HP is now taking pre-orders for its first Windows 10 PC powered by an ARM-based processor. And as expected, it’s not cheap.

The HP Envy x2 with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of UFS storage is selling for $1000 and it’s expected to ship by March 9th, 2018.

The 2-in-1 tablet features a 12.3 inch, 1920 x 1280 pixel display, a 49.33 Wh battery, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, a USB 3.1 Type-C port, a headset jack, and a nano SIM card reader for connecting to 4G networks.

It has Bang & Olufsen sound, stereo speakers, a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP front camera, and a 3-microphone array, a microSD card slot, and a detachable backlit keyboard.

The tablet measures 11.5″ x 8.3″ x 0.27″ and weighs just over 1.5 pounds, and HP says it offers up to 22 hours of battery life (under ideal conditions), or up to 19 hours of run time while playing full HD videos with the screen brightness at 150 nits and the audio level at 50 percent.

The key thing that makes this machine unusual is that it’ll be one of the first (nearly) full-fledged Windows PCs with an ARM processor. It’s a little thinner and lighter than another HP Envy x2 model that will feature an Intel chip, but the Snapdragon-powered model is expected to offer longer battery life.

It’s also an “always connected PC,” which means that you can get smartphone-like instant-on functionality and continue to receive notifications and other updates even when the screen is off… assuming you’re connected to a WiFi or mobile broadband network.

HP will ship the Envy x2 with Windows 10 S, but you can upgrade to Windows 10 Pro for free. Just keep in mind that doing so will let you run many Win32 applications, but Windows 10 on ARM does have a number of limitations. Among other things, doesn’t support x64 applications or those that rely on recent versions of OpenGL,.

If the $1000 price tag for the new HP Envy x2 with a Snapdragon 835 processor seems high, then a) you’re probably not the target market and/or b) you might want to keep an eye out for other Windows on ARM devices.

The Asus NovaGo convertible notebook with a Snapdragon 835 processor is expected to sell for $599, while Lenovo’s Miix 630 2-in-1 tablet is expected to sell for $800 and up.

While those prices are comparable to what you’d pay for a high-end smartphone with a Snapdragon 835 processor, the chip is expected to offer performance that’s on par with what you’d get from a budget notebook with an Intel Apollo Lake or Gemini Lake processor, which makes me wonder whether how wide the appeal for these devices will be.

On the one hand, an always-connected, instant-on PC with all-day battery life could be appealing to business travelers who could afford to foot the bill for an expensive PC (and who may not need bleeding edge CPU performance). And it’s exciting to see a new competitor in the PC chip space.

But on the other, you could buy 2-3 cheap notebooks for the price of one HP Envy x2.

That said, while the first Windows on ARM PCs will ship with high-end Qualcomm chips, the platform isn’t limited to Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 (and upcoming 845) processors. We could eventually see cheaper Windows on ARM machines with lower-cost (and performance) chips from Mediatek and other companies.

via Windows Central

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18 replies on “HP Envy x2 with Snapdragon 835 up for pre-order for $1000 (ships by March 9th)”

  1. I am thinking about buying one of these WOA thing for entertainment sake and to support the idea but not at $1000. I’ll get the Asus at $500, or if this drags on for too long, I’ll just wait until a QS845 model hit the streets.
    I would have preferred a Dell for their good after sales service but it looks like they’re in no hurry to release a WoA laptop, so Asus it will be then.

  2. The price is simply ridiculous. Frankly, I wouldn’t purchase this “thing” at any price, but if I was forced to purchase it…I wouldn’t pay more than $300 for something like this. Simply because it isn’t worth it. Especially when I can head over to Amazon right now and purchase an HP Spectre x2 12 with a core M3(<—highly underrated chip) for $400. Although….that is what I am typing on right now! Absolutely love this machine as I've said in many many posts. I'm about 1 year in and I've used the hell out of this machine and it still looks/runs like I just pulled it out of the box. Absolutely the best quality I've ever seen in a tablet. Better than Surface by a mile. They're cheap and flimsy compared to this HP Spectre. I know I had my hands on one yesterday.

    Kind of funny how Windows "S" happens to be the letter between R & T. Same thing, different and perhaps more modern package, but still the same concept. So…a $1000 tablet running a crippled cpu with a crippled OS. Who comes up with this nonsense? All in the name of battery life? I see a couple of other posters calling this a niche item…I disagree. This product isn't made for anyone…and you can find better products that will fit the bill for any niche purposes this would be used for…and for cheaper.

