HP EliteBook 6 G1q assessment: 5G outshines the remainder of this laptop computer

Finest Costs In the present day: HP EliteBook 6 G1q

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q is a 14-inch Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptop computer with a killer function: Built-in 5G connectivity. HP Go is a built-in eSIM resolution that delivers multi-network 5G connectivity, so it connects to AT&T, Verizon, or T-Cellular. It routinely switches relying on which one has the very best sign, and also you by no means even have to consider it.

It’s a magical expertise with the ability to arrange a laptop computer with out connecting it to Wi-Fi, taking it with you in a bag, and taking it out of your bag to make use of it wherever you need with out connecting to Wi-Fi or tethering it to your telephone. Having the ability to pull the laptop computer out of my bag — in downtown Boston, on the seaside, or wherever else — and have a right away web connection instantly was magical.

The HP Go 5G expertise delivers 5 stars. This primary model is principally geared toward companies. HP implied it may be seeking to ship extra client laptops sooner or later after I requested.

Sadly, the remainder of the laptop computer expertise right here doesn’t stand out. Our assessment mannequin had a lower-end Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus chip and a webcam that seemed grainy. And the show is on the dim aspect, which is an actual downside for a 5G laptop computer chances are you’ll wish to use open air.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Specs

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q is a 14-inch enterprise laptop computer accessible in all kinds of configurations with totally different Qualcomm Snapdragon X processors. Our assessment mannequin had a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 CPU. The mannequin we reviewed is accessible from CDW for $1,695.

HP additionally has a configurator the place you may configure choices, together with shopping for fashions with out 5G and selecting higher-end Snapdragon processors, however it will get costly quick. Since this can be a enterprise laptop computer, companies shopping for fleets of PCs would possibly find yourself negotiating pricing nearer to the CDW mannequin.

Due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon {hardware}, these are all Copilot+ PCs with a quick sufficient NPU to run the AI options Microsoft is including to Home windows.

• Mannequin quantity: HP EliteBook G6 G1q with HP GO 5G
• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100
• Reminiscence: 32GB RAM
• Graphics/GPU: Qualcomm Adreno
• NPU: Qualcomm Hexagon NPU (45 TOPS)
• Show: 14-inch 1920×1200 IPS show with 60Hz refresh fee and 400 nits of brightness
• Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Webcam: 1080p webcam
• Connectivity: 2x USB Kind-C (40 Gbps), 2x USB Kind-A (5Gbps), 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x combo audio jack, 1x RJ-45 Ethernet, 1x nano SIM slot, 1x safety lock slot
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4, Ethernet, 5G with HP Go
• Biometrics: Fingerprint reader
• Battery capability: 56 Watt-hours
• Dimensions: 12.54 x 8.83 x 0.43 inches
• Weight: 3.17 kilos
• MSRP: $1,695 as examined

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Design and construct high quality

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q is a light-weight silver laptop computer fabricated from a mixture of aluminum and plastic, and HP is proud that it consists of recycled supplies. At 3.17 kilos, this 14-inch laptop computer isn’t heavy, however it’s not the lightest laptop computer both. Some thin-and-light laptop computer designs would shave off a half pound or extra right here.

The construct high quality is nice however not fancy. It is a enterprise laptop computer by means of and thru: A design made for firms to purchase in bulk for his or her staff, to not purchase as a premium one-off machine for the CEO. It’s a strong design with a hinge that feels good, and it feels sturdy.

But it surely doesn’t really feel like a premium all-metal machine: After I run my fingers over the sides of the laptop computer — down from the keyboard tray, over the ports, after which to the underbody, I can really feel the sting of the place the aluminum keyboard deck meets the plastic backside. It’s not going to chop me or something, however each time I decide up the machine, I can really feel that metal-meets-plastic feeling. In abstract: It’s a workhorse, and never a premium machine. A extra premium design can be lighter and have a unibody building with no seam you could possibly really feel.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Keyboard and trackpad

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The keyboard and trackpad on the HP EliteBook 6 G1q are serviceable. Since this can be a 14-inch machine, there’s loads of house for a big keyboard. The chiclet-style keys don’t really feel mushy, however they don’t precisely really feel snappy both. Key journey is a bit of low. That’s a tad disappointing for a enterprise laptop computer, the place keyboards are often a spotlight.

