HP's new Elitebook laptop is lightning fast and travel ready, but can't go the distance

Price When Reviewed

$2,749

Best Prices Today: HP Elitebook X G1a

Premium enterprise laptops are an uncommon slice of the broader laptop enviornment. They are likely to fall behind client laptops on performance-per-dollar, then make up for it with premium design and forward-looking connectivity. The HP Elitebook X G1a doesn’t stray too removed from this path, however its total efficiency is robust for the class.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Specs and options

The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 is the star of this present, and never solely as a result of it offers a 12-core GPU. It additionally has AMD’s Radeon 890M built-in graphics and an NPU that provides as much as 55 TOPS. The mannequin I reviewed additionally had 64GB of RAM, which is a ton.

• CPU: AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375
• Memory: 64GB LPDDR5x-8533
• Graphics/GPU: AMD Radeon 890M Graphics
• NPU: AMD NPU as much as 55 TOPS
• Display: 2880 x 1800 OLED Multi-touch as much as 120Hz, 16:10 side ratio
• Storage: 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 stable state storage
• Webcam: 1440p 30fps digicam with IR 3D digicam for Windows Hello, bodily privateness shutter
• Connectivity: 2x Thunderbolt 4 (with USB-C 4, DisplayPort, Power Delivery), 1x USB-C (with DisplayPort, Power Delivery, 10Gbps knowledge), 1x USB-A (10Gbps knowledge), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x 3.5mm audio
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Biometrics: Windows Hello facial recognition, fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 74.5 watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.29 x 8.45 x 0.72 inches
• Weight: 3.3 kilos
• MSRP: $2,749

This is the most costly Elitebook X G1a configuration and retails at $2,749. HP additionally sells a $1,999 entry-level mannequin with an AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360 (which nonetheless offers Radeon 890M graphics). It scales again the reminiscence to 32GB and halves the stable state drive to 512GB.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Design and construct high quality

The HP Elitebook X G1a doesn’t make a powerful first impression. Designed for a company atmosphere, it incorporates a easy, understated chassis adorned solely by a small HP emblem. But the small print matter, and so they maintain up properly.

I respect that the HP Elitebook X G1a incorporates rounded corners and beveled edges, giving the laptop computer a softer and extra approachable really feel. The shade of silver used can also be interesting, and the supplies really feel premium to the contact. While it could not stand out as distinctive, it feels sturdy and costly. Which is nice, as a result of it’s, actually, costly. 

HP’s on-line retailer lists the Elitebook X G1a’s peak at as much as 0.52 inches, however that measurement is, let’s consider, a bit optimistic, because it doesn’t embody the somewhat thick rubber toes on the underside of the laptop computer. The supplies HP supplied to me as a part of the evaluate clarified that the laptop computer’s full thickness is as much as 0.72 inches on the rear, which extra precisely represents how the laptop computer feels.

That’s a bit thick for a 14-inch workstation laptop computer with discrete graphics, however it’s mitigated by its weight of 3.3 kilos. Though actually heavier than some alternate options just like the Asus Zenbook S14, the Elitebook X G1a gained’t really feel like a burden when stowed in a messenger bag or backpack.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Keyboard, trackpad

IDG / Matthew Smith

The HP Elitebook X G1a has a unbelievable keyboard that’s amongst greatest options. It gives a spacious structure with massive keys—among the many largest you’ll discover within the 14-inch class. Key journey is beneficiant, and every key prompts with a satisfying, tactile really feel. It’s not a mechanical keyboard, to be clear, however it feels crisp and responsive.

I additionally respect that HP makes use of a big font on the keycaps. This makes the keys simpler to learn, which is particularly useful in case your imaginative and prescient isn’t excellent. A keyboard backlight is included, too, and since the backlight shines by means of the large-font keycaps, it stays simple to see after darkish.

The touchpad is much less spectacular. It measures a tad beneath 5 inches large and about three inches tall, which is common for a 14-inch laptop computer. And whereas I discovered it responsive, the feel and appear of the touchpad didn’t stand out. There is, nevertheless, one function some customers will little doubt respect and that’s the appropriate or left click on on the backside of the touchpad reveals important bodily journey.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Display, audio

IDG / Matthew Smith

Most HP Elitebook X G1a configurations, together with the one I reviewed, have a 14-inch OLED touchscreen with a 16:10 side ratio and 2880 x 1800 decision. 

