We tested the most powerful Windows phone to date

Nov 26, 2016 15:51 GMT  ·  By
INTRO HARDWARE
SOFTWARE CONCLUSIONS

Microsoft says on every occasion that it’s still committed to Windows 10 Mobile, but the company hasn’t released any new device in the last 6 months or so, making everyone believe that it’s ready to give up at least on the hardware side of its mobile push.

With rumors that Microsoft is also aiming to abandon the Lumia lineup, every new phone coming from a different company is catching everyone’s attention, and this is exactly what happened with the HP Elite X3.

Announced with much fanfare earlier this year, the HP Elite X3 comes with specs that Windows Phone fans have until now only dreamed about, despite the Lumia 950 series, which also brought specs that were compelling to say the least.

But HP’s Elite X3 arrives at a time when only few people still believe in Windows phones, so there’s no doubt that hardcore fans really need to give it a shot.

That’s exactly what we did, as we took the HP Elite X3 for a spin and used it for several weeks, including with Continuum, to see what this is all about. This time, we’re going to split the review into two parts, namely hardware and software, so read on to find more about this super-powerful Windows phone.

Hardware

In terms of hardware, there’s no way you’re not going to be pleased with the HP Elite X3, although there still are things that would need more improvements. But let’s take them one at a time and see what this is all about.

#Display

The HP Elite X3 comes with a 5.96-inch display that you’ll absolutely love. It has a resolution of 1440x2560 pixels, with a pixel density of 494 ppi, and although it looks huge at first, it has major advantages. With a screen-to-body ratio of 72.2 percent, the phone has plenty of screen space to work with, so it’s absolutely a pleasure to browse the web or watch movies.

Brilliant display!

Colors are vivid, and the contrast is excellent, much better than on the other Windows phones on the market. The phone also comes with features such as double tap to wake, which is kind of handy given its size, but it lacks Glance screen, and this is one very important setback.

It does have a LED notification light to compensate for the lack of Glance, but Windows 10 Mobile does not have advanced support for this feature, so you can’t configure it to blink when you have missed third-party notifications just yet.

The response time of the display is impressive to say the least and readability in direct sunlight is a bit above the average.

#CPU, RAM, and storage

This phone comes with the most powerful Snapdragon processor at the moment, namely the 820, which is quad-core in the following configuration: 2 cores running at 2.15 GHz and 2 running at 1.6 GHz. Depending on the power you need, the more powerful cores kick in, giving the phone impressive performance figures.

The Elite X3 features 4 GB of RAM, which is pretty much the biggest amount of memory that you can find right now in the Windows phone world, and 64 GB of storage, obviously with microSD card support.

The aforementioned configuration makes the HP Elite X3 blazing fast 90 percent of the time, and the remaining 10 percent is lost only because of Windows 10 Mobile. The phone barely gets hot when performing more demanding tasks, such as when watching videos, but even when it does, the cooling system is super-efficient.

The amount of storage that the device offers is not overwhelming, but it’s a good thing that it comes with microSD card support. This is something that Apple should borrow as well, although we all know that’s not going to happen.

#Camera

The device features a 16-megapixel F2.2, autofocus and LED flash, as well as HDR, panorama support, and some other extras that are already supported in Windows 10 Mobile, such as face detection.

Close-up with perfect lighting conditions - notice the amount of noise
Close-up with perfect lighting conditions - notice the amount of noise

On paper, this looks like a decent camera and this is exactly what it is. A decent camera, but nothing more. As compared to flagship devices from the Android and iOS lineups, the HP Elite X3 is clearly lagging behind, but when looking at other Windows phones, there’s no way not to put the HP one in the leading position.

HP Elite X3 camera sample without HDR
HP Elite X3 camera sample without HDR
And the same camera sample but with HDR turned on
And the same camera sample but with HDR turned on

There’s one thing that needs to be mentioned here: Windows 10 Mobile sometimes makes the camera very slow, and it needs more than you expect to take a photo. This is because the Camera app is loading quite slowly, and if you’re in a rush or you want to take a photo of a moving object, there’s a good chance that you might miss the perfect moment.

Photo quality is generally good, but it’s nothing to be super-excited about. Pictures look good, but they lack the detail quality, contrast, and brightness that you find on other flagships. More optimization work needs to be done for HDR as well, as it sometimes fails to adjust light and colors correctly.

Low-light shots also need some improvements, and although brightness is controlled properly, more software optimization would really come in handy, especially because the amount of noise is still too substantial when optimal light is missing.

The same problem that we complained about when reviewing the Lumia 950 XL camera exists here too, as the HP Elite X3 sometimes seems to lose focus, and it becomes more obvious when recording videos.

#Battery

The HP Elite X3 comes with a 4150 mAh battery, and this is absolutely impressive. It makes sense for a device with a 5.96-inch display to come with such a large battery, but the phone achieves figures that are really good for a device this size.

Battery life reaches 2 days per charge on average, but this can obviously vary depending on usage patterns. Charging is quite fast, and what’s more, it also supports wireless charging, which is a feature that so many iPhone users are drooling over.

Charging is super convenient also thanks to the HP dock, especially if you use the phone with Continuum, and this is one of the best things about the phone (check out the section at the end of the article to find out more about our experience with Continuum).

