The original rumor was that HP would be releasing a new flagship Windows 10 Mobile smartphone codenamed “HP Falcon” to meet the needs of enterprise consumers who want both a smartphone and a laptop in a single handheld device. The “superphone,” as some call it, connects to an HP Mobile Extender, which is effectively a battery-powered mobile dock with a 12.5-inch display and no motherboard.
Image Credit: Tech2.hu
Fast-forward a few weeks after CES 2016 and on February 12th, Evan Blass mentioned on Twitter that the “HP Falcon” would be coming to market soon as the HP Elite X3. A few days later on February 18th, Adam Kovacs from Tech2.hu posted one of the first stories mentioning the HP Elite X3, which was asked to be removed at the discretion of HP until February 21st.
Image Credit: ITPro.com
The HP Elite X3 features a 5.96-inch 2560x1440p OLED Quad HD display with 490ppi, a 14-nanometer FinFET-based Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 quad-core processor, Adreno 530 graphics, a Category 6 LTE-Advanced modem (300Mbps download speeds), dual-band 2 x 2 802.11ac WiFi, 4GB of memory, up to 64GB of internal storage, a microSD expansion slot up to a remarkable 2TB, a front-facing speaker, a 16-megapixel rear camera and an 8-megapixel front-facing camera. The device will also support “Windows Hello” by incorporating a fingerprint scanner and an Iris (retina) scanner. Other notable features include IP67 water and dust-resistance, support for Qi wireless charging, a 5-pin connector for add-on battery cases and credit card readers, a 10Gbps USB 3.1 Type-C connector with support for Windows Continuum, and a large 4,150mAh battery that will last “a full day,” according to Michael Park, HP’s Vice President and General Manager of Mobility.
Image Credit: Tech2.hu
The device will run the Windows 10 Mobile 32-bit operating system, which is expected to be released to the general public on February 29th. Given that Microsoft is only supporting 32-bit CPU architectures in Windows 10 Mobile and the HP Elite X3 has 4GB of system memory, it looks like the device won’t be making full use of Qualcomm’s custom 64-bit Kryo quad-core CPU architecture in the Snapdragon 820.
The folks at V3 Labs just got some hands-on time with the unit and have measured the brower’s SunSpider JavaScript performance, where it comes in at a promising 269.9ms. This is the third-fastest score to date, with the iPhone 6S Plus getting 232.5ms and the iPhone 6S getting 219.9ms.
Image Credit: ITPro.com
The HP Mobile Extender operates only when the Elite X3 is connected, where it can run Universal Windows Platform (UWP) apps with a traditional desktop UI. Microsoft really wants to push its Continuum platform with this device, particularly for enterprise customers who want seamless application transitions from phone to desktop with smooth scaling, adaptive menus and adaptive taskbars.
HP's Mobile Extender supporting Windows Continuum (via ITPro.com)
The HP Elite X3 measures just 7.8mm thick, weighs 190 grams (0.42lbs) and features a military-grade MIL-STD-810 rating for 1-foot drop protection. The device is expected to launch in summer, several months from now and is still undergoing quality control and finalization.
