A non-tech person's take on the HP EliteBook X Flip
A non-tech person shares her thoughts on the HP EliteBook X Flip G2i 14: the flip screen, smooth pen, all-night battery, heat, weight, specs, and ideal use
THE LIL THINGS I LIKETECH
10/29/20264 min read
I'll confess something first: I'm not a tech person. But I'm a journalist, and a laptop is practically a coworker. It's where I write, edit, research, and race deadlines, so I've spent years with one open in front of me.
Most of those laptops have been HP, be it bought or gifted. I stick with the brand because it's easy to use, straightforward, and it gets the job done. No fuss, no drama.
So when the good folks at HP Philippines let me try the HP EliteBook X Flip G2i 14, I did what I always do: I just started living with it.
The first thing I noticed was the color. It's a dark, metallic blue with a matte-ish finish, and it looks very masculine. My very first thought wasn't "office laptop." It was "gaming." (It's actually HP's business-class EliteBook line, but it wears that sleek look well.)
Then came the flip, which turned out to be my favorite part. One evening I was in bed, wanting to watch videos, and instead of balancing a laptop on my knees, I flipped the screen around and propped it up like a tent on the blanket. Perfect. I've done it nearly every night since.
Insomnia, meet the HP EliteBook X Flip. The hinge folds the screen back into tent mode, so I can prop it up on the bed and watch YouTube on a screen far bigger than my phone until I doze off
The pen was the second surprise. It's rechargeable, and I didn't put a screen protector or a paper-like film on the screen. I figured it would feel scratchy. It glides smoothly instead. I ended up doodling for fun, and I love it. Love, love, love!!! The touchpad also felt smooth, so I didn't feel the need to use a conventional mouse.
Battery life won me over, too. One night, I started watching YouTube with about 60% battery and fell asleep with it still going (there was hardly any battery drain). It was on almost the entire night. Charging is fast, and the battery power feels well managed. Bluetooth was just as painless. Everything paired on the first try, with no drama and no fuss.
Not everything was perfect, though. After long stretches of use, the laptop gets too warm for my liking. If you'll be working on it for hours, say at the office, get yourself a fan or cooling pad.
It's also hefty. It's still portable, but you notice it. After taking it out for a day, my arms got a workout! My partner's MacBook Pro and my current HP laptop (an 14-ep0xxx) both feel lighter. The shape threw me off for a moment as well, since it's more square-ish than the usual laptop. But the good thing is, it fits my existing laptop pouches, sleeves, and bags, and my tote bags!
For the spec lovers, here's what HP lists for my configuration. It runs on an Intel Core Ultra X7 358H processor with 32 GB of memory and a 1 TB SSD. The screen is a 14-inch OLED touchscreen (2880 x 1800) with a 120 Hz refresh rate. It comes with Windows 11 Pro and Copilot+ AI features. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB-C, one USB-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack, plus Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6. The battery is 68 Wh, and the charger is a 100 W USB-C. There's also a 5MP camera, four speakers tuned by Poly Studio, and a one-year HP Wolf Pro Security Edition license. It measures 12.31 x 8.66 inches and starts at 2.86 pounds (about 1.3 kg).
What does it mean for me? It's fast. No lags. And I can run multitask as much as I can.
Home to event, no problem. It fits my bag and laptop sleeves. A little arm workout, but still manageable.
So who's this laptop for? At heart, it's a business machine. If you give a lot of presentations, with charts, graphs, and all that, it's a great fit. Lecturers would love it, since the flip and the pen make marking up slides easy. And if you want one device that flips from work mode to fun mode (videos, games, doodles), it does that beautifully.
Now, the big question: would I buy it? Google search results put it at around ₱176,600. That's a pretty penny, so I'd only buy it if I had the money. But if I did? Yes, especially if my work demands a lot more than what I currently do. The flip, the pen, and the battery life earned their keep, along with the performance that HP always gives.
I'd just buy a fan to go with it and double up on my protein intake for that bonus arm day :)
