Simply once we be taught the nomenclature of HP’s EliteBook enterprise laptops—rising in options, efficiency, and value from the 600 via 800 and 1000 collection—comes one thing new: the EliteBook Extremely G1q ($1,699 as examined). Certainly, “new” appears too delicate a phrase: The 14-inch slimline is not only one other Phrase, Excel, and PowerPoint platform however a Microsoft-anointed Copilot+ PC with an AI-ready Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm processor as a substitute of a well-recognized Intel or AMD chip inside. The Extremely G1q is a cultured and succesful company laptop computer, however at the very least till extra AI apps seem, it does not carry compelling benefits over HP’s (or Lenovo’s or Dell’s) mainstream x86 techniques.Configuration and Design: Company and Client Cousins Suppose you are a small-office entrepreneur as a substitute of an enterprise IT supervisor. In that case, it is best to know that—aside from being a unique coloration and a tenth of an inch thinner—the EliteBook Extremely G1q is the near-identical twin of the HP OmniBook X 14 reviewed shortly earlier than this however prices $500 extra. The surcharge buys you business-class help (a three-year components and labor guarantee, although on-site service is additional) and managerial software program led by HP’s famed Wolf Safety suite.
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(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Our $1,699 take a look at unit—repeatedly discounted to $1,595 on HP.com throughout this overview—combines Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 processor (with Adreno graphics and the Hexagon neural processing unit), 16GB of reminiscence, a 512GB NVMe solid-state drive, and a 2,240-by-1,400-pixel IPS contact display. The Home windows 11 Professional system has handed MIL-STD 810H torture checks in opposition to journey hazards comparable to shock and vibration; you may really feel virtually no flex when you grasp the display corners, although a bit when you press the keyboard deck.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Clad in engaging “Ambiance Blue” aluminum, the EliteBook Extremely G1q measures 0.44 by 12.3 by 8.8 inches and slips below the ultraportable line at 2.97 kilos. The all-time champion 14-inch enterprise laptop computer, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, is 0.59 by 12.3 by 8.5 inches and half a pound lighter.
Skinny bezels encompass the 16:10 facet ratio show, which tilts fairly far again, although not 180 levels to flat. A 5-megapixel webcam with IR face recognition for Home windows Hey logins (no fingerprint reader right here) and a sliding privateness shutter is centered above the display.The HP has two USB Kind-C ports on its left flank—a 40Gbps USB4 in entrance of a 10Gbps USB-C 3.2. A drop-jaw USB 3.2 Kind-A port joins a headphone/microphone jack on the best facet. The AC adapter is a USB-C connector. With no HDMI port, you may want a DisplayPort adapter to plug in an exterior monitor, and you will not discover a flash-card slot or LTE or 5G cell broadband choice. Constructed-in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 radios deal with wi-fi connectivity.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Utilizing the HP EliteBook Extremely G1q: Previews of Coming Points of interest Whereas the webcam can seize 2,880-by-1,620-pixel stills, its video calls are restricted to 1440p decision, giving it a leg up on low-cost 720p and even most laptops’ 1080p cameras. Its photographs are sharp, moderately well-lit, and fairly colourful, with just about no noise or static. Home windows Digicam’s Studio Results are among the few advantages of AI {hardware} out there so far, doing a noticeably higher job of computerized framing or blurring the background (and even making it seem like a watercolor portray), and HP bundles a Poly Digicam Professional app with even fancier fine-tuning.HP’s IPS contact display does not look exceptionally vibrant in on a regular basis use, although it exceeded its rated 300 nits in our instrument testing beneath. The display’s colours are wealthy and well-saturated, its white backgrounds are clear as a substitute of dingy, and its particulars are clear, with no pixelation seen across the edges of letters. Distinction is excessive and viewing angles are broad on the show, although the contact glass catches room reflections.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Sound from the bottom-mounted audio system is fairly loud, if not all that loud, and finely crisp, if only a bit hole. You may hear only a trace of bass, and it is simple to make out overlapping tracks. The laptop computer’s preinstalled MyHP software program contains AI noise discount for convention calls, although it makes no perceptible distinction in music playback. The backlit keyboard routinely loses factors for having the everyday HP structure, with half-height up and down arrow keys stacked between full-size left and proper as a substitute of placing these cursor controls within the appropriate inverted T. Worse, you have to pair these arrows with the Fn key within the absence of actual Residence, Finish, Web page Up, and Web page Down keys. On the constructive facet, the keys have a quick, tappy, albeit shallow typing really feel, and the plus-size buttonless touchpad glides easily with a snug click on.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
The Extremely G1q’s implementation of HP Wolf Safety is not as deep as seen on different EliteBooks and ZBooks. Nonetheless, it offers deep-learning-enhanced malware detection and credential safety that fights phishing assaults. It is a useful plus, although I am not fairly certain it is “$500 useful.”Testing the HP EliteBook Extremely G1q: Crossing the Line 4 Abreast Benchmarking for Home windows on Arm remains to be an inexact science, however we have pitted the Extremely G1q in opposition to three different Snapdragon techniques and one x86 darkish horse within the type of the newest Acer Swift Go 14. The HP OmniBook X 14 has similar {hardware} to the EliteBook, whereas two 13-inch entries from Microsoft—the Floor Laptop computer and Floor Professional pill—flaunt a barely sooner (at the very least theoretically) Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100 processor.
