hp elitebook 840 g5 notebook review

HP EliteBook 840 G5 review

An excellent choice for security-conscious companies, with the best feature being a privacy mode so people can’t view your screen.

IT Pro Verdict

While we wouldn’t rush out to buy the EliteBook 840 G5, there’s much to like here. This level of versatility, and prices starting at £1,099 inc VAT on HP’s website, make the EliteBook an attractive option for security-sensitive businesses.

Excellent port selection; Great business features; Keen price

Chunky, unprepossessing design; Performance can't match the Dell XPS 13

For those among you who place a big emphasis on security for the devices deployed across your organisation, the HP EliteBook 840 G5, and its array of security-centric features, is well worth considering.

Beyond the standard defensive layers, comprising an infrared camera, fingerprint reader and a smart card reader, HP has implemented a host of additional features such as a privacy mode'. Flicking F2 on the laptop will dim the display in such a way that viewing the screen from either the left or the right will result in a grey blur, but looks unchanged face-on.

HP Elitebook X360 1030 G2 review Best business laptops 2023: Top business notebooks from Acer, Asus, Dell, Apple and more Dell Vostro 14 5468 review

HP's combination Sure Start Gen4 feature, far from echoing a government children's service, actually adds a very handy layer of insulation for the system BIOS. Say your machine is targeted with malware that corrupts the system in unspeakable ways, the Sure Start feature will revert your machine to the latest healthy version, while notifying both yourself and the IT team.

These additional security-centric features wouldn't matter a jot if the laptop itself was a dud, but thankfully it's a solid enough performer and reasonably good looking.

We wouldn't go so far as to label it stylish, but the business-like silver finish to the chassis vaguely echoes that of the Dell XPS 13, albeit with a porky base. We measured it at 13.1mm thick , and even though the lid is slim this laptop's total thickness of 19.1mm is nothing to boast about anymore. If 1.59kg sounds too heavy, note that our review sample included a touchscreen, which adds around 100g.

In HP's defence, that weight is in at least partly due to the fact this is a 14in panel to the 13.3in XPS 13, and the aluminium chassis does feel suitably sturdy and rugged. HP weakens such arguments by including such big bezels, though. The 8mm-wide side bezels look okay, but the one at the bottom is very near a full inch, while the top bezel is 20mm tall. These make the 14in screen feel smaller than it is.

The screen itself is great. Its star feature is the ability to hit a blazing 625cd/m2 for use outdoors, while a Delta E of 2.15, contrast ratio of 1,071:1 and sRGB gamut coverage of 91.7% are all fine scores for a laptop. We don't have many complaints about the keyboard either. It would have been nice to have a little more travel in the keys, but that's just us being fussy. The only thing that stops us being more fulsome in our praise is that the touchpad sits too far to the left, so we had to adjust the position of our palm when typing or it would nudge the position of the cursor.

HP includes a few nice features to make up for this minor annoyance. One is the trackpoint in the middle of the keyboard, with accompanying mouse buttons below the spacebar, which come in handy in cramped conditions. It's also curious to see dial and hang-up buttons at the top-right of the keyboard. This highlights HP's aim to make this a conferencing-friendly laptop, with the promise of "crystal clear collaboration" thanks to a third microphone on the outside of the lid. The idea is that, if other people in the same room are taking part in your call, this third mic will help pick up their voices; if it's just background noise, the laptop will detect it and block the sound.

HP promises up to 14 hours of battery life from the EliteBook 840, but our video-rundown tests suggest you'll be fortunate to reach this. With the screen brightness set to 170cd/m2 and Flight Mode activated, it lasted for 6hrs 30mins. You'll want to carry the 355g power supply when travelling, but at least you won't need any adapters - along with two USB 3.1 ports, there's a Thunderbolt 3 port, full-size HDMI output and an Ethernet slot.

Yet more options come via HP's existing side-mounted docking stations - which are still compatible - and the upcoming Thunderbolt Dock G2, which can power two 4K displays. This laptop has the potential to be quite a workhorse, too, thanks to Intel's 8th-gen Core processors and, in future models (but sadly not our test system), optional Radeon GPUs.

We tested the high-end model (code 3JX09EA-ABB) that included the popular quad-core Core i7-8550U processor with 16GB of RAM and a fast 512GB PCIe SSD. This combination was potent enough to push the Dell XPS 13 over 100 in our benchmarks, but for reasons we can only speculate on - most likely thermal throttling - it only hit 77. We're not too concerned by this, though - our benchmarks are stress tests that last over half an hour, and in general use we doubt that many people will notice a slowdown.

While we wouldn't rush to buy the EliteBook 840 G5, there's much to like about the device. The conferencing features. The extra levels of privacy. The convenience of built-in Ethernet and HDMI ports to accompany Thunderbolt 3. This level of versatility, and prices starting at 1,099 inc VAT on HP's website, make the EliteBook an attractive option for security-sensitive businesses.

Quad-core 1.8GHz Intel Core i7-8550U processor

Intel UHD Graphics 620

1,920 x 1,080 touchscreen display

512GB PCIe SSD

16GB 2,400MHz DDR4 RAM

2x2 MIMO 802.11ac Wi-Fi

Bluetooth 4.2

Thunderbolt 3

2 x USB 3.1

RJ-45 Ethernet port

MicroSDXC slot

Windows 10 Home

302 x 199 x 15mm (WDH)

3yr limited warranty

Keumars Afifi-Sabet is a writer and editor that specialises in public sector, cyber security, and cloud computing. He first joined ITPro as a staff writer in April 2018 and eventually became its Features Editor. Although a regular contributor to other tech sites in the past, these days you will find Keumars on LiveScience, where he runs its Technology section.

Asus Chromebook Enterprise Flip CB5 review: A big-screen Chromebook built for business

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review: You can't beat this Chromebook Plus for value

AI’s use as a hacking tool has been overhyped

Most Popular

• Windows vNext
• Write for us
• Send news tip

HP EliteBook 840 G5 review: It's my new favorite laptop

Rich Woods former Senior Editor for North America Neowin @TheRichWoods · Jul 20, 2018 12:16 EDT · Hot! with 14 comments

The life of a tech reviewer is a conflicting one. Sometimes, I can't wait to get a review published because I want to move on to the next device. Other times, I dread moving on to something new because I love the device I'm reviewing so much.

The HP EliteBook 840 G5 is definitely the latter. I want to make this thing my forever PC, but sadly, I'll have to move on after I finish writing this article.

It pretty much has everything that I want in a PC. It uses an Intel Core i7-8650U CPU, the latest quad-core 15W chip. But that's fairly common. It also packs a 4GB AMD GPU into a thin and light chassis, along with 32GB RAM and a 1TB SSD.

That's not even the best part. The 14-inch 1080p has HP's Sure View privacy technology, so people can't see what I'm working on while I'm in public. There's also 4G LTE, meaning that I don't have to worry about asking for Wi-Fi passwords when I'm on the go.

Read on for the full review.

Obviously, this machine is full specced out. Obviously, you don't need to get it with a Core i7 vPro, 32GB RAM, or 1TB of storage. 4G LTE connectivity is optional as well.

