Microsoft Adds HP Elite x3 Smartphone to Windows Store, $799
by Anton Shilov on October 10, 2016 2:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- HP
- Microsoft
- Windows 10 Mobile
- Continuum
- HP Elite x3
Microsoft has begun to sell HP’s Elite x3 smartphone at its Windows Store. The handset is one of the most powerful Windows 10 Mobile-based devices and the one of a few initially aimed at the business professionals on a company contract. The fact that Microsoft has started to sell the HP Elite x3 indicates that the smartphone is now available to general consumers as well.
Microsoft sells unlocked HP’s Elite x3 at it MSRP of $799, which is much higher than the price of typical Windows smartphones. The handset comes with its Continuum desk dock that features an Ethernet adapter, as well as DisplayPort USB connectors, and can work with desktop displays as well as keyboards. Meanwhile, neither Microsoft nor HP currently offer the Elite x3 Lap Dock device, which can transform the Elite x3 smartphone into a laptop.
The HP Elite x3 smartphone is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 820 SoC and is currently the only Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile-based smartphone to use the chip. The device is equipped a 5.96” AMOLED display and comes with 64 MB of eMMC 5.1 NAND flash storage, 4 GB of LPDDR4 RAM as well as all the necessary connectivity features, including 4G/LTE, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and a USB Type-C connector. Developed specifically for enterprise and business users, who value security, the HP Elite x3 is FIPS 140-2 certified and features Secure Boot (with iris and fingerprint scanners), full disk encryption with a 256-bit key, fTPM 2.0, and so on. The smartphone from HP also takes advantage of Microsoft’s Continuum technology, which allows you to run your phone as a desktop PC.
| HP Elite x3 | |
| SoC | Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 2x Kryo @ 2.15 GHz 2x Kryo @ 1.59 GHz Adreno 530 |
| RAM/NAND | 4 GB LPDDR4 RAM, 64 GB eMMC 5.1 NAND microSD 'up to 2 TB' |
| Display | 5.96-inch, 2560x1440 AMOLED (493 PPI) Corning Gorilla Glass 4 |
| Network | X12 Cat 12/13 LTE-A Single Nano-SIM or Dual Nano-SIM Models Micro-SD Shared with Nano-SIM |
| Dimensions | 161.8 x 83.5 x 7.8 (mm) 6.36 x 3.29 x 0.31 (in) |
| Weight | 195 grams 0.43 lb / 6.88 oz |
| Rear Camera | 16 MP, LED Flash |
| Front Camera | 8 MP wide angle, Iris Camera |
| Battery | 4150 mAh, 3.85 V, 15.98 Wh, PMA and Qi charging |
| OS | Windows 10 Mobile |
| Connectivity | Intel AC-7260AN WiFi (2x2 802.11ac + BT 4.0 LE) NFC, GPS USB 3.0 Type-C |
| Additional | Windows Hello (Iris and Fingerprint), FIPS 140-2, fTPM 2.0 128-bit Unified encryption, 256-bit full disk Disaster recovery Protection Win10 includes 128-bit BitLocker and Enterprise Grade VPN Bang&Olufsen Sound 3x Noise-Cancelling Microphones |
| Water/Dust Proof Certification | IP 67 MIL-STD 810G (salt/fog/humidity/shock/thermal) |
At present, the HP Elite x3 has no rivals in the price range because it is the only Windows 10 smartphone that sells for $799. In the Continuum space, the HP Elite x3 competes against Acer's Liquid Jade Primo as well as Microsoft’s own Lumia 950 and Lumia 950 XL, which are available for $449, $399 and $499 respectively.
Source: Microsoft
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serendip - Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - link
Continuum displays a larger interface when the phone is docked to an external screen but you're still running a limited ARM runtime a la WinRT. And how many third party apps support Continuum to begin with?I think it's a missed opportunity when Microsoft could have included x86 support and a full Win32 desktop when docked, assuming Intel had the right Atom chips.
nikon133 - Wednesday, October 12, 2016 - link
It could replace thin client quite nicely, though. I don't know how popular terminal server/thin client setup is, globally... but we have quite a few customers who do prefer thin clients over desktops.Alexvrb - Thursday, October 13, 2016 - link
I'm pretty sure all UWP ARM-capable apps run in Continuum. They just don't all change to a more desktop-friendly interface when docked. But again for business purposes it's pretty nice to be able to travel with a phone and dock (or MiDock) and have software like Office and a web browser with full Continuum support. They're also adding windowed mode to Continuum. It's really pretty neat. If you NEED x86 apps then your business either has to give you another device (laptop etc) or use HP's cloud services.Regarding x86 support, you blame MS and call it a missed opportunity, but then you yourself point out the real culprit: Intel. Intel doesn't have squat that can compete in this market, and if they did now (with the ultra-low-power Atoms getting the axe) it would be a Core something-or-another SoC and cost a fortune. You might as well blame them for not including a time travel device. Egads what a missed opportunity, not putting in the thing that doesn't exist.
Anyway look at previous x86 phones. Even when they were giving away chips for practically nothing, they still weren't that competitive. The graphics was OK for a mid-range device thanks to PowerVR, but the CPUs fell well behind the Snapdragon competition. Being almost free helped, but Intel got tired of making nothing off them. So lo and behind even the might Zenphone went more and more ARM and are now all-ARM.
lestnas - Friday, October 14, 2016 - link
It seems a good phone. Issue is, they're leveling the price with other platform's pricing. Where on the other platform I can use the device to fly a drone and use Uber app as a driver while with Windows 10, no can do. Still have my 1520 and switched to V10.Ro_Ja - Sunday, October 16, 2016 - link
This Phone's got the same amount of RAM as my Desktop has right now.