HP Spectre Fold: Price, release date, and everything you need to know

The HP Spectre Fold is one of the newest, most unique foldable Windows 11-powered PCs

A woman sitting at a desk using an HP Spectre Fold in desktop mode, with the screen fully open and the keyboard functioning in wireless mode

You might have already heard of foldable phones, but what about foldable laptops? While there are already Windows 11-powered, foldable devices like the ThinkPad X1 Fold and the Asus ZenBook 17 Fold OLED, a newcomer to this emerging form factor is the HP Spectre Fold. This 17-inch foldable Windows 11 tablet features an OLED screen with a built-in kickstand. It’s essentially a 3-in-1 PC since you can use it as a tablet, a laptop, and even a desktop, thanks to the huge 17-inch screen. So, if you have it on your wishlist, here’s everything you need to know.

HP Spectre Fold specs

Operating system	Windows 11 Home
CPU	12th-generation Intel Core i7-1250U (10 cores, 12 threads, up to 4.7 GHz Turbo)
Graphics	Intel Iris Xe
Display	17-inch diagonal, 2.5K 1920×2560 resolution, foldable OLED touch screen. UWVA, BrightView, Low Blue Light, SDR 400 nits, HDR 500 nits brightness
Storage	1TBB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2 SSD
RAM	16GB LPDDR5-5200 MHz RAM
Battery and power	6-cell, 94.3 Wh Li-ion polymer battery
Ports	2x Thunderbolt 4 with USB Type-C
Audio	Quad Speakers HP Audio Boost Audio by Bang & Olufsen
Camera	HP True Vision 5MP IR Webcam with temporal noise reduction
Windows Hello	IR webcam
Connectivity	Intel Wi-Fi 6E AX211 Bluetooth 5.3
Color and finish	Slate Blue
Size (WxDxH)	Unfolded:10.91×14.81×0.33 inches Folded: 10.91×7.53×0.84 inches
Weight	3.58 pounds (with keyboard) 2.99 pounds (without keyboard)

HP Spectre Fold: Pricing and availability

A woman putting a folded HP Spectre Fold into a bag

Source: HP

You can currently preorder the HP Spectre Fold at Best Buy and HP for $5,000, which is only available in one configuration. It’s set to release in October, but in “limited quantities,” although we’re unsure what this means specifically. If you live outside the U.S., you can expect the device later this fall.

HP Spectre Fold

The HP Spectre Fold is one of the newest Windows 11-powered foldable PCs. It can be used as a laptop, tablet, or even a desktop thanks to its big 17-inch foldable OLED display, which has a 4:3 aspect ratio and 2560×1920 resolution. It also has a Bluetooth keyboard and comes with an HP MPP 2.0 pen for versatile use.

What’s special about the HP Spectre Fold?

Source: HP

There are a few things that set the HP Spectre Fold apart from competing products. While this foldable has a 17-inch OLED screen, the rear of the screen has a large built-in kickstand, which allows you to use it, along with the included Bluetooth keyboard, like a desktop PC. The top of the display also has a 5MP webcam, with advanced software features like Windows Hello and more. Plus, the design of the HP Spectre Fold makes it one of the thinnest foldable PCs while still incorporating sustainable materials. Finally, it features one of the biggest batteries in a foldable PC yet.

Display

The HP Spectre Fold has a large 17-inch screen that sports a 4:3 aspect ratio and a crisp, unique 2560×1920 resolution that can be folded in half to get two 12.3-inch displays. But that’s just the start of the versatility. First, you can use the included Bluetooth keyboard with the bottom screen to use it as a laptop (the device will change the keyboard). Then, you can unfold the screen, prop out the kickstand on the back, and use the HP Spectre Fold horizontally, like a desktop PC or monitor with the keyboard on your desk. Other foldable PCs, like the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, have a similar kickstand, but it’s much smaller. HP’s kickstand is longer, spanning the entire back of the device.

On top of the display sits a 5MP webcam that supports features like auto frame, background blur, and natural tone enhancer. The webcam even has a privacy switch. Both the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED and ThinkPad X1 Fold have 5MP webcams, but HP’s webcams come with advanced features like camera switching that you won’t find anywhere else.

Design

Source: HP

The HP Spectre Fold is also quite a sleek device. When unfolded, it measures 14.81 inches long and is around 0.33 inches thick, making it one of the thinnest foldable PCs on the market right now. It’s also quite portable, weighing around 3.58 pounds with the keyboard and 2.99 pounds without. The Asus ZenBook 17 Fold OLED, by comparison, measures up to 0.51 inches thick. HP is even using recycled materials, which includes 50% recycled plastics, to make this a more sustainable PC.

Battery

A woman holding the HP Spectre fold in her living room

The HP Spectre Fold comes with one of the biggest batteries yet on a foldable PC The device features a 6-cell, 94.3Wh Li-ion polymer battery, which is usually what you’ll find in a gaming laptop. It easily outdoes the Asus Zenbook 17 Fold OLED, which only has a 75Wh battery. Combine that with the energy-efficient 9W Intel Core i7-1250U CPU, and you should get decent battery life.

We haven’t tested the Spectre Fold yet, but the Asus ZenBook 17 Fold OLED only got about 4–5 hours of battery life when we reviewed it, so we expect higher numbers with the larger battery.