HP Chromebook x2 11 review: Portability over power

A good deal if you can grab it on sale

Two-in-ones are all the rage thanks to their portability and versatility. The HP Chromebook x2 11 is a detachable-style 2-in-1 that offers a few firsts in the field. This is the first Chromebook of its type to offer a 2K 3:2 screen, and it's also the first to offer optional LTE support and the Qualcomm 7C chipset.

This particular 2-in-1 is highly portable thanks to its small 11-inch footprint, and the included pen is great for notes and drawing. Plus, the included keyboard and rear cover means you can set up shop wherever you please. There’s one caveat, the retail price is up there at $600 (with two additional models that bookend this price), but since the HP Chromebook x2 11 has already seen a few sales for as low as $400, most people will be able to snag a unit for less than the retail price.

Design, hardware, what's in the box

The HP Chromebook x2 11 looks like a typical 2-in-1 computer. There’s a magnetic keyboard, a kickstand, and a magnetic pen that self-charges on the right side of the tablet in landscape. Notably, the kickstand is removable and attaches to the Chromebook with magnets, which is a nice touch that makes the tablet portion slightly easier to handle. The model I received packs a Snapdragon 7c, 8GB RAM, 64GB eMMC storage, and the included peripherals offer a blue color called Night Teal, fitting for a utensil designed for students.

The HP Chromebook x2 11 is a passively cooled device with no fans or vents. It’s surprising, then, to see the tablet is pretty thick compared to a typical Android or iOS slate. It’s more akin to the size you’d expect from a Microsoft tablet sporting full laptop internals. The dual-front-facing Bang & Olufsen speakers are located at the top left and right of the screen in landscape with cutouts in the glass bezel. The speakers are slightly tinny but are perfectly fine for streaming music and video conferencing. Sadly the location of the speaker cutouts creates an issue when holding the tablet in portrait, where both speakers are located on the right side at the top and bottom of the screen, which doesn’t provide the best stereo experience.

The 11-inch screen is a 2160 x 1440 IPS in a 3:2 ratio. Not only is this ratio excellent for work when using the tablet in landscape, but it’s also suitable for reading in portrait, where ebooks, comic books, and manga fit the tablet’s screen really well. The refresh rate only goes up to 60Hz, which is a significant caveat for a $600 tablet, though it’s not like there are any Chromebooks out there that offer high frame rates to begin with. The screen’s brightness goes up to 400 nits, which means the tablet is easily read outdoors in indirect light, though direct light is an issue since the glass is extremely reflective.

The HP Chromebook x2 11 feels rugged in hand thanks to the plastic coating of the detachable keyboard and stand that encompasses the tablet. The screen is Gorilla Glass 4, and even though the keyboard touches the screen when the device is closed, no scratches have appeared. Throwing the unit in a bag shouldn’t be a worry.

Two USB-C ports are located on the bottom left edge when in landscape (which means charging on the right is a no-go). A volume rocker sits directly above these ports, and above that sits a SIM slot for LTE (non-functional in this unit) that doubles as an SD slot. There’s a power button on the top-left edge, and you can charge the included USI pen on the right, thanks to the magnetic connection. You can even use this pen with other Chromebooks as long as they support the USI standard. I tested the pen on the Galaxy Chromebook 2, it worked great, though the only way to charge it is when it’s connected to the HP Chromebook x2 11, which defeats the purpose of a cross-compatible pen.

Keyboard and trackpad

The detachable non-backlit keyboard is small even though it’s described as “full-sized,” but it surprisingly feels good to type. However, it flexes during use, which may be a turn off for some. The keys have a good amount of travel for a keyboard cover, more than you’d think, and despite the flexibleness of the deck, I never had an issue accidentally pressing keys. Really, the only problem I had when typing was when a rogue finger would accidentally tap the screen, which is easy to do since the screen reaches down to the base of the keyboard. As long as you stay mindful of this, losing your place while typing isn’t much of a problem.

