The HP ZBook x2 is a chunky, stupidly powerful tablet for creatives

Victory on the mainstream tablet battleground often comes down to size and weight. Light, impossibly thin devices reign supreme in these conflicts. HP’s ZBook x2 is not, by any means whatsoever, a mainstream tablet, and the spec-hungry creative who buys one likely won’t be holding it over their face while watching The Defenders in bed. Billed by HP as ‘the world’s most powerful detachable PC, the hefty ZBook x2 2-in-1 comes armed with an Intel Core i7 Kaby Lake processor, up to 32GB of RAM, a 2TB SSD and an Nvidia Quadro M620 graphics card. That’s some serious grunt for a portable device. The 14in touchscreen is 4K-ready with optional 10-bit colour, and it comes with a stylus that offers just the 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity. If you’re a designer or arty type who really goes the whole hog with the Adobe suite, you can pick one up from December. Prices start – and yes, we do mean start – at $1,749.

Matt Tate Contributor

About

I'm fascinated by all things tech, but if you were going to leave me on a desert island, I'd probably ask for my Nintendo Switch, a drone, and a pair of noise-cancelling cans to block out the relentless seagull racket. When I'm not on Stuff duty you'll probably find me subscribing to too many podcasts, playing too many video games, or telling anyone who will listen that Spurs are going to win a trophy this season.

Areas of expertise

Video games, VR, smartwatches, headphones, smart speakers, bizarre Kickstarter campaigns