,558 (around $2,115, AU$2,730), a price that includes VAT, delivery and a three-year onsite warranty.

The good news is you still get to keep the 4K display. That's about twice the price of a comparable base unit, like the HP Z240, but without the monitor. Upping the warranty to five years will cost you an additional £192.

HP is also pushing a new HP Subscription scheme that is essentially a flexible leasing solution made easy for small businesses (with less than three owners) and guarantees that you pay less than the upfront purchase price over the subscription term.

So for example the Z1 G3 will cost £35 plus VAT (i.e. £42 per month – around $56, AU$74) over three years, or £1,512 (around $2,015, AU$2,650) in total over that period.

As expected the unit is powered by Windows 10 and comes with minimal bloatware. Other than Foxit PDF reader, there's an Office trial and HP's own Remote Graphics Software, a clever piece of technology that allows the user to access, share and broadcast from a Windows-based device.

It's essentially a remote desktop service with proprietary HP technology baked in. Check HP's site for some examples of work being streamed at 60 fps or 4K.

When it came to delivering the goods, the Z1 G3 was, well, spot on. The monitor delivered gorgeous pictures and videos, helped by one of the highest pixel densities on the market.

Sharp, well balanced images out of the box, coupled with some excellent viewing angles translate into a great overall user experience. The bundled keyboard and mouse aren't too shabby, but it is a shame that these require a receiver that takes up one USB port.

For the record, the Z1 G3 scored 119 fps and 687 cb on Cinebench R15 while reaching 1884 and 8007 points respectively on CPUID's CPU benchmark (single and multiple cores). The Cinebench processor score is particularly impressive since it surpasses the Z1 G2 by about 10% while costing around two-thirds less.

Hats off to the CPU driving this machine – the Skylake-based Xeon E3-1270 v5 which has four cores, eight threads and 8MB cache. With a base frequency of 3.6GHz, it can achieve 4GHz in turbo mode with a rather comfortable 80W TDP.

This is the second most expensive Xeon E3-12xx v5 CPU without integrated graphics and it is essentially an Intel Core i7-6700 clocked a bit higher with ECC memory support and a higher TDP.

As for the Nvidia Quadro M2000M GPU, it is a mid-range, Maxwell-based performer, roughly equivalent to the GTX 960M. Five massive copper strips help with cooling, dissipating the heat via a pair of fans.

Early verdict

HP has managed to own this niche for a few years now. Sadly, neither Lenovo nor Dell have provided the sort of competition we'd expect to see from them. That may be due to the fact that this market is too small for several players.

The Z1 family was possibly brought to the market in order to compete with, or at least provide an alternative to the Apple iMac which doesn't utilise the same sort of professional-grade components.

Using a mixture of laptop components (memory and 2.5-inch storage solutions) combined with a desktop CPU is an interesting alternative which we'd like others to explore, even in the laptop segment.

For now, the Z1 G3 remains the only viable option if you are looking for a transportable workstation with an all-in-one form factor.

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