HP Envy x2 (Qualcomm) Review
- Paul Thurrott
- Apr 25, 2018
-
83
The HP Envy x2 represents a brave new world for Windows PCs with its always-on connectivity and mobile device-based hardware platform. But it falls short in too many ways and will disappoint the typical PC user.
Understanding this product
In my review-check-in Taking Stock, I explained how I had come full circle on the HP Envy x2 after answering—for both myself and others—some key questions about the underlying platform. And that my conclusion was to use the PC in the way in which the platform makers—in this case, Microsoft, Qualcomm, and HP—intended.
Windows Intelligence In Your Inbox
Sign up for our new free newsletter to get three time-saving tips each Friday — and get free copies of Paul Thurrott's Windows 11 and Windows 10 Field Guides (normally $9.99) as a special welcome gift!
"*" indicates required fields
That was the wrong conclusion. I apologize.
We should never have to contort ourselves—in this case, how we get work done, or how we use a familiar PC design—because the product itself is limited. Instead, technology should make our lives better, more efficient. And this where the Envy x2—really, the entire Windows 10 on ARM platform—fails us.
I elaborated on this issue more in The Problem with Windows 10 on ARMÂ (Premium). But for you non-Premium members in the audience, let me just say this: While Windows 10 on ARM is, in some ways, a technological marvel, the performance and compatibility issues are far too problematic for PC users. This platform is wrong for traditional PCs.
As Microsoft positions it, Windows 10 on ARM is its attempt to bring the legacy Windows code base to a newer, more mobile-focused hardware platform. In doing so, Windows 10 benefits from ARM’s integrated cellular connectivity, stellar battery life, and weeks-long standby times, helping the system behave somewhat like a smartphone.
Microsoft has been down this road before, of course: Windows RT was a previous attempt at bringing Windows, in that case, Windows 8, to ARM. But it suffered from two fundamental stumbling blocks: The performance was terrible and it could not run traditional Windows desktop applications.
The performance of Windows 10 on ARM is likewise terrible. But this system partially solves the second problem thanks to a Microsoft-created software emulator. That is, Windows 10 on ARM can run Windows desktop applications. But it can only run 32-bit desktop applications. 64-bit apps, like Adobe Photoshop and many others, will never run on Windows 10 on ARM. Neither will software drivers that require an Intel-compatible chipset. (Note that all software drivers require this.)
The issue is that the types of customers who might otherwise be drawn to one of these PCs will not understand which software will and will not work. It’s basically a game of whack-a-mole where you just pray for the best. But you will be disappointed: I ran into all kinds of unexpected roadblocks here.
So the question emerges: Does Windows 10 on ARM make any sense at all?
My conclusion is that, no, it does not. And that somewhat renders the rest of this review somewhat moot. Which is too bad, because the Envy x2 is, in fact, a beautiful and elegant device.
The Envy brand
HP has, perhaps, a few too many premium PC brands in its stable and you may wonder how/where the Envy fits into the scheme of things.
I think of Envy as a cross-over, if you will, from a branding perspective. Which means that Envy-branded devices fall beneath HP’s premium Spectre (consumer) and Elite (business) products, and above their more mainstream brands like Pavilion.
From what I can see, this positioning results in the proverbial sweet spot. That is, Envy brings enough style and new technology from HP’s truly premium brands to please virtually anyone. And it does so at price points that a far bigger audience can afford.
For the x2 in particular, the Envy positioning is smart: This device is too underpowered to be a Spectre or Elite product, but it has a beautiful industrial design that elevates it above the mainstream.
Design
The HP Envy x2 is a wonderfully thin and light portable tablet PC with a 2-in-1 design. It very clearly targets Apple’s 10.5-inch iPad Pro, and is an alternative to the low-end (Core m3) version of Microsoft’s Surface Pro.
And from a design standpoint, it holds up well in these comparisons. This is an elegant and professional-looking device.
