HP isn’t playing favorites with its new EliteBook X G2 line of business laptops announced at CES 2026. In a first, it will offer CPUs from the big three chipmakers — AMD, Intel and Qualcomm — on a single laptop platform. And a removable keyboard will make them more serviceable.
For folks who shuttle their laptop between external displays at home and work, HP has an entirely new idea to lighten your load and declutter your desk: a computer inside a keyboard with what it’s calling the EliteBoard.
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Greater processor choice and serviceability
The new HP EliteBook X G2 business laptops don’t look all that different from the model I reviewed last year, but you or your IT staff will likely find them easier to service. HP redesigned the keyboard with deeper keycaps for an improved typing experience, but the bigger news is the keyboard’s top-mount design that lets you remove it for easy access to the internal components for service or upgrades — or simply to replace the keyboard if your furious typing over time damages a key. With this easier access and more modular design, you can imagine that repairs can be more targeted and less time-consuming, leading to a longer lifespan of the laptop, which is good news if you care about ROI or sustainability — or both.
And when you remove the keyboard on the EliteBook X G2, you could find an AMD, Intel or Qualcomm processor. For the first time, HP is offering CPUs from all three chipmakers on a single platform. EliteBook X G2 models offer the latest AMD Ryzen AI 400 series, Intel Core Ultra Series 3 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 series processors.
HP gives you three color options for the EliteBook X G2: Glacier Silver, Atmospheric Blue and a new Eclipse Gray. Pricing is still to be announced. The Intel-based liteBook X G2i is expected to arrive in February, with the AMD-based EliteBook X G2a and Qualcomm-based EliteBook X G2q to follow later in the spring.
Introducing the peculiar EliteBoard
And now for something completely different, we arrive at HP’s computer-inside-a-keyboard device, the EliteBoard G1a. If you shuttle between work and home only to drop your laptop into a dock to sit in front of an external monitor (or two) at each location, the EliteBoard might help streamline the operation.
HP basically smushed a laptop inside a compact keyboard. The benefits are that you can connect it directly to a monitor — no dock required — and start working. And it’s smaller and lighter than the typical laptop, making travel a bit easier. HP estimates it’s about half the weight of an average laptop. The downside is you can’t flip open the EliteBoard and work (or watch YouTube) during transit.
HP hasn’t divulged much about the EliteBoard G1a’s internals other than to say it’s packing an AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series processor. It’s mum on the amount of memory and storage, but the EliteBoard does have dual mics and speakers, so you can use it for video calls and to hear system sounds and any audio that’s playing. It also includes HP’s Wolf Security for Business suite that provides hardware-enforced threat detection, malware isolation, BIOS and browser protection and the ability to remotely lock and wipe the system if it’s lost or stolen.
HP is targeting a March release for the EliteBoard G1a. Pricing hasn’t been announced.
