An AI Laptop computer That is All Enterprise

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Pricing and availability

There are three fashions of the EliteBook X G1a on deck. My evaluate unit prices $2,199 and has a 2-GHz AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 processor with 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM, a 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD, an built-in AMD Radeon 890M Graphics GPU, a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 WUXGA show. The $1,999 base mannequin has an AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 CPU with half the storage and a 2.8K OLED panel. The $2,749 high mannequin has the identical specs because the evaluate unit, besides with double the RAM and the two.8K OLED display screen.

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Design

As befitting a enterprise laptop computer of its stature, the EliteBook X sports activities a refined design that may look good in any workplace, coworking house, or espresso store. The chassis is made out of matte silver-colored aluminum, and the lid is made out of 80% recycled supplies. Talking of the lid, it’s a swath of silvery matte-ness outdoors the gleaming strips of steel that make up the HP emblem.

The darkish grey backlit keyboard sits nestled between the big top-firing speaker grilles in additional of that silver aluminum. The palm relaxation is lengthy sufficient to accommodate most wrists comfortably. The show is related to the deck by way of a protracted hinge. Whereas the bezels alongside the edges of the show are skinny, they may very well be thinner. That goes double for the highest and backside bezels. Nonetheless, the HP emblem on the underside bezel is a pleasant contact.

Though the EliteBook X is most actually dressed to impress, it’s additionally a troublesome little S.O.B. The pocket book has undergone the gauntlet of toughness, passing 19 checks to earn its MIL-STD-810H certification. Meaning the pocket book can face up to shocks, excessive temperatures, drops from sure heights, and excessive altitudes.

For the reason that EliteBook X is a comparatively slim pocket book, there’s not a number of room for ports. On the suitable, you could have a Thunderbolt 4 port, a USB-A port, and a Kensington lock slot. The laptop computer has one other Thunderbolt 4 port on the left, together with a USB-C port, an HDMI 2.1 port, and a headset jack.

Weighing in at 3.3 kilos, the 12.3 x 8.5 x 0.36~0.52-inch EliteBook X is on the heavier finish of the ultraportable class. It’s a scooch lighter than the MacBook Pro 14 M4 (3.4 kilos. 12.3 x 8.7 x 0.61 inches) and Dell XPS 14 (3.7 kilos, 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inches). However the Asus Zenbook S 14 (2.65 kilos, 12.2 x 8.5 x 0.47 ~ 0.51 inches) are each lighter methods.

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Efficiency

HP slapped one among AMD’s new Ryzen AI chips into the EliteBook X. Launched earlier this 12 months, the 4-nanometer AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 processor is probably the most highly effective chipset on this new lineup. The processor is constructed on the corporate’s Zen 5 structure and has 12 cores and 24 threads.

The chip’s neural processing unit (NPU) makes use of AMD’s XDNA 2 NPU structure. With that and AMD’s Ryzen AI expertise, the NPU can hit a efficiency fee of as much as 55 TOPS (Tera Operations Per Second), making it one of the crucial highly effective AI laptops at the moment in the marketplace. AMD claims the NPU affords as much as 2x in energy effectivity with AI workloads in comparison with last-gen chips. And eventually, there’s the built-in AMD Radeon 890M Graphics. AMD’s RDNA 3.5 graphics structure is designed to optimize graphics efficiency however with decreased energy consumption.

So, all that jargon means this APU is designed to present you extra energy with out sacrificing effectivity. I subjected the EliteBook to my standard workload, which begins with between 50 and 65 tabs in Google Chrome (don’t choose). It’s a mixture of GSuite apps like Docs and Sheets, a slew of reports and social media websites, Google Analytics, a number of Gmail accounts, and some YouTube movies. Even with all of that, I couldn’t induce any lag. I began enhancing movies in Adobe Premiere and images in Photoshop with comparable outcomes.

The EliteBook X additionally held its personal after I put it via the benchmark gauntlet. Throughout CPU-focused checks, the EliteBook X tended to dominate its PC compatriots. For instance, in Geekbench 6, the pocket book produced scores of two,819 and 14,483 on the only and multi-core checks. That was greater than sufficient to filter the likes of the Zenbook S14 and XPS 14. Nonetheless, it couldn’t conquer the MacBook Professional 14 (3.845, 15,105). The EliteBook X took 3 minutes and 48 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p. As soon as once more, the HP laptop computer folded its Intel-powered rivals, solely to position second to the MacBook, which turned in at 2:29.