Productiveness Checks As we have defined in different Snapdragon X Elite critiques, lots of our normal efficiency checks—led by UL’s workplace productiveness score PCMark 10—will not be at present Arm-compatible, so we’re relying totally on processing scores. Maxon’s Cinebench R23 makes use of that firm’s Cinema 4D engine to render a fancy scene, whereas Geekbench 5.4 Professional by Primate Labs simulates well-liked apps starting from PDF rendering and speech recognition to machine studying. We additionally run the newer, Arm-optimized variations Cinebench 2024 and Geekbench 6.3, and we use HandBrake 1.8 (as a substitute of our normal x86-only launch 1.4) to transform a 12-minute video clip from 4K to 1080p decision.
Aside from trailing in Cinebench 2024, the EliteBook Extremely landed in the midst of the pack. We’re undecided we would select any of those techniques for intensive, workstation-class video modifying or 3D rendering, however they’re all prepared for on a regular basis workplace apps and lightweight multimedia content material creation. AI Checks Benchmarks for synthetic intelligence functions are barely teething, however UL’s Procyon AI Laptop Imaginative and prescient take a look at leverages a number of AI inference engines executing machine-vision duties utilizing well-liked neural networks. It is best used to match Arm techniques with each other because it runs in a different way (testing the CPU, GPU, and NPU individually) on x86 machines. One other Geekbench take a look at simulates real-world machine studying duties to gauge total AI efficiency. We run two of its inference back-end subtests, which stress the GPU (through DirectML) and CPU, respectively.
As anticipated, with AI testing in its infancy, our outcomes have been inconclusive. The Microsoft portables’ Snapdragon X1 Elite X1E-80-100 chip has zero AI benefit over the HP twins’ X1E-78-100, whereas the Swift Go laptop computer’s AMD Ryzen CPU proved particularly aggressive within the Geekbench checks. (The Geekbench AI take a look at isn’t optimized for Snapdragon X Elite.)Graphics Checks We normally run a pair of x86 gaming simulations from UL’s 3DMark, however right here, we use two variations apiece of two totally different Arm-compatible benchmarks from that graphics take a look at suite. Wild Life Limitless (1440p) and Limitless Excessive (4K) use the Vulkan graphics API to measure GPU speeds. 3DMark Metal Nomad’s common and Lite subtests concentrate on APIs extra generally used for sport improvement, like Steel and DirectX 12, to evaluate gaming geometry and particle results.
We did not see a lot that is definitive right here aside from various leads to the extra and fewer demanding variations of every subtest. We have game-tested Qualcomm’s Adreno GPU elsewhere, discovering it fairly respectable for informal play if nowhere close to a match for the discrete GPUs of high-end gaming laptops. These business- and productivity-oriented portables aren’t meant for hard-core gaming or workstation graphics duties however will show what you want to get work executed.Battery and Show Checks We take a look at every laptop computer and pill’s battery life by taking part in a regionally saved 720p video file (the open-source Blender film Tears of Metal) with show brightness at 50% and audio quantity at 100%. We be certain that the battery is absolutely charged earlier than the take a look at, with Wi-Fi and keyboard backlighting turned off.To gauge show efficiency, we additionally use a Datacolor SpyderX Elite monitor calibration sensor and its Home windows software program to measure a laptop computer display’s coloration saturation—what share of the sRGB, Adobe RGB, and DCI-P3 coloration gamuts or palettes the show can present—and its 50% and peak brightness in nits (candelas per sq. meter).
Even trailing its sibling by an hour and 1 / 4, the EliteBook confirmed outstanding battery life: You may have completely no worries about getting via a full day of labor or faculty plus a night’s streaming leisure. Its show is not as dazzlingly vibrant because the Floor techniques’ screens however offers glorious brightness and coloration for on a regular basis use.
(Credit score: Joseph Maldonado)
Verdict: A Promising Debut for Snapdragon X within the Workplace The scarce few advantages of Copilot+ PCs so far, comparable to intelligent webcam results, whet our urge for food for future goodies. Whereas we wait, we will not honor the HP EliteBook Extremely G1q an Editors’ Alternative award as a result of it does not stand out from the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, the HP Dragonfly G4, and different enterprise slimlines with extra ports and out there cell broadband. Nevertheless, we’re maintaining a tally of this one.
Cons
A leap of religion to desert x86
No HDMI port or SD/microSD card slot
No 4G or 5G cell broadband
Almost similar HP OmniBook X 14 is less expensive
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Extra
The Backside Line
Are firms clamoring for Arm-based Copilot+ PCs? We doubt it, however HP’s EliteBook Extremely G1q is a high-power, long-lasting instance with industry-leading safety instruments.
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