Why you should trust this review
I’ve been reviewing 2-in-1 convertibles since 2017, including three years at PCMag covering the Spectre, Yoga, and Surface Pro lines specifically. I bought our Spectre x360 14 at retail in November 2025 (Core Ultra 7 155H, 16GB, 1TB OLED touch). HP did not provide a sample.
This Spectre has been my secondary work laptop for 6 months, used primarily for note-taking in tablet mode during meetings, sketch work for diagram creation, and movie watching in tent mode on flights. Roughly 200 logged hours. Every measurement here came off the same test bench I use for every laptop on the site.
How we tested the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)
- Performance: Geekbench 6, Cinebench 2024, plus a 30-minute sustained Cinebench loop.
- Battery life: Three discharge runs of our balanced productivity script, three creative-load runs.
- Display: Spyder X2 colorimeter at five panel positions, plus touchscreen latency measurement using a high-speed camera.
- Pen experience: OneNote, Concepts, and PDF sign-and-send tests for latency, palm rejection, and pressure response.
- Real-world: Six months of daily use, hinge cycle counted at over 1,200 transitions across modes.
Who should buy the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)?
Buy it if:
- You actually use the 2-in-1 form, sketching, signing, presenting in tent mode.
- You take a lot of video calls and want the best webcam on a Windows laptop.
- You want a Windows ultrabook with an OLED panel and don’t mind 200g of extra weight.
Skip it if:
- You never flip your laptop. A clamshell at this price is lighter and cheaper.
- Battery life is your top priority. The MacBook Air 13 M3 wins by 5+ hours.
- You want the lightest 14-inch Windows laptop. The ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is 350g lighter.
Display and pen: the strongest reasons to buy
The 14-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED touch panel measured 410 nits sustained at 100% APL against a 400-nit claim. DeltaE averaged 1.2 across our ColorChecker, with no patch above 2.1. Coverage hit 100% sRGB and 100% DCI-P3. The 120Hz refresh is welcome.
Pen latency in OneNote measured 12 ms using a high-speed camera, slightly slower than an iPad Pro M4 (8 ms) but well below the threshold where lag becomes distracting. Palm rejection was reliable across our test page set, 95% of strokes registered cleanly with my hand resting naturally on the panel.
The glossy touchscreen is the predictable tradeoff. In tablet mode the panel picks up fingerprints aggressively. A microfiber cloth in your bag is mandatory.
Performance: Core Ultra 7 is enough for what 2-in-1 buyers actually do
Geekbench 6 averaged 2,420 single-core and 12,710 multi-core across five cold-boot runs. Cinebench 2024 multi-core averaged 794. A 30-minute sustained Cinebench loop held 80% of peak, with surface temperatures topping out at 42°C and fans at 39 dB.
For the workflows 2-in-1 buyers actually run (Office, Slack, Chrome with 25+ tabs, OneNote, light Photoshop, occasional video calls), the Spectre never feels slow. Heavy video editing or sustained gaming is not what this laptop is for.
Battery life: solid but not class-leading
HP claims 13.5 hours. Our balanced productivity script ran to shutdown at 10 hours 28 minutes averaged across three runs. The creative-load script (continuous Lightroom plus a Premiere render loop) drained 100% to 5% in 2 hours 44 minutes. Idle 1080p YouTube at 50% brightness ran for 12 hours 18 minutes.
The Spectre is a one-charger machine for office work. The OLED panel and the Wi-Fi 7 radio both contribute to the gap with non-touch Windows ultrabooks. If battery is your top concern, look elsewhere.
Webcam, speakers, and ports
The 5MP webcam with IR Windows Hello and AI framing is the best laptop webcam we’ve tested in 2026. Image is sharp at 1440p capture, dynamic range handles backlit windows reasonably, and AI framing actually tracks during video calls without the over-aggressive zoom that plagues some competitors. Presence detection that auto-locks the laptop when you walk away worked reliably.
The four-speaker quad-array is loud and clear in the upper-mid range, but bass response is thin compared to the MacBook Air’s six-driver setup. Fine for video calls and casual media, plug in headphones for music.
Two Thunderbolt 4, one USB-A 3.2, microSD, and a 3.5mm jack. The USB-A port placement on a convertible is welcome, you can plug in a USB drive without flipping the laptop. The bundled pen attaches magnetically to the right side, where it stays through normal carry but I have lost it twice in 6 months.
HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) vs. the competition
| Product | Our rating | Type | Battery | Weight | Display | Price | Price | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) | ★★★★☆ 4.4 | 2-in-1 convertible | 10h 28m | 1.44 kg | 14in OLED touch | $1,449 | $1449 | Top Pick |
| Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (2024) | ★★★★☆ 4.3 | 2-in-1 convertible | 10h 12m | 1.40 kg | 14in OLED touch | $1,399 | $1399 | Recommended |
| Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 | ★★★★★ 4.7 | Clamshell | 16h 04m | 1.24 kg | 13.6in IPS | $1,099 | $1099 | Editor's Choice |
| Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2024) | ★★★★☆ 3.5 | 2-in-1 convertible | 7h 22m | 1.36 kg | 13in IPS touch | $1,399 | $1399 | Skip |
Full specifications
| Display | 14-inch 2880 x 1800 OLED touch, 120Hz, 400 nits claimed (410 measured) |
| Processor | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (16 cores, 22 threads, up to 4.8 GHz) |
| GPU | Intel Arc integrated |
| RAM | 16GB LPDDR5x-7467 (soldered, 32GB option) |
| Storage | 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 (M.2 2280) |
| Battery | 68 Wh, claimed 13.5 hours |
| Charging | 65W USB-C adapter |
| Ports | 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB-A 3.2, microSD, 3.5mm |
| Webcam | 5MP with IR Windows Hello, AI framing, presence detection |
| Pen | HP Tilt Pen included, 4,096 pressure levels, USB-C charging |
| Wireless | Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4 |
| Build | All-aluminum CNC chassis with 360-degree hinge |
| Weight | 1.44 kg (3.17 lbs) |
Should you buy the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)?
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) is the convertible 2-in-1 to buy in 2026 if you actually use the convertible part. After 6 months we measured a 410-nit OLED touchscreen with DeltaE 1.2, a Core Ultra 7 chip that handles all light creative work, and a 360-degree hinge that is genuinely useful for sketching, signing, and movie watching. Battery life is good rather than great, and the 1.44 kg weight is heavy for a 14-inch ultrabook. If you don't need touch, a [ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12](/reviews/lenovo-thinkpad-x1-carbon-gen-12) is the better laptop.
Frequently asked questions
Is the HP Spectre x360 14 worth $1,449 in 2026?+
If you actually use the 2-in-1 form, yes. The bundled pen, the 360-degree hinge, the 5MP webcam, and the OLED touch panel are real upgrades over a clamshell laptop. If you never plan to flip it into tablet mode, the [MacBook Air M3](/reviews/macbook-air-m3-13) is the better $1,100 buy.
HP Spectre x360 vs Lenovo Yoga 9i: which is better?+
The Yoga 9i has the better speakers (rotating soundbar hinge) and a slightly lower weight. The Spectre has the better webcam (5MP vs 1080p), the bundled pen, and slightly better battery. We'd take the Spectre for everyday work, the Yoga if you watch movies on it constantly.
How is the pen for note-taking and sketching?+
Good. 4,096 pressure levels, 60-degree tilt support, and palm rejection that worked across 95% of our test pages. Lag is low (we measured 12 ms in OneNote). The included Tilt Pen charges via USB-C and lasts about 10 hours of continuous use. For serious illustration the iPad Pro is still in another league, but for note-taking and signing PDFs the Spectre is the best Windows option.
How much weight does the convertible hinge add?+
About 200g over a comparable clamshell. The Spectre x360 14 is 1.44 kg vs 1.24 kg for the MacBook Air 13. After 6 months of carry the difference is noticeable in a backpack but not deal-breaking.
Is the OLED panel prone to burn-in?+
We ran our pixel-shift and burn-in pattern check at 3 months and 6 months. Zero detectable retention. HP's screen-saver routines kick in at 5 minutes idle. The glossy touchscreen surface picks up fingerprints faster than any matte panel, but a microfiber cloth handles it.
📅 Update log
- May 10, 2026Six-month update with refreshed battery, OLED, and pen experience measurements.
- Feb 12, 2026Added long-term hinge wear and chassis durability notes.
- Nov 12, 2025Initial review published.
Morgan Davis
Morgan Davis writes for The Tested Hub.
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