Like the rest of HP's EliteBook lineup, the 840 G5 only comes in Natural Silver, so you won't see that sexy Dark Ash Silver found on the latest Spectre PCs. This saddens me, as that color is lovely, and Natural Silver is, well, basic. It's that standard aluminum body and color that you'll see from devices across the board. It's what some might refer to as a 'MacBook clone'. On a side note, I love this PC so much that it could look like a monkey and I'd be ok with that.

As far as ports go, you'll find almost everything you need. On the left side of the device, there's a smart card reader and a USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A port. On the right side, there's a charging port, Thunderbolt 3, RJ45 Ethernet, HDMI 1.4b, USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A, 3.5mm combo audio, a micro-SIM slot, and a docking port. While I appreciate the wide array of ports, I would have liked an SD card reader.

USB 3.1 Gen 1 in the Type-A ports is a nice touch, providing speeds of up to 5Gbps, while the single Thunderbolt 3 port provides 40Gbps. With the dedicated 4GB GPU, you could hook up two 4K displays to that port, or a single 5K display. HDMI 1.4b is a bit disappointing, as it limits your 4K output through that port.

HP once again went for narrow side bezels, with wide top and bottom bezels around the display. The top bezel makes room for a webcam and an IR camera for Windows Hello, and the bottom room makes room for an HP logo. Also, to be clear, the larger chin lifts the display up a bit, giving it a better viewing angle.

The keyboard area is pretty standard for a 14-inch HP laptop. There are Bang & Olufsen speakers placed above the keys, and a trackpad below them, that's slightly off-centered to the left. There's also a fingerprint sensor for Windows Hello to the bottom-right. The trackpad also has physical buttons above it, and that's because this machine actually has a trackpoint, something that's rarely seen outside of Lenovo's ThinkPads.

Sure View Display

I actually didn't expect to love the EliteBook 840 G5 as much as I do. The reason that I requested this unit is because I've reviewed a bunch of devices from the EliteBook 1000 series, and I always point out that they come with a Sure View option, but the model I was sent doesn't have the feature. The EliteBook 840 G5 was supposed to just be a mainstream business laptop, but it would be my chance to finally test out Sure View outside of a demo area.

Sure View is HP's solution for a privacy display, preventing visual hacks. That means that if someone looks over your shoulder to see what you're working on, they won't be successful. Visual hacks are probably more common than you think, so this is something that's worth having.

All that you have to do is press the F2 key, and you're protected. If someone looks at the screen from an angle, they'll just see a blank white screen.

There are some downsides though, such as that it uses more battery when it's on. It's also a bit harder to read the display while you're using it, and in certain lighting conditions, it can get really hard. I still think it's a fantastic feature to have, as you only have to turn it on when you need it.

Sure View still only comes in 1080p flavors, which is a bit disappointing. I could definitely see battery life being an issue if this was done on a 4K display, but I feel like 1440p would be the sweet spot.

The 14-inch touchscreen display looks great though, all things considered. I'd recommend getting the Sure View option just to have it, as it does come in handy, unless you're going for 4K. There's also an anti-glare option that you might want to look into, as this model is a bit too reflective in bright lighting conditions.

It's 2018. Seriously, everything should be connected to the internet all of the time.

I've always felt this way. I'm the guy that always buys the cellular iPad while everyone else is saying they can just use their phone as a hotspot if they need to. But really, who wants that extra hassle?

The HP EliteBook 840 G5 has 4G LTE, and it's incredible. I can't even say how convenient it is to just be able to pull the laptop out anywhere I am and start working. I don't need to worry about finding Wi-Fi passwords, or connecting to shady networks. With this machine, I've worked in airports, on buses, and anywhere else that I needed to.

The concept of the Always Connected PC is something that Microsoft has been pushing, but especially in ARM-based PCs. Those machines aren't as powerful. This machine, however, has a U-series Intel Core i7, a 4GB AMD GPU, and 32GB of RAM, so it's a beast of a laptop, but with that extra connectivity.

4G LTE is a feature that should be standard in all portable PCs. Come on, guys. It's 2018, and constant connectivity is a game-changing feature. I cannot stress enough how useful and convenient this is, and how much it improves the overall user experience.

Keyboard, trackpad, and trackpoint

As usual, HP has produced another excellent keyboard on this device. It's one of the quietest keyboards that I've used, next to maybe Lenovo's ThinkPads. The backlit keyboard is also more accurate than previous EliteBooks that I've used. I've used some that seem a bit too sensitive, but this one is just right.

The large trackpad beneath the keyboard is placed slightly to the left of the center, and it has two physical buttons above it for left- and right-clicking. The glass trackpad itself is clickable, but those buttons will likely be used for the trackpoint. In other words, you have multiple means of navigation with the EliteBook 840 G5.

The trackpad itself is definitely one of the better ones out there. I didn't have any problems using it, which is more than I can say for some other devices.

The trackpoint sits between the G, H, and B keys, which is standard placement for the rare navigation tool. You can use it to control the cursor, and then the physical buttons to click. There's no middle button for scrolling though, as you would find in one of Lenovo's ThinkPads. That means that you can either scroll manually by clicking and holding on a scrollbar, or you can do it with two fingers on the trackpad.

Performance

The HP EliteBook 840 G5 performs like a dream. It includes a Core i7-8650U CPU, AMD Radeon RX 540 GPU with 4GB GDDR5, and 32GB RAM. What else could you ask for? All of that comes in a fairly slim and light package.

This is what I'd refer to as an 'anything PC'. You can use it for all of your computing needs. It's great for typing, but if you need to, you can get into some heavy photo editing and even video editing. If you want to do some gaming, that works too. Of course, it's not primarily for video editing or gaming, as it's not a workstation or gaming PC. But you can do these things if you need to, and that's what's so great about the dedicated GPU in this machine.

Let me put it this way. My workflow typically includes running Chrome with about a dozen tabs open, Skype, Slack, and OneNote all the time. But I'm also using Adobe products like Photoshop, Illustrator, Premiere Pro, and Acrobat. I have never been using this PC and wished it had something that it doesn't.

For benchmarks, I used PCMark 8, which has three tests: Home, Creative, and Work. First up is Home, which checks common tasks like video chat, web browsing, casual gaming, photo editing, and more.

As you can see, this machine scores quite well on the test, better than many gaming PCs. Next up is Creative, which checks more GPU-intensive tasks like video editing and mainstream gaming.

As you can see, the EliteBook 840 G5 once again scores quite well. None of this should really be a surprise, as the hardware is quite good.

Finally, the Work test checks productivity-related tasks like writing and spreadsheets.

If my personal experience isn't enough to prove to you that the EliteBook 840 G5 performs like a dream, the benchmarks certainly should be.

WorkWise and PhoneWise

HP's EliteBook lineup has a lot of business-centric software built into it. For example, Sure Start checks the BIOS against a master copy and replaces it if it's corrupted, and Sure Click provides a safe browsing experience. But the two things I want to draw special attention to are WorkWise and PhoneWise.

