You know you want it - the HP Elite x3 - Email from HP!

[quikah]

What are you fools blathering on about iTunes for? It is hot garbage, end of story.

The HP elite looks cool, but I have seen reports on winbeta it is ~$1300 for the whole kit. This is for businesses. Would be interesting to use for some cases sure, but too many limitation in continuum for a full laptop replacement IMO.

 

[IamDavid]

new report today said $700-800. I'll be surprised if that low.

 

[Denly]

new report today said $700-800. I'll be surprised if that low.

$800 with laptop dock? If the OS and HP workspace(amazon cloud) is stable enough I can see companies with a lot of road warrior(life insurance, real estate.., airport, hospital etc) take a hard look into it.

I still think HP made a huge mistake on putting a shitty camera into it. They also need to add a tab dock with pen support.

 

[IamDavid]

From article: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3096...-windows-10-will-ship-this-month-for-699.html

Not many are using smartphones with Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile, but HP’s flagship Elite x3—which ships this month—could boost the OS’s sagging fortunes.
The premium smartphone will be priced starting at $699 in the U.S. It feels more like a phablet, but HP believes it could also be a PC in a pinch with its top-line mobile processor, OS and innovative accessories.


$699, shipping this month. I'm in.

 

[IamDavid]

Ordered mine today thru CDW.

 

[KingstonU]

My dream of having just ONE device to rule ... I mean one device for all my technology needs (+1 backup of the data) is getting closer. If this was x86 and truly and fully compatible with my x86 Windows 10 PC I would jump all over this.

Ultimately I don't even want to have a PC, just a x86-64 phone with Windows 10 (+1 backup of the data) that when I arrive home I set it down and it projects onto my 60" TV with keyboard and mouse.

 

[IamDavid]

Got my phone today! So far I love it. Probably more due to me using an iPhone for 4 months vs the actual phone but I do really like it.

 

[KingstonU]

Got my phone today! So far I love it. Probably more due to me using an iPhone for 4 months vs the actual phone but I do really like it.

Like I said in the other semi-related thread, would be great if you provided updates over the next coming weeks please!

Also how do you find the 5.96" size? How is it with pockets and for your size hands? Does Windows 10 feel like a sufficiently complete replacement over iOS or Android?

 

[IamDavid]

Please remember, I'm an absolute MS Excel\Email power user so WP servers my needs better than any other OS so I'm sure I come across as a MS fanboy sometimes.
1st 24 hours review:

• Display is crisp, bright and very easy on the eyes. Edge to edge display is nice. Overall on par with any high end device's displays outside of the Note 7.
• General size and shape is great. Not to large at all. Sits in the hand better than the Nokia 1520 which has been my favorite all time phone. It is slippery so I'm probably going to get a case despite the ruggedness claims by HP.
• Cosmetic appearance is good but not eye popping. Bottom B&O silver speaker is nice but smudges really easily.
• Speed is questionable for me. Seems sometimes to hesitate a bit more than any other nice device I've used. I did update to the latest beta build so that may be some of it. When an app is running its super fast, I notice the slow app switch when moving from app to app.
• Iris login is still a gimmic to me. It works very well but I'm not sold on the technology until i don't have to look so directly into the sensor. I use it always on my Surface Book and love it. We'll see how it goes the next few days.
• Fingerprint sensor is good. I love the placement on the back. Seem natural already.
• Battery has been killer of course. Haven't charged it yet, still at ~30%. I use my phone constantly throughout the day and night.
• Audio sounds amazing for a phone. Call audio along with music. Better than anything I've heard before.
• Windows 10:
  • Same look as WP8.1 with a few extra simple bells and whistles. I've always loved the tile layout that everyone hated at first. Funny i see the other OS's headed that way now.
  • Zero crashes for me so far unlike others I've seen writing about.
  • I HATE how limited the customization is of simple things!. This isn't' unique to WP but i still hate it. Why can't I remain icons???
  • Notification center is great and easy.
• Camera is good from what I've used it. Nothing to in depth yet.
• Microsoft Groove is the best music streaming app ever. Period.

I'll be testing the Continuum tonight along with other features. So far its above my expectations coming in. 950XL didn't leave me much to expect, it sucked.

 

[Denly]

Iris login have been growing on me, it work even in the dark like in the car at night. Usually unlock in about a sec.

And continuum worked better than I expected, would love to hear from a excel power user like you.

 

[spdfreak]

I have an Icon w/WP10 and it is just OK. Still a little buggy compared to 8.1 but certainly a lot more features. Bluetooth and Cortana only partially work in my car- Ford w/Sync. Any problems in your car reading and replying to texts? Is the Elite factory unlocked to work on any network- specifically Verizon since I still have unlimited data?

 

[biostud]

Using Continuum for a week with the HP Elite x3

http://www.windowscentral.com/using-continuum-week-hp-elite-x3

 

[IamDavid]

Been using as my only phone now for the past 6 days and I have to admit I'm starting to really like the phone all except for a couple annoyances.

I was on the road\flying Sunday thru Tuesday afternoon and didn't have to charge the phone one time!!!! The battery is absolutely killer. Period. Like I said in my previous post I am a Office power user, sending\receiving 100+ emails per day along with reviewing Excel sheets over and over. Coolest new app for my life is Power BI, yes I'm a looser. I watched about 1 hour of Netflix during my trip too.

