Sleek and Sturdy

With both laptops and tablets witnessing a fall in sales, manufacturers are trying to woo customers with 2-in-1s - tablets with detachable keyboards. While it took Microsoft a few years to master Surface, Apple, too, came out with the iPad Pro with a smart keyboard. Now HP, with the Elite X2 1012, comes quite close to the Surface Pro 4 and is, in fact, similar in design.

The Elite X2 packs in a 12-inch wide viewing angle tablet, accompanied by a detachable keyboard and a full-size Wacom pen. The tablet, 8.1-mm thin, has an anti-glare display with Gorilla Glass 4 protection. It has a kickstand at the rear that can be angled up to 150 degrees, making the tablet comfortable to stand, with or without the keyboard. Even though the company claims it is made of durable stainless steel, it doesn't feel as sturdy as the kickstand on the Microsoft Surface Pro 4, but easily manages to hold the 840 gm weight of the tablet. The rear of the tablet has a camera module at the top and a silver aluminium casing below. The speaker grills are placed at the top; the power key, volume control on the left; a 3.5-mm jack, USB port and Type-C charging port on the right and a finger print scanner at the rear.

Unlike many 2-in-1s available in the market, it also has a SIM slot for on-the-go connectivity. The detachable keyboard magnetically attaches to the tablet and is well spaced out, making it comfortable to type on. It is backlit, making it easy to use in the dark.

This is a powerful tablet that can handle both day-to-day tasks and intensive tasks with ease, without slowing down. My review unit runs on 64-bit Windows 10 Pro and is powered by Intel Core m5-6Y54 processor with Intel HD graphics, paired with 8 GB of RAM. It comes with 256 GB of internal storage with a memory card supporting upto 200 GB of expandable memory.

However, not all's great about this tablet. The Wi-Fi often got disconnected while browsing the web. The machine started heating up after long hours of YouTube video playback. While it is a pleasure to watch videos on the screen, the Bang & Olufsen speakers on board are a disappointment. The battery back-up isn't great either, especially when using the Internet. While the accompanying charger (Type-C) is compact and easy to carry, there is a battery saver mode that can be turned on automatically when the battery falls below 20 per cent. This mode lowers the screen's brightness and restricts background notifications.

BAG IT OR JUNK IT: A fine piece of hardware; a sturdy 2-in-1 machine

PRICE: Rs 95,000

RATING: 4/ 5

PLUS: Design, keyboard

MINUS: Battery, speaker