WorkWise first arrived last year in the EliteBook x360 1030 G2 , and it's kind of disappeared since then. When HP introduced PhoneWise, the two services were incompatible with each other for a time. Now, we finally have a machine that does both.

Now only compatible with Android, WorkWise is a sort of mobile control center for your PC. For example, if you lock your EliteBook and walk away from it, and someone closes the lid on your PC while you're gone, you'll get a notification that someone has touched your PC. You can turn on Focus Mode, or you can even install new printers from the app. It's a powerful and useful service, and I'm really happy to see its return.

And then we have PhoneWise. If WorkWise brings your PC to your phone, then PhoneWise brings your phone to your PC. You can use it to make and receive calls, send and receive texts, and you can even mirror and interact with your phone.

While PhoneWise does work with Android and iOS, it's much more limited with iOS. You can't mirror your phone, and to send a text, you'll have to enter your iPhone PIN into the PhoneWise app so it can wake your phone, unlock it, launch the PhoneWise app, and send a text from there. To be clear, this is an iOS limitation rather than a limitation of PhoneWise, and if you're looking to send SMS messages from your PC and you're an iPhone owner, you're really not going to find anything that works better than this.

Windows Hello

Windows Hello is so common in premium Windows 10 PCs these days, that it's almost a side note. I do want to point out though, that the EliteBook 840 G5 has both a fingerprint sensor and an IR camera.

Naturally, this offers the user choice. Personally, I think that the IR camera is the way to go, as it's more natural for a PC to just recognize me when I'm sitting in front of it. The fingerprint sensor is nice to have as a failsafe though, in case the IR camera's facial recognition fails.

I really love the HP EliteBook 840 G5. Many of the Always Connected PCs that we're seeing pushed aren't very powerful, or they're not in conventional form factors. Even the Intel-powered Surface Pro isn't my cup of tea, as it's tough to use without a desk making it impossible to use at events.

But the EliteBook 840 G5 is a premium laptop, and not just that, but it's really powerful. It has a Core i7 vPro processor with a 4GB AMD GPU and 32GB RAM to back it up. When you add 4G LTE to that, it's just an amazing experience.

On top of all of that, it has HP's Sure View display, which is fantastic for working in public places. Now, I can work in a Starbucks without having to worry about anyone seeing what I'm working on.

The software features are nice as well. WorkWise and PhoneWise are both great products, and it's great to see them both playing nice on the same PC.

Ultimately, I think that the EliteBook 840 G5 has it all, and I'll be sad to move on to the next laptop that I review, no matter how good it is.

Gallery: HP EliteBook 840 G5

• Elitebook 840 g5

Telkom Kenya partners with Loon LLC to launch commercial service

This Complete DevOps & Deployment Technologies Bundle only costs $39

Join the conversation.

Login or Sign Up to read and post a comment.

14 Comments - Add comment

Report comment.

Please enter your reason for reporting this comment.

Dangbei Atom, a HDR10/HLG laser projector with Dolby sound, Chromecast, Google TV and more

Forget Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, what you really want to download this month is Fedora Silverblue 40

fedora silverblue

Windows 11 22635.3500 add new account manager and more

windows 11 insider preview

Edifier NeoBuds Pro 2: Superb audio in a premium package snubbed by battery life

Windows 11 26200 adds Widgets improvements and more

Gulikit KK3 Max - premium controller with refined performance almost all the time

China set to send a new crew to its space station this week

The oukitel rt8 is a 20,000mah rugged tablet with 48 mp camera.

oukitel rt8

GameSir Nova, with hall effect sticks, 250Hz Bluetooth & A+ calibration

Edifier stax spirit s3 planar magnetic headphones — magnets how worky, how to turn off the new ads in discord, even without nitro.

HP EliteBook 840 G5 review: A reliable business laptop with some style (video)

Business laptops don't have to be boring..

Business laptops are often a little more boring than their consumer counterparts. But in recent years, manufacturers have been taking a turn towards a more premium design for their business lineups. That's especially true for HP's new 14-inch EliteBook 840 G5, which sits right in the middle of the EliteBook lineup with a stylish design without compromising on reliability or features.

For more, check out our full video review of the EliteBook 840 G5 below.

• See at Amazon

Dan Thorp-Lancaster is the former Editor-in-Chief of Windows Central. He began working with Windows Central, Android Central, and iMore as a news writer in 2014 and is obsessed with tech of all sorts. You can follow Dan on Twitter @DthorpL and Instagram @heyitsdtl . 

HP EliteBook 840 G5 review

Performance for power users....

Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.

• Introduction and design
• Performance and verdict

Performance 

As you’ll see in the benchmarks, this computer is remarkably quick and agile. Combining such a new and powerful Core i7 series CPU with high-end NVMe storage is a recipe for a level of raw speed not normally associated with portable computers.

The only caveat is the Intel 620 UHD GPU, a component integrated into the processor that is the weak link in this chain.

Discrete GPUs aren’t exclusively for gaming machines these days, as they can provide significant computational advantages for those doing scientific calculations.

HP’s specifications mention the possibility of an AMD Radeon RX540 discrete graphics solution with 2GB GDDR5 video memory as an option. Although we’ve yet to see a model with this GPU released so far.

Here’s how the HP EliteBook 840 G5 performed in our suite of benchmark tests : 

Passmark: 3384 

Passmark CPU: 9266 

CPU-Z: 378.1 (single-thread); 2140.2 (multi-thread) 

Geekbench: 4611 (single-core); 14205 (multi-core); 19350 (compute) 

Cinebench: OpenGL: 45.92 fps; CPU: 543 

CrystalDiskMark: 3238.9 MBps (read); 2095.4 MBps (write) 

Novabench: 1614 

Atto: 3,255 MBps (read, 256mb); 2,113 MBps (write, 256mb) 

Sisoft Sandra (kPT): 9.38 

Windows Experience Index: Did not run 

UserBenchmark (higher is better): 86.5% 

With that one exception, the performance of this machine is spellbinding. 

Benchmarks 

The EliteBook 840 G5 isn’t a cheap device, and it certainly doesn’t perform like one either. 

Any task involving 3D graphics is undermined by the mediocre performance of the Intel UHD 620 GPU, but by all other measures, this system soars! 

Of these results, easily the most impressive are the storage speed benchmarks, which are incredible. HP used a 512GB Samsung PM981 NVMe drive in this machine, and it reads and writes a breathtaking amount of data per second. 

This drive was Samsung’s flagship design at the end of 2017 and remains the quickest SSD the company makes for the OEM market at this time. 

Overall, the HP EliteBook  840 in this configuration is a performance king. And, unless you are looking to game or run CAD, and therefore need a discrete GPU, there is plenty of power here for whatever office or presentation jobs you might encounter. 

There is little point in buying a machine this good for an occasional user. It’s meant for someone who pushes their device to its very limits, and possibly beyond. 

Battery life 

The battery life of an Ultrabook is always an important factor. Having a go-anywhere system is of little value if it only works for a short time away from a power outlet.

