HP Elite x2 G4 vs Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Which to Buy?

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BUY NOW	BUY NOW
HP Elite X2 G4	Microsoft Surface Pro 7
PROS	PROS
Powerful specifications. Good keyboard.	Vastly improved performance. USB-C port.
CONS	CONS
Average battery life. High price range.	Poor battery life.

SPECIFICATIONS

DESIGN

HP Elite X2 G4

Looking at the laptop, you will notice that it’s actually quite a thin laptop. It’s got a nice-looking hinge at the back as well. This looks quite good. When you close it with the back of the keyboard, it has a leather HP logo on it. It actually works quite well in portrait mode as well and it’s sort of similar in shape to an A4 piece of paper.

If you bring it up on tablet mode, it will change the rotation to appear vertical. This is not as popular as the Microsoft Surface series of laptops but it does seem so much closer to that laptop.

HP’s Elite lineup is mainly exclusive to business users. The hinge can go down like a slate which will be useful for writing and drawing. The pen is fairly good.

This has a detachable keyboard as well. The trackpad is really good quality, it’s probably right up there with an Apple trackpad quality.

The keyboard itself is excellent as well. The keyboard is actually a metal keyboard. The keyboard feels really good, it feels like a really high-quality laptop keyboard.

This has a glass touchpad. You can easily detach the keyboard and use it as a tablet. The keyboard has a couple of different positions.

I prefer to use it flat to down on the desk because it gives a more solid laptop feeling. However, you can also pop it up and attach it which gives the keyboard a little bit more of an angle.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7

At first look, the new Surface Pro 7 seemed pretty much the same as the Surface Pro 6. There’s no denying the sheer versatility of the Surface Pro 7. It’s a really cool device. It’s just over one pound and it’s easily one of the most portable fully-fledged PCs out there.

There are basically three modes; the obvious laptop mode, you can open the built-in kickstand with the type cover for a full laptop experience. The next mode is tablet mode, just close the kickstand and remove or fold the type cover back for a standalone intel tablet.

The third mode is called studio mode, the kickstand gets lowered at which point the screen sits perfectly at 15 degrees, this makes the Surface Pro 7 optimal for writing and drawing with the Surface pen.

You’ll find that the type covers magnetically clips on and off with ease, it’s not such a struggle like when trying to flip over the two in one into tablet mode. As for colors, the tablet comes in gray or fingerprint magnet black.

The touchpad is smooth and also very responsive to the touch. Typing on it isn’t as awkward as you might think. The keys have a deep feeling of travel and it’s got a nice bouncy feel when our fingers leave the keys. The Alcantara fabric is supposed to be stain-resistant.

DISPLAY

HP Elite X2 G4

The main reason why people choose this particular tablet was because of the thin bezels which are available on a certain tablet size which is the 13 inch one. This is a 3000 by 2000 pixel display.

It’s quite a bright display as well. It doesn’t do too good in bright daylight unfortunately but for most users, it’ll be quite good. It’s still certainly as bright as a standard laptop but not as bright as some of the newer laptops these days.

You can actually choose a brighter version of this tablet which only has a 1080p resolution but goes much brighter about 700 nits or so.

In this model, I went for the 3K version. The reason the resolution is a little bit odd 3000 by 2000 is that it’s not a 16 by 9 aspect ratio panel, it’s actually slightly taller which is closer to 16 by 10 aspect ratio.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7

We love the 12.3-inch screen. 2736 by 1824 resolution makes just about anything on the screen look stunning. The pixel density is definitely impressive, it produces really sharp and clear images. It’s unfortunate though that the bezels remain quite thick, they make the otherwise sleek design look a bit outdated.

We found Microsoft’s pixel sense technology creates a very thin panel for images, they really pop plus pixel sense makes it so that pressing with both the Surface pen stylus and our fingertips feels quite natural. Overall, it’s very responsive with no lag partially making up for the large bezels.

BATTERY

HP Elite X2 G4

The Elite X2 G4 doesn’t give you impressive battery life. This laptop only gives around 3 hours of battery life.

The only way you can increase the battery life a little bit is by decreasing the brightness of this laptop.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7

When it comes to battery performance, the Surface Pro 7 is capable of up to 10.5 hours of video playback but actual usage and just watching videos are very different tasks.

We found with more intensive apps, we got close to four hours of battery performance. This battery life is not great but not bad either.

WHICH TO BUY?

If you already have the Surface Pro 6, there may not be much motivation to upgrade to the Surface Pro 7 but if you’re looking for an amazing, lightweight, extremely portable, powerful, versatile tablet-laptop hybrid, the Surface Pro 7 is a great one to consider.

HP Elite X2 G4 has all-new features and it is better than the Surface Pro 7 but the price range is also almost getting double. So, if you have a budget of around $3000, then you can buy Elite X2 G4. Otherwise, the Surface Pro 7 is a better choice at the price range of $1500-$1800. 

Jaskaran Singh

Jaskaran, a tech enthusiast from childhood, inspired by his father, began his tech journey by rooting Android phones. He now writes on various tech topics, aiming to simplify complex ideas for a broad audience. His writing is direct, concise, and flows effortlessly, making tech topics accessible and engaging.