ZDNET’s key takeaways
- The HP EliteBook Extremely G1i is on sale for $1,949.
- I extremely advocate it to folks searching for a laptop computer with top-performing {hardware}, a vibrant display screen, and a high-quality webcam.
- Nonetheless, due to its restricted port choice, some would possibly 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. Folks searching for these units typically gravitate towards MacBooks, and with good motive.
Additionally: The best HP laptops you can buy: Expert tested
Apple {hardware} is flashy and enjoyable to make use of. In case you’re a Home windows consumer and wish one thing comparable, I counsel HP’s new EliteBook Ultra G1i. This pc goals to break all different laptops by excelling in a number of areas: work, leisure, and all the pieces in between.
Earlier than I focus on how effectively it carried out, permit me to gush over the EliteBook’s design as a result of HP made a number of nice selections. The laptop computer sports activities an Ambiance Blue paint job, a beautiful 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 wreck, so HP developed it to be fairly sturdy. The corporate claims it handed 19 navy sturdiness exams.
For a show, the EliteBook Extremely homes a 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen. Visible output is vibrant, protecting all the DCI-P3 coloration gamut. On-screen animations are velvety easy due to the 120Hz refresh fee. The display screen is made much more spectacular by the 16:10 facet ratio, making the show appear larger 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 digicam 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, by means of synthetic intelligence, ensures that you just keep in the midst of the shot, amongst different issues.
There are a couple of design elements that I wasn’t a fan of. First, I wasn’t too eager on the keyboard. The keys felt moderately mushy, missing that satisfying tactile suggestions I crave. That is offset by the good 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 shortage of inputs. My closing criticism is that the touchscreen is shiny, which might make it exhausting to see underneath sunny situations.
Underneath the hood, my assessment unit had an Intel Core Extremely 7 268V processor, an built-in Intel Arc graphics card, and 32GB of RAM. That is a stable {hardware} configuration, so I needed to put it to the check.
For probably the most half, HP’s machine did very well. I opened about 40 browser tabs working GIFs, movies, audio recordings, and Amazon product listings. There wasn’t even a touch of slowdown. The desk under 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 under, the EliteBook Extremely G1i boasts quicker 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 |
Nonetheless, 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 right 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. Underneath Energy Effectivity mode, the laptop computer ran for about 15 hours on a single cost. Numbers stayed spectacular underneath 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 assessment unit prices $2,199. I like to recommend this mannequin to folks searching for a substitute for a MacBook Professional. It provides an analogous expertise with out being compelled to study 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.
