HP Elite X2 1012 G2 ( a rookie review)

[ray963]

Hello everybody, since I didn’t see any review on this awesome device I decided to write one.
And it is not a professional review so bear with me

Points to consider:
I was waiting for the SP2017 LTE but since the backlight bleeding problem that I returned the SP4 for, I decided to look for other alternative and voilà, here I am with the HP
Naturally I will be comparing it to the SP2017 specs wise and to SP4 experience wise.

Quick specs overview:
Intel Core i7-7600U
Intel HD Graphics 620
1024 GB 2280 PCIe-3x4 NVMe TLC
16 GB RAM
HP lt4132 LTE/HSPA+ 4G Mobile Broadband Module
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 8265 802.11a/b/g/n/ac (2x2) WiFi and Bluetooth 4.2 Combo
Wacom pen Pressure sensitivity 2048 levels
USB Type-C
USB Type-A
IR Camera
Fingerprint sensor










First impression: WOOOOOW (it looks and feel premium)

Postive:

> Price: 2750 euro for the top model (it was the first one to be available online) which includes pen + keyboard
> Warranty: 3 years (at the moment I’m in Germany) against 1 year for the SP2017 (I was surprised since normally all devices sold in Europe come with 2 years warranty).
> Charging: damn fast, will try to come out with an exact number and update the post.
> Keyboard: loving it, typing is a joy and I love the metal finishing, the back is covered with synthetic leather like material, it feels that it was built to withstand abuse.
It comes with two backlight adjustments.
(I am struggling with the German layout)

> Fan: I love vent location but it is also not loud and doesn’t turn on that often.
> USB-C: Not really a positive for me at the moment but I know it is (eGPU).
> LTE: needs no explanation. Unfortunately, still searching for a good data plan (hilfe!!)
> Fingerprint scanner: also needs no explanation. Love that it’s on the device not on the keyboard as in the SP (piece of an advice, add the same fingerprint twice or three time to improve the performance) (so it will read it from the first try).
> Camera Flash: so I can find my way to bed without bumping my toe.

Negative:

> Screen: while it is bright enough for those times when sunrays hit your screen, I was disappointed because there was a slight backlight bleeding in a certain area that I didn’t notice at first, but I saw it a couples of days ago. (I will call to get a replacement this weekend)
> Software related issues: The WIFI driver stopped working 4 times since I got the device and the Bluetooth drive once, today actually, both resolved by a restart.

Neither a positive nor a negative:

> Speakers: First impression was like NOOOOOOOOOOooooooo, but now I don’t know why I was so disappointed. But I wouldn’t give them a full 10.
> Battery life: it really depends on screen brightness in my opinion. It will last around 6 hours with brightness set to brighter (not brightest or suggested) opened programs during that time are: Firefox + 4 MS word files + onenote +drawPDF + dictionary app +signal app + Surface mouse connected + Bluetooth headphone connected + using the pen.
> The kickstand: I love it, seems durable, did I say that I really love it!!
> Pen: I am loving it, was pissed at first since the pen setting in windows setting weren’t working for me until I noticed there was a Wacom setting program where I switched the control over to Windows.
> Device performance: I can’t give an answer since I don’t use any power-demanding software but daily use is different from person to another so…
> SD slot: standard.
> Infrared camera: standard for Windows Hello.

Personal positive point: Battery can be replaced easily (batteries get weak with time, and maybe they release a better battery). And the whole device is easy to repair.

I hope I covered most of the points.
If anyone one has a question feel free to ask, but I can be a bit slow to reply.

I forgot to say that I have been using the device for 14 days now.
and I can't upload more pics, I guess there is a daily limit!! will try again tomorrow.

If you want me to benchmark the device then let me know which program to use.
Hope I helped:smile:.

 

[Henrik Becker]

This is literally the first review for this machine I could find.

I just returned a nSP i5/8Gig/256SSD this week. It was slow as heck, probably a faulty unit. I also wasn't as pleased as I thought with the kickstand and the vulnerability of the magnesium body caught me off guard (takes scratches like crazy, a real turnoff that I didn't read about anywhere).

So now I'm thinking... maybe get this Elite x2. Better keyboard, more durable build, comparable specs and screen. Also the fast-charging options seems great, the SP took forever to charge.

I'm a little anxious about the fan noise. The SP had no fan, which I thought was excellent. Did it come on fast, or did you not even notice it?

 

[ray963]

Unfortunately, I can't upload the rest of the photos since when I try to do so nothing show up, anyway.
@Henrik Becker
To simply answer your question... No it doesn't come on fast and when it does, it's quiet.

In details: simply using the device for browsing doesn't make the fan to come on.
When using the device as I described in the first post, it do come on but it's not noticeable, i.e. you won't consciously hear it except if you are listening carefully to what is going on.

