HP Elite X3; $800 Price Tag And Substantial Power

HP has released their latest attempt at making a mark in the smartphone market with the HP Elite X3. This smartphone boasts a lot of power and is marketed as a solid performer. However, the most common complaint that people have with regards to the unit has to do with the price, which many consider is too expensive for anything that's not an iPhone.

HP introduced the Elite X3 back in February during the Mobile World Congress 2016, according to Ubergizmo. It’s still not available in the U.S., however, and it’s likely that it will take a few months before the product arrives on American shores.

Ubergizmo notes the price tag of the unit, which was briefly posted by the company on its website before taking it down, as being unusually expensive for a smartphone. At $800, the HP Elite X3 is certainly at the upper tier of the market, more so than even some of the high-end units offered by other, more well-known brands.

However, as an editorial posted on MS Power User pointed out, HP has its reasons for making the price tag as high as it is. Basically, the phone is not meant for the bigger public market and is instead aimed at businesses who want to arm their employees with a powerful smartphone that can be used in the performance of their duties.

The phone is also aimed at business people who would like to have smartphones that can replace their laptops so that they can do business while on the go. According to the unit’s specs, the Elite X3 appears capable of delivering on this need.

For some perspective regarding what the phone can offer, it has a 5.96-inch WQHD display that’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 4. It has an internal storage capacity of 64GB and users can add more via the microSD slot. The processor is a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820, runs on 4GB of RAM, and has a 4150mAh battery that can be charged wirelessly. Those are just the performance aspect.

The phone also has a 16MP rear camera and an 8MP front camera. It’s equipped with Bang & Olufsen speakers, and it’s resistant to water and dust. Like the latest iteration of iPhone and Galaxy units, the HP Elite X3 has fingerprint and even iris scanning.