In this review of the HP EliteBook 840 G9 laptop, we explore a device that offers full upgradeability. You have the flexibility to upgrade the RAM, SSD, Wi-Fi card, and even add an optional 5G card. The EliteBook 840 G9 features a stunning Full HD Plus display, boasts an all-metal design in a stylish natural silver color, and impressively resists fingerprint smudges. Its exceptional build quality shines through. In this article, we delve into the EliteBook 840 G9’s performance, battery life, hinge mechanism, keyboard, touchpad, specifications, and pricing.
Read Also: Dell Precision 5680 WorkStation Review
Unboxing, Design and build Quality
Inside the box, you’ll find the EliteBook 840 G9 along with some essential documentation. HP includes a 65-watt super-compact charger and a braided cable, which not only minimizes snagging but also reduces the risk of cable damage, a thoughtful addition for hassle-free use. Additionally, there’s a power cord, making these accessories travel-friendly.
The build quality of the EliteBook 840 G9 is truly impressive. Its all-metal design exudes durability, and the natural silver color is remarkably resistant to fingerprints. This attention to detail ensures a clean and professional appearance. The laptop’s chassis is exceptionally robust, with minimal give or flex, further enhancing its overall quality.
Hinges, Keyboard and Touchpad
Opening the lid of the EliteBook 840 G9 is effortless, requiring just one finger, and the screen can be folded back a full 180 degrees, providing an ideal viewing angle every time. The hinge mechanism is impeccably designed, delivering a snug and secure feel, with minimal screen wobble.
As for the keyboard on the HP EliteBook 840 G9, it excels in terms of tactility, feedback, and key travel, offering a comfortable typing experience for extended periods. The keyboard also features a multi-stage backlight, allowing you to work effectively in a dark or dimly lit environment. The white backlight against the black keys provides excellent contrast and is visually appealing.
Moreover, the laptop boasts a generously sized glass Precision touchpad, which exhibits exceptional responsiveness when it comes to scrolling and performing various gestures. Overall, the keyboard and touchpad contribute to a seamless user experience.
Ports and Connections
As for the ports and connectivity of the EliteBook 840 G9, on the left side, you’ll find an HDMI 2.0 port and a full-sized USB-A port. While these are functional, it would have been beneficial to have two full-function USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, which support data, charging, and display output. Additionally, there’s a smart card reader on this side.
Moving over to the right side, you’ll spot the SIM tray for the optional 5G connectivity, followed by a Kensington Lockport, another USB port, and finally, a 3.5-millimeter microphone and headphone combo jack. While this laptop offers a solid selection of ports, it’s worth noting that it lacks an Ethernet port and an SD card reader. Nevertheless, the overall port selection is quite robust.
User Upgradeability on the HP EliteBook 840 G9
To access the internals of the EliteBook 840 G9 laptop, all you need to do is loosen the captive screws and remove the bottom plate – it’s a straightforward process. Once inside, you’ll discover some upgradeable components. The laptop features RAM slots, allowing for memory upgrades. You can also upgrade the SSD, Wi-Fi card, and even add an optional 5G modem, all of which are accessible to the user.
Regarding the RAM, it utilizes DDR5 RAM running at 4800 megahertz. My review unit came with 16 gigabytes of RAM, but it’s capable of supporting up to 64 gigabytes using two 32-gigabyte sticks, offering ample room for expansion. This focus on upgradeability is a notable feature of the EliteBook 840 G9.
| All | Read (MB/s) | Write (MB/s) |
|---|---|---|
| SEQ1M Q8T1 | 7101.77 | 5030.89 |
| SEQ1M Q1T1 | 5838.97 | 4908.52 |
| RND4K Q32T1 | 632.31 | 442.76 |
| RND4K Q1T1 | 86.89 | 29.83 |
In terms of SSD performance, the EliteBook 840 G9 boasts impressive speeds with its PCIe Gen 4 SSD, as demonstrated in the table above for read and write operations. The performance is notably strong.
Regarding wireless connectivity, the laptop offers Wi-Fi 6E paired with a Bluetooth 5.3 combo card. Importantly, these components aren’t soldered in, providing flexibility for future upgrades or replacements. Additionally, the laptop offers the option for mobile broadband, which is a valuable feature. You can choose between the Intel XMM 7560r with LT Advanced modem, a Cat 16 modem, or the Intel 5000 5G solution, both of which provide excellent mobile broadband capabilities on the EliteBook 840 G9.