I will try again tonight to see if I can hear it to the point of annoyance, and I report back. But so far it's pretty quiet.

 

[worldspy99]

Thanks for doing a review with some nice pics!

For additional pictures maybe see if you can drop the resolution a bit - there is a size limit.
Also you can split pictures up into multiple posts - like 3 per post.
If they get stuck in moderation queue, I am sure moderators will approve it quickly.

 

[ray963]

okay, I had to crop the photos to reduce their size (thanks @worldspy99 ).. so here are the rest







The last pic show the slight back-light bleeding i mentioned before ( already in the process of replacing it)
and the photo may show many light bleeding spots but with the naked eye, you can only see the one in the right top corner.
@Henrik Becker
I played some games to make the fan come on.. I can hear the fan but it is still quiet. And since your quiet definition may be different from mine, I recorded the fan when it was running at max
once approx. 18cm away from the screen and another 2cm away from the fan vent opening (the exist one)

for reference, I used an Xperia XZ phone to record.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nvFauFe4rcblg2V01qYlpOZTg/view?usp=drivesdk
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1nvFauFe4rcdzV6dmRDOW94bXc/view?usp=drivesdk

hope that helped :smile: .

 

[Henrik Becker]

Yup, that actually does help! Thanks for the effort man.

I consder that level of fan noise to be totally acceptable for gaming / heavy tasks. It's just that I don't want to hear a fan when sitting on the couch watching Netflix or somesuch.

In any case, actually getting one of these is a huge problem over here. HP is unresponsive, suppliers don't have it... considering there are also no reviews, I've decided to give the Surface Pro another run for its money.

Your review helped me make that decision though.

 

[Thommo]

Hi,

Thanks for the amazing review. As mentioned it is the only one that seems to have surfaced so far. Thanks for all your details so far.

I was wondering if you have tried charging the device with any third party charges or batteries? HP have had a history of limiting capability here, combined with different companies seeming to implement USB-C Power Delivery slightly differently.

I am hoping that this device can be charged using an Anker PowerCore+ 26800 USB-C with Power Delivery. I use it with my MacBook Pro and it works great, but I want to switch to this device for corporate use.

Also, I have not seen one of these in the wild, how wide are the bezels on the device? Bigger / Smaller than the Surface Pro?

Thanks,

Thommo

 

[ray963]

@Henrik Becker
Glad that I helped, good luck with your choice.

@Thommo

Glad that you found the review amazing .

For the first question you asked, I don't find any reason why it won't work, unfortunately I didn't try that so I can't give you a feedback on the matter.... BUT a quick search on Amazon, and you will find (according to the reviews) your exact power-bank working well with HP Spectra 2017 but taking longer time to fully charge.

As for the bezels, they are bigger than the surface pro ( before I bought the device, I wrote down both devices dimension and draw them on a paper to compare).... HP was approx. the same size of an A4 paper, SP was a bit smaller.
Bottom line: screen sizes are the same, a bit bigger bezels on the HP but nothing to be bothered from(personally)

Here is the HP dimensions
299.72 x 213.36 x 7.62 mm (11.8 x 8.4 x 0.3 in)

SP 2017
11.5” x 7.9” x 0.33” (292 mm x 201 mm x 8.5 mm)

Glad to help.

 

[KrayMat]

Thanks for this... I'm considering this to replace my SP4 for work and am finding zero reviews; even HP's site doesn't have much on the G2. I use my sp4 with an MS dock as my primary machine for work, but then also take it home/to meetings. I really wanted LTE in my next device, so I'm waiting on SP2017 w/LTE, but I read it will only be available in up to i5/8GB models; because of that and no usb-c, I'm looking at HP. Have you tried a USB-C dock with it? I'm considering HP's 90W thunderbolt dock or HP's advanced wireless dock which I'm skeptical about.

After a few months are you still as impressed?

 

[ray963]

@KrayMat

sorry for the late reply,
As for your first question, I won't know since I am always on the move so there is no need for a dock for me right now but I am planning to get the thunderbolt dock you mentioned above. I know about it because it was recommended by the sales person I talked to when I was asking about the device.

Second question;
Yes I am still impressed but there are a few things that bothers me

- The power button is kinda close to the volume button.
- The preset brightness levels are not well spaced. ( I don't like using auto brightness because it's a bit slow to adjust)
- Speakers are not loud enough (in an outside sitting e.g. park) but I think it depend on what are you playing..
Because when I play music using Groove, it is loud enough but when doing so from YouTube will give you a quieter speakers.

Other than that, I am pretty satisfied with the device, and the replacement device that I got have no back-light bleeding so YaY, but the most thing I like about this device is the fast charging feature.

I honestly wonder why a lot of people don't know about this device!

Anyway, as usual I hope that I helped.
best of luck.