Specs are usually not bare-bones however are removed from luxe; the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel decision, and the system is powered by an Intel Core Extremely 7 268V CPU. That’s a couple of steps up from the essential processor mannequin, however nonetheless a step down from higher-end choices you usually discover at this worth. The 32 GB of RAM is truthful, however the 512-GB solid-state drive feels chintzy for the cash, although maybe that’s an acknowledgement that almost all enterprise customers will likely be leaning closely on cloud or server-based storage as an alternative. Ports are acceptable: three USB-C with USB4 assist and a single USB-A port (with a flip-down cowl). You’ll want a type of USB-C ports for charging.
Given the above specs, I used to be stunned that efficiency was typically on the low facet, extra in step with a real entry-level configuration than what the G1i consists of. Not one of the benchmarks I ran have been any extra spectacular than I’ve seen on slower, cheaper machines working Intel Core Extremely 7 Sequence 2 processors, and most of the scores I noticed have been under even these uninspired ranges, albeit solely barely. I think the overhead from the Wolf Safety features is giving the unit a slight efficiency hit that, whereas not extreme, could also be extra noticeable when placing the laptop computer beneath heavy masses.
Battery life on a full-screen YouTube playback hit simply over 14 hours, an honest rating, and I used to be impressed by the fully silent operation of the laptop computer; I could not get the fan to kick in, irrespective of how heavy a load I placed on the gadget. The audio system are fantastic, and the display screen seems adequate, however neither blew my socks off. I did admire the keyboard on the gadget, which has simply sufficient journey and responsiveness to make for simple information entry, whereas additionally being pretty quiet. The touchpad is spacious however simply in need of being too giant.
{Photograph}: Chris Null
As with most laptops at this time, AI is a serious focus for the EliteBook line, and HP’s AI Companion, the corporate’s personal GPT-4o pores and skin, is preinstalled on the unit. AI Companion purports to allow you to take fuller benefit of the onboard neural processing unit, although it requires an lively web connection to work and wasn’t any sooner than any on-line instruments obtainable. You’re additionally getting double AI obligation right here, as urgent the Copilot button on the keyboard nonetheless brings up a typical Microsoft Copilot interface.
The non permanent sale worth of $1,999 makes the EliteBook Extremely G1i a greater deal, but it surely nonetheless doesn’t measure up on a price-to-performance foundation in opposition to competing programs. It does, nevertheless, present a a lot stronger worth proposition for its safety and manageability advantages, although once more, I doubt many of those options have a lot utility exterior of huge, company environments.