Following on from our firstfourreviewparts and various features on the HP Elite X3, for completeness I also wanted to put up an annotated image gallery of this Windows 10 Mobile flagship. It's an impressive beast from any angle - and I include quite a few below.
(As and when the HP Lap dock becomes available, I'll update this gallery with shots of this - and the Desk Dock - too.)
As usual with the AAWP gallery tool, after clicking through, you'll find captions and comments below each image. On some smaller displays or those with shallow aspect ratios you may need to scroll down or swipe up just a fraction to see the comments.
HP Elite X3 (click images to expand):
Almost identical in size (and, to an extent, feel) to the classic Nokia Lumia 1520, the HP would have been considered impractical in terms of size a couple of years ago. Yet in late 2016, a 6"-screened phone seems pretty normal - amazing how times change! Part of the benefit here is the professional use case, of course.
You can have any colour you like as long as it's black... Solid, unyielding (no creaks!) and moderately grippy, the Elite X3 feels industrial compared to the relatively flimsy Lumia 950 XL and consumer phones.
The QHD AMOLED display is stunningly clear and vibrant in almost all light conditions. Technically, the Lumia 950 range's displays are higher density and with better outdoor contrast, but the combination of 6" screen and QHD AMOLED is jaw-dropping.
Some understated details - the 3.5mm headphone jack is essential for business purposes, of course, you can imagine numerous use cases which need 'low tech' audio-out. The jack is beautifully sculpted into the X3's heavy duty polycarbonate.
The bottom is chromed plastic, for weight and signal reasons - in theory it should be vulnerable but mine has held up well so far. The USB Type C port supports QuickCharge 3.0, though you'll have to seek out a suitable charger, you only get 2A/5V out of the box (which is still plenty fast enough for a device which only needs charging every couple of days and which also supports Qi/PMA)
Also down at the bottom is a set of five 'pogo-pins', providing power plus data in and out for specialised contact/sleeve accessories, which we'll have to imagine for now because none have been announced yet in public. Also notice the bottom rear-facing microphone hole and the rather splendidly inlaid HP logo, which is neither imprinted nor embossed - I can't work out quite how this has been done!
The camera glass is ever so slightly recessed for protection within its raised island, as is the single LED flash (more of use as a torch than for actually illuminating photos!), while the fingerprint sensor is outlined by a protruding circle that helps the finger locate it without looking. A very nice touch indeed, and not something found on all Android phones with similar sensors.
The only buttons are on the right hand side, with the power one in silver and also more prominent, to help find it both visually and by touch - it's perfectly positioned for my average-sized hand, too, in contrast to the very awkward and non-conventional cluster on the Lumia 950 XL. The X3's sides are very slightly tapered and the buttons are parellel to the taper.
The HP Elite X3 is a handsome slice of technology on the whole, albeit not in a consumer flashy way. The chromed plastic strip along the bottom is a little tacky, it's true, but it's also distinctive and gives the Elite X3 some character. What matters to me more is the quality of the sound from the speaker pair, and it's here that I feel a few corners have been cut.
I did like HP's approach to getting into the Elite X3 in terms of cards - espousing the iPhone-esque pin ejection system (wherein you're typically left scrambling around for a paper clip when you lose your original pin), here there's a push-fit slot with a small gap for a fingernail. This 'tools-free' system gets my vote and, amazingly, doesn't seem to mess up the waterproofing.
Having levered out the card caddy, you can see two main spaces in the tray, one for the main nano-SIM, another for either a microSD card (as here) or a second nano-SIM. Having dual SIM capability is pretty important in the business world, not least because you can genuinely have both a work and personal number on the same device.
