Business laptopsare a different breed , offering more security and management features to conciliate the largest organizations . They also offer a all-encompassing range of configuration options and better warranties . HP ’s EliteBook 1040 series has long been among the most telling of these .
The 2024 simulation bear on that drift . The redesign is an attractive and well - built sparse - and - light14 - inch laptopthat can vie with the best out there . And HP ’s Wolf Security suite lets you interlock it down and manage it with a divers hardening of tools . For the good vendee , the EliteBook 1040 is an excellent choice .
Specs and configurations
Only a few configuration are currently useable for the EliteBook 1040 , among the very many unlike configurations that will eventually show up at HP ’s web store . Right now , the least expensive model cost $ 2,837 for an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H chipset , 16 GB of RAM , a 512 GB SSD , and a 14.0 - inch WUXGA IPS video display . My review unit with a Core Ultra 7 165H , 16 GB of RAM , and a 512 GB SSD is n’t presently uncommitted , but the same specs with a Core Ultra 7 155H costs $ 3,089 . The most expensive poser presently useable cost $ 4,057 with the degenerate chipset , 32 GB of RAM , and a 1 TB SSD .
Those price are certain to change , and there will eventually be a 14.0 - inch 2.8 K OLED display alternative . In the meantime , the EliteBook 1040 is a very expensive business class laptop .
Design
The EliteBook 1040 has always enjoyed a insurance premium design , and the 2024 model is no different . It may not be CNC machined out of a chunk of atomic number 13 like the Apple MacBook lineup , but it ’s equally as well made , with no bending , flexing , or twirl . The all - metal chassis has a prissy grain that ’s pleasant to treat , and the hinge is smooth and the eyelid opens with one hand . HP slay all the all right points that raise the EliteBook 1040 above a less expensive laptop computer like theHP Envy x360 14 .
Aiding that perceptual experience of quality is a tenuous - and - twinkle bod . It ’s not the most compact 14 - column inch laptop due to showing bezels on the top and bottom that are a little tall . TheDell XPS 14manages to tally a 14.5 - inch display into a chassis that ’s around the same size of it , and that ’s thanks to the XPS 14 ’s madly slender bezels . The XPS 14 is considerably thicker and wakeless , though , which makes it sense denser . But somehow , the EliteBook 1040 superintend to ward off feeling flimsy by comparing .
esthetically , the EliteBook 1040 is cautiously design , with liquid , angulate edges and a silver-tongued gloss scheme that makes it suitable for its target incarnate environments . The keyboard is dark hoary , which adds a small to the overall face , but there ’s no doubt that HP start out of its way to quash create a “ consumer ” laptop . The one damaging I ’ll note is the use of plastic exhibit bezel rather than have edge - to - border field glass . That detracts a piece from the laptop computer ’s modernity and also its status as a very expensive machine .
Keyboard and touchpad
As a writer , I ’m very sensitive to keyboard feel . I wish luminance , snappy keyboards with flock of key spacing and with child keycaps . Those thing combine to make a keyboard that ’s comfortable for long typecast sessions . My favorite is the Magic Keyboard on Apple ’s MacBooks , but the EliteBook 1040 ’s keyboard comes very cheeseparing . The transposition are a moment deeply and almost as precise , and the springy bottoming military action means I was never slowed down as I used the laptop to write this review . I also like the sheer lettering and clean backlighting .
The mechanically skillful touchpad is large and has quiet , positive click . It ’s a good touchpad , at least compared to many other mechanically skillful versions . At these prices , though , HP should have incorporated a haptic touchpad . Some other premium laptops have one , include theHP Spectre x360 14that has an excellent execution . Again , Apple lead the means with its Force Touch haptic touchpad with Force Click functionality . Haptic touchpads are quieter , sustenance clicking anywhere on the open , and can be adjusted for overall feel . It ’s an inauspicious skip .
A touch modality video display is optional . My review unit of measurement did not have hint and so I ca n’t comment on its performance .
Connectivity, webcam, and security
The EliteBook 1040 has excellent connectivity . There are a variety of New and legacy ports , more than on the XPS 14 and theMacBook Pro 14 . HP include NFC , which is of import to some endeavour customer , but did not include an SD card reader . Wireless connectivity can be configured up to the absolute latest Wi - Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 , and there ’s a NanoSIM one-armed bandit and an eSIM for LTE and 5 grand connectivity . Again , that ’s a nod to corporate customer , but anyone could gain from having such a wide range of cellular net pick .
Security and manageability is where the EliteBook 1040 is most differentiate from consumer laptops . To begin with , there ’s an infrared camera for Windows 11 Hello facial recognition , as well as a fingermark reader implant in the power button ( the good billet for it ) . Both are backed by the usual Trusted Platform Module ( TPM ) for on - gadget encoding .