This is a typical 14-inch show discovered throughout dozens of Windows laptops, however it’s common for a motive. The OLED show offers vivid coloration, wealthy distinction, and glorious movement readability with assist for refresh charges as much as 120Hz. It’s among the finest laptop computer show panels out there, defeated solely by a uncommon few OLED alternate options with a better decision, just like the 14.5-inch 3200 x 2000 panel in the Dell XPS 14. 

Brightness is the one potential concern, because the show hit a most measured SDR brightness of 403 nits. That’s typical for this panel however, due to the show’s shiny end, it will possibly appear dim when it’s used close to a sunlit window or outside.

A pair of upwards-firing audio system line all sides of the Elitebook X G1a’s keyboard. They present good quantity and readability however can sound boomy and harsh at increased volumes because the weak audio system attempt to overcompensate for the dearth of bass. Still, the audio system labored properly when watching YouTube or listening to music at decrease volumes.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

Business and productiveness laptops just like the Elitebook X G1a are sometimes used for video calls and HP leans into that by bestowing the laptop computer with a superb 1440p webcam. It offers a crisp, sharp picture with good coloration replica. A bodily privateness shutter is included to dam the digicam when it’s undesirable. 

The dual-array microphone is stable, too. It captured my voice simply even after I spoke quietly and readily eliminated background noise attributable to a close-by area heater. The audio can nonetheless sound a bit distant and hole, however it’s nice for video calls.

HP offers two types of biometrics. Windows Hello facial recognition is supported by way of the webcam, whereas fingerprint recognition is supported by a fingerprint reader within the energy button. Both labored flawlessly in my testing, although the identical can also be true of most opponents with these identical options.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Connectivity

IDG / Matthew Smith

The HP Elitebook X G1a takes a contemporary method to connectivity. It has two Thunderbolt 4 ports and one USB-C port, all of which assist as much as 100 watts of USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort. One Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C line the left flank, whereas the second Thunderbolt 4 is joined by the laptop computer’s lone USB-A port on the appropriate flank.

This setup means there’s restricted assist for connecting older USB-A gadgets. On the plus aspect, nevertheless, this configuration offers entry to gobs of knowledge and video bandwidth, in addition to USB-C charging throughout three ports. 

I additionally like that the Thunderbolt 4 ports are cut up with one on all sides of the laptop computer, as an alternative of each on one aspect, as that gives extra versatility when connecting a Thunderbolt 4 dock or hub. Many opponents provide related Thunderbolt and USB-C connectivity, however some place each Thunderbolt ports on one aspect—which is annoying if that’s not the aspect on which your dock or hub is positioned.

The included 100-watt energy adapter can cost the laptop computer over any of the Thunderbolt 4 or USB-C ports and has a prolonged, sturdy six-foot braided twine.

HP Elitebook X G1a: Performance

The HP Elitebook X G1a configuration I obtained for evaluate is a strong mannequin with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor that packs 12 cores and 24 threads, in addition to AMD Radeon 890M built-in graphics. It had 64GB of LPDDR5x reminiscence, too, plus a 1TB PCIe stable state drive. These are stable specs, and the Elitebook X G1a’s efficiency lived as much as expectations. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

The HP Elitebook X G1a acquired off to a weak begin in PCMark 10, the place it lagged behind the aggressive set. The precise motive for this outcome isn’t clear, because the specification sheet suggests it ought to defeat the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, however repeated check runs confirmed no distinction. 

IDG / Matthew Smith

Fortunately, the story modified after I ran Cinebench R23. This is a multi-threaded check with a modest period that leans closely on CPU efficiency and provides the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 an opportunity to strut its stuff. The CPU’s comparatively performant cores present a significant benefit over Intel Core Ultra opponents, which might’t maintain the identical stage of multi-threaded efficiency.

IDG / Matthew Smith

Handbrake, one other multi-threaded CPU check however with an extended period, as soon as once more places the HP Elitebook X G1a in a stable place. While it solely lands mid-pack in these rankings, it’s price noting that solely AMD’s personal {hardware} offers important competitors and that the variations between AMD-powered laptops are slim. Laptops counting on Intel Core Ultra, just like the Asus Zenbook Duo and ThinkPad X1 Carbon, fall a lot farther behind.

