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HP’s EliteBook 8 G1a is the latest iteration of what used to be its EliteBook 800 series, available in a wide range of hardware configurations with either an AMD or Intel processor, and a focus on power efficiency, running cool, and performance.
I tested the 16-inch, loaded with 32GB of DDR5-5600 RAM, 512GB of local storage, and an AMD Ryzen Pro 350 CPU, running at 5 GHz, a solid configuration for a pro device, with plenty of bandwidth for multitasking, running industry-standard productivity apps, local AI tasks, and a nice selection of I/O.
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The laptop’s flexible form begins with the selection of I/O ports. You’ve got two Thunderbolt 4 USB4 ports (both of which support power delivery and DisplayPort 2.1) with a 40Gbps signaling rate, an HDMI port, a nano lock slot, USB-A, a third USB-C port at 10Gbps, a nano SIM card reader, and a 3.5mm audio jack.
I appreciate when laptop designers differentiate port speeds based on their positioning, and this is a thoughtful example. The two USB-C ports on the left support DisplayPort 2.1, allowing me to connect my external monitors there while keeping my mouse or headset dongle on the right side. All three support power delivery.
The laptop’s physical design is as neutral as you can get, featuring rounded edges and a spacious, full-sized keyboard. My review unit had some physical de-seaming of the plate below the trackpad, which didn’t enhance my initial impression. Luckily, I was able to snap it back into place, which permanently solved the issue.
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The 16-inch IPS display is adequate for a work laptop, at 400 nits of brightness and a WUXGA (1920 x 1200) resolution. The matte screen refracts virtually no glare at all, so keep that in mind if you can’t stand mirror-like glossy displays, but other than that is a functional display without much pomp.
For the price (my configuration goes for $1,249 on HP’s site), I would have liked to see a slightly more premium visual option, but this is a business-minded machine for the office, after all.
Similarly, the speakers are of average quality. The laptop features audio by HP’s Poly Studio, which includes dual stereo speakers with discrete amplifiers and a pair of integrated dual array microphones. They get plenty loud, but sound about average for laptop speakers. On video calls, the sound is fine, with sufficient volume to compensate for callers with poorer sound hardware.
The 5MP IR webcam follows this trend. It’s functional and reliable in my testing, and looks best after setting the call quality to a 720p resolution. Anything less results in grainy imaging unless you’re under a spotlight or outside in broad daylight.
As a laptop to commute with, it’s quite portable for a 16-inch. At 3.7 pounds, it’s not the absolute lightest 16-inch I’ve tested all year, but it’s light enough to go unnoticed, especially with the rounded edges and thin overall build (0.6 inches at the thickest point when folded) allowing it to slip into a bag.
HP stressed this laptop as a cool and battery-efficient device, and that is certainly the case. In fact, it’s one of the coolest-running laptops I’ve tested all year, generating barely palpable heat, even under a heavy workload. The fans aren’t exactly whisper quiet, I’d say they sound one or two clicks below average, but this is a laptop you could definitely keep on your lap all day.
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Along those lines, this laptop has a very efficient battery. HP advertises up to 17 hours on this laptop, and I can attest to its longevity over the workday, extending past a full day of use and into the next, depending on how hard you’re pushing it. A normal day of work with a few videocalls resulted in walking out of the office with about 30% battery. While asleep, battery drain drops to a trickle.
Similarly, the EliteBook 8 G1i is snappy and high-performing, punching a little above its class in terms of processing performance. I got some surprisingly good benchmarking scores, outpacing other comparable EliteBooks HP released this year.
In terms of practical use, this is a laptop that’s fantastic at multitasking across industry-standard productivity apps, multiple browsers and dozens of tabs, without worrying about battery drop-off. The display, for example, isn’t particularly brilliant, but that’s part of the reason the battery is so good.
In terms of other use cases, this laptop has powerful enough hardware to handle tasks like content creation just fine, but serious creators will likely feel hamstrung by the display.
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For gaming, sure, you can run casual or older titles on this laptop (I was able to run World of Warcraft: Classic just fine), but demanding games aren’t going to feel as optimized.
ZDNET’s buying advice
The HP EliteBook G1a (16-inch) excels in its designated use case. It’s a cool, efficient, long-lasting 16-inch laptop for the office, home, or both, that punches a little above its weight in performance. If you prefer working on a 16-inch laptop as I do, and want a no-frills device with a comfortable keyboard and lots of ports, this laptop fits the bill.
The $1,500+ price point for this laptop is increasingly competitive; however, several other laptops have been released this year with similar specs and additional offerings. A MacBook Pro M5, for example — Apple’s latest MacBook with 16GB of RAM — is currently on sale for $1,549. The Dell 16 Premium, another 16-inch laptop with similar hardware and a drastically more intentional design aesthetic, runs for slightly more.