Does the vegan leather on the HP Elite Folio make it heavy?
We recently reviewed the HP Elite Folio here at XDA and found it to be a great ARM-powered laptop. The Elite Folio is HPs return to using leather on a laptop, but its a bit different this time. HP had already made the Spectre Folio, and that uses real leather. The Elite Folio, on the other hand, uses vegan leather. Weve seen a few laptops show up with unique materials, like Microsofts Surface Laptop 4 and its Alcantara cover. This brings up some questions about how these materials compare to more traditional devices. First, its important to know what vegan leather is. While real leather is made from animal skin, vegan leather is created artificially. The materials used for vegan leather can come from many different sources. Some types of vegan leather use plant-based materials, while others might use plastics like polyurethane. Aside from whats implied in the name, an advantage of vegan leather is that its thinner than real leather. That means its lighter, too, and easier to work with. Youll notice that the Elite Folio has a cleaner look than the Spectre. Additionally, the Elite Folio isnt completely covered in leather. Youll only find leather on the outside of the device, with the keyboard deck being all-metal. The Spectre Folio used leather on the inside, despite still having a metal structure underneath. The Spectre also had a lip of leather around the frame, but the vegan leather of the Elite Folio is easier to bond to the chassis. Thus, theres less wasted material around the frame. Another thing to consider is that the Elite Folio uses an ARM processor. This system-on-a-chip is built on a smaller process than the Intel processor in the Spectre Folio. Plus, it reduces the complexity of the internal components of the laptop. This can help save some space and weight inside the laptop. Because of everything we mentioned, the Elite Folio comes in at just 2.92 pounds, while the latest Spectre Folio weighs 3.24 pounds. That does make the Elite Folio slightly lighter. Lets take the HP Spectre x360 14, which has a similar size of display. In fact, most of the dimensions of the Spectre x360 14 are nearly identical to the Elite Folio. The weight is pretty close too, with Spectre x360 weighing just slightly more at 2.95 pounds. Again, its worth taking into account that the Spectre uses Intel processors, so theres some variation in the internals as well. HP Elite Folio The HP Elite Folio is a classy business laptop with a vegan leather cover and a metal keyboard base. It's lighter than real leather, and it features an ARM processor with solid performance and battery life. It also includes a stylus and a place to store it easily so you don't lose it. Buy at HP  In conclusion, the leather on the HP Elite Folio doesnt make it heavier than youd expect. Its noticeably lighter than the HP Spectre Folio, which used real leather. And compared to all-metal laptops of the same size, its not too far off, either. You can enjoy the added comfort of vegan leather without feeling it in your backpack. If youre still exploring other options though, you can check the best laptops out there, which include the HP Spectre x360 14. If youd rather stick to HP, we also have a list of the best HP laptops you can buy right now.