HP Tries To Reinvent Computing With Elite x3 W10 Phone

Megalith

Megalith

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HP’s new “groundbreaking” phone is aimed at enterprise and business markets. With an AMOLED display, 4GB RAM, and a 4150mAh battery, it is quite a beast. A desk dock lets you initiate Continuum, which will allow you to transform the phone into a mini-PC of sorts.

...it is hard to think of something they did not put on this phone. So why so much stuff? Simple. Companies asked for it. HP did not design this phone in a vacuum. Instead, they went and spoke to their enterprise customers and asked what their ideal smartphone was. The result is the Elite x3, which admittedly seems like a fantasy phone drawn by some of you in comments.
 
The only way I'd see it as groundbreaking was if it had an x86 processor and could run win32 applications directly on the phone without some type of web-service.
 
Wow, that is a lot of phone. looks like just about everything except Wabcom(ish) stylus support. If only Win phone was not all but dead.:(
 
Scottw said:
The only way I'd see it as groundbreaking was if it had an x86 processor and could run win32 applications directly on the phone without some type of web-service.
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Agree with this 100%. I bought into the Motorola Arix and lapdock years ago, and the experience was really not that great. Hopefully with Microsoft's rumored Surface Phone, we'll get an x86 power phone that can really be an asset in the work place. Hell i might even ditch Android if that ever happens.
 
Loved my Atrix. Not so much for the lapdock as the micro-HDMI output that let me use it as a portable media player on most displays.
And the microSD so I had space for said media.
And the fingerprint scanner on the back, which was so much better than my current (well-loved) Note 4's home button fingerprint scanner.
And the large removable battery.
And the first dual-core phone processor, which made it a poor laptop but a blazing fast phone.
If only it had a better screen...
 
Gorankar said:
Wow, that is a lot of phone. looks like just about everything except Wabcom(ish) stylus support. If only Win phone was not all but dead.:(
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If only Microsoft would test builds of WP10 before shipping. I love windows phone, but the preview builds of wp10 have all been pretty bad; there are so many UI things that are obviously broken, and performance on some phones (including the 550) is really awful, too :(
 
toast0 said:
If only Microsoft would test builds of WP10 before shipping. I love windows phone, but the preview builds of wp10 have all been pretty bad; there are so many UI things that are obviously broken, and performance on some phones (including the 550) is really awful, too :(
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All been pretty bad? I beg to differ. W10 mobile 10586.107 on my 640 runs like a champ. I am using the phone daily and see no issue with it. Do you have personal experience with these phones? or you are just regurgitating the awful comments (and ignoring the good comments).
 
bbqrooster said:
All been pretty bad? I beg to differ. W10 mobile 10586.107 on my 640 runs like a champ. I am using the phone daily and see no issue with it. Do you have personal experience with these phones? or you are just regurgitating the awful comments (and ignoring the good comments).
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Yes, I've poked at coworkers' 950, 550, and 640 with wp10. The 950 and 640 are decent, but inconsistent UI is a problem. The 550 is really too slow, and I used a 521 with a preview build for a few days after I broke my win HD and was waiting for an unlock code on my new 640; yes it's low ram, but that was a long three days...
 
toast0 said:
Yes, I've poked at coworkers' 950, 550, and 640 with wp10. The 950 and 640 are decent, but inconsistent UI is a problem. The 550 is really too slow, and I used a 521 with a preview build for a few days after I broke my win HD and was waiting for an unlock code on my new 640; yes it's low ram, but that was a long three days...
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So, it's not all been bad then. Inconsistent UI is a problem to certain group of people but not to everyone. I have run W10M on a 520 too and was a bit slow. But the 520/521 has a dual core 1.0 GHz with 512 MB RAM and is old. It is not representative of the experience running it on newer phones with Quad core CPU with 1 GB RAM like the 640 and 550.
 
bbqrooster said:
So, it's not all been bad then. Inconsistent UI is a problem to certain group of people but not to everyone. I have run W10M on a 520 too and was a bit slow. But the 520/521 has a dual core 1.0 GHz with 512 MB RAM and is old. It is not representative of the experience running it on newer phones with Quad core CPU with 1 GB RAM like the 640 and 550.
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The experience on the 550 is not good, it is very slow and loading... all over the place. I'm not saying the UI problems make a 950 or 640 unusable, but if someone at Microsoft was testing these, they would be fixed easily, which makes me wonder what important bugs they're shipping because they didn't test. One specific issue I saw recently was being able to drag the ... menu away from the software buttons and peek underneath; wtf?
 