#Other features

The HP Elite X3 has pretty much everything you’d want on a smartphone. It has USB Type-C, a fingerprint sensor which is quite fast (but doesn’t work with a wet finger and has a failure rate of less than 10 percent), active noise cancellation with dedicated mic, a LED flash (which isn’t supported by Windows 10 Mobile with features to configure it for third-party apps), plus an infrared camera for Windows Hello.

The sound won't blow your mind.

Additionally, the device comes with Bang & Olufsen stereo speakers, which provide super high-quality sound, but don’t expect to be absolutely overwhelmed. Audio is fine, clarity is without a doubt above the average, volume is satisfying, but it’s still just a phone. Truth be told, these speakers make watching videos a bit more pleasant, but don’t expect to be able to throw a party with them.

The Elite X3 is also IP67 certified, so it can resist water and dust, but as we’ve recently found out, speakers might experience some issues when submerged in water. So although it should resist being thrown in water, you should really avoid doing it.

Additionally, it meets MIL-STD 810G standard, which means that it’s salt, fog, humidity, transport shock, and thermal shock resistant. But again, don’t try to find its limits.

Software

If you’ve used Windows 10 Mobile before, the HP Elite X3 won’t bring too many surprises. Let me put it this way: HP clearly pressured Microsoft to improve the operating system and get it ready for its superphone, and Redmond truly delivered, but don’t expect Windows 10 Mobile to be a completely new piece of software.

Windows 10 Mobile evolved, there’s no doubt about it, but there still are parts that need to be improved in order to at least become a compelling choice for Android and iOS users.

First and foremost, the operating system is still buggy even on a device like the HP Elite X3. While general performance and stability is pretty good, there are moments when everything feels super-slow and when apps crash without you expecting it.

Setting up Windows Hello with a fingerprint reader in Windows 10 Mobile
Setting up Windows Hello with a fingerprint reader in Windows 10 Mobile

It happened several times with the camera app, when it launched in approximately 5 seconds, and this means that you’re very likely to miss the perfect moment to take a shot, especially if you are in a rush. Additionally, there are apps that load painfully slow and the “Resuming” bug is still there - it doesn’t show up as frequently as before, but it’s there.

The Mail app is just another example and to be honest, the full-screen splash screen is killing me. The first time you launch the app you get to see a blue full-screen splash screen that doesn’t make any sense, so you must wait at least a few seconds every time before you get to the inbox.

On the HP Elite X3, Windows 10 Mobile comes with options that you won’t find on all devices, obviously because of the hardware, but there’s still room for improvements. For instance, you can set up the fingerprint reader and iris scanner, but on the other hand, there are no options to adjust LED notifications.

And then, there’s the other problem that hardcore fans are denying, but which is basically ruining the entire experience on a Windows phone: the lack of apps.

While Microsoft pushed hard for universal apps on Windows 10, you still miss them on Windows 10 Mobile, and it’s even more painful when coming from Android or iOS.

For example, the moment I switched to the HP Elite X3, I started missing apps that I don’t necessarily use on a daily basis, but which I do use, such as mobile banking and food delivery services.

The easiest way to overcome this is to have a secondary device, such as a cheap Android phone, that has all the apps, so you can continue using Windows 10 Mobile without a problem. It goes without saying that having everything on one device would be so much better, but this isn’t possible on Windows 10 Mobile just yet.

In the end, as a big Windows Phone fan, I must admit that Windows 10 Mobile is just not ready yet. There are the small things that really matter and the HP Elite X3 can’t change anything. It’s indeed improving, but it’s simply not yet there. It hurts to say, but it’s true.

The bottom line

There can only be one conclusion after reviewing the HP Elite X3. This is simply the best Windows phone to date and it’s sad to see another company building it, and not Microsoft itself.

The HP Elite X3 is a monster in terms of hardware, but a puppy when it comes to software. The only thing that’s wrong with this device is probably the size, which you can get used to after a few days, and the operating system, which Microsoft is only slowly improving these days.

I know saying Windows 10 Mobile is not ready yet will make many hardcore fans angry, but this is nothing but the truth and, unfortunately, Microsoft simply doesn’t seem too interested right now in changing it.

The HP Elite X3 is the flagship of flagships in the Windows phone world and you just have to give it a try to see what it is all about. It supports Continuum, it has a fingerprint scanner, a Windows Hello camera for iris recognition, an absolutely fantastic display, a super powerful processor, and a build quality that you don’t usually find in the Windows Phone world - the Lumia 950 XL itself had some build quality issues, but the Elite X3 simply excels in this regard.

In the end, if you are really committed to Windows 10 Mobile, there’s no other device that you must consider. The HP Elite X3 is the best of the best right now for Microsoft users, and with an operating system that didn’t lack apps and other features, it can be a potential iPhone killer. And we can’t help but wonder: what if the HP Elite X3 was built with Android?

WAIT! THERE'S MORE ON THE HP ELITE X3:

FIRST IMPRESSIONS THE CONTINUUM EXPERIENCE
POST-REVIEW IMPRESSIONS

HP Elite X3 (58 Images)

HP Elite X3 display
HP Elite X3 camera and fingerprint sensorHP Elite X3 side view
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