End effect: HP has introduced a new 3-in-1 device that mimics the functionality of a tablet, laptop and desktop in a hybrid form factor. It’s a nice concept, but one that is almost certainly marred by excessive pricing.
The HP Specter Foldable PC features a 17-inch 2.5K OLED foldable touchscreen (1920 x 2560 resolution) that operates at up to 500 nits brightness in HDR (standard 400 nits). When fully opened, the system functions as a 17-inch tablet. Unfold the built-in stand, turn it on its side, and you’re in desktop mode.
Rotate the screen 90 degrees, fold it in half and add the magnetic keyboard on top of the bottom half to switch to standard laptop mode with a 12.3-inch screen size. Sliding the keyboard down activates One and a Half Mode (an extended screen mode) and opens Windows Snap with HP Customizations.
The HP hybrid is powered by Intel’s Core i7-1250U, a 10-core chip with a dozen threads. It comes with Intel Iris Xe Graphics, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM (onboard) and a 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe SSD. The Specter Folding features four speakers with Bang & Olufsen audio, a 5-megapixel webcam, up to 12.5 hours of battery life, and a solid selection of I/O ports. Windows 11 is preinstalled ex works, and the wireless Bluetooth keyboard is also included in the scope of delivery.
The device measures 277.05 mm x 376.1 mm x 8.5 mm (10.9 in x 14.8 in x 0.33 in) when unfolded and weighs 1,354 grams (2.99 pounds) without the Bluetooth keyboard or 1,624 grams (3.58 pounds).
The HP Specter Foldable PC is available for Pre-order Available today at Best Buy for an eye-watering $4,999.99 and will be available in limited quantities directly from HP in October. The sky-high asking price is impossible to ignore, especially when you consider that competitors like Lenovo and Asus have previously offered similar concepts for thousands less. Additionally, the fact that they are only being produced in limited numbers suggests that HP doesn’t expect them to sell very many units.