That is a Tablet with phone functionality...that is not a phone. Seriously WTF is with all the phones getting retardedly big?
 
Great phone though I am happy with my 950. Windows 10 got 3 updates since I bought 950 and it is solid stable now. Though even before updates I didn't have any stability issues.
 
Dekoth-E- said:
That is a Tablet with phone functionality...that is not a phone. Seriously WTF is with all the phones getting retardedly big?
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It's been like this for a while. You been living under a rock? People clearly like large phones or else they wouldn't sell and companies wouldn't keep making them.
 
Oh look, it's dead already due to lacking Verizon support:

HP will be selling the Elite x3 in the U.S. with certification from AT&T. However, it is unlocked and can run on any LTE network with supported bands (so T-Mobile should be okay as well).
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When will Intel make a phone using their abundant x86 processors? What about that Edison chip they market to hobbyists?

However I don't need any of these things and would much rather have a phone that is encrypted and protected no matter what. Then when you are out of tower range, we should be able to use any available internet - landline - satellite system nearby to still make a call. A phone is meant for communication --- not uploading dick pics, instagram, boobtube, or 'working'.
 
almalino said:
Why America has all these phones locked to operators nonsense? In Europe I just buy the phone and use it with any operator from day 1.
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Works the same here if you actually buy the phone outright, except, Verizon lets what phones Verizon wants on their network. If they don't approve it, it does not work, even if it were a CDMA compatible phone.

GSM phones, (ATT, Tmobile, most of the rest of the world), that take a sim, generally work on any compatible network. Just pop in an activated sim from whatever carrier, and go along on your way. We do have subsidized phones in the US. You get the phone for free, or heavily discounted, or on an installment plan, but it is locked to the carrier that subsidized it for you until the end of contract or phone is paid off. Usually 2 years. After that, they will give you an unlock code if you ask for it. They will give you an unlock code much earlier than that sometimes if you tell them you plan to travel to Europe. Yeah, it is kind of stupid, but it does make sense to a point.
 
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Give this time....once the next CPU die shrink or two emerges, we'll probably see some Windows phones with quad core x86-64 processors, 4-8 GB RAM, 64-128 GB storage, full Win 10, and full docking for a truly all-in-one mobile office solution. And it's going to be awesome.
 
Apart from the screen being too big, (Ideal screen size is ~4.8", but I can deal with up to ~5.2") this phone seems - hardware wise - to be pretty awesome.

Personally - however - I have no interest in a Windows phone.

I know that's their target market, because that's what enterprise users are set up with, but I have no interest in a windows phone at all, no matter how perfect otherwise.
 
DejaWiz said:
Give this time....once the next CPU die shrink or two emerges, we'll probably see some Windows phones with quad core x86-64 processors, 4-8 GB RAM, 64-128 GB storage, full Win 10, and full docking for a truly all-in-one mobile office solution. And it's going to be awesome.
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But it will still be slower than my existing desktop.
 
DejaWiz said:
Give this time....once the next CPU die shrink or two emerges, we'll probably see some Windows phones with quad core x86-64 processors, 4-8 GB RAM, 64-128 GB storage, full Win 10, and full docking for a truly all-in-one mobile office solution. And it's going to be awesome.
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Fantasyland. Windows phone isn't going to be around long enough for Intel to get mobile x86 where it needs to be. And even if they do, consumers won't care.
 
DPI said:
Fantasyland. Windows phone isn't going to be around long enough for Intel to get mobile x86 where it needs to be. And even if they do, consumers won't care.
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Who said anything about the consumer segment? This is a step in the right direction for the much larger and profitable business enterprise segment that is chomping at the bit for such a solution.
 
DPI said:
Fantasyland. Windows phone isn't going to be around long enough for Intel to get mobile x86 where it needs to be. And even if they do, consumers won't care.
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Most everything is in place to do Windows x86 phones. And we're not talking about the general consumer market. Sure a long shot, but obviously Microsoft is trying to replicate the current success of Windows tablets in phones by making phones targeted at productivity and business. I'm not saying that x86 devices will save Windows Phone, at least not make them popular in terms of big sales numbers, but I think they could boost the market for Windows Phone at least to make them profitable. Not wildly so, just not money losers.
 