Beyond that , though , the EliteBook 1040 features HP ’s Wolf Security rooms . This add a emcee of surety features , both hardware and software , that locks down the laptop computer from “ the BIOS to the web browser , ” as HP put forward in its product specification . All of the security features can stop up into an enterprise management arrangement that ready it well-off to manage a large fleet of laptops .
Some of these features would benefit individual vendee and small business organization , but they ’re of most value to the turgid enterprises that require highly inviolable and manageable laptop — and that are willing to give such high prices .
Performance
you may pick out a variety of Intel chipsets for the EliteBook 1040 , in both U and H variations and with or without Intel ’s vPro technology — which is required for some of the security and management feature mentioned above . horsepower offers so many unlike constellation choice to please with child corporate buyers . But look at HP ’s vane store as I pen this review , the number of shape that can be purchase outside of HP ’s commercial-grade channels are special .
I go over the laptop computer with the 28 - watt Core Ultra 7 165H , a 16 - core group ( six Performance , eight Efficient , two Low Power Efficient ) , 22 - screw thread chipset running at up to 5GHz . That ’s slightly quicker than the more common Core Ultra 7 155H , but not importantly . In our suite of benchmarks , the EliteBook 1040 was plenty tight , but not so much faster that functioning alone is a grounds to purchase it .
at long last , the laptop computer will meet the need of the most demanding productiveness users . Its Intel Arc graphics are the fastest integrate artwork yet , but still substantially slower than entry - level discrete GPUs . That mean the EliteBook wo n’t please Creator , and of course of action , it ’s not at all a laptop for gamers .
Battery life
There are two different stamp battery size available for the EliteBook 1040 — 56 watt - hr and 68 watt - hour versions . My review unit had the larger barrage , and that combined with the low - power and low - resolution IPS video display should offer very good battery life .
In our benchmark , battery life was good , but not great . I was a picayune surprised that I did n’t see a couplet more hours of life given the components . The XPS 14 lasted longer with an IPS display , and a couple of the laptops in the compare group go for as long or longer with OLED displays . And of course , the MacBook Air M3 lasted a mass longer .
In any event , the EliteBook 1040 may or may not last for upwards of a play day depending on workflow . If battery life matter to you , make certain you prefer for the orotund stamp battery .
Display
HP offers a phone number of different display choice , all 14.0 inch with a 16:10 aspect proportion . The options include WUXGA ( 1920 x 1200 ) lowly - power IPS touching and non - touch gore , 2.8 K ( 2880 x 1800 ) OLED , and WUXGA IPS certain eyeshot concealment gore . Only the OLED display runs at the increasingly plebeian 120Hz that hold for a smooth Windows 11 experience .
I refresh the EliteBook 1040 with the low - power WUXGA IPS display , which looks fine out of the boxwood . I ’ve retrospect so many OLED laptop lately that I ’m always underwhelmed when I turn on a laptop computer with an IPS display , peculiarly one at a lower answer . This one was fine , with some pixelation in textual matter that I noticed , but I suspect many citizenry wo n’t .
According to my colorimeter , the IPS panel is a mixed bag . I ’ve found IPS displays to be generally a lot considerably today than they were a couple of days ago , particularly in their brightness and demarcation . Some have across-the-board colors and better accuracy . The jury HP choose is bright at 425 nit and has excellent contrast ( for IPS , when compare to OLED ) at 1,630:1 . We used to have standards of 300 nits and 1,000:1 , but most information processing presentation fuck up past them today .
The color , while exact at a Delta - due east of 1.30 ( 1.0 or less is suitable for demanding creative work ) , were n’t very all-encompassing at just 99 % of sRGB , 77 % of AdobeRGB , and 77 % of DCI - P3 . That ’s still approximately average for IPS , but the display on the MacBook Air M3 has wider colors at 100 % , 88 % , and 99 % , respectively .
These results are likely more than good enough for line of work user , and there ’s always the OLED option that is sharper and probably more colorful with inkier blacks . It has a quicker refresh charge per unit , but that would have a meaningful impact on battery life .
An excellent laptop, but mainly for enterprise
Unsurprisingly , the EliteBook 1040 is tailor - made for large organization . It offers the kind of security and management features that enable effective direction of a large fleet of laptops , not to mention a superior three - year warrantee . All of that combines to make for an expensive laptop .
It ’s also a great laptop independent of those features . It ’s passing well - build , has a great keyboard , is thin and light , and it ’s reasonably fast . Any very security - conscious buyer should take a look , and for that reason , I ’m hold up to advocate it for a choice group of laptop computer users .
