HP EliteBook X G1a Review – Not your average business laptop

If you’ve ever worked in a big business where they provide laptops to staff and no, you’re not getting much choice then you’ll know the big, chunky and normally rather ugly laptops that would be the standard in those places. HP’s latest Enterprise grade offering is a picture of modern day life with the HP EliteBook X G1a giving me a new taste of business life.

Let’s put it out there to start with, this isn’t a device that’s trying to compete in a world of ultra-light, super thin laptops with fancy new processors. This is a device designed to offer businesses all the latest tech without the risk, and with the reliability they expect from a brand like HP.

HP EliteBook X G1a as tested is running the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO processor (We’ll get to AI later), and Windows 11 Pro. It measures in just under 1cm at the front and 1.3 at the back, weighs 1.5kg. It’s not as light as some laptops today, for sure, but 1.5kg isn’t a bulky weight for an enterprise grade device.

Just look at these ports:

• 1 USB Type-C® 10Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort™ 2.1);
• 1 HDMI 2.1;
• 1 stereo headphone/microphone combo jack;
• 2 Thunderbolt™ 4 with USB Type-C® 40Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort™ 2.1);
• 1 USB Type-A 10Gbps signaling rate (powered)

You’ve got the best of both worlds with USB-C and A, but the addition of Thunderbolt support in the USB-C also. And of course, plug and play HDMI.

The look is slick, with its light silver metal and a subtle modern HP logo on the lid.

I found the 14 inch IPS display to be superb, it’s not trying to be too much, it’s just delivering what you need in a workhorse. That is of course to say no, it’s not OLED, it’s a great resolution for a screen this size and the 400nits brightness offers a excellent view. I would say it’s not great in the bright lights of the outdoors or at a cafe with your back to a bright day in the window – but again, I’m not sure that’s where this one gets used.

There’s a lot under the skin here that you wouldn’t even know too. Environmentally it’s designed to be resilient and reliable to give it a prolonged life, and there’s a strong use of post-consumer recycled plastics in the keys on the keyboard and recycled magnesium in the external covers. And of course, sustainable packaging.

Software wise, HP’s use of Poly technology is probably the real area for consideration for enterprises considering the HP portfolio. It offers enhanced camera and audio in a world where remote Teams calls are more common than ever. Give yourself a title graphic using Poly Studio, enhance the background and audio, this is perhaps the standout feature of the device in a market comparison, but it may also be among the most underused features too.

In a world of AI, this device has up to 55 TOPS NPU performance meaning on-device AI applications will work a charm. There are of course plenty of windows based AI applications, but this is as interesting or moreso for people who are looking at newer AI applications in the workplace that are less cloud reliant for privacy and corporate policy reasons.

Because this is an AMD Ryzen, even though it’s their first AI Processor, it has full software support so you’re not worried about what applications will or won’t work. That for me was a key takeaway from this experience, zero hassles on the software front.

I don’t think you would really appreciate this device until you’d used it for months at work, my short time with it simply proved that a modern “Enterprise” device could in fact very much do everything the world of laptops is getting hyped about – but in a more understated yet solid looking unit.

It’s easy to imagine IT departments looking at devices like this for their fleet, offering longer use times, more reliability and an upside for the finance team with perhaps a better long term benefit overall.

They are of course, like all mid to top range Enterprise grade laptops, these are around $3,000-$3500 depending on your specifications.