DejaWiz said:
Who said anything about the consumer segment? This is a step in the right direction for the much larger and profitable business enterprise segment that is chomping at the bit for such a solution.
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If Windows Phone is about to die off anyway, there's no reason not to do this. x86 Windows on phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. Of course x86 Windows phones won't have any appeal to the teenager using Snapchat or Periscope. Duh. But this does take Windows everywhere, to every significant client platform of today, one OS across everything. There's no reason not do it.
 
DejaWiz said:
Who said anything about the consumer segment? This is a step in the right direction for the much larger and profitable business enterprise segment that is chomping at the bit for such a solution.
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Business and enterprise users want iPhone and Android. And MS doesn't care about Win32 any more so all that power from x86 and "4-8GB ram" you propose is going to power what exactly? Metro apps?

The "dock your phone and it becomes a desktop" concept is not new, and nobody cares about the existing incarnations. An x86 phone that runs Win32 apps remains pure fantasy and would make no difference. I understand the romantic idea of it among us tech geeks, but impractical for everyone else including biz and enterprise.
 
DPI said:
Business and enterprise users want iPhone and Android. And MS doesn't care about Win32 any more so all that power from x86 and "4-8GB ram" you propose is going to power what exactly? Metro apps?
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Metro apps, universal apps, whatever one wants to call them, can take advantage of powerful hardware as shown by the desktop class games that starting to come out. With powerful enough hardware one could plug a phone into a TV and play console quality games, assuming that phone hardware reaches that state which many think it will. And there's still plenty of top line Win32 software, Office, Photoshop, AutoCAD, development tools, etc. If the hardware is capable enough, there's a market for these types of phones. One that I think would mirror the market for Windows tablets. Sure not big, but willing to spend well above the average.

DPI said:
The "dock your phone and it becomes a desktop" concept is not new, and nobody cares about the existing incarnations. An x86 phone that runs Win32 apps remains pure fantasy and would make no difference. I understand the romantic idea of it among us tech geeks, but impractical for everyone else including biz and enterprise.
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The idea isn't new but there's never been a well known, well executed convertible x86 Windows phone, certainly not one running Windows 10 which is specially designed for such use.
 
They keep beating that dead horse...I'm SURE it's just about to come back to life...aaaany minute now...come on MS, whack it again!
 
jnemesh said:
They keep beating that dead horse...I'm SURE it's just about to come back to life...aaaany minute now...come on MS, whack it again!
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Come back to life? Probably not, not large scale in the general consumer space. It was clear last year when the Nokia acquisition was written off that Microsoft was scaling back on its phone efforts, directly at least. But as many have complained around here, Windows 10 is a phone OS. Not exactly but mobile is built into the core of the OS now. Windows phones from the Windows perspective are becoming just another form factor.
 
I can easily see the business appeal for an entire Windows 10 x86 based ecosystem. Think about how much easier it would be to manage rather than Windows 10/Android/iPhone/Blackberry. I'm pretty sure that we'll see an x86 based phone sooner rather than later.
 
Creig said:
I can easily see the business appeal for an entire Windows 10 x86 based ecosystem. Think about how much easier it would be to manage rather than Windows 10/Android/iPhone/Blackberry. I'm pretty sure that we'll see an x86 based phone sooner rather than later.
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Well, we know it is possible.

The Asus Zenfone 2 has been hacked to run x86 Windows, I just don't know what the desktop performance would be like with such low end power sipping hardware.
 
DPI said:
Business and enterprise users want iPhone and Android. And MS doesn't care about Win32 any more so all that power from x86 and "4-8GB ram" you propose is going to power what exactly? Metro apps?

The "dock your phone and it becomes a desktop" concept is not new, and nobody cares about the existing incarnations. An x86 phone that runs Win32 apps remains pure fantasy and would make no difference. I understand the romantic idea of it among us tech geeks, but impractical for everyone else including biz and enterprise.
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Re-read my original post, please.

It clearly states x86-64 capability and the next 1 or 2 die shrinks. It's obvious that readily available and cost-effective smartphone processors available today are not up to such a task.

About businesses wanting iPhone or Android...well, a big reason for that is existing user familiarity. You know, the same reason why Win8 failed to get widely adopted in the enterprise segment. If a phone emerges that is x86-64 and running a full version of Win10, you can bet it will be flying out of distribution hubs.
 
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