HP Slatebook x2 Review - Battery Life and Verdict Review
Battery Life and Verdict
HP's Android tablet/laptop mash-up is no match for the Transformer Pad.
Sections
- Page 1 HP Slatebook x2 Review
- Page 2 Software and Performance Review
- Page 3 Camera Review
- Page 4 Battery Life and Verdict Review
HP Slatebook x2 – Battery Life
One of the real benefits of a convertible like the HP Slatebook x2 is the ability to ramp up staying power by offering battery from the tablet and the dock. HP claims you should be able to get 12 hours from both combined and around 6 hours just from the tablet.
Running a video on loop with the brightness on 50% and the Balanced Power battery setting disabled, the tablet manages just under the six-hour mark. That is still considerably less than the Nexus 10 and the Transformer Pad TF701T (12 hours) minus the dock.
Things, surprisingly, don’t really improve when you snap in the keyboard dock. The battery drains quickly and only really adds a couple of extra hours of battery life. An eight-hour battery life sounds good for a laptop and manages around the same as the Surface Pro 2, but when you compare it to the potential 17 hours you can get with the Transformer Pad Tf701T and standalone tablets like the iPad Air, it’s not that impressive given the extra weight the combination adds.
Should I buy the HP Slatebook x2?
In an already congested convertible market, the HP Slatebook X2 simply doesn’t do enough to stand out of the crowd. It does offer a good typing experience and the Tegra 4 innards means it’s fast, but there are plenty of nagging issues to raise. It’s pretty uninspiring to look at, the screen is not best in class and more disappointingly, the battery life is pretty average for a device of this kind.
You can get the 32GB Slatebook x2 for £380 but if you are sold on an Android tablet/laptop hybrid and can afford to spend a bit more, the Asus Transformer Pad TF701T (£430) is the better investment. It has the better specs, superior battery life and screen quality, and offers the same impressive Tegra 4-powered performance.
If you can live without the tablet and keyboard dock mash-up, meanwhile, you could grab the iPad Air (£399) and invest in a keyboard like the Logitech Ultrathin Keyboard Folio (£89.99) and you have yourself the best 10-inch tablet available right now with a similar typing experience. And if you set on an Android tablet, we suggest looking at our best Android tablet roundup.
Verdict
The HP Slatebook X2 is a powerful Tegra 4-powered Android convertible let down by an average battery life and disappointing screen. It’s not dreadful by any means, but there’s little here that makes it stand out.
How we test tablets
We test every tablet we review thoroughly. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly and we use the tablet as our main device over the review period. We’ll always tell you what we find and we never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Trusted Score
Score in detail
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Performance 7
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Value 6
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Design 6
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Sound Quality 6
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Screen Quality 6
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Battery Life 6
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Build Quality 7
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
