ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The HP EliteBook Extremely G1i is on sale for $1,949.
- I extremely suggest it to folks in search of a laptop computer with top-performing {hardware}, a vibrant display screen, and a high-quality webcam.
- Nevertheless, due to its restricted port choice, some may discover its usability restricted with out supplementary equipment.
extra shopping for selections
Work laptops do not need to be boring hunks of grey metallic. There are many eye-catching fashions offering participating experiences. Individuals in search of these units typically gravitate towards MacBooks, and with good purpose.
Additionally: The best HP laptops you can buy: Expert tested
Apple {hardware} is flashy and enjoyable to make use of. Should you’re a Home windows consumer and need one thing related, I counsel HP’s new EliteBook Ultra G1i. This laptop goals to destroy all different laptops by excelling in a number of areas: work, leisure, and every thing in between.
Earlier than I focus on how nicely it carried out, permit me to gush over the EliteBook’s design as a result of HP made a number of nice choices. The laptop computer sports activities an Ambiance Blue paint job, a stunning shade of darkish blue. It boasts a featherweight design, measuring 0.46 inches when closed and weighing 2.63 kilos.
Slim computer systems like this are vulnerable to break, so HP developed it to be fairly sturdy. The corporate claims it handed 19 army sturdiness exams.
For a show, the EliteBook Extremely homes a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen. Visible output is vibrant, protecting the whole DCI-P3 coloration gamut. On-screen animations are velvety clean due to the 120Hz refresh price. The display screen is made much more spectacular by the 16:10 facet ratio, making the show appear bigger than it’s. All the things works collectively to make HP’s laptop computer an efficient content-creation machine.
Additionally: I tested HP’s new EliteBook X G1i, and it’s a featherweight champ in the office
Above the display screen is a 9MP digital camera able to recording video calls as much as 1440p decision. Picture high quality stays clear and pristine even in rooms with poor lighting. The lens is supported by Home windows Studio Results, which, via synthetic intelligence, ensures that you just keep in the course of the shot, amongst different issues.
There are a number of design points that I wasn’t a fan of. First, I wasn’t too eager on the keyboard. The keys felt fairly mushy, missing that satisfying tactile suggestions I crave. That is offset by the nice trackpad. It is spacious, and thru the myHP app, you possibly can activate multitouch gestures, increasing its usability.
Additionally: I’ve tested dozens of ultralight laptops this year, but I keep coming back to this one
Moreover, the EliteBook has only a few ports, consisting of solely three Thunderbolt 4 inputs, a USB-A port, and a headphone jack. Granted, that is to be anticipated on a laptop computer this skinny. I like to recommend shopping for a laptop docking station to complement the dearth of inputs. My remaining criticism is that the touchscreen is shiny, which might make it onerous to see beneath sunny circumstances.
Beneath the hood, my evaluation unit had an Intel Core Extremely 7 268V processor, an built-in Intel Arc graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. That is a strong {hardware} configuration, so I needed to put it to the check.
For probably the most half, HP’s machine did rather well. I opened about 40 browser tabs operating GIFs, movies, audio recordings, and Amazon product listings. There wasn’t even a touch of slowdown. The desk beneath compares varied benchmark exams to Samsung’s Galaxy Book5 Pro, one other MacBook-esque laptop computer I’ve examined, and is priced equally. As you possibly can see within the numbers beneath, the EliteBook Extremely G1i boasts sooner processing and searching speeds.
Geekbench 6 | PCMark 10 | Cinebench R23 | |
HP EliteBook Extremely G1i | 10,993 | 7,328 | 7,324 |
Samsung Galaxy Book5 Professional | 10,861 | 7,196 | 10,094 |
Nevertheless, it is not infallible. Efficiency plummeted once I tried to run a number of YouTube livestreams in 4K. The underside vents started expelling heat air to chill the insides. After turning the decision all the way down to 1080p and a quick cooling interval, I noticed quick enchancment. HP’s EliteBook Extremely outperformed the Galaxy Book5 Professional within the processing and web searching exams however fell behind Samsung’s machine within the photograph rendering examination, as famous by the Cinebench outcomes above.
As a result of it homes a Lunar Lake chipset, the Elitebook Extremely G1i has an NPU (neural processing unit). It enhances its total efficiency and makes the laptop computer fairly adept at supporting LLM (giant language fashions). Geekbench AI outcomes present the machine had a high quantized rating of 34,274. Cross-referencing Geekbench’s database locations the Elitebook’s NPU output at about the identical stage as an M3 MacBook Pro.
Additionally: Replacing my work PC with this Dell laptop was one of my best decisions – and it’s on sale
Battery life is one other space the place the EliteBook Extremely excels. Beneath Energy Effectivity mode, the laptop computer ran for about 15 hours on a single cost. Numbers stayed spectacular beneath Finest Efficiency, because it lasted simply shy of 9 hours. What’s extra, the machine recharges shortly, too. The battery went from zero to 50% cost in about 34 minutes.
ZDNET’s shopping for recommendation
HP’s EliteBook Ultra G1li is on sale, with costs beginning at $1,649. My evaluation unit prices $2,199. I like to recommend this mannequin to folks in search of a substitute for a MacBook Professional. It gives an identical expertise with out being pressured to be taught a brand new working system. Different choices can be found on the company’s online store, together with extra inexpensive fashions sporting an Intel Core Extremely 5 226V chipset alongside 16GB of RAM.