With its type cover attached, the HP Envy x2 lands at just 0.6 inches (15.29 mm) thick and 2.67 pounds. That is just a bit thicker and heavier than an iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard cover, but it provides far more versatility: The HP’s keyboard cover is included, and not an added cost, and it covers the entire device when closed (the Smart Keyboard leaves the back of the iPad Pro exposed). It also provides for multiple screen angles, where the Smart Keyboard provides just one, and two keyboard angles where, again, iPad gets just one, flat. And, it includes a glass touchpad where no such capability is available on the Apple device.
I described the Envy x2 as a 2-in-1 because the type cover is included with the device. Truth be told, it’s really just a tablet: You can easily—perhaps a bit too easily—detach the tablet part from the keyboard cover and use it with the HP Pen, which is also included in the cost of the device. (Again, unlike iPad Pro, where an Apple Pencil is a $100 extra.)
By itself, the tablet is elegant, thin (.27 inches) and light (1.54 pounds), and would work well with the HP Pen if it wasn’t so laggy. It’s made of a single piece of CNC-machined aluminum with a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass display, and it has proven to be stiff and durable during my usage. There are no fans, thanks to the Qualcomm chipset, and thus no fan noise or excessive heat. It would be a joy to use if it weren’t for the performance issues.
Display
The Envy x2’s 12.3-inch IPS display is both right-sized for the device and of excellent quality, with a nice 1920 x 1280 resolution and ideal 3:2 aspect ratio, both of which make plenty of sense for a device of this kind. It supports both multi-touch and smartpen capabilities, of course. And it is very bright, with deep colors and sharp text.
There’s no real bad news from a display perspective, but the bezels are a bit big on all sides. I’ve found that to be typical for 2-in-1s and tablets these days.
Components and ports
The Envy x2 is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, a 10 nm System on a Chip (SoC) platform that is designed primarily for smartphones and incorporates Adreno 540 graphics, 2×2 802.11ac wireless, Bluetooth 5, and a speedy X16 LTE modem. Most Envy x2s will ship with 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD. But the review unit came with a more acceptable 8 GB of RAM, plus a 256 GB SSD. I would never buy a Windows PC with less than 8 GB of RAM.
As I noted in my performance check-in, system performance ranges from acceptable to laughably bad, and this is the first modern PC I’ve used that reminded me of a netbook in this regard. No, that is not a compliment.
General UX browsing is fine, and most Store apps seem to run acceptably well. But desktop application performance—including the performance of desktop Store apps like Word 2016 and the rest of Office—is unacceptable. The issue there, of course, is Microsoft’s x86-to-ARM emulation software: Since the underlying platform is completely different from that of the applications you want to run, there’s a performance hit.
While it’s not completely fair to use a performance benchmark to make my performance point, I feel that this one is relevant: My normal video encoding test, in which I convert a 4K video called Tears of Steel to 1080p, took an incredible 2:13:44 to complete on the Envy x2. By comparison, the 2017 Surface Pro took about an hour less time, at 1:41:27. Quad-core CPU-based modern PCs like the ThinkPad X1 Carbon are even faster; the PC finished this test in just 1:21.
The good news? Thanks to the efficient design of the Snapdragon 835, the Envy x2 requires no cooling fans and it runs silently. I never noticed any real heat of any kind either.
From a ports perspective, the Envy x2 offers a minimalist approach with a single USB-C port that’s used for both power and expansion, a microSD card tray, and a proprietary keyboard cover connector.
There’s also a combo audio jack that is correctly located on the bottom right of the device when used in landscape mode with the keyboard cover.
(The USB-C port does not provide Thunderbolt 3 capabilities, but I feel that is acceptable for a device of this class.)
The Envy x2 also includes two cameras, a 13 MP rear-facing camera and a 5 MP front-facing unit, plus a Windows Hello-compatible IR camera on the front.
Connectivity
Since always-on connectivity is one of the primary benefits of any Always Connected PC, it should come as no surprise that the HP Envy x2 excels in this area. As I noted in my connectivity check-in, the PC provides a Qualcomm Snapdragon X16 cellular modem that supports Category 16 LTE-Advanced at speeds of up 1 Gbps, at least theoretically. However, as of this writing, the modem is limited to about 450 Mbps of download bandwidth. (HP says the download speed will improve with firmware updates over time, however.)