That’s especially true if the design, like the review HP 840 G5, is fully specified with a Core i7 class processor and 16GB of RAM. 

Keeping that much memory alive and feeding a processor that can run at 4GHz in turbo mode is a tall order, but the 840 G5 seems to manage it quite effortlessly. 

The factory installed battery is rated for 50WHr, and in our PCMark08 Work Battery test, it managed to run for just 6 minutes short of the 5 hour mark with full performance. Setting Windows 10 for best battery life easily extends that past 10 hours. 

In practical terms, that’s a full working day and some extra for the majority of users, unless you have computing intensive tasks. 

And, with the exceptional clarity of the display, it could easily be dimmed below the test level and remain usable, extending the battery life further. 

Final verdict 

Compact, yet massively powerful and feature-filled. The HP EliteBook 840 G5 avoids aesthetic showboating and focuses entirely on providing the best core user experience. For the power user who doesn’t want a 2-in-1 system, this is one of the best pure Ultrabooks currently available. 

• Also take a look at the best business laptops of 2018  

Current page: Performance and verdict

Mark is an expert on 3D printers, drones and phones. He also covers storage, including SSDs, NAS drives and portable hard drives. He started writing in 1986 and has contributed to MicroMart, PC Format, 3D World, among others.

'In the beginning I didn't want to – my son persuaded me': why Audiovector's Trapeze Reimagined speaker is a 45-year family affair

Report claims Vision Pro sales have ‘fallen sharply’ as Apple struggles to whip up demand

Gemini AI is heading to older Android phones, and could get a new 'conversation' mode

Most Popular

We review products independently , but we may earn affiliate commissions from buying links on this page. Terms of use .

HP EliteBook 840 G5

The midrange elitebook 840 g5 is a first-class 14-inch business laptop that challenges its up-the-stack hp kin, though you'll want to upgrade from the dim default screen..

Bottom Line

• Sleek design.
• Good battery life.
• Available 4K and privacy-screen display options, as well as discrete graphics.
• Comfortable backlit keyboard.
• Expensive with options.
• Base screen is dreary.

The 14-inch business laptop segment is one of the most competitive in the PC market. At the top are glamorous models like the HDR-screened version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the new Huawei MateBook X Pro . Below are workhorse systems like the ThinkPad T470 and T480, and Dell's Latitude 5490 and 7490. Position HP's EliteBook 840 G5 between those two camps. (It starts at $1,199; our test model is $1,835.) This highly IT-manageable, spiffy-looking machine has its charms, and while it does not displace our Editors' Choice pick, the X1 Carbon, it delivers enough flexibility to make it a strong contender for fleet deployments, with enough options to please a wide range of business-user needs.

A Mainstream Middleweight

The EliteBook 840 G5 looks glamorous with its silver aluminum unibody and stylized slash logo, but it is really a workhorse that woos IT managers with its Intel vPro manageability, HP Sure Start protection against BIOS hackers, and HP Sure Recover option. (The last can restore a company's software image from the cloud if the solid-state drive has been wiped.) Compared to its G4 predecessor, it even has tethered screws on the bottom, so you can open the chassis for service or upgrades without dealing with easy-to-lose screws and screw caps.

Except for its 14- rather than 13.3-inch display and the welcome addition of dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to the keyboard, the EliteBook 840 G5 tester unit I have on hand is a near twin of the EliteBook 830 G5 ($1,149.00 at HP) I reviewed not long before it. The model I have in hand has the same 1,920-by-1,080-pixel (1080p) native screen resolution, the same eighth-generation Core i7-8650U quad-core processor with Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated silicon, the same ports on the left and right edges, and the same 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD.

Also identical is the choice of a face-recognition webcam or a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello sign-ins, plus an option for a SmartCard slot, for enterprises that prefer that kind of secure-access solution. The $1,199 base model makes do with a seventh-generation Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

At 3.27 pounds, the 840 G5 undercuts the 3.74-pound ThinkPad T470 , just as it's undercut, in turn, by the MateBook X Pro ($1,198.00 at Amazon) (2.93 pounds) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon ($1,298.00 at Amazon) (2.49 pounds). It's a little trimmer than the ThinkPad T470, at 0.7 by 12.8 by 9.2 inches versus 0.79 by 13.3 by 9.2 inches. The Huawei is sculpted more like a 13.3-inch ultraportable, at 0.57 by 12 by 8.5 inches.

While its chrome HP logo and carved rear edge are stylish touches, the EliteBook 840 G5 is more than just a pretty face—it's passed MIL-STD tests against vibration, shock, temperature and altitude extremes, dust, humidity, and more. The connectivity, meanwhile, is on-point, if not overly generous. On the laptop's left side, you'll find a USB 3.0 Type-A port and a Kensington cable-lock slot, as well as, on this unit, the above-mentioned SmartCard slot...

On the right are a SIM card slot, an audio jack, another USB 3.0 port, HDMI and Ethernet ports, a docking-station connector, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and the AC adapter connector. There is no SD card slot.

A sliding shutter uncovers the webcam, which captures well-lit, slightly soft-focus 720p shots and video. Most users will appreciate the manual action of the shutter and the implied security of physically blocking the camera lens. I appreciate the at-a-glance visual cue, myself, rather than having to rely on an OS or program-based assurance that the camera's not in commission.

The Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, meanwhile, are arrayed in a strip between the keyboard and the screen. Their output can easily fill a room—with some boom and echo when volume is cranked all the way up—with crisp highs and well-defined lows. Both MP3s and videos sound great.

Pick a Panel (But Be Sure It's the Right One)

As with the EliteBook 830 G5, HP chose to send its 840 G5 test unit with the lowest-common-denominator screen for review. The good news is that the full HD display is an in-plane switching (IPS) rather than twisted nematic (TN) panel, so details and colors are fairly sharp, and the off-center viewing angles are wide.

The bad news is that it isn't very bright. The company rates the screen at 220 nits. As a result, those colors don't pop, and backgrounds aren't washday white. The whole screen looks murky if you dial the backlight down two or three notches for the sake of saving battery power.

If you've got the budget, though, HP's got alternatives. Most buyers would do well to opt for the upticked full HD display with 400 nits of brightness. There's also a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) screen, plus a 1080p version of HP's Sure View privacy screen. Sure View may appeal to business users who handle sensitive information often. It protects the screen contents from being spied upon via casual glances (say, from the person sitting beside you on a plane or train). Press the F2 key, and the display becomes legible only to someone seated directly in front of it.

As for the keyboard, a quibble first: I continue to hold a beef with HP's placement of the cursor-arrow directional keys in a row rather than a more intuitive inverted T. Here, it's the usual HP arrangement, with half-height up and down arrows placed between full-height left and right ones...

But otherwise, this EliteBook's backlit keyboard is impressive, quieter than most yet with a firm and responsive typing feel. It features HP's dedicated keys for placing, ending, and presenting during Skype calls, as well as both a comfortable touchpad and a mid-keyboard pointing stick (though the latter has only two instead of three buttons).

