The HP Elite x3 first debuted at MWC 2016, marking HP's re-entry into the mobile market in a long while. The Elite x3 smartphone is, well, clearly a phone, but HP also intends for it to be so much more. For starters, it runs Windows 10, which means it will support Continuum, a feature that allows users to plug their Windows smartphone into a larger display and use it as a full-fledged Windows PC. In HP's words, this isn't a phone!
The HP Elite x3 packs some high-end hardware, including a Snapdragon 820 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage. To round it all off, it also utilizes a USB Type-C port for charging and data transfers.
The front-facing speakers are tuned by Bang & Olufsen, much like many of HP's notebooks. We really like the silver speaker grilles, which help convey a more premium feel to the phone.
The silver finish of the speaker grilles wraps around the back of the phone as well. You can also see here the five Pogo pins below the HP logo, which will allow third-party manufacturers to build custom sleeves that fit over the phone to give it additional capabilities. The pins will be exposed to the phone's applications, so these apps will be able to take advantage of the extra hardware in these sleeves.
The 16-megapixel rear camera is paired with a low-light sensor and LED flash. The fingerprint sensor is located below the camera apparatus, and takes the form of a slight indentation. There is also a slight camera bump on the rear, but it's fortunately not too prominent.
The Elite x3 has built-in support for dual SIM cards for business executives who travel frequently. The SIM card slot can take either two nano SIM cards, or one SIM card and an extra SD card for additional storage.
The 6-inch AMOLED screen has a resolution of 2,560,x 1,440 pixels. It is covered by a sheet of Corning Gorilla Glass 4, and colors are bright and vibrant, as expected of any AMOLED display.
HP has designed the Desk Dock accessory expressly for the Elite x3, allowing business users to easily expand the phone's capabilities. It includes a DisplayPort connector for external monitors, one USB Type-C and two Type-A ports, and an Ethernet port for a high-speed wired connection.