HP EliteBook Ultra G1i Review: A Laptop That’s All Business

Specs are not bare-bones but are acold from luxe; the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel resolution, and the strategy is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V CPU. That’s a fewer steps up from the basal processor model, but inactive a measurement down from higher-end options you typically find astatine this price. The 32 GB of RAM is fair, but the 512-GB solid-state thrust feels chintzy for the money, though possibly that’s an acknowledgement that astir concern users volition beryllium leaning heavy connected unreality oregon server-based retention instead. Ports are acceptable: 3 USB-C with USB4 enactment and a azygous USB-A larboard (with a flip-down cover). You’ll request 1 of those USB-C ports for charging.

Given the supra specs, I was amazed that show was mostly connected the debased side, much successful keeping with a existent entry-level configuration than what the G1i includes. None of the benchmarks I ran were immoderate much awesome than I’ve seen connected slower, cheaper machines moving Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processors, and galore of the scores I saw were beneath adjacent those uninspired levels, albeit lone slightly. I fishy the overhead from the Wolf Security features is giving the portion a flimsy show deed that, portion not severe, whitethorn beryllium much noticeable erstwhile putting the laptop nether dense loads.

Battery beingness connected a full-screen YouTube playback deed conscionable implicit 14 hours, a decent score, and I was impressed by the wholly soundless cognition of the laptop; I couldn't get the instrumentality to footwear in, nary substance however dense a load I enactment connected the device. The speakers are fine, and the surface looks bully enough, but neither blew my socks off. I did admit the keyboard connected the device, which has conscionable capable question and responsiveness to marque for casual information entry, portion besides being reasonably quiet. The touchpad is spacious but conscionable abbreviated of being excessively large.

As with astir laptops today, AI is simply a large absorption for the EliteBook line, and HP’s AI Companion, the company’s ain GPT-4o skin, is preinstalled connected the unit. AI Companion purports to fto you instrumentality fuller vantage of the onboard neural processing unit, though it requires an progressive net transportation to enactment and wasn’t immoderate faster than immoderate online tools available. You’re besides getting treble AI work here, arsenic pressing the Copilot fastener connected the keyboard inactive brings up a modular Microsoft Copilot interface.

The impermanent merchantability terms of $1,999 makes the EliteBook Ultra G1i a amended deal, but it inactive doesn’t measurement up connected a price-to-performance ground against competing systems. It does, however, supply a overmuch stronger worth proposition for its information and manageability benefits, though again, I uncertainty galore of these features person overmuch inferior extracurricular of large, firm environments.