• The Best Laptops for 2020

HP backs the EliteBook 840 G5 with a three-year warranty, not including onsite service. The Windows 10 Pro preinstall comes with a surprisingly high number of not terribly compelling casual games, but HP restricts its bundling to useful system utilities.

Solid Performance, Slightly Pricey

With its Core i7-8650U processor (a 1.9GHz quad-core) and fast Samsung SSD, the EliteBook 840 G5 turned in an admirable score of 3,517 points in our PCMark 8 office productivity benchmark (we consider anything over 3,000 excellent). And while the 830 G5 with the same CPU was a trifle off in our Handbrake video editing and Adobe Photoshop image-manipulation tests, the 840 G5 posted thoroughly competitive times of 1 minute 18 seconds (1:18) and 2:57, respectively.

It was a different story in our 3DMark graphics tests and Heaven and Valley gaming simulations, where the EliteBook (and other laptops with integrated graphics) got schooled by the Huawei and its Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete graphics. Upscale configurations of the 840 G5, however, can be fitted with dedicated graphics, too, in the form of AMD's Radeon RX 540, which won't be enough to satisfy hardcore gamers but should bring noticeably perkier graphics performance.

Perhaps the HP's toughest test came in our battery life rundown, where lasting through a mere eight-hour workday no longer cuts the mustard. Our test unit survived for a very respectable 12 hours and 51 minutes, though it trailed the 17-plus hours of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the T470 ($881.10 at Lenovo) with its optional extended-life battery.

A Striking Biz Laptop, But Mind the Price

With its sleek and sturdy construction, pleasing performance, and variety of configuration choices, the EliteBook 840 G5 is a very likable business laptop, though not quite likable enough to undo our Editors' Choice vote for the lighter X1 Carbon.

Our main complaints are the base model's dingy screen and our test unit's $1,835 list price despite said screen. While HP and its channel partners frequently offer the system on sale, it strikes us as a bit expensive compared to rivals such as the $1,499 MateBook X Pro. Still, if we were HP's even more costly EliteBook 1040 14-incher ($1,479.00 at HP) , we'd be worried—the EliteBook 840 G5 is that good.

Best Laptop Picks

• The Best Touch-Screen Laptops for 2020
• The Best OLED Laptops for 2020
• The Best Chromebooks for 2020
• The Best Business Laptops for 2020
• More Laptop Reviews
• More from HP

Laptop Product Comparisons

• Slick Ultraportables Face Off: 2020 Apple MacBook Air vs. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
• High-End Mac Showdown: Apple iMac vs. Apple MacBook Pro

Further Reading

• Razer Launches Updated Blade Stealth 13 Laptop With GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Graphics, 120Hz Display
• First Tests: Will Intel's New 'Comet Lake-H' Core i7 Be the Best Laptop CPU of 2020?
• Apple Is Changing What '100 Percent Charged' Means for MacBooks
• Lenovo Re-Arms Its Legions: New Gaming PCs, With a Mix of Silicon, Coming in May
• HP Targets MacBook Lovers With New Envy, ZBook Laptops

More Inside PCMag.com

• The Best Vegetarian and Vegan Meal Kit Delivery Services for 2024
• The Best Small Business CRM Software for 2024
• Microsoft's Poor Cloud Security Exposed Internal Company Data, Researchers Find
• Home Depot Confirms Data Breach After Employee Info Appears on Hacker Forum

About Eric Grevstad

I was picked to write the "20 Most Influential PCs" feature for PCMag's 40th Anniversary coverage because I remember them all—I started on a TRS-80 magazine in 1982 and served as editor of Computer Shopper when it was a 700-page monthly. I was later the editor in chief of Home Office Computing , a magazine that promoted using tech to work from home two decades before a pandemic made it standard practice. Even in semiretirement in Bradenton, Florida, I can't stop playing with toys and telling people what gear to buy.

More From Eric Grevstad

• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7440)
• Dell XPS 14 (9440)
• 7 Features You Need in Your New Laptop (and 4 You Should Skip)
• Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406)
• Tested: The Lightest Laptops for 2024

• Full View Mode
• PC COMPONENTS
• IT INFRASTRUCTURE
• SWITCH TO DESKTOP

• All PC Components
• Graphics/Sound
• Motherboards
• All Systems
• Small Form Factor
• Smartphones
• All IT Infrastructure
• Workstation
• Data Center/Enterprise
• All Leisure
• Entertainment
• Social And Internet
• Reviews/How Tos
• Galaxy S24 Ultra
• GeForce RTX Super
• ASUS ROG Phone 8
• Radeon RX 7600 XT
• Intel Core Ultra

HP EliteBook 840 And 830 G5 Review: Aluminum-Clad Powerhouses

Article index, hp elitebook g5: redesigned from the ground up for style and performance.

Related content

• Moto One 5G Review: Killer Battery Life,...
• Intel Tiger Lake And Xe Graphics...
• Samsung Galaxy Book S Shoot-Out: Intel...
• Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Review: A Fantastic...
• LG Velvet Review: Stylish 5G Phone Lacks...
• Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G Review:...
• Architecture Day 2020: Intel's Tiger...

Login with Social Media or Manually

Or sign in manually:

HP EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 review

The elitebook 830 and elitebook 840 g7 are a pair of business laptops with very few shortcomings.

Laptop Mag Verdict

HP's EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 have few weaknesses, making them great alternatives to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

Sleek aluminum chassis

Fast performance

Comfortable keyboard

Plenty of ports

Modern security features

Weak graphics

Top configs are expensive

Ho-hum webcam

Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test .

Price : $2,099 (EliteBook 830); $2,199 (EliteBook 840) CPU : Intel Core i7-10810U CPU GPU : UHD graphics RAM : 16GB Storage : 512GB SSD Display : 13.3-inch, 1080p; 14-inch, 1080p Battery : 9:45 (EliteBook 830); 9:23 (EliteBook 840)

HP 's Elitebook 800 series can be seen as the Envy equivalent of its business laptops . The idea behind the line is to provide premium features adopted from the flagship EliteBook 1000-series notebooks at a lower price without cutting too many corners. In most ways, the EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 are successful in accomplishing that goal. 

As is the case with most new HP systems, the highlight of these laptops is their sleek aluminum chassis, which smartly blends form with function. Looking past the frame, these two EliteBook models get you a solid 1080p display, fast performance, a bevy of security features and a comfortable keyboard — everything you need to finish projects at work or relax after you clock out. 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 price and configuration options

We're bundling the EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 into a single review because they're practically identical once you ignore screen size. 

Starting with the 13-inch model, the EliteBook 830 G7 has a base price of $1,369 when configured with a 1080p display (250 nits), an Intel 10th Gen Core i5-10210U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD. Stepping up to an Intel Core i7-10610U CPU along with 32GB of Intel Optane memory raises the price to $1,768.

Our review unit costs $2,099 and comes with a 1080p display (400 nits), a Core i7-10810U vPro CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. There are tons of other configuration options to consider. I played around on HP.com and configured myself a $3,202 model with a 1080p Sure View display (1,000 nits), a Core i7 vPro CPU, 64GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD.

