HP has used Cannes Film Festival, of all places, to spruik the latest updates to its consumer laptops and tablets the HP Envy and HP Spectre X2. The company leaned on the cool of filmmaking, mentioning its partnership with Dreamworks and the use of HP workstations in the editing and production of Hollywood hits like Deadpool, Gone Girl, and Ex Machina.

Though filmmaking link is a little tenuous, the devices on show had a lot to say about HP's new direction in the wake of the 2015 breakup of what was once the HP megacorp.

Following the split, which saw the servers and services side spin off as Hewlett Packard Enterprise and the printers, phones, and personal computers business become HP Inc, the latter has been keen to discuss the idea that the newer, smaller, consumer focused HP is able to spend more on innovation, research, and design.

The strategy seems to be working. For years HP meant those boring, nondescript PCs under people's desks. They worked, but no one really liked them, they were computers thrust upon you by IT. Over the last few years, HP's devices have morphed into some pretty sexy looking machines, and two of them received updates today.

First off was the clumsily named second generation HP Spectre X2. The newest Spectre X2 is what you'd describe as a tablet-first convertible, much like the Surface Pro. The keyboard completely detaches, making it a little less sturdy than a laptop-first convertible like the Surface Book or HP's own x360. But it also makes the device a lot thinner and lighter.

The Spectre X2 is a significant upgrade to last year's model. The new 12.3-inch display is gorgeous, upgraded to a 3000x2000 resolution screen. Above the screen is a new IR Camera for Windows Hello.

At just 7.7mm thick, it's thinner than the original X2, yet it packs a far more powerful processor, moving from the low powered Intel m series processors to a laptop level Intel Kaby Lake chip. Despite the power bump, HP claims the new Spectre X2 will get the same eight hour battery life of its predecessor.

Finally, the kickstand is much nicer to use. It's a little smoother and far more adjustable than last year, and the tablet can be laid almost completely flat to help use it in drawing mode. The new X2 will launch in Australia in June, starting at $1999 plus GST.

Next up were updates for the HP Envy, HP's mid-range consumer laptops. The 13-inch model in particular was interesting. Also launching in June and starting at $1599 it has a familiar design, looking like the midway point between Dell's XPS 13 and the Macbook Air. The same sleek lines and sharp details in a wedge shaped casing.

But there's a uniquely HP flair to the design, with a wonderful little hinge that sort of tucks under the keyboard when the laptop is open, and the striking Bang And Olufsen speaker grilles that are becoming a HP signature.

The keyboard is full-sized and goes right up to the side of the machine, and feels great for typing. HP claims this little laptop will give a full fourteen hours of use on a charge, but obviously this remains to be seen. The screen is full HD at 1920x1080, and while it's good enough, the display stands out as the one area where HP has cut costs. Even the tiny little Spectre X2 beats it on screen resolution.

The base model comes with a 128GB solid state drive and 8GB ram, giving you better bang for buck than the similar looking Microsoft Surface laptop, announced a few weeks ago.

Port lovers rejoice: the 13-inch Envy comes with two USB A and USB C ports, one on either side of the unit, for easy access, as well as a MicroSD card slot.

All in all, this looks to be a great little workhorse laptop at midrange price.

The author travelled to Cannes as a guest of HP.