I dropped my phone twice so far and haven' seen a dent. I did add a cheap screen protector on Sunday. It was the only one I could get here same day delivery from Amazon Prime.


Annoyances:
1: The vibrate when typing or any other touch is THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER! Makes the phone feel cheap like its stuttering. I'm not sure if a settings hidden somewhere but this needs to go away.
2: Excel isn't a full version. I know we all expected it wouldn't be but I had to hope. It opens 95% of the workbooks we pass around but it doesn't support refreshing data linked to a database. I use this feature extensively. Power BI may eliminate this problem soon since the updates keep coming and improving day by day.
3.: Charging cable is all of 3 inches long I think. Well, not that small but its pathetic for a $900 phone.


High points:
1: The highest 1 possible.. Music is absolutely beautiful when streaming thru Groove to my Ford Sync. Spdfreak, I hope this helps you. Coming from an iPhone 6s Plus I can't stress how shi**y the streaming sound quality was. I never believed people who claimed Apple products sucked at audio, I believe now. Seriously, wtf??? I use the sync for calls 2+ hours per day on my commute. Text to talk works from what I tested. I don't like the feature to begin with so that's it. Plugged in to my Bose headphone and wireless Klipsch I experienced the same level of amazement.
2: App gap is far overstated for someone like me. I never used snapchat or any other teenage must have app. Lack of finance apps blows but the mobile pages all work fine.

• Facebook, Twitter, Instagram all there.
• MS Office apps there of course
• EBay there but no PayPal. Hate PayPal anyway, EBay for the most part too.
• Maps is great, I was worried about this one.
• VLC Player if you don't want to use or can't use the stock MS Video app.
• Groove is the best audio streaming app ever, I think I mentioned that a few times.
• BlueIris works. Its a home security camera monitoring software.
• Audible.
• Weather apps of course.
• Remote desktop.
• Netfilx, ESPN, ESPN
• ALl good enough for me.

3: Wireless charging is very cool. Picked up a couple cheap, $15 charges and both work flawless. The fast charging 2.0 ones on Amazon.
4: 256GB SDCard installed makes the storage perfect for me. OneDrive built in, huge local storage, can't ask ort need anything more.
5: Battery like I mentioned.
6: Skype. Yes Skype. Majorly improved since last time I used on a WP.


Absolute low points:
1: Camera quality is actually pretty good for what I use it for but it RESET my phone twice so far. Out of ~75 pictures, 2 resets. Not good Microsoft or HP.
2: Linking of Email accounts is not cool. Even when pinning the different accounts to my Start Screen it stutters to the last open account a lot. Hate it. Won't stop hating it.

 

[quikah]

Annoyances:
1: The vibrate when typing or any other touch is THE MOST ANNOYING THING EVER! Makes the phone feel cheap like its stuttering. I'm not sure if a settings hidden somewhere but this needs to go away.
2: Excel isn't a full version. I know we all expected it wouldn't be but I had to hope. It opens 95% of the workbooks we pass around but it doesn't support refreshing data linked to a database. I use this feature extensively. Power BI may eliminate this problem soon since the updates keep coming and improving day by day.

There is a vibrate setting for the navigation bar under Personalization > Navigation Bar. I haven't noticed any other places for vibrations, I only get them in the nav bar on my 640.

Office mobile is limited. Fine for most people, but complex stuff cannot be done on it.

High points:
1: The highest 1 possible.. Music is absolutely beautiful when streaming thru Groove to my Ford Sync. Spdfreak, I hope this helps you. Coming from an iPhone 6s Plus I can't stress how shi**y the streaming sound quality was. I never believed people who claimed Apple products sucked at audio, I believe now. Seriously, wtf??? I use the sync for calls 2+ hours per day on my commute. Text to talk works from what I tested. I don't like the feature to begin with so that's it. Plugged in to my Bose headphone and wireless Klipsch I experienced the same level of amazement.

Apple only supports SBC codec for Bluetooth audio, it is the lowest quality one. I believe WP and Android supports AptX which is the highest quality one. iPhone 7 will support AAC (not sure if it comes to <7 in iOS10), but limited device support. Or it always has AAC support? Just limited support for AAC.

Absolute low points:
1: Camera quality is actually pretty good for what I use it for but it RESET my phone twice so far. Out of ~75 pictures, 2 resets. Not good Microsoft or HP.
2: Linking of Email accounts is not cool. Even when pinning the different accounts to my Start Screen it stutters to the last open account a lot. Hate it. Won't stop hating it.

I had the reset problem on my 640, but it seems like it was an issue with the SD card. After I reseat the card it hasn't happened again.

Email can be weird, I notice when I select an email from notification it will open a different email, but if I delete that one it will delete the one I originally tapped from notification.

 

[Makaveli]

I should be getting one of these free from our vendor can't wait this phone looks great.

And thanks for the personal review.

 

[IamDavid]

quakka, thanks for the info on disabling the vibration, it seems to have worked!

 

[IamDavid]

Just received my Vector Smartwatch to go with the Elite X3. Interesting combo. 100% Windows ecosystem now.

By no means is the Vector an Apple or Gear watch, it's market as a "Watch, just smarter" or something like that. Fully compatible with Windows Phones so I thought I'd give it a try. Out of the box and wearing for about 3 hours I like it so far. Basically a nice watch with an activity tracker and notifications. 30 day battery, waterproof=GREAT.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0169MX34M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1