The 14-inch EliteBook 840 G7 is a tad pricier. The larger model starts at $1,349 and comes with a 1080p, 250-nit display, a Core i5-10210U CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. Our $2,199 unit was configured with the same specs as our 830 G7: a 1080p, 400-nit panel, a Core i7-10810U vPro CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 design

I want HP's designers to redo my wardrobe because they have a serious eye for style.

The EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 defy the business laptop stereotype, proving that a laptop doesn't need to be chunky and bland to get work done. Borrowing some of the best Spectre x360 traits, the EliteBook 830 and 840 have a sleek silver aluminum chassis that blends a modern aesthetic with traditional business features. 

These two notebooks might not catch your eye at first glance but a closer look reveals several thoughtful additions. The stylized chrome HP logo looks great centered on the lid, but it's the angled spine adorned with an EliteBook logo and the chrome-trimmed touchpad that give these laptops an added sophistication. 

Begone, bezels! HP trimmed down the bezels on these latest models by up to 39% to achieve an 85% screen-to-body ratio. It's not just about removing those ugly black borders but decreasing the overall footprint of the laptop. To that end, the EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 are 11.5% and 9% smaller than their predecessors, respectively.  

HP didn't only design these EliteBooks models for good looks. The tapered front edge of the lid makes the EliteBook 830 and 840 easier to open with one finger while the stylish, triangle-patterned speaker grilles on the deck push sound toward your ears for an unobscured listening experience. Also, on the deck is a fingerprint sensor and a generously sized touchpad (more on that later). 

At 12.1 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches, the 2.8-pound EliteBook 830 G7 is predictably smaller and lighter than the EliteBook 840 G7 (12.74 x 8.45 x 0.7 inches, 3 pounds) and the Dell Latitude 7410 (12.7 x 8.2 x 0.76 inches, 2.9 pounds) but even the 13-inch model weighs more than the featherweight Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (12.7 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches, 2.4 pounds). 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 durability and security

These latest EliteBook models are protected on the inside and out. Having passed 19 military-grade durability tests, the EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 should be capable of withstanding extreme conditions, like high altitudes or scolding temperatures. 

Unfortunately, I have some durability concerns of my own. The EliteBook 830 G7 unit HP sent me makes a loud clicking sound when I press gently on the bottom panel. It sounds like something isn't snapped into place properly.

Protecting your privacy is a fingerprint sensor on the deck and an IR camera above the screen. That webcam can be easily hidden by sliding over a lens cover. What you can't see is a TPM 2.0 chip , which ensures all data is encrypted before it gets transferred. You also get HP's comprehensive suite of security software from Secure Erase (erases HDDs and SSDs for recycle) to HP Sure Start (BIOS attack detection). 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 ports

Business users won't need dongles or a dock to connect to peripherals thanks to the generous array of ports on these notebooks. 

The EliteBook 830 G7 and EliteBook 840 G7 offer the same ports. On the left side are two USB 3.1 Type-A inputs , a headphone/mic jack, a Smart Card reader and a Kensington lock . 

Turning to the right side, you'll find two Thunderbolt 3 ports , an HDMI 1.4 input and a SIM card slot for LTE connectivity.

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 display

There is no 4K option for either laptop but the 1080p panels on the EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 are great — so long as you opt for the 400-nit panel.  

The displays on these two laptops look similar although the EliteBook 930's 13-inch, 1080p panel had a cleaner white balance out of the box compared to the slightly murky yellow hue on the EliteBook 840 G7's 14-inch, 1080p display. With either panel, you can expect a sharp, vivid picture you'll appreciate in video chats with your boss or when you're streaming TV shows after you punch out for the day.

In a trailer for Top Gun: Maverick, I could see the Navy logo in sharp detail on the side of a plane in mid-barrel roll. I saw the wrinkles around Tom Cruise's eyes just above his sun-tanned cheeks. The red stripes on his helmet popped against the monochrome cockpit and light blue sky similar to how the ribbons stood out against the Navy service khaki uniforms. Again, these displays are almost identical, but the snow-capped mountains had a purer white hue on the 13-inch laptop. 

According to our colorimeter, the EliteBook 830 G7's panel covers 79% of the DCI-P3 color gamut whereas the EliteBook 840 G7's screen captures 78%. The Latitude 7410 has a more vivid display, at 83%, while the ThinkPad X1 Carbon's 1080p panel is duller (78%). The premium laptop average is 83%. 

You won't have problems using the EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 outside, even on bright days. The 13-inch display reached 374 nits of maximum brightness, just short of the peak brightness on the 14-inch model (378 nits). Again, the Latitude 7410 (402 nits) edges out the competition while the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (364 nits) was a bit dimmer than the rest and the 382-nit category average.

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 keyboard and touchpad

Between Lenovo's ThinkPads and these EliteBooks, you might want a business laptop for the keyboard alone. I can only think of a few portable laptops as comfortable to type on than these EliteBooks. 

It's the combination of large keys and deep travel that make the EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840's backlit, Chiclet-style keys such a pleasure to use. There is a hefty "click" each time your fingers activate a key followed by a spinginess that lifts your fingers up so they can move to the next letter. 

I don't have any issues with the layout, either. In our current remote working climate, it's nice to have video conferencing controls on the shortcut row so you can quickly mute yourself. And while not everyone at Laptop Mag is a fan of the font, I really like the bold oversized figures on the key caps. 

I typed at 115 words per minute with a 94% accuracy on the 10fastfingers.com typing test, results that are just short of my usual 119-wpm, 95% accuracy averages.

While the typing experience feels identical between these two notebooks, there are some key (pun intended) differences between the 13- and 14-inch models. With its wider footprint, the 840 G7 has room for a few extra keys including a separate row for page up/down, home and end. There is also a right-click key not found on the 13-inch model.  Also on the EliteBook 840 G7 is a rubber pointing stick and accompanying left- and right-click buttons above the touchpad. 

These features are absent on the 13-inch model so if you prefer the rubber nub over the touchpad, go with the EliteBook 840 G7. Speaking of the touchpad, the 4.4 x 2.4-inch surface responded to my taps and swipes, executing gestures like pinch-to-zoom and two-finger scrolling. 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 audio

Even without a quad-speaker setup, the EliteBook 830 G7 and 840 G7 produced good crisp audio when I played The Neighborhood's "Pretty Boy." High notes were clear without sounding tinny on the treble-heavy song, and the vocals were forward. The sound wasn't quite loud enough to fill my large living room, but you don't need to keep the laptops at 100% volume when sitting directly behind them. 

The Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers lacked bass when I played Regard's "Ride It" but the clarity of the electronic instruments was satisfying. 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 performance

Powered by an Intel 10th Gen Core i7-10810U CPU and 16GB of RAM , the EliteBook 830 and 840 G7 handled everything I threw at them. My punishing workload involving no less than 30 Google Chrome tabs wasn't a problem for either system. I played a couple of 1080p YouTube videos while streaming the Champions' League draw and didn't notice even a hint of sluggishness.   