I wouldn’t advocate enjoying Cyberpunk 2077 on the EliteBook X. Nonetheless, I can say I performed a number of Hades II making an attempt to take out the most recent floor boss. And regardless of biting the mud extra instances than I care to confess, the colourful rogue-lite performed superbly. So you already know the drill, it’s benchmarking time. And I used to be fairly shocked to see the Zenbook S14’s Intel Arc Graphics beating the EliteBook X on the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark 4,215 to 4,133. The XPS 14’s 5,193 wasn’t a shocker because it has a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU.

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Show, Audio, Webcam, and Keyboard

The EliteBook X’s 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 non-touch show is vivid and daring. Actor Morris Chestnut’s pores and skin regarded like burnished bronze within the Watson trailer. In the meantime, a gaggle of crimson blood cells forming a clot had such intense colour that it bordered on florescent. Clear particulars revealed the positive striations within the ultrasound of a child and a myriad of bubbles created from a physique sinking into the water. Regardless of being an anti-glare panel, the EliteBook X’s 16:10 panel is fairly vivid. At the least it’s vivid sufficient for me to learn and watch movies in direct daylight.

HP acquired Poly, previously generally known as Plantronics, some time in the past, and it was a terrific determination. The quad audio system and amplifiers are higher than they’ve any proper to be on a laptop computer this slim. The pair of high and side-firing audio system created a full, highly effective sound that simply stuffed my lounge. Listening to a couple songs on Tidal and Spotify, I observed the highs can get brassy and distorted, and the bass is a bit of weak.

The 5-megapixel webcam captures pictures and video in 1920 x 1080p. In my check pictures, the shooter gave combined outcomes on the colour. The digicam did a superb job capturing the colour in my multicolored locs however washed out my rose quartz shirt.

I really like how massive the keycaps are on the EliteBook’s keyboard. The keys are additionally properly spaced, with vivid backlighting and agency suggestions when typing. I hit my standard 70 phrases per minute on the Monkeytype check. The Fn row on the keyboard does double responsibility, as lots of the keys have media performance. The F11 key will be programmed to a couple options within the MyHP app. The ability button additionally serves twin functions, functioning as a fingerprint reader for safe logins. And eventually, there’s the Microsoft Copilot button within the backside proper quadrant in case you wish to shoot the breeze with Microsoft’s AI. The touchpad is your commonplace. It’s giant, responsive, and agile, along with your standard cache of a number of gestures.

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Software program and Battery Life

As a enterprise laptop computer, the EliteBook X has a particular set of safety utilities. Dubbed HP Wolf Safety, it offers safety towards malware and phishing assaults, screens important functions, and might restore the working system in case of an infection. HP Certain Click on acts as a digital container, so you’ll be able to open questionable recordsdata and web sites with out probably affecting the remainder of the pc.

And since that is the AI period, HP has thrown its hat into the ring with its personal AI companion. Presently in beta, the companion does many issues we’ve seen on different apps, together with Google Gemini and Copilot. It could possibly summarize your docs and emails in addition to craft them. There’s a chatbot in case you could have a query, wish to ask, or need assistance making a to-do listing or different duties. And, in fact, there’s some AI constructed into the system administration, so that you ask for the digicam to be turned on/off, mute or unmute the audio system, or allow/disable autoframe within the digicam app.

Then you definately’ve bought myHP and Assist Assistant, the place you’ll be able to regulate efficiency settings, run system diagnostics, or contact tech help.

So there’s been a number of speak about efficiency with out sacrificing effectivity. I undoubtedly needed to put that to the check. Throughout the course of in the future, the place I wrote this evaluate, took video calls, answered emails, watched just a few movies, and took a few go-rounds in Hades 2, the laptop computer lasted 9 hours and 13 minutes at 50% brightness on the balanced energy setting. I additionally ran the PCMark 10 Trendy Workplace battery check, the place the pocket book lasted 13:25, which is fairly good.

HP EliteBook X G1a Evaluation: Verdict

Though we’re getting deeper and deeper into AI land, I nonetheless haven’t discovered that killer AI app. So whereas the HP EliteBook X G1a is among the strongest AI laptops out there, for proper now, it’s extra of a nice-to-have than essential. However when the app emerges, it’s good to know that a number of that AI processing will be achieved domestically as an alternative of within the cloud, the place it’s damaging the atmosphere.

However for those who take the AI hoopla out of the equation, you continue to have a damned-good enterprise laptop computer. It’s sturdy and has loads of safety features to maintain your recordsdata good and safe. Its efficiency will fulfill even probably the most demanding cell professionals. And whenever you’re not working, that show will be put to good use by watching a film or two and even getting some gaming in (inside purpose). And barring some slight distortion on just a few songs, the EliteBook’s audio system can dangle with fairly just a few Bluetooth audio system. Plus, it will probably final properly over eight hours on a cost.

The HP EliteBook X G1a is the enterprise laptop computer to beat this 12 months.