HP ZBook Ultra G1a review: a business-class workstation that’s got game

Business laptops are typically dull computers foisted connected labor en masse. But higher-end endeavor workstation notebooks sometimes get an absorbing capable blend of powerfulness and features to entreaty to enthusiasts. HP’s ZBook Ultra G1a is simply a bully example. It’s easy to spot it arsenic different grey boring-book for spendy business types, until you announcement a fewer cardinal specs: an AMD Strix Halo APU, tons of RAM, an OLED display, and an capable magnitude of speedy ports (Thunderbolt 4, moreover — a rarity connected AMD laptops).

I cognize from my clip pinch the Asus ROG Flow Z13 and Framework Desktop that thing utilizing AMD’s high-end Ryzen AI Max chips should make for a compelling computer. But those 2 are a gaming tablet and a mini shape facet PC, respectively. Here, you get Strix Halo and its fantabulous integrated graphics successful a straightforward, portable 14-inch laptop — truthful far, the only 1 of its kind. That should mean awesome capacity pinch coagulated artillery life, and the graphics chops to bent pinch midlevel gaming laptops — each successful a machine that wouldn’t tie a 2nd glimpse successful a stuffy office. It’s a decent Windows (or Linux) replacement to a MacBook Pro, albeit for a very high price.

The HP ZBook Ultra G1a starts around $2,100 for a humble six-core AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 380 processor, 16GB of shared memory, and basal IPS display. Our reappraisal portion is simply a overmuch higher-spec configuration pinch a 16-core Ryzen AI Max Plus Pro 395, 2880 x 1800 solution 120Hz OLED touchscreen, 2TB of storage, and a whopping 128GB of shared memory, costing astir $4,700. I often spot it discounted by $1,000 aliases much — still expensive, but much realistic for personification seeking a MacBook Pro alternative. Having this overmuch shared representation is mostly useful for hefty section AI conclusion workloads and superior dataset crunching; astir group don’t request it. But pinch the ongoing representation shortage I’d besides understand wanting to futureproof.

Unlike cheaper HP laptops I’ve tested that made large sacrifices connected mundane features for illustration speaker quality, the ZBook Ultra G1a is very bully crossed the board. The OLED is vibrant, pinch punchy contrast. The keyboard has bully tactility and heavy cardinal travel. The mechanical trackpad is smooth, pinch a bully click feel. The 5-megapixel webcam looks coagulated successful astir lighting. And the speakers person a afloat sound that I’m happy to perceive to euphony connected each day. I person my gripes, but they’re minor: The 400-nit surface could beryllium a little brighter, the four-speaker audio strategy doesn’t sound rather arsenic rich | arsenic existent MacBook Pros, and my accidental presses of the Page Up and Page Down keys supra the arrows really get connected my nerves. These quibbles aren’t deal-breakers, though for the ZBook’s value I wish HP solved immoderate of them.

The flagship 395 spot successful the ZBook offers speedy capacity for mixed-use activity and capable artillery life to eke retired an eight-hour workday filled pinch Chrome tabs and web apps (with power-saving measures). I burned done artillery successful Adobe Lightroom Classic, but moreover though Strix Halo is little powerful erstwhile disconnected from wall power, the ZBook didn’t get bogged down. I blazed done a hefty batch edit of 47-megapixel RAW images without immoderate peculiarly agelong waits connected things for illustration AI denoise aliases automated masking adjustments.

The ZBook stays cool and silent during emblematic use; pushing it nether dense loads only yields a small warmth successful its halfway and a spot of tolerable instrumentality sound that’s easy drowned retired by music, a video, aliases a crippled astatine normal volume.

This isn’t a gaming-focused laptop immoderate much than a MacBook Pro is, arsenic its immense excavation of shared representation and graphics cores are meant for workstation duties. However, this point tin game. I spent an full evening playing Battlefield 6 pinch friends, pinch Discord and Chrome unfastened successful the background, and the full clip it averaged 70 to 80fps successful 1920 x 1200 solution pinch Medium preset settings and FSR group to Balanced mode — pinch peaks supra 100fps. Running it astatine the autochthonal 2880 x 1800 sewage a coagulated 50-ish fps that’s good for single-player.

Intel’s caller Panther Lake chips besides person awesome integrated graphics for gaming, while being much power-efficient. But Strix Halo edges retired Panther Lake successful multi-core tasks and graphics, pinch the flagship 395 type proving arsenic tin arsenic a laptop RTX 4060 discrete GPU. AMD’s beefy mobile chips person besides proven awesome for Linux if you’re looking to get distant from Windows.

In summation to Windows 11’s upsells and nagging notifications, the ZBook besides has HP’s Wolf Security, designed for deployment connected an IT-managed fleet of institution laptops. For personification not utilizing this arsenic a work-managed device, its other furniture of protections whitethorn beryllium tolerable, but they’re annoying. They scope from informing you astir files from an “untrusted location” (fine) to pop-ups erstwhile plugging successful a non-HP USB-C charger (infuriating). You tin move disconnected and uninstall each of this, aforesaid arsenic you tin for the bloatware AI Companion and Support Assistant apps, but it’s portion of what HP charges for connected its Z workstation line.

You don’t request to walk this benignant of money connected a kitted-out ZBook Ultra G1a unless you do the benignant of specialized computing (local AI models, mathematical simulations, 3D rendering, etc.) it’s designed for. There’s a more attainable configuration, often connected waste for astir $2,500, but its 12-core CPU, lower-specced GPU, and 64GB of shared representation are a dip successful performance.

If you’re mostly willing successful gaming, an Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 aliases moreover a Razer Blade 16 make a hellhole of a batch much sense. For astir the value of our ZBook Ultra reappraisal unit, the Razer gets you an RTX 5090 GPU, pinch overmuch much powerful gaming performance, while the much humble ROG Zephyrus G14 pinch an RTX 5060 gets you comparable gaming capacity to the ZBook Ultra successful a akin shape facet for astir $3,000 less. The biggest sound against those gaming laptops compared to the ZBook is that their fans get overmuch louder nether load.

And while it’s easy to deliberation of a MacBook Pro arsenic the lazy reply to each computing needs, it still should beryllium said: If you don’t mind macOS, you tin get a full batch more (non-gaming) capacity from an M4 Pro / M4 Max MacBook Pro. Even sticking pinch Windows and integrated graphics, the Asus Zenbook Duo pinch Panther Lake astatine $2,300 is simply a woody by comparison, erstwhile it launches.

At $4,700, this is simply a circumstantial instrumentality for specialized workloads. It’s a travel-friendly 14-inch that tin do a spot of everything, but it’s a precocious value for a jack of each trades if you’re spending your ain money. The ZBook piqued my liking because it’s 1 of the earliest examples of Strix Halo successful a accepted laptop. After utilizing it, I’m moreover much excited to spot upcoming models astatine much down-to-earth prices.

Photography by Antonio G. Di Benedetto / The Verge