Display and Picture Quality
The EliteBook 840 G9 features a 14-inch Full HD Plus IPS display with a resolution of 1920×1200, offering a pixel density of 162 pixels per inch. Notably, this display is matte rather than glossy, which greatly reduces glare and reflections, making it ideal for various lighting conditions. With a brightness measurement of 376 nits, it excels in both indoor and outdoor settings, and the lack of gloss further enhances outdoor visibility.
In terms of display quality, it boasts a commendable 1050:1 contrast ratio, with a remarkable white point and an impressive black level of 0.34. Moreover, it achieves a low Delta E score of 1.39, indicating high color accuracy. A Delta E score below 2 is generally considered accurate, so this display is sure to meet expectations.
When it comes to the color gamut coverage of the EliteBook 840 G9 display, it offers 100% sRGB, 73% Adobe RGB, 73% of the DCI-P3 wide color gamut, and 67% NTSC. What does this mean? Well, for content creators involved in tasks such as Lightroom and Photoshop editing, video editing, and color grading, it’s a decent choice. While there are displays with even broader color coverage out there, this one serves well for business users working on Word documents, spreadsheets, and similar tasks.
For media consumption, be it Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube, the experience has been quite satisfactory with no noticeable issues. Additionally, for those sensitive to screen flickering or PWM, there’s good news—none was detected. It’s worth noting that the EliteBook 840 G9 lacks a 4K option and an OLED option, which could have been nice but might have come at the expense of battery life. In conclusion, the Full HD Plus panel on this laptop is excellent for productivity tasks, and you won’t be disappointed.
5MP Webcam and Fingerprint Scanner
The EliteBook 840 G9 features a front-facing camera with impressive capabilities. It’s a 5-megapixel IR camera, which not only allows for convenient face recognition login but also includes a physical shutter switch for enhanced security and privacy. Additionally, there’s a fingerprint scanner located on the right side below the keyboard.
The camera is equipped with HP Presence and Auto Frame features. Auto Frame ensures that you stay in the frame, offering an option for upper body focus, which widens the field of view. The camera also boasts auto detection and auto lighting, showcasing HP’s consistent commitment to camera technology improvement over the past year. The result is 1440p video recording at 30 frames per second, demonstrating the capabilities of this five-megapixel HP Presence camera.
Audio Quality
One pleasant surprise with the EliteBook 840 G9 has been its audio quality. Equipped with Bang and Olufsen Tune speakers, the sound is quite impressive. The mid-range frequencies are clear, the volume output is ample, and the bass, while not exceptional, is decent. These speakers manage to provide overall good sound quality, with the ability to fill up a room effectively. All in all, a really good audio experience.
Performance, Benchmarks and Gaming
| PCMARK 10 | 5,996 |
| GEEKBENCH 5 (Single-Core) | 1,772 |
| GEEKBENCH 5 (Multi-Core) | 11,323 |
| CINEBENCH R20 | 4,371 |
| CINEBENCH R15 | 1,991 CB | 108.3 FPS |
| CINEBENCH R23 | Single-Core 1,796 | Multi-core 9,875 |
| 3DMARK Time Spy | 2,063 |
| 3DMARK Fire Strike | 5,251 |
In terms of performance, the EliteBook 840 G9 is powered by the Core i7-1280P, a chip with 14 cores, comprising eight efficiency cores and six performance cores. This configuration results in a significant boost in performance. As demonstrated in the benchmark results above, the laptop delivers excellent single-core and multi-core performance, putting it on par with or ahead of others in its category. It’s a testament to the impressive job they’ve done with this machine.
| Laptop | Score |
|---|---|
| HP EliteBook 840 G9 | 11,323 |
| ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 | 8,155 |
| HP EliteBook 845 G9 | 7,665 |
| Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 | 6,779 |
| Laptop | Score |
|---|---|
| HP EliteBook 845 G9 | 11,520 |
| HP EliteBook 840 G9 | 9,875 |
| ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 | 7,485 |
| Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 | 7,385 |
For everyday tasks like Microsoft Office, email, and web browsing, the EliteBook 840 G9 performs seamlessly. Watching movies on platforms like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube is a pleasurable experience. However, when it comes to gaming, it’s essential to set realistic expectations. While you can enjoy occasional games by lowering some settings, it’s worth noting that the laptop relies on integrated Iris Xe Graphics without a discrete GPU. This means it may not handle AAA titles on their highest settings smoothly. The Iris Xe Graphics, though capable, may not meet the demands of the latest gaming releases. We’ll have to wait and see what the 13th generation has to offer in terms of upgraded graphics in 2023. Nevertheless, for light gaming, the EliteBook 840 G9 can certainly hold its own.
