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HP ZBook x2 G4 review:The perfect laptop for a cluster of creatives

HP ZBook x2 G4

Price as reviewed	$3,622.32
Display size/resolution	14-inch 3,840 x 2,160 DreamColor display
PC CPU	1.9GHz Intel Core i7-8650U
PC Memory	32GB DDR5 SDRAM 2,400MHz
Graphics	2GB Nvidia Quadro M620
Storage	512GB SSD, SD card slot
Ports	1x USB 3.0 Type-A, 2x USB-C/Thunderbolt, 1x HDMI 2.0
Networking	802.11ac 2x2, Bluetooth 4.2
Operating system	Windows 10 Professional (64-bit)
Weight	4.9 lbs/2.2 kg

The DreamColor comes with profiles for sRGB/BT.709, DCI-P3, DICOM and native as well, but the display only covers about 90 percent of P3, and it's calibrated to DCI-P3 Theatre, not the D65 P3 display standard. Also, per HP, entering calibration targets beyond the panel gamut don't work at the moment, but it's working on a software fix for the issue. 

There are tablets that can surpass the color gamut, notably the P3-capable iPad Pro, but there's no systemwide color calibration, much less hardware calibration, available in any of them.

While it uses 10-bit color calculations and is pretty accurate, it's still an 8-bit IPS panel using frame-rate control to simulate 10 bits. (HP refers to IPS panels as "Ultra wide viewing angle" or UWVA.) You can connect it to a better external monitor through HDMI or Thunderbolt 3 when you need a larger gamut and more precise  beyond-Adobe RGB color. That's another reason why hardware profiles are so important. It's the only way to guarantee that the profiles for the built-in and external displays are using the correct profiles. As with most DreamColor solutions, though, hardware calibration profiling only works with X-Rite i1 units.

I've seen some complaints about backlight bleed, but it's no worse than any I've seen -- and given the built-in Wacom EMR layer, probably harder to manage than usual. I tested the uniformity in the corners and it wasn't that bad.

Smooth strokes

Another notable aspect of the x2 is the Wacom EMR support, along with a Wacom/HP custom-designed HP Pen, with 4,096 levels of pressure. One of the big benefits of EMR is that the stylus draws its power from the screen rather than a AAA battery. This isn't particularly novel; Samsunguses the technology, for example. 

But the HP's display is chemically etched, which serves two purposes: it adds a little more friction to the screen for a more natural, precise stroke feel, and vastly decreases glare. In a sea of glossy tablet screens, it's an oasis of visual sanity. Keep in mind that antiglare doesn't equal antireflective. While working in Starbucks with the tablet on my lap, the lights shining from above made it almost as hard to use as the typical glossy display.

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source cnet