HP EliteBook X G1a Review: X Does Not Mark the Spot for This Biz Laptop

7.3/ 10
SCORE

HP EliteBook X G1a

$1,849 at HP

Pros

• Strong overall performance
• Solidly built
• Comfortable keyboard

Cons

• Basic display at elevated price
• Very pricey to have basic touchpad, too
• Heavy for a 14-inch laptop

HP’s EliteBook X series is the step-down version of the flagship EliteBook Ultra line of the company’s commercial laptops, and the EliteBook X G1a is an AMD-based model that cuts corners in a few important areas without a corresponding drop in price. I don’t have a problem with the performance of the AMD Ryzen AI processor, which was on the same level as that of the Intel Core Ultra chip of the EliteBook Ultra G1i, but the EliteBook Ultra model I reviewed offers a high-resolution OLED display and trimmer design for nearly the same price. Between the two, the only slightly more expensive EliteBook Ultra G1i is the obvious choice for a 14-inch workhorse business laptop that’s also easy to take on the road.

There are four quadrants in HP’s new EliteBook X series. There are AMD models labeled as G1a and Intel models labeled as G1i. For each half of the processor divide, there are regular laptop models and also two-in-one convertibles with Flip in their name. The EliteBook X G1a here is an AMD-based laptop with a Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 CPU, 32GB of RAM, integrated AMD Radeon 890M graphics and a 1TB SSD. The display is a basic, if bright (I’ll get to that shortly), 14-inch IPS LCD with a 1,920×1,200-pixel resolution and standard 60Hz refresh rate. The full price of our test system is $2,629, but it’s nearly always on sale for $1,849 or thereabouts. (And sometimes it’s just listed at $1,849 with no mention of the higher full price. At any rate, you shouldn’t pay more than $1,849 for it.)

Higher-end models in the EliteBook X G1a series feature a 2.8K OLED display and 64GB of RAM. An OLED model with otherwise the same configuration as our test system is on sale for $1,999, and I think the display upgrade is well worth the $150 charge. The problem is the EliteBook Ultra G1i that I just looked at features the same 2.8K display (with admittedly a smaller 512GB SSD) and has a consistent sale price between $1,899 and $1,999. Even with the smaller SSD, it’s a much better deal because of its superior design.

The EliteBook X G1a starts at 1,296 in the UK and AU$3,445 in Australia.

HP EliteBook X G1a performance

The Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 processor is a member of AMD’s Strix Point family of chips and features 12 cores and 24 virtual processing threads. The EliteBook X G1a turned in excellent multicore performance on our application benchmarks, especially when compared with laptops such as the EliteBook Ultra G1i using processors from Intel’s Lunar Lake series, which lack multithreading (or Hyper-Threading, in Intel’s parlance). Single-core performance was more even between the two, as was AI performance, but Intel has the advantage in integrated graphics performance.

The EliteBook X G1a lasted for nearly 15 hours on our YouTube streaming battery drain test, which is long enough for most people not to need to recharge the laptop during the day but still hours shorter than the 20-plus-hour battery life of Intel- and Qualcomm-based laptops. It lasted a little more than an hour longer than the EliteBook Ultra G1i but has a lower-resolution IPS panel, which doesn’t consume battery resources at the same clip as the Ultra’s higher-res OLED display, making its slightly longer battery life less impressive.

Solidly constructed

The EliteBook X G1a is well built, but to the point of feeling a bit tank-like. The all-aluminum enclosure boasts straightforward looks with brushed silver surfaces surrounding a dark gray keyboard. The understated design, gently rounded corners and offset color of the keyboard area recall the styling of a MacBook Pro — and so does the thickness and weight of the laptop. HP gives the dimensions of the EliteBook X G1a as being 0.4 inches at its front edge and 0.5 inches in back, but it feels fatter than that because it rests on thick rubber feet that make it sit up higher than a MacBook Pro, which has a height of 0.6 inches.

The EliteBook X G1a is lighter than the 14-inch MacBook Pro but only slightly. It weighs 3.3 pounds, and the MacBook Pro is 3.4 pounds. The EliteBook Ultra G1i is thinner and much lighter at just 2.6 pounds.

You can get a 2.8K OLED panel on the EliteBook X G1a, but our test system came with the base display, a 1,920×1,200-pixel IPS panel with a 60Hz refresh rate and no touch support. If your job requires you to read text on the screen for large portions of your day, then you’ll get sharper text with the 2.8K panel; text looked a little fuzzy on my test system. And if your job requires color-accurate work, then an OLED panel is a better choice. The EliteBook X G1a’s IPS display didn’t perform well on my tests with a Spyder X colorimeter. It covered 98% of the sRGB space and only 73% of the P3 and AdobeRGB gamuts.

The display’s level of brightness saves it from being merely average. In testing, it hit a peak of 465 nits, which, combined with its matte finish, makes it viewable in a variety of lighting conditions, including outdoors.

The keyboard is my favorite part of the EliteBook X G1a. Perhaps because of the thicker chassis, the keys have a more plush feel than the EliteBook Ultra. Typing on the EliteBook X feels similar to typing on a ThinkPad — the keys are firm and solid with deep travel.

However, the touchpad is another area where the EliteBook X takes a step down from the EliteBook Ultra. It’s smaller than the Ultra’s and lacks haptics. For a mechanical touchpad, it’s fine — the click response is soft and quiet but not mushy. But at the EliteBook X’s price, the inclusion of a haptic touchpad isn’t an unreasonable expectation.

You do get quad speakers like with the EliteBook Ultra, and they sound great. The webcam has a 5-megapixel sensor compared with the EliteBook Ultra’s 9-megapixel camera, but the resolution suffices for all but professional streamers, who are almost assuredly using an external camera to produce content. The EliteBook X G1a’s webcam produces a crisp, well-balanced image that will have you looking clear and natural to your video-conference mates. The webcam also has an IR cam, which, combined with the fingerprint sensor on the power button, provides two secure biometric login options on the EliteBook X G1a.

The port selection is excellent. You get a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports, split with one on each side of the laptop. There are also two 10Gbps USB ports, one Type-A and one Type-C, along with an HDMI port. You will not go wanting for ports with the EliteBook G1a, and you shouldn’t need to bother with any adapters either.

Is the HP EliteBook X G1a a good laptop?

It’s a fine business laptop that offers solid performance with solid build quality, but there’s not enough of a price gap between it and the EliteBook Ultra to choose it over the flagship model. For only $50 to $150 more (depending on the Ultra’s sale price), you get an appreciably lighter design, high-res OLED display and haptic touchpad, all of which aren’t included on my $1,849 EliteBook X test system. Sure, you can outfit the EliteBook X with an OLED display, but then the price difference between it and the Ultra all but disappears, making it an even less compelling option.