IDG / Matthew Smith

As talked about, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 contains Radeon 890M built-in graphics. It’s a particularly succesful resolution with a complete of 16 graphics cores (up from 12 on Radeon 880M). That interprets to nice efficiency for built-in graphics. Up till just lately, any rating above 3,000 was thought of an incredible outcome for built-in graphics, however AMD’s Radeon 890M recurrently scores round 4,000.

Intel hasn’t sat on its fingers, nevertheless, and the 140V proves itself aggressive, although it’s a tad behind, a minimum of when contemplating this set of enterprise laptops. 

The Asus ProArt PX13, housing RTX 4050 graphics, doubles the HP Elitebook X G1a’s efficiency, which is to be anticipated for a laptop computer that has discrete graphics. The ProArtwork PX13 is in the identical value vary, nevertheless, and it’s a better option for a inventive skilled who may use 3D-accelerated productiveness apps.

While the HP Elitebook X G1a doesn’t set information, its efficiency is stable for a 14-inch enterprise laptop computer. Its efficiency is led by the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, which delivers an enormous improve over related laptops which have Intel Core Ultra processors. AMD’s lead in built-in graphics is far smaller, however the HP continues to be a fantastic alternative for light-duty 3D acceleration together with productiveness apps and older or much less demanding 3D video games. 

HP Elitebook X G1a: Battery life

The HP Elitebook X1 G1a ships with a 74.5 watt-hour battery. That’s somewhat massive for a 14-inch laptop computer, as most have a battery between 50 and 70 watt-hours. 

However, the massive battery didn’t translate to glorious battery life. The Elitebook X1 G1a endured our normal battery check, which loops a 4K video file of the quick movie Tears of Steel, for a tad beneath 11 hours. That’s outcome, however it’s nonetheless a good distance from others.

IDG / Matthew Smith

My time utilizing the laptop computer confirmed this was no fluke. I discovered the battery may drain rapidly at occasions, dropping as much as half its cost in about 4 hours or much less. 

My use wasn’t mild as I sometimes have many open home windows, however most of my time is spent in Microsoft Word and the Microsoft Edge browsers, so I discovered the speed of battery drain disappointing. Even so, this stage of battery life is okay in lots of conditions, and will get homeowners by means of an eight-hour workday as long as demanding apps are prevented.

Also, as talked about, all of the Thunderbolt 4 and USB-C ports assist Power Delivery. The laptop computer is designed to devour as much as 100 watts of energy, however in most conditions it’s going to nonetheless cost when fed much less energy. That means you’ll be able to extra simply get away with leaving the charger at dwelling, or pack a smaller, lower-wattage charger for emergencies. 

HP Elitebook X G1a: Software & AI

This HP Elitebook X1 G1a is taken into account a Windows Copilot+ PC and, to underscore that time, it additionally ships with a bit of software program known as AI companion. It offers entry to a reliable LLM that features the flexibility to parse paperwork. However, the LLM doesn’t run domestically, and it doesn’t present something you’ll be able to’t get from the free model of ChatGPT.

I additionally put in LLM Studio and loaded a number of massive language fashions, together with DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B and Meta’s Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct. The Elitebook X1 G1a I obtained, with 64GB of RAM, can truly load Llama-3.3-70B-Instruct, however it generates at simply 1.68 tokens per second, which is simply too gradual to be helpful in most conditions. DeepSeek R1 Distill Qwen 7B, alternatively, loaded rapidly and generated textual content at about 14 tokens per second. Qwen2.5-Coder-14B additionally loaded rapidly and output about 8 tokens per second, which is bit gradual however usable for easy duties. 

In addition to its AI software program, the Elitebook X1 G1a has a built-in IT administration and security measures, reminiscent of HP’s Wolf endpoint safety. As I’m not operating a company IT division, I can’t touch upon its effectiveness, however it’s one thing for enterprise consumers to bear in mind.  

HP Elitebook X G1a: Conclusion

The HP Elitebook X1 G1a is a stable premium enterprise laptop computer that sits between thin-and-light enterprise laptops, just like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition, and extra targeted workstations or inventive professionals, just like the Asus ProArtwork PX13. It’s not fairly as moveable as the previous or as highly effective because the latter, however gives compromise between the 2 extremes. 

Like most premium enterprise laptops, the Elitebook X1 G1a will wrestle to achieve a wider viewers, because it’s priced equally to client laptops with extra highly effective {hardware}. HP says it’s meant for “business leaders,” and the Elitebook X1 G1a’s efficiency and design will hit the mark with that demographic.