HP CES 2024 Bonanza: Spectre x360 And OMEN Transcend Laptops, Distinctive Displays And Panoply Of Peripherals
HP unleashes a bevy of innovative products at CES in Las Vegas including Spectre x360 laptops with built-in AI capabilities, a breakthrough 14-inch OMEN Transcend gaming laptop, and cutting-edge new displays.
HP Innovation Prowess On Display At CES
HP Vice President of Product Management for Consumer PC Solutions Pierre-Antoine Robineau says HP is leveraging the power of AI to provide a more personalized computing experience for consumers.
“With AI we have entered an era of accelerated innovation and we are incredibly optimistic about it,” said Robineau in a CES 2024 virtual press briefing. “By being more intelligent, more connected to your world, this on going innovation is an opportunity to be more personal than ever and to advance from personal computers to personalized computing.”
Among the AI innovations on the new Spectre x360 laptops are an AI-based Neural Processing Unit (NPU) designed to “track down action items” from a meeting, summarizing a topic you’ve been reading about or help draft an email.
The Spectre x360 laptops also feature a camera that adjusts to low light situations and a dedicated AI chip that delivers built-in security features including “walk away lock, wake on approach and privacy alerts” to warn of “snooping eyes.”
The CES lineup also includes the ultra-thin OMEN Transcend 14, which HP is touting as the world’s lightest 14-inch gaming laptop at just 1,637 grams.
Robineau said the new innovation from HP builds on the legacy of breakthroughs that have been part and parcel of HP since it was founded 84 years ago by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard in the legendary garage in Palo Alto, Calif.
“Thinking of the garage where HP was founded 84 years ago makes me reflect on the purpose of our innovation,” said Robineau. “Everyday we wake up with innovation in mind.”
New Spectre x360 Laptops
HP unveiled HP Spectre x360 14-inch and 16-inch 2-in-1 laptops powered to deliver new AI capabilities with Intel Core Ultra processors and optional Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 processors.
The new Spectre laptops also feature an AI-based Neural Processing Unit (NPU) designed to “track down action items” from a meeting, summarizing a topic you’ve been reading about or giving help drafting an email.
The new Spectre laptops feature a 9 MP camera with what HP calls “hardware enabled low light adjustment” that is especially helpful for night time Teams or Zooms meetings.
The Spectre laptops are also the first consumer devices to feature HPE’s Poly audio tuning capabilities with what HP is calling “AI features” aimed at enhancing calls and video with Windows Studio effects.
The Spectre x360 laptops also features a 2.8K OLED screen and IMAX Enhanced Certification for watching movies in the 16:10 aspect ratio.
“HP has clearly put together these systems for high-quality AI applications especially in the video and audio editing world,” said Michael Goldstein, CEO of LAN Infotech, a Fort Lauderdale, Fla., solution provider. “This looks like a great competitor to the Microsoft Surface and the Dell XPS. HP has done a good job of bringing a compelling consumer laptop to market at a good price tag with robust AI and security capabilities. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend this for a small business user.”
The Spectre x360 is a great cross-over system that can be used either in consumer or professional scenarios, said Goldstein. “If you are a small business user and you only want one laptop that you can use either at home or for the business this is a great system for you,” he said.
The IMAX Enhanced Certifiction is a “cool” feature for consumers that watch videos on their laptops, said Goldstein. “The IMAX capability shows you the video quality that is being brought to consumer laptops today,” he said. “Think about it. You can get better video quality on a laptop than on an older TV!”
New HP OMEN Transcend Gaming Laptops
HP is touting its new 14-inch OMEN Transcend gaming laptop as the “world’s coolest and lightest” 14 inch gaming laptop.
Weighing in at only 1,637 grams the high strength aluminum OMEN 14-inch laptop is HP’s “smallest, thinnest and lightest” laptop.
The OMEN – wich has a battery life of 11.5 hours- is powered by the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU.
The 14-inch OMEN Transcend gaming laptop is priced at $1,499.99 and is available starting January 8 from both HP.com and BestBuy.com.
The OMEN Transcend 14-inch laptop features an IMAX Enhanced Certified 2.8K 120Hz VRR OLED display and what HP is calling the world’s first gaming laptop with a “lattice-less sky printed RGB keyboard” that extends beyond the screen. It is also the first for HP gaming system with a rear venting configuration.
“HP is providing big innovation in a small package with what could be the lightest gaming laptop ever,” said Goldstein. “When you think of gaming laptops you think of big, bulky machines. It’s refreshing to see such a thin and light gaming unit priced under $1,500. That’s a sign of HP being able to innovate and deliver high value at a good price. This is the kind of product that shows why you need to pay attention to CES. I’m sure this is the kind of innovation we will see in the future in business laptops.”
HP has also updated its OMEN 16 Transcend gaming laptop based on the Intel Core i7 HX processor with a 4k 240Hz LED display priced starting at $1,899.99, which will be available starting January 10 at HP.com.
HP’s New Gaming Monitor And Series 5 Displays
HP unveiled the 32-inch 240Hz OLED OMEN Transcend gaming monitor which it is touting as the “world’s most advanced gaming monitor.”
The monitor features what HP is calling a “sea of firsts” including the first gaming monitor with independent switchable USB ports, 140w USB-C power delivery and audio tuned by HyperX.
The new gaming monitor features 4K UHD resolution, 240Hz refresh rate and .03ms Response Time. The QD-OLED panel features what HP is calling an “insane 1,500,000:1 contrast ratio.”
The HP OMEN Transcend 32 gaming monitor has not been priced yet and will be available later this year.
The new Series 5 HP Monitors, available in 24-inch, 27-inch and 32-inch models, meanwhile, feature a 1500:1 contrast ratio and enhanced 100Hz refresh rates. The displays feature thin bezels, integrated cable management for connection of multiple monitors and an added HDMI port. The Series 5 Monitors also feature customizable tilt adjust capabilities with an ergonomic setup guide.