I’ve never achieved speeds like that in about a month of usage using T-Mobile via my Project Fi data SIM, at least to my knowledge. But switching between Wi-Fi and LTE is, at least, fairly seamless and I’ve not been bothered by any egregious pop-up warnings as I’d feared.
And not that it matters, but the way that the Envy x2 works with LTE is no different than how any cellular-equipped Windows 10 PC works. There is nothing special or unique about the software interfaces.
Beyond cellular, the Envy x2 provides the expected 2×2 802.11ac wireless and Bluetooth 5 capabilities, courtesy of a Qualcomm WCN3990 chipset. I never experienced any connectivity issues.
Keyboard, touchpad, and pen
The included keyboard cover is excellent and is roughly comparable to Microsoft’s Surface Pro Type Covers, even though it is made with a cheaper faux-leather polyurethane material. But I like it: It seems durable and doesn’t pick up stains, and is in keeping with the Envy brands low-end premium vibe.
It’s also really versatile: You can use the keyboard flat on the table or tilt it up against the bottom of the screen, as you can with Surface Pro (and can’t with iPad Pro’s Smart Keyboard).
It also provides a new kickstand design that lets you angle the display itself between 110 degrees and 150 degrees, so you can find the most comfortable orientation. The iPad Pro with Smart Keyboard only provides one viewing angle for the display.
But the keyboard cover suffers from two inconveniences. It’s not terribly lappable, a problem shared by Surface Pro and other 2-in-1 designs. And because it attaches in a weird, non-standard way, and with magnets, it’s awkward to open and can separate from the tablet if you are holding it wrong.
As for the keyboard itself, it is backlit and surprisingly good, with an excellent 1.3 mm of key travel and a solid typing feel. Like any typing cover of this kind, there is, of course, a bit of flex, especially if you are a heavy typist like me. But it’s minimal and I had no issues cranking out text.
The glass touchpad is likewise excellent and is refreshingly right-sized, in my opinion, given the push to ever-bigger touchpads these days. No issues there either.
The HP Pen is less successful: It works pretty well for taking notes, which I’d imagine is its number one use case on this device. But those with artistic aspirations should look elsewhere: As I noted in my HP Pen check-in, the performance is laggy enough to be disruptive.
Portability
You won’t find a more agreeable PC from a portability perspective: The Envy x2 is thin and light, but doesn’t skimp on display size or quality, or on the keyboard and pointing experiences.
Best of all, the battery life is phenomenal: As I first reported in my battery life check-in, the real-world battery life of this PC is almost exactly what HP promised. I saw 19:55 in my most recent test.
The standby time is as impressive, if less easy to quantify. But I’m seeing weeks of standby time for sure, with the battery life only slowly declining day after day of disuse, thanks to the Snapdragon 835’s power-sipping efficiency cores.
Is this a major real-world advantage? I’m honestly not sure. If smartphones have taught us anything, it’s the value of charging these devices each night. Keeping a PC charged is not that onerous.
Software
The Envy x2 ships Windows 10 S version 1709, though I expect the PC to eventually come with Windows 10 Pro version 1803 in S mode; regardless, I upgraded it to Pro like anyone else would.
The PC ships with crapware from both Microsoft and HP, which is unfortunate. On the HP side, we see unnecessary apps like Phototastic Collage, Priceline.com, and a few others, but HP’s normal first-party utilities are nowhere to be seen, no doubt because they are Win32 desktop applications that will not work in S mode. Drivers and system updates are instead delivered through the Store, as is the case with Surface PCs. I prefer that.
The bigger software story, of course, is compatibility. And as I wrote in my compatibility check-in, it’s not a good story: The Envy x2 can run any 32-bit Store or (once you’ve switched out of Windows 10 S) desktop application, but it cannot run any 64-bit apps. Worse, it cannot install any normal x86/x64 drivers, which is a cute way of saying that it cannot install any drivers. That is a huge limitation.
Worse, it’s an unknown: You won’t know when you download an application or utility from the Internet whether it will even work. And the nonsensical error messages that Windows provides don’t help in the slightest.