The trackpad can be wonderful. It’s a great dimension and easy sufficient, however it’s not the form of premium glass floor you’ll discover on higher-end enterprise machines. Our assessment mannequin didn’t have a contact display screen, only some configurations of this laptop computer do.

That is the form of enterprise laptop computer an organization can hand out to its staff and know they’ll be capable of work in all places, however not the form of enterprise laptop computer a person seeks out for the very best typing expertise.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Show and audio system

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q has a show that does the job in indoor lighting circumstances, however it doesn’t go above and past. It’s a 14-inch 1920×1200 IPS panel working at 60Hz and delivering as much as 400 nits of brightness. That’s not going to win any awards, however I’m grateful I had the 400 nit show: HP additionally sells configurations with a dimmer 300 nit panel!

For a 5G laptop computer, I’d say this can be a actual downside. The best 5G laptop computer would let me work from wherever, whether or not that’s on the seaside or on a park bench in downtown Boston (I examined each.) At 400 nits of brightness, this panel doesn’t have sufficient brightness to compete with the solar on a vibrant day, making it close to unusable in lots of lighting conditions. Many laptops like that, however a 5G laptop computer — the place the purpose is to apply it to the go — actually deserves a brighter panel than this.

The audio system have sufficient quantity, however they didn’t wow me, both. I take a look at all of the laptops I assessment by firing up Spotify and taking part in each Steely Dan’s Aja and Daft Punk’s Get Fortunate. The sound is a bit of muffled and muddy. Instrument separation in Aja wasn’t notably clear and bass in Get Fortunate wasn’t notably distinct. These audio system are usable in a pinch, however you’d undoubtedly need headphones for music and media.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Webcam, microphone, biometrics

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q has a 1080p webcam, which sounds good on paper. However the webcam was extremely grainy and washed out in non-ideal lighting, which is a disappointment for a enterprise machine, the place nicer webcams are sometimes a function. It did higher in brighter lighting, however it’s not up there with many higher-end enterprise laptop computer webcams.

HP features a bodily webcam shutter swap you may slide to dam the webcam, which is all the time good to see.

The microphone sounds moderately clear with good noise cancellation. I’d say it’s higher than the webcam, however neither are notably spectacular. If you should be seen and audible in a web-based assembly, this machine will do the job. But it surely gained’t ship excessive recording high quality.

Our assessment mannequin had a fingerprint reader for Home windows Good day on the keyboard deck. It labored wonderful. However an IR digicam for facial recognition would’ve been a pleasant choice — it does appear as if that’s an choice on another configurations.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Connectivity

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q’s connectivity is its crown jewel. 5G simply labored out of the field: I powered on the laptop computer, arrange Home windows, and began utilizing the machine with out ever connecting it to Wi-Fi or plugging in an Ethernet cable. This additionally permits higher administration of a laptop computer fleet. If a laptop computer is stolen or misplaced, a enterprise can monitor and find it even when it isn’t related to Wi-Fi. From an end-user perspective, I by no means bothered configuring something. It “simply labored” and switched between networks as wanted. At a beginning worth of $19 per person monthly for the 5G service, that’s extraordinarily spectacular.

This machine additionally has lots of ports: On the left aspect, two USB Kind-C (40Gbps) ports, one USB Kind-A port (5Gbps), HDMI 2.1 out, and a combo audio jack. On the fitting aspect, a second USB Kind-A port (5Gbps), an RJ-45 Ethernet jack, a safety lock slot, and an elective nano SIM slot for fashions with mobile connectivity.

This machine has each Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4. So the connectivity is unimaginable: Multi-network 5G, Wi-Fi 7, and wired Ethernet multi function machine.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Efficiency

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q ran cool and quiet, delivering cheap desktop efficiency. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 {hardware} right here is among the slowest {hardware} HP may select, nonetheless. It’s the slowest Snapdragon X Plus chip you’ll discover. The one factor slower is the Snapdragon X X1-26-100, which doesn’t even get a “Plus” in its title. It does the job for primary productiveness duties: An online browser, workplace instruments, and communication apps.

