Foldables just got even more niche — HPs $5,000 Spectre Foldable PC has a lot to prove 17-inch bendy OLED with an i7, 12th-gen chip will be available at the end of October.
Scharon Harding – Sep 14, 2023 12:00 pm UTC reader comments 17 with HP’s foldable-screen PC. HP The right profile view shows the PC’s integrated kickstand in use. HP The chassis is magnesium alloy. HP Sliding the keyboard down allows the touchpad area to droop down and gives you more screen space. HP Tablet mode with HP’s Rechargeable MPP 2.0 Tilt Pen stylus. HP The keyboard can store and charge in the folded PC. HP Ports are limited to a pair of Thunderbolt 4. HP
HP is the latest company to announce a foldable-screen PC. The 17-inch Spectre Foldable PC has a keyboard that can be used wirelessly with the device propped up on its kickstand. Or you could magnetically attach the keyboard to the screen’s bottom half or even slide the keyboard toward you for a 1.5-screen-like experience. The OLED device addresses concerns around battery life and portability by including two battery packs instead of one. But the bendy, Intel 12th-gen computer will have to do quite a lot to even begin rationalizing its staggering $5,000 price.
The Spectre Fold works as a 17-inch, 0.33-inch (8.5 mm) thick OLED tablet. Uniquely, it has an integrated kickstand for propping the PC up at a 120 angle. This is key because HP cites the kickstand as one of the reasons the computer is so costly, but this also means you don’t have to deal with separate origami stands/sleeves. With the PC propped up, it should be easy to work with the included wireless keyboard or stylus, which both charge wirelessly on the device. Advertisement
The Bluetooth keyboard can attach to the bottom half of the PC’s screen for a 12.3-inch laptop view. If you slide the keyboard down toward you, revealing more of the OLED, the PC will automatically display windows north of the keyboard. This scenario is like working on a 14-inch laptop.
HP says it worked with Microsoft to customize Windows 11’s Snap feature so it’s easy to bring a window or two to the space above the docked keyboard. Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i, a clamshell laptop with a second OLED screen where you’d expect the keyboard and touchpad to be, also lets you place windows on top of a docked keyboard. But when I tested that laptop, I typically found looking down physically uncomfortable.
As far as the OLED display goes, you’re looking at a 19202560 resolution with a 99.5 percent DCI-P3 color claim, 400 nits (SDR) and 500 nits (HDR) max brightness claims, and IMAX Enhanced certification. In a press briefing, Stacy Wolff, SVP of Personal Systems Design & Sustainability at HP, also noted that the computer uses a new panel redesigned for foldability and narrow borders. Foldable future
HP has been rumored to be working on a foldable PC since at least last year, and with other PC brands seeing how they can apply OLED in unique form factors, HP was expected to do something similar with foldables.
What wasn’t expected was the $5,000 price. Here’s how the Spectre Fold compares to some other distinct OLED laptops. HP Spectre Fold Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED Lenovo Yoga Book 9i Lenovo 16-inch ThinkPad X1 Fold (not yet released) CPU i7-1250U i7-1250U i7-1355U Up to 12th Gen i7 with vPro Graphics Intel Iris Xe Intel Iris Xe Intel Iris Xe Intel Iris Xe Display 17-inch 19202560 foldable OLED touchscreen 17.3-inch 25601920 foldable OLED touchscreen 2x 13.3-inch 28801800 OLED touchscreen 16.3-inch 25602024 foldable OLED touchscreen RAM 16GB LPDDR5x-5200 16GB LPDDR5-5200 16GB LPDDR5x-6400 Up to 32GB LPDDR5 Storage 1TB 1TB 512GB Up to 1TB Dimensions when folded 10.917.530.84 inches (277.05 191.3121.4mm) 11.327.4501.35 inches
(287.6189.334.4mm) 11.788.030.63 inches (299.1203.915.95 mm) 10.876.90.68 inches
( 276.2176.217.4mm Weight (device only) 2.98 pounds (1.35kg) 3.31 pounds (1.50kg) 2.95 pounds (1.34kg) 2.82 pounds (1.28kg) Price (as of writing) $5,000 Debuted at $3,500, discontinued $2,000 TBD, likely over $2,000 Page: 1 2 3 Next → reader comments 17 with Scharon Harding Scharon is Ars Technicas Senior Product Reviewer writing news, reviews, and analysis on consumer technology, including laptops, mechanical keyboards, and monitors. Shes based in Brooklyn. Advertisement Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Related Stories Today on Ars