Thermals, Surface Temps and Fan Noise
The thermals on the EliteBook 840 G9 pleasantly surprised me; even under heavy loads, it managed to maintain decent temperatures without excessive throttling. Surface temperatures remained relatively cool, adding to the overall comfort during use. When the laptop was put under a heavy workload, the fan did kick in, but it never exceeded 38 or 39 decibels in terms of noise level. This effective cooling system strikes a balance between keeping the laptop cool and maintaining a quiet environment, showcasing good engineering.
Battery life on the HP EliteBook 840 G9
The EliteBook 840 G9 is equipped with a 3-cell 51-watt-hour battery, and it performed admirably, lasting for an impressive 9 hours and 27 minutes on the PC Mark 10 Modern Office battery test. This test essentially simulates a typical workday for an average user, encompassing tasks like video conferencing, writing, web browsing, and periods of idle time. It’s a fairly accurate representation of real-world usage, making the result quite commendable.
Specifications and Price
| Display | 14″ diagonal WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 400 Nits Brightness |
| CPU | Intel® Core i7-1280P |
| Graphics | Intel® Iris® Xe Graphics |
| Memory | 16GB (2×8 GB) DDR5 4800 SODIMM |
| Storage | 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
| Battery | 51Whr Fast Charger 3 Cell Battery |
| Connectivity | Optional Intel XMM 7560 R+ LTE-Advanced pro Cat 16, Wi-Fi 6E 160 MHz + Bluetooth 5.3, WLAN |
| Camera | 5MP IR Camera |
| Dimensions and Weight | 12.42 x 8.82 x 0.76 inch, 1.36 Kg |
| Price | $1,444.95 AT AMAZON |
Final Thought
As I reflect on the HP EliteBook 840 G9, several standout features come to mind. Notably, it offers exceptional upgradeability, allowing users to easily upgrade the RAM, SSD, Wi-Fi card, and wireless WAN. This level of customization is a significant advantage. The laptop excels in terms of its keyboard and touchpad, providing an outstanding input experience. The 14-inch display is bright and sharp, enhancing visual quality, and the inclusion of a 5-megapixel webcam enhances the video conferencing capabilities, making it an attractive choice for remote work.
Moreover, the EliteBook 840 G9 impresses with its ability to maintain a quiet and cool operation even under heavy workloads, thanks to its effective thermal management. The performance, driven by the 12th-generation processor, has been consistently strong. It’s worth noting that we can expect an upgrade to the 13th generation in 2023, further enhancing its capabilities.
In terms of drawbacks, the absence of a 4K or OLED display option is notable, although understandable for a business laptop focused on maximizing battery life. Additionally, the lack of an Ethernet port and an SD card slot may be seen as minor inconveniences.
In summary, if you’re in the market for a dependable business-class laptop, the EliteBook 840 G9 is a compelling choice. It competes directly with other premium models like the X1 Carbon Gen 10 and Gen 11, and it holds its own admirably. Without hesitation, I recommend the EliteBook 840 G9 for 2023. Its all-metal design is a testament to its quality in every aspect.
I find that the HP EliteBook 840 G9, a robust business-class laptop, excels in various aspects, making it a fantastic choice. Without a doubt, I wholeheartedly recommend the EliteBook 840 G9 for 2023, especially when compared to competitors like the X1 Carbon Gen 10 and Gen 11. The laptop's all-metal construction stands out as a testament to its overall excellence.
-
Design9
-
Display9
-
Hardware10
-
Performance9
-
Keyboard10
-
Touchpad10
-
Thermals / Fan Noise9
-
Battery Life7
-
Audio9
-
Ports8
-
Webcams / Mics9
-
Overvall7