As all the time, we ran the EliteBook 6 G1q by means of our customary benchmarks to see the way it performs. We usually begin with PCMark 10, however it doesn’t but run on Arm laptops like this one.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

First, we run Cinebench R24. It’s accessible as a local Arm program, which lets us evaluate efficiency throughout laptops. CPUs with extra cores do higher on this multi-threaded benchmark. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus X1P-42-100 is an eight-core CPU, so it gained’t sustain with CPUs with extra cores on multithreaded duties.

With a multi-threaded rating of 759, the CPU right here was undoubtedly behind AMD’s Ryzen AI HX 300 sequence {hardware}, however it delivers higher efficiency than many lower-tier power-efficient Intel chips.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

Second, we run a graphical benchmark. This isn’t a gaming laptop computer, however it’s nonetheless good to verify how the GPU performs. We run 3DMark Time Spy, a graphical benchmark that focuses on GPU efficiency. This explicit benchmark is written for conventional x86 variations of Home windows and runs by means of the Prism translation layer, so that you’ll get an concept of how conventional GPU-accelerated apps (and video games) will carry out on this machine.

With a 3DMark Time Spy rating of 1,066, this machine simply isn’t appropriate for GPU-accelerated workloads or gaming. Even the Qualcomm Hexagon GPUs in higher-tier Snapdragon X SKUs are considerably sooner.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

We additionally run 3DMark Night time Raid. This benchmark does have a local Arm model, so we will evaluate the Qualcomm Hexagon GPU right here and see how briskly it runs when it isn’t being held again by the Prism translation layer right here. The rating right here provides you an concept of how effectively the GPU will carry out in apps written for Arm {hardware}.

With a rating of 16,819 on the Night time Raid benchmark, this machine closes among the hole with Intel and AMD methods. The interpretation layer isn’t slowing issues down, however it’s nonetheless far behind different machines in GPU efficiency.

General, the HP EliteBook 6 G1q we reviewed delivers serviceable efficiency for light-weight desktop PC duties whereas working cool and quiet. But it surely’s no pace demon, and it will likely be rapidly outpaced even by laptops with higher-end Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite CPUs.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Battery life

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q has a 56 Watt-hour battery. That’s low for a laptop computer that weighs over three kilos. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus {hardware} right here is power-efficient, so it’ll get you thru a workday. However I didn’t see the form of extraordinarily lengthy battery life — 24 hours — that I did on Snapdragon X laptops with bigger batteries.

Foundry / Chris Hoffman

To benchmark the battery life, we play a 4K copy of Tears of Metal on repeat on Home windows 11 with airplane mode enabled till the laptop computer suspends itself. We set the display screen to 250 nits of brightness for our battery benchmarks. It is a best-case situation for any laptop computer since native video playback is so environment friendly, and actual battery life in day-to-day use is all the time going to be lower than this.

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q lasted for 983 minutes on common. That’s over 16 hours. It’s rather a lot, most likely greater than most individuals would want, however the battery dimension has it behind many competing Snapdragon laptops. It’s one other approach the laptop computer cuts a nook and doesn’t intention for the high-end premium expertise crown. It’s a disgrace as a result of lengthy battery life issues much more on a 5G laptop computer, which may very well be utilized in places removed from Wi-Fi and energy shops.

HP EliteBook 6 G1q: Conclusion

The HP EliteBook 6 G1q delivers 5G connectivity that simply works. It transforms how you employ a laptop computer like this one, and I hope to see extra laptops delivering seamless 5G out of the field sooner or later. For companies, it additionally makes their fleet of laptops remotely trackable and manageable similar to a cellular-connected telephone or pill is. The way in which HP has delivered multi-network 5G you don’t even have to consider is technically spectacular.

Sadly, the remainder of the laptop computer expertise is a lower-end Qualcomm Snapdragon X Plus machine. An organization that desires to ship a fleet of connected-but-mid-range laptops to numerous staff will love these. However I guess the CEO will use a unique machine.