HP’s new Spectre x360 14 laptop has a 3:2 aspect ratio plus a Thunderbolt 4 port hiding in the corner

Hewlett-Packard (HP) has just announced several new laptops, including the Spectre x360 14 convertible, which brings some notable improvements compared to its already-impressive 13-inch predecessor: a 3:2 aspect ratio display, a 16 percent larger touchpad, quad speakers, and a Thunderbolt 4 port located in one of its diamond-shaped corners so you can plug in your all-in-one cable for charging, data, external monitors and peripherals even if the back or sides of the machine are blocked. There is also a physical button you can press on the keyboard to block the webcam. The three-pound HP Spectre x360 14 is equipped with Intel’s latest 11th Gen “Tiger Lake” processors, specifically up to a quad-core 28W Intel Core i7-1165G7 with Intel’s Xe integrated graphics onboard.

The new HP laptop should be up to 34 percent faster than 2019’s Spectre x360 13 model. More impressively, it is the first Spectre to include a 3:2 aspect ratio display with 20 percent more vertical real estate than the 16:9 screens before. One of the biggest annoyances with its 13-inch predecessor was its 16:9 display. HP claims the new laptop is its most intelligent PC ever.

HP claims the Spectre can detect when it is in a bag, and use Intel’s Dynamic Tuning to avoid the battery draining or overheating. The x360 14 also includes AI Noise Removal, which is supposed to eliminate background noise from communication apps like Microsoft Teams and Zoom, and there is an Auto Color feature that can automatically switch the screen’s color space between DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, and sRGB to theoretically make sure you are looking at the most accurate colors. HP is claiming up to 17 hours of battery life, but as little as 10 on the i7/OLED model.

The HP Spectre x360 14 starts at $1,199.

Dell also has a 2-in-1 convertible touchscreen variant. HP’s 13-inch Spectre x360 is also sticking around, with the company announcing a refresh that adds some of the same Intel 11th Gen CPUs and up to 16.5 hours of battery life, which would actually be lower than 2019’s model. The updated Spectre x360 13 will start at $1,199 as well, though there is also an 4K OLED option that is sure to be far pricier and harder on the battery life, as well as a 5G variant of the Spectre x360 13 which is launching sometime early 2021.

Both Spectres offer pen support, and it looks like some models of the Spectre 14 will come with one in the box. HP’s cheaper Envy x360 13 is also getting an 11th Gen Intel CPU refresh. It will also have a fancy Sure View screen option like HP’s excellent but expensive Elite Dragonfly, where you can press a button to activate a privacy filter. HP also sells a traditional clamshell laptop called the Envy 13, which will also now be equipped with 11th Gen Intel processors.

It will stick with the same 88 percent screen-to-body ratio as the last refresh, which is two percent less than its competitor the ASUS ZenBook 14 UX425EA. The Envy x360 13 will start at $949.99 and the Envy 13 at $899.99, though the 5G version of the x360 13 is not coming until early 2021. They will all offer Wi-Fi 6 support.