HP Envy Spectre XT (13-2050nr)

If the HP Envy 14 Spectre showcased glass (with its Gorilla Glass covered screen, lid, and palmrest) then the new HP Envy Spectre XT (13-2050 nr) is all about metal. While it's easy to call every silver-hued ultrabook an Apple clone, the HP Envy Spectre XT distinguishes itself from the pack with solid performance, sweet-sounding Beats Audio, and a look and feel that is nothing like a MacBook.

Design
The slim Spectre XT looks like it was sliced whole from a larger slab of aluminum, with a rough-hewn brushed surface and beveled edges that glint in the light. It looks nice, but it's also luxurious to hold, feeling sturdy and substantial in spite of its thin profile and three-pound weight. Measuring 0.69 by 12.44 by 8.8 inches (HWD), this sturdiness stems from all metal construction, with a magnesium-alloy frame adding rigidity without weight, and a soft touch coating on the underside, so it's comfortable to hold or place on your lap.

The chiclet keyboard is well made, with HP's usual layout with half-size up and down keys. Though the slim dimensions of an ultrabook don't provide much room for key travel, HP's keyboards still offer a comfortable typing feel. And you'll be able to use the Spectre XT in a variety of lighting conditions as well, thanks to the backlit keyboard. The touchpad offers gesture support, but the clickpad had some issues with both accuracy and responsiveness. Hopefully, HP can plug this hole with a driver update.

The audio on the Spectre XT is also very good, thanks to four speakers (two upward firing, two downward firing) with Beats Audio. Less impressive is the 13.3-inch display with only 1,366-by-768 resolution and fairly poor viewing angles. The display is similar to those seen on other systems, but we had hoped for something in line with the 1,600-by-900 display.

Features
The Spectre XT is outfitted with both USB 2.0 (with power) and the faster USB 3.0, as well as an SD card reader, a combined headphone and microphone jack, and a Kensington lock slot for physically securing the laptop. While some ultrabooks use adapter dongles to provide an Ethernet port or ditch the LAN connection entirely, HP includes a compact LAN connection, which opens up to accept a plug, but closes when not in use to maintain the sleek lines and slim profile demanded of an ultrabook. An HDMI output makes it easy to connect to an HDTV, but you can also go wireless with Intel's wireless display technology (WiDi), which lets you stream HD content wirelessly through a WiDi adapter, like the Netgear Push2TV. Other wireless connections include Bluetooth 4.0 and dual-band (2.4GHz and 5GHz) 802.11n Wi-Fi.

The Spectre XT also comes equipped with a 128GB solid-state drive (SSD)?the same capacity as those found in the Toshiba Portege Z935-P300 and the HP Folio 13-1020us . It provides the speed necessary for Intel's RapidStart. The only trade off made by using an SSD instead of a regular spinning hard drive is the loss of capacity?most ultrabook hard drives offer 500GB of storage space (via a traditional spinning drive), as seen in the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 .

On the drive are several preinstalled programs, including Adobe Premiere Elements, Adobe Photoshop Elements, and a two-year subscription of Norton Internet Security 2012, much longer than the usual 30- or 60-day trial subscriptions. Also on the drive can be found Evernote, a collection of game samples from WildTangent, a Bing toolbar, and Windows Live. HP covers the Spectre XT with a one-year warranty, along with toll-free tech support via phone.

Performance
The Spectre XT is equipped with a third-generation 1.7GHz Intel Core i5-3317U processor, the same ultra-low-voltage processor found in the Lenovo IdeaPad U310 and the Editors' Choice Z935. When tested with Cinebench R11.5, the Spectre XT scored 2.41 points, leading all competitors (though only by a fraction of a point). Paired with 4GB of RAM and benefiting from the improved speed and performance of an SSD, the Spectre XT makes the most of this processor. In our PCMark 7 productivity benchmark test, the Spectre XT scored 5,425 points, ahead of the Lenovo U310 (3,570 points) and alongside the Editors' Choice Toshiba Z935-P300 (5,477 points.

While the Spectre XT's Ivy Bridge processor might offer better graphics performance than the 2nd-Gen processors found in the HP Folio 13, it's still not quite enough to offer gaming capability. Even with the resolution dialed down to 1,024-by-768 and anti-aliasing turned off, the Spectre XT only produced 21 frames per second in Crysis and 20 fps in Lost Planet 2, both unplayable scores. It is, however, enough graphics horsepower for on the go photo editing and video conversion, as evidenced by our Handbrake and Photoshop tests, which it completed in 1 minute 57 seconds and 4:34, respectively.

When tested with MobileMark 2007, the Spectre XT's 45Wh battery lasted 7 hours 32 minutes. While not the longest of the bunch?that honor goes to the HP Folio 13-1020us (8:47)?it's still long enough to take you through a full workday or cross-country flight without ever needing to be plugged in.

The Spectre XT may not be the very best ultrabook we've reviewed, but it's one of the better systems, especially among ultrabooks selling for under $1,000. Performance gets a boost from a zippy solid-state drive, while battery life and display are only so-so. The Toshiba Portege Z935-P300 remains our Editors' Choice, offering a similar combination of features and performance for less, but the Spectre XT will likely win some hearts with its handsome design and solid performance.

BENCHMARK TEST RESULTS:

COMPARISON TABLE
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