This dynamic duo flexed all over the competition in our synthetic benchmark tests, with the EliteBook 830 scoring a 4,262 and the 840 G7 notching a 4,378. The Latitude 7410, equipped with an Intel Core i7-10610U, proved with its 3,108 result that splurging on the top-tier CPU variant pays off. Equipped with the same Core i7-10610U CPU, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (3,913) closed the gap a bit but only the EliteBooks topped the category average (4,037).

With so much power to work with, it's no wonder the EliteBook 830 and 840 G7 had no problems converting a 4K video to 1080p using the Handbrake app. It took the 13-inch model 17 minutes and 12 seconds and the 14-inch version 15 minutes and 29 seconds. Rival laptops in the Latitude 7410 (22:34) and X1 Carbon (19:51) needed several additional minutes to complete the same task. 

Transferring files won't take long on these EliteBooks thanks to their speedy SSDs . The 840 G7's 512GB NVMe PCIe SSD took 52 seconds to convert a 25GB multimedia file equating to a transfer rate of 574.9 megabytes per second. The smaller model was a tad slower at 433.9 MBps. I maintain that those are good times, but only the 14-inch EliteBook topped the category average (566.4 MBps) and even it lost out to the X1 Carbon (1,044.7 MBps) and Latitude 7410 (574.9 MBps). 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 graphics

I hope this is the last laptop I review with UHD graphics. A new era of integrated graphics, led by Iris Plus and Iris Xe , means the UHD graphics in the EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 940 G7 just won't cut it when new models arrive.

The feeble graphics managed to run Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm at an unplayable 12 frames per second on the EliteBook 840 and 11 fps on the 13-inch model. If it's any consultation, and it really shouldn't be, the X1 Carbon (8 fps) and Latitude 7410 (9 fps) somehow fared worse. The average premium laptop can play this game at 25 fps.

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 battery life

You can expect about a full day of battery life from these laptops. The EliteBook 830 G7 lasted for 9 hours and 45 minutes on our battery test (continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits), just 22 minutes longer than the EliteBook 840 G7 (9:23). 

Those are good if unremarkable runtimes. Dell 's Latitude 7410 (10:56) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (10:45) both broke the 10-hour mark and the category average (10:01). 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 webcam

You need perfect lighting conditions to get a good image from the EliteBook 830 and 840 G7's 720p webcam. A selfie I snapped in my dimly lit apartment was a noisy mess. My face became more clear as I neared a window but my skin still looked blotchy. The camera at least captured the reddish hues in my cheeks and the dark blue of my shirt. It's good enough in a pinch if your home or office is well lit, but any other setup would benefit from an external webcam . 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 heat

The EliteBook 840 didn't overexert itself in our heat test but the EliteBook 830 had some trouble keeping its cool. 

The bottom panel on the 13-inch model reached 99 degrees Fahrenheit after we played a 15-minute, 1080p video. Fortunately, the center of the keyboard (90 degrees) and the touchpad (79 degrees) stayed below our 95-degree comfort threshold. 

Pushing the EliteBook 840 G7's engine didn't cause it to overheat; the laptop warmed to only 92 degrees and the keyboard and touchpad stayed at a comfy 86 degrees and 78 degrees, respectively.

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 software and warranty

Holy bloatware ! OK, it's not all bloatware, but when I opened the Start Menu on the EliteBook, I was bombarded with a baker's dozen of HP apps. Please HP, for the last time (I know it won't be), find a way to package these together because it's unwieldy at this point.

I won't go into detail on every app HP includes, but it's worth spotlighting a few. For instance, HP Workwell prompts you to exercise at times and gives you insight on your work patterns. I get it HP, this lifestyle ain't healthy.

HP Sure Click is a threat-alert software while PC Hardware Diagnostics (along with needing a more creative name) gives you a rundown of how your PC is performing. There's also a power management app, a separate app with documentation, another for support and a JumpStart program for getting your system setup.

But wait, that's not all. Also pre-installed on the EliteBook 830 and 940 are a couple of Intel management programs along with the standard stock of Microsoft apps that appear on all Windows 10 Pro systems.

HP ships the EliteBook 830 G7 and EliteBook 840 G7 with a three-year warranty. See how HP fared on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Brands special reports. 

Bottom line

Rarely do I review a laptop with as few shortcomings as the EliteBook 830 G7 and EliteBook 840 G7, and yet, I'm not entirely sold. Yes, these systems nail the basics, but they fail to stand out in any way. While they offer a sleek design, a good 1080p display, fast performance and decent battery life, the EliteBook 830 and 840 G7 don't do anything to separate themselves from the competition.

That doesn't mean they aren't the best options. In fact, at the right price, I'd even consider these models over the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, our long-standing best business laptop. It ultimately comes down to pricing -- if you can find these on sale for less than their rivals, then don't hesitate to snag them for your workforce — they'll be happy with their new systems, trust me. 

EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 Specs

Phillip Tracy is the assistant managing editor at Laptop Mag where he reviews laptops, phones and other gadgets while covering the latest industry news. After graduating with a journalism degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Phillip became a tech reporter at the Daily Dot. There, he wrote reviews for a range of gadgets and covered everything from social media trends to cybersecurity. Prior to that, he wrote for RCR Wireless News covering 5G and IoT. When he's not tinkering with devices, you can find Phillip playing video games, reading, traveling or watching soccer.

My favorite Star Wars game of all time will be free to play on Game Pass soon — it's still the best deal in gaming

Microsoft's new lightweight AI rivals GPT-3.5 — it's learning from children's books and fits on phones

Dell Earth Day deals end April 25, shop sustainable laptops from $449

Most Popular

HP EliteBook 840 G5

The midrange elitebook 840 g5 is a first-class 14-inch business laptop that challenges its up-the-stack hp kin, though you'll want to upgrade from the dim default screen..

Bottom Line

• Sleek design.
• Good battery life.
• Available 4K and privacy-screen display options, as well as discrete graphics.
• Comfortable backlit keyboard.
• Expensive with options.
• Base screen is dreary.

The 14-inch business laptop segment is one of the most competitive in the PC market. At the top are glamorous models like the HDR-screened version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the new Huawei MateBook X Pro . Below are workhorse systems like the ThinkPad T470 and T480, and Dell's Latitude 5490 and 7490. Position HP's EliteBook 840 G5 between those two camps. (It starts at $1,199; our test model is $1,835.) This highly IT-manageable, spiffy-looking machine has its charms, and while it does not displace our Editors' Choice pick, the X1 Carbon, it delivers enough flexibility to make it a strong contender for fleet deployments, with enough options to please a wide range of business-user needs.

A Mainstream Middleweight

The EliteBook 840 G5 looks glamorous with its silver aluminum unibody and stylized slash logo, but it is really a workhorse that woos IT managers with its Intel vPro manageability, HP Sure Start protection against BIOS hackers, and HP Sure Recover option. (The last can restore a company's software image from the cloud if the solid-state drive has been wiped.) Compared to its G4 predecessor, it even has tethered screws on the bottom, so you can open the chassis for service or upgrades without dealing with easy-to-lose screws and screw caps.

