HP gets Mobile with the Elite X3 Phablet at MWC

Now there’s something I didn’t expect to be writing or saying here in Barcelona – “HP have just announced a brand new device – a mobile phone”.  Well, it’s true, and HP looks like going all-in on a specific area of the market perhaps not targeted before.

HP sees the Elite X3 sitting in an all new category in the mobile space, and they see it there after doing research into the “millennial generation” and how they are “changing the face of the workplace” – all very true, but does that make a large mobile phone like this a success on its own?

This is without doubt a flagship product for the brand.  It has great design, build quality and it’s no slouch either with Qualcomm 2.15GHz quad core processor, 4GB of RAM and 64GB onboard storage and audio by B&O Play.

With a 5.96inch screen it’s most certainly a “phablet”, but that’s for good reason.

HP reckon we’re working more away from the office and using multiple devices in the same way we would a PC, so wouldn’t life be easier if it was all just one device?

The key to solving that problem is the operating system.  This Elite X3 is not Android, it’s Windows 10.  Taking full advantage of the Continuum features of Windows 10 allowing you to use your mobile phone, then dock it to become your main PC.

And why do HP think they can be the brand that solves this problem?  Their deep reach into the commercial market.  Thousands and thousands of businesses have HP laptops, desktops and hardware – so why not also supply them with smartphones that could help create a more mobile yet productive workforce.

I can see the vision – the challenge is getting people to forego their love of the laptop to switch to being all-in on the smartphone.

But it makes sense – if you’re using a work laptop just to do Word, Excel, Powerpoint and Email – whatever you think that Laptop brings you in peformance – remarkably a smart device like the Elite X3 can do just the same.  So you don’t need to lug your laptop around, you just carry your phone as you always have, then dock it at work and your main monitor is your PC – driving by the power of your phone.  Pretty cool.

We’ll wait to see it in action with some full and solid testing, but in theory this is spot on.

Trevor Long travelled to Barcelona as a guest of Huawei, details at the EFTM Disclosures & Commercial Interests page