HP SlateBook 10-h010nr x2 Pro Reviews

Great value for Tegra 4 and a keyboard dock, but screen quality is mediocre

This probably goes without saying, but the HP SlateBook x2 is only a smart buy if you intend to make good use out of the keyboard. It's important to remember that the dock isn't a fun extra here: it comes in the box, and it defines the way you're supposed to use the product. If you do expect to spend lots of time on email and note-taking, this is the most comfortable keyboard dock on any Android tablet, and it helps improve the battery life too. As a standalone tablet, though, the x2 offers skimpy battery life and awkwardly placed volume and power buttons that can be hard to find by feel -- even if you've been using it for a while. The best thing we can say about the tablet itself is that its Tegra 4 chip yields fast, stable performance. Even then, Tegra 4 will probably power lots of devices released in the coming months, so it's not like HP can really claim credit for that. Basically, then, if the keyboard is just an accessory for you, you'd be better off spending $500 or so on a tablet with longer battery life and a more stunning screen. It's not like you've got any shortage of options.

The HP SlateBook x2 is a "woulda, coulda, shoulda" Android tablet that doesn't quite justify its $480 price tag. No, it's not a bad tablet. There are plenty of connectivity ports, the screen resolution is high -- if not impressively so -- and while in gaming performance it can't match the $300 Nvidia Shield, Hewlett-Packard's Tegra 4-fueled device still manages impressive frame rates on most benchmarks.

HP makes a strong attempt at a proper convertible with the SlateBook x2, a screaming-fast, Tegra 4-powered Android tablet, but it's not without flaws.