The flexible keyboard deck on 2-in-1s is often a sticking point—some even suffer from rogue clicks when the keyboard bends. I’ve put this issue to the test with the HP Chromebook x2 11, and I can actuate the trackpad when bending the flexy keyboard, but this click never registers in the OS despite the audible click. It would seem a finger has to be present on the top of the trackpad for the OS to see the actuation. Palm detection appears to be absent, though, so accidental clicks can still happen if your palms rest anywhere on the trackpad while typing. Larger hands will suffer from this the most, especially since the trackpad is larger than most detachables.

Software, performance, and battery

The Snapdragon 7c has found its way to a few devices over the last year, but not many (the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 is soon launching with the same second gen chip, a direct competitor to the HP Chromebook x2 11). Since this is a rare chip that’s only now gaining traction, I wasn’t sure what kind of performance to expect. Surprisingly the 7c holds its own in day-to-day use. The Chrome browser, for the first time in a long time, felt snappy. Scrolling through long pages with many images always felt smooth, which is something even my 10th gen i7 Windows laptop struggles to do at times. Browsing the web on the HP Chromebook x2 11 is a delight.

But then there are Linux and Android apps, which can bog down the Snapdragon chip, especially the more demanding Linux apps. Opening a Linux app takes too long (over a minute to open GIMP), though once you have something open, you can at least use the app without too much slowdown. And even though you’d think the Snapdragon chip would handle Android apps with aplomb, I found many of them were buggy and slow, and the eMMC storage isn’t especially helping this situation. NVMe storage would have been preferable. Playing Spotify through the Android app resulted in lag and skips in my music, all the while the PWA performs flawlessly. So even with 8GB RAM packed in, it would appear the bottleneck is the CPU when using Android and Linux apps. Though it’s not like slow apps are the end of the world, many are functional enough to get work done.

To get a better idea about performance, here are a few benchmark results.

• Speedometer 2.0: 41.4
• Jetstream2: 57.514
• MotionMark 1.0: 153.4

The highlight of the HP Chromebook x2 11 is the battery life. Thanks to the low-power Snapdragon 7c, the 32 Wh battery will last an entire workday and then some. I managed to get 10 hours of use in a single day, and the standby time is equally fantastic. I’ve left the unit to sit on my end table for days, eventually picking it up to find my battery level had barely dropped. Charge time is also excellent, where you can hit a 50% battery level in half an hour and 100% in a little over an hour.

Should you buy it ?

Yes, if you can grab it on sale. The HP Chromebook x2 11 is an interesting device, and it’s one that’s grown on me the longer I’ve used it. It’s a detachable 2-in-1, which is exceptionally convenient if you plan on using the unit as both a tablet and a laptop throughout the day. Attaching the magnetic keyboard and rear stand is easy when it’s time to get down to business. The stand is plenty stiff, offering a stable base, and the keyboard feels pretty good to type on despite its small size and flex, though the lack of palm detection in the touchpad may be an issue for those with large hands who type on their lap.

In tablet mode, the 3:2 screen is excellent for landscape work since there’s extra headroom to fit webpage text, and in portrait, the ratio is perfect for comic books, manga, and general e-reading. You’ll have some black bars in videos, but that’s a small price to pay for a ratio that’s better at everything else.

While it sounds cliche, the HP Chromebook x2 11 is more than the sum of its parts. Sure, the performance of the Snapdragon 7c isn’t going to blow you away, but the battery savings, in my opinion, are worth the hit. This is a device designed to be toted around all day, ready to help you get work done even if there’s no power outlet around. It’s also a durable device, and since it comes with everything you need to get going, the HP Chromebook x2 11 is perfect for school life while still being plenty useful for professional work while on the go.

Yes, the retail price of $600 is a little too high for the performance you get, but you have to keep in mind that you get a keyboard, a universal stylus, and a magnetic stand in the box. Plus, the HP Chromebook x2 11 has gone on sale repeatedly since its release, seeing prices as low as $399 for the 8GB RAM/64GB eMMC (non-LTE) unit reviewed in this article. At that price, the HP Chromebook x2 11 would be a steal.

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