Pricing and configurations
HP offers two versions of the Qualcomm-powered Envy x2. The base version, for $999, includes 4 GB of RAM and a 128 GB SSD. For $1299, you can upgrade to a version with 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD. Looking at HP’s website today, however, I only see one model offered, the base unit, and it’s out of stock. That may be for the best.
Recommendations and conclusions
Despite its thin, light, and pretty industrial design, the HP Envy x2 addresses a potential market so small that it may, in fact, be imaginary. This device strikes all the wrong compromises, and I believe that most potential customers would prefer and be much better served by a PC that offered normal performance and compatibility with half the battery life and standby time of the Envy x2.
This isn’t HP’s fault, of course. And the PC giant did what it could to overcome the inherent limitations of the platform. But the performance and compatibility problems are very real, and with HP and other PC makers offering Intel-based Always Connected PCs too, there is no need to compromise on what really matters.
Put simply, I cannot recommend the HP Envy x2 or any other Qualcomm-based Always Connected PC at this time.
At-a-glance
Pros
- Stellar battery life
- Weeks of standby
- Premium style and materials
- The upgrade to Windows 10 Pro is free
Cons
- Netbook-class performance
- Compatibility issues
- Slightly laggy HP Pen
- Cover and kickstand can be awkward
Tagged with
Conversation 83 comments
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266320"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think fashion conscious Windows users buy a macbook and run Windows on it. There's not a lot of bragging rights associated with Windows PCs. </p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266858"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>I guess I'm not a connoisseur of laptops, they all look about the same to me. Besides, at some point you reach the age where you don't care what the other kids think – you're just there to work.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266304"><em>In reply to Simard57:</em></a></blockquote><p>Of course people understand that high-powered applications or high-performance games may require resources beyond what is typically available "out of the box" for average systems. The difference is that those issues can often be addressed by adding more RAM or a better graphics card. There's no upgrade path to allow applications to run on a Windows on ARM PC with an OS that wasn't designed to run those applications.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266413"><em>In reply to Simard57:</em></a></blockquote><p>It depends. Obviously the super-thin laptops aren't usually upgradable but many average sized laptops are.</p>
-
Stooks
<blockquote><a href="#266065"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>"My next laptop MUST be able to charge off of the same cable my phone does"</p><p><br></p><p>Are you serious or being sarcastic? That is your requirement? Always is great but not great when whatever you do with it sucks because of lack of apps or horrible performance in emulation.</p><p><br></p><p>If all you are doing is using a web browser then a Chromebook is probably your best option.</p><p><br></p><p>I only use laptops so they are 15inch (2 Macbooks and 1 Thinkpad) and they are maxed out. The Thinkpad stays at work and I only use it when I need Windows. I have a newer Macbook Pro (2017) that goes with me everywhere (work/home/vacation/training/industry events etc). It replaced my 2013 Macbook Pro that is now my home only Macbook that is docked at my home office most of the time. It is still in fantastic condition.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266065"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>I try to avoid broad generalizations but I feel fairly safe saying that you're probably the only computer user on earth who considers being able to charge off of the same cable as your phone as a "make or break" requirement for buying a PC.</p><p><br></p><p>The fact that you differentiate between what you do on and off the road suggests that you operate multiple computers as part of your work which also indicates your deviation from the average user.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266319"><em>In reply to JG1170:</em></a></blockquote><p>Road warriors or not, I think many people don't want to buy two PCs when they can buy one that does all they need. If battery life is a big issue, smartphones are adequate "plan B" devices for consumption, email etc. It's really at the point where people try to use smartphones to replace full Windows, that they become inadequate. IMO smartphones are worthy competitors to Windows on ARM in a way that they can't compete with full Windows PCs.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266658"><em>In reply to digiguy:</em></a></blockquote><p>So basically four non-smartphone computers. Hardly a mainstream user.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266415"><em>In reply to Simard57:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think the more common solution for this use case is to have a single laptop that you use at your desk and that you bring along when you travel. </p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266089"><em>In reply to Chris_Kez:</em></a></blockquote><p>I think the problem is that the price of laptops aren't really dominated by the CPU price. At the low end, the price for a laptop has pretty much reached a minimum regardless of CPU or OS.</p>