    As a side note to further my comment on the Surface…I was in Costco yesterday…most of the laptops we're priced between 699 and 1399…and, "in my opinion"…they we're all junk. Cheap plasticky junk with very flexible keyboards(and cheap little square keys). The only standout was a Lenovo Miix 5 and an Acer Chromebook($289). The Dell's and the HP's we're embarrassingly bad. Especially the very popular Dell XPS 13. It was 1399. and my God man…I was afraid to touch the monitor for fear of breaking it….the edges of the screen we're gimmicky.

    I was actually shocked that the Acer Chromebook felt like better quality than every single Dell/HP that was on hand. I challenge you to go down to Costco and check for yourself!

    If anyone is interested in purchasing a laptop in 2018, I think it would be wise to see it in person before purchase.

    1. Agreed. A Dell Latitude is a decent piece of kit, even in plastic. A XPS is a disaster waiting to happen.

  3. “If the $1000 price tag for the new HP Envy x2 with a Snapdragon 835 processor seems high, then a) you’re probably not the target market and/or b) you might want to keep an eye out for other Windows on ARM devices.”

    I’d love to know what is the target market for this, there isn’t much hope for this to NOT be another predictable failure like Win RT – if at least these devices were dirty cheap to battle Chromebooks and claim a share in the education market.

    Selling these things for $1k+ with the OS limitations and hardware’s unproven track record is just asking for a beating.

    1. What “OS limitation”? Win RT tablets could only run Win RT, thus only apps. The Windows 10 S on this can be upgraded for free to real Windows 10, e.g running all desktop apps you could on any other windows 10 machine (but the 32-bit not 64-bit version, although every application does still provide both versions). Read up on the tech before discussing it.

      As for the target market, no idea. But I am a target, as I loved the Surface tablets but hated the battery. This will be just as useful as a surface (when I replace win S with real win 10 desktop version), but with great battery improvments. And I wont have to boot up from hibernate as its always on. I use such tablets for running software development studios such as IntelliJ, Visual Code, and compiling code on the fly quickly without having to go to a table, sit down, boot up a stationary computer, just because I got an idea I want to quickly try out.

  5. Snapdragon 845 is the one to wait for. The 835 model is just a proof of concept product.

  6. It’s a Surface RT at a Surface Pro price. It’s sure to be a successful as the RT!

    1. I remember being in a shop when the Surface RT was launched.
      A family with a teenage girl searching for a study tablet/laptop or something. The dad asked her:” What do you need this for?”, The girl was like:”Word, Excel and iTunes for my iPhone”. The guy then asked the sales guy who promptly responded “This model doesn’t run iTunes you should get this one instead.” that was the one at 300 pounds more. The dad just went:” er no, we’ll have the RT, we’ll make it work.”
      That’s when I knew this RT experiment was doomed. It was called Windows so people thought it could do anything Windows did for 300 pounds less, well it couldn’t..

  7. I get it. This is Microsoft and HP’s answer to the iPad Pro. While I am sure there is a market for this, I still think the price is a bit high — even though it comes with the keyboard and stylus. Always connected and all-day battery life have me considering it as an alternative to the iPad Pro for my college-bound daughter. Unfortunately, I doubt she’d consider something like this unless it were made by Apple.

  8. As a sports photographer, the instant on, always connected computer would help with getting edited highlight photos to clients during a game. But I am doubting these computers have the horsepower to run photo/video editing and media managment software. If they can, it’s worth the money to me. We’ll have to wait and see.

  9. You mean the business traveler who is guaranteed to be packing around a smartphone 24/7? This very basic redundancy is why companies like Qualcomm are talented at creating but not at strategizing.

    1. Yes, we can use our smartphones as wifi hotspots for any laptop, assuming the carrier allows it–most charge extra. Or we can root our phones, which may be problematic for some. Either way, you would have to bear in mind that while tethering, you will have two devices hemorrhaging battery. You’ll get 3-4 hours of real-world usage at best before your phone gives out, so you’d best bring a battery pack. Now you have 3 devices to charge.

      I support a website 24/7, so I often need to be on the phone and web at the same time while away from the office/home, so built-in LTE is a godsend. T-Mobile charges $10 a month for the extra data-only plan (unlimited), so I may pay about $100 extra for a laptop with built-in LTE, $10 a month for its own data is worth it for me.

      All that said, there’s no way I’m buying this. Typing on a tablet is a mediocre experience at best, and I’m still not sold on using touch with Windows, especially on a smallish screen. I could probably deal with Windows on ARM’s limitations, but why should I, when it’s the same price as a mid-range Lenovo Thinkpad with an Intel processor?

  10. Not sure who exactly IS the target market. I am genuinely curious as to who will buy these things.

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