Except for its 14- rather than 13.3-inch display and the welcome addition of dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to the keyboard, the EliteBook 840 G5 tester unit I have on hand is a near twin of the EliteBook 830 G5 I reviewed not long before it. The model I have in hand has the same 1,920-by-1,080-pixel (1080p) native screen resolution, the same eighth-generation Core i7-8650U quad-core processor with Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated silicon, the same ports on the left and right edges, and the same 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD.

Also identical is the choice of a face-recognition webcam or a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello sign-ins, plus an option for a SmartCard slot, for enterprises that prefer that kind of secure-access solution. The $1,199 base model makes do with a seventh-generation Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

At 3.27 pounds, the 840 G5 undercuts the 3.74-pound ThinkPad T470 , just as it's undercut, in turn, by the MateBook X Pro (2.93 pounds) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2.49 pounds). It's a little trimmer than the ThinkPad T470, at 0.7 by 12.8 by 9.2 inches versus 0.79 by 13.3 by 9.2 inches. The Huawei is sculpted more like a 13.3-inch ultraportable, at 0.57 by 12 by 8.5 inches.

While its chrome HP logo and carved rear edge are stylish touches, the EliteBook 840 G5 is more than just a pretty face—it's passed MIL-STD tests against vibration, shock, temperature and altitude extremes, dust, humidity, and more. The connectivity, meanwhile, is on-point, if not overly generous. On the laptop's left side, you'll find a USB 3.0 Type-A port and a Kensington cable-lock slot, as well as, on this unit, the above-mentioned SmartCard slot...

On the right are a SIM card slot, an audio jack, another USB 3.0 port, HDMI and Ethernet ports, a docking-station connector, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and the AC adapter connector. There is no SD card slot.

A sliding shutter uncovers the webcam, which captures well-lit, slightly soft-focus 720p shots and video. Most users will appreciate the manual action of the shutter and the implied security of physically blocking the camera lens. I appreciate the at-a-glance visual cue, myself, rather than having to rely on an OS or program-based assurance that the camera's not in commission.

The Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, meanwhile, are arrayed in a strip between the keyboard and the screen. Their output can easily fill a room—with some boom and echo when volume is cranked all the way up—with crisp highs and well-defined lows. Both MP3s and videos sound great.

Pick a Panel (But Be Sure It's the Right One)

As with the EliteBook 830 G5, HP chose to send its 840 G5 test unit with the lowest-common-denominator screen for review. The good news is that the full HD display is an in-plane switching (IPS) rather than twisted nematic (TN) panel, so details and colors are fairly sharp, and the off-center viewing angles are wide.

The bad news is that it isn't very bright. The company rates the screen at 220 nits. As a result, those colors don't pop, and backgrounds aren't washday white. The whole screen looks murky if you dial the backlight down two or three notches for the sake of saving battery power.

If you've got the budget, though, HP's got alternatives. Most buyers would do well to opt for the upticked full HD display with 400 nits of brightness. There's also a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) screen, plus a 1080p version of HP's Sure View privacy screen. Sure View may appeal to business users who handle sensitive information often. It protects the screen contents from being spied upon via casual glances (say, from the person sitting beside you on a plane or train). Press the F2 key, and the display becomes legible only to someone seated directly in front of it.

As for the keyboard, a quibble first: I continue to hold a beef with HP's placement of the cursor-arrow directional keys in a row rather than a more intuitive inverted T. Here, it's the usual HP arrangement, with half-height up and down arrows placed between full-height left and right ones...

But otherwise, this EliteBook's backlit keyboard is impressive, quieter than most yet with a firm and responsive typing feel. It features HP's dedicated keys for placing, ending, and presenting during Skype calls, as well as both a comfortable touchpad and a mid-keyboard pointing stick (though the latter has only two instead of three buttons).

HP backs the EliteBook 840 G5 with a three-year warranty, not including onsite service. The Windows 10 Pro preinstall comes with a surprisingly high number of not terribly compelling casual games, but HP restricts its bundling to useful system utilities.

Solid Performance, Slightly Pricey

With its Core i7-8650U processor (a 1.9GHz quad-core) and fast Samsung SSD, the EliteBook 840 G5 turned in an admirable score of 3,517 points in our PCMark 8 office productivity benchmark (we consider anything over 3,000 excellent). And while the 830 G5 with the same CPU was a trifle off in our Handbrake video editing and Adobe Photoshop image-manipulation tests, the 840 G5 posted thoroughly competitive times of 1 minute 18 seconds (1:18) and 2:57, respectively.

It was a different story in our 3DMark graphics tests and Heaven and Valley gaming simulations, where the EliteBook (and other laptops with integrated graphics) got schooled by the Huawei and its Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete graphics. Upscale configurations of the 840 G5, however, can be fitted with dedicated graphics, too, in the form of AMD's Radeon RX 540, which won't be enough to satisfy hardcore gamers but should bring noticeably perkier graphics performance.

Perhaps the HP's toughest test came in our battery life rundown, where lasting through a mere eight-hour workday no longer cuts the mustard. Our test unit survived for a very respectable 12 hours and 51 minutes, though it trailed the 17-plus hours of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the T470 with its optional extended-life battery.

A Striking Biz Laptop, But Mind the Price

With its sleek and sturdy construction, pleasing performance, and variety of configuration choices, the EliteBook 840 G5 is a very likable business laptop, though not quite likable enough to undo our Editors' Choice vote for the lighter X1 Carbon.

Our main complaints are the base model's dingy screen and our test unit's $1,835 list price despite said screen. While HP and its channel partners frequently offer the system on sale, it strikes us as a bit expensive compared to rivals such as the $1,499 MateBook X Pro. Still, if we were HP's even more costly EliteBook 1040 14-incher , we'd be worried—the EliteBook 840 G5 is that good.

More Inside PCMag.com

• The Best Laptops for 2024
• Say hello to the Australia tax!
• Secure Your Internet Of Things Gadgets From Hacks
• Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (7440)
• Snapdragon X Plus Laptop CPUs: What You Need to Know, Plus Early Benchmarks

About Eric Grevstad

I was picked to write the "20 Most Influential PCs" feature for PCMag's 40th Anniversary coverage because I remember them all—I started on a TRS-80 magazine in 1982 and served as editor of Computer Shopper when it was a 700-page monthly. I was later the editor in chief of Home Office Computing , a magazine that promoted using tech to work from home two decades before a pandemic made it standard practice. Even in semiretirement in Bradenton, Florida, I can't stop playing with toys and telling people what gear to buy.

More From Eric Grevstad

• Dell XPS 14 (9440)
• 7 Features You Need in Your New Laptop (and 4 You Should Skip)
• Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406)
• Tested: The Lightest Laptops for 2024

Please contact the site administrator

HP EliteBook 840 G11

• Launched: March 2024
• Screen-to-body ratio: ~80.3%
• Dimensions: 315.6 x 224.3 x 16.1 mm (12.43 x 8.83 x 0.63 inches)

Tests and Specifications

Graphics card, connectivity, comparison with competitors.