A monster Windows Phone from HP

HP has let loose the HP Elite x3 at Mobile World Congress.

What’s so special about it? It packs a lot of power to be your one and only device across the board – your phone, tablet and computer, it wants to replace it all. It’s been a while since we last saw HP release a smartphone, 2014 actually. The American computing giants are back with the HP Elite x3, it’s an interesting device as manufacturers shy away from creating a Windows 10 smartphone. HP seem to have taken it upon themselves to show Microsoft how its done.

The Elite x3 is without a doubt a high-end device with a massive phablet 6-inch quad HD display. Powering it the new Snapdragon 820 with a 4GB of RAM. Bigger is better seems to be the theme here and the story is the same with the internal memory, which boasts 64GB, expandable up to 2TB. 4,150 mAh of battery is in tow, will it be enough to be a smartphone and a PC later is the question. There is an iris scanner on the front, with a fingerprint scanner on the back (although it wasn’t present on the models here at MWC).

From the spec sheets and features it’s pretty much a Lumia 950 on steroids. It needs to be this powerful to run Continuum as intended, but the hurdle Windows 10 on smartphones run into, is that they can’t run full desktop apps. HP id allowing users to run apps off a cloud to make up for it, but you’ll need an IT department to set it up.

HP are really going for the business crowd here, the fact that it runs Windows 10 is evident enough as consumers are put off by the OS. Desk Dock and Mobile Extender are the accessories announced to turn the Elite x3 into a “PC.” Desk Dock has many ports to function like a PC including; ethernet, 2 USB ports, display port and USB-C. Mobile Extender looks like a little laptop, but when connected to an Elite x3 it becomes an extension of it and you can use it like a PC.

Pricing and availability yet to be confirmed.

For more on HP, visit What Mobile’s dedicated HP page.