-
Stooks
<p>Did anyone seriously think this Windows 10 on ARM inititiative was going to get any serious traction?? </p><p><br></p><p>The store and its lack of apps has been a problem for all ARM based devices running Windows (Phone/RT/This thing) and in general is a failure for UWP on x86 CPU's. With out lots of native ARM based Windows 10 apps it will fail. Failure is only enhanced by the fact that emulation on any platform takes a performance hit. Emulation on a lower powered ARM chip was doomed from day one.</p><p><br></p><p>I am not trying to be super negative but for the love of god the writing was on the wall from day one. My first thoughts were "Why in the heck are they going down this track again". The only real selling point was 20+ hours of battery life. Well good laptops x86 will give 9+ already and Android/iOS hardware will give you many hours as well, effectively nuliffying the battery life advantage.</p>
-
dontbe evil
<blockquote><a href="#266088"><em>In reply to Stooks:</em></a></blockquote><p><br></p><p>yes but not now, we need to wait at least sd855 and more sw porting to arm or native uwp</p><p><br></p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266094"><em>In reply to dontbe_evil:</em></a></blockquote><p>MS has already failed to convince most developers to port their programs to UWP and unless they can demonstrate a significant market share for Windows on ARM PCs, native ARM will suffer the same fate. </p>
-
skane2600
<p>IMO the fundamental problem with WoA is that it isn't really Windows as millions of Microsoft's customers understand it. I haven't read anything to suggest that it's a porting of the full set of Windows APIs and underlying operating system resources merely ported to ARM. </p><p><br></p><p>The emulator portion itself is more the answer to the question "Can you create an emulator that can run most 32-bit applications on ARM without regard to performance?" than it is a product that most Windows customers would find useful. The game of whack-a-mole that Paul described is a relic of the early days of IBM PC compatibles and simply not acceptable to users 30 years later. </p><p><br></p><p>Except for using "Windows" as part of the name "RT" was a more honest product, An ARM-based OS implementation that couldn't (or didn't allow, depending on what you believe) run existing Windows programs.</p><p><br></p><p><br></p><p><br></p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266218"><em>In reply to SupaPete:</em></a></blockquote><p>I don't think this multiple PC scenario is common enough to support a viable product.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266297"><em>In reply to SupaPete:</em></a></blockquote><p>I do think the smartphone/PC combo is common, but not so much PC/PC combo.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266220"><em>In reply to SupaPete:</em></a></blockquote><p>It would be very strange if they could demonstrate a better emulation experience in December of 2016 then they were able to deliver in March of 2018. But even if that unlikely scenario was the case, it would still be a deception.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266324"><em>In reply to SupaPete:</em></a></blockquote><p>I'm well aware of pre-release fakery since I was involved in some as far back as 1981, but usually once the product is actually released its performance is as good as it's ever going to be. </p><p><br></p><p>Microsoft had 15 months between the demo and the release of the product which is a lot of time to make the emulation as good as they could (and, of course, the emulation effort started well before then). There's only so much optimization one can do and the returns diminish rapidly.</p>
-
sprewell
<blockquote><a href="#266296"><em>In reply to Simard57:</em></a></blockquote><p>There's a lot of FUD on this site and elsewhere about this. <a href="https://www.thurrott.com/forums/microsoft/mobile/thread/windows-on-arm#255045" target="_blank">My own benchmark found it to be about equivalent to a mid-range core i5</a>, the 5250U, which was released two years before, when running software compiled for the ARM64 chip. The key is how much software is compiled for WoA, which this review doesn't clear up either. Of course the emulated x86 apps are slower, but that isn't the medium-term usecase for this platform, more a stopgap for legacy code.</p><p><br></p><p>The surest sign that Windows is dead will be if it fails on ARM, as all those clouding the issue on ARM performance in this thread and elsewhere seem to want.</p>
-
skane2600
<blockquote><a href="#266723"><em>In reply to sprewell:</em></a></blockquote><p>"The surest sign that Windows is dead will be if it fails on ARM"</p><p><br></p><p>And you base this on what? Windows might die sometime in the future, but I don't see what ARM support has to do with it. Unless, of course, Microsoft foolishly puts all it's eggs in the ARM basket.</p>
