ATEN HP EliteBook 840 G7 14" Laptop - Core i5 1.6GHz CPU, 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro

Product Information

Here, we see another great product from HP. It has a great build quality and premium, lightweight chassis, thanks to the mainly aluminum build. And while its speakers are not the loudest out there, we found them deep, and they have better dynamics than most of the Windows laptops out there. 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 While the EliteBook 840 can handle basic graphics output without breaking a sweat, it's not up for 3D gaming, as our graphics benchmarks clearly show. The first, 3DMark, measures relative graphics muscle by rendering sequences of highly detailed, gaming-style 3D graphics that emphasize particles and lighting. We run two 3DMark subtests, Sky Diver and Fire Strike, which are suited to different types of systems. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky Diver is more suited to laptops and midrange PCs, while Fire Strike is more demanding and made for high-end PCs to strut their stuff. The results are proprietary scores, and it's clear that only the ThinkPad X13 in this group offers passable performance. We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop image-editing benchmark. Using an early 2018 release of the Creative Cloud version of Photoshop, we apply a series of 10 complex filters and effects to a standard JPEG test image. We time each operation and, at the end, add up the total execution time. As with Handbrake, lower times are better here. The Photoshop test stresses the CPU, storage subsystem, and RAM, and it can also take advantage of most GPUs to speed up the process of applying filters. 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

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. HP EliteBook 840 G7’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, high maximum brightness (457 nits), and a very good contrast ratio. Also, it doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment and covers 97% of the sRGB color gamut. Moreover, our Gaming and Web design profile, improves the color accuracy, in compliance with the sRGB standard. This means all of the professionals, whose work is dependant on color accuracy will be satisfied. 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 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. The maximum measured brightness is 457 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 431 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 9%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6400K (average) – slightly warmer than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.

The EliteBook 830 and EliteBook 840 G7 are a pair of business laptops with very few shortcomings

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. Those dimensions compare well with the competition, though they're not quite as impressive as those of the X1 Carbon Gen 8, which measures 0.59 by 12.7 by 8.5 inches and weighs 2.4 pounds. And IT departments can go even lighter by branching out to other manufacturers. The Asus ExpertBook B9450, for one example, weighs just 1.91 pounds and claims to be the lightest 14-inch business laptop available. With six processor cores, the EliteBook's Core i7 CPU makes short work of the basic productivity tasks for which the laptop is intended. I never experienced lag or sluggishness while browsing the web and installing apps, in many cases simultaneously. I did frequently hear the cooling fan spool up, however, even while no apps were open. HP says it has redesigned the EliteBook 840's thermal management system to reduce fan noise, but it’s definitely still noticeable. 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. The entry-level EliteBook 840 G7 reviewed here runs on a 10th-generation Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. The screen is an FHD IPS panel with a modest 250 nits of brightness. More expensive models offer Core i7 CPUs, more RAM and storage, and brighter screens (up to 1,000 nits). Image: HP Inc

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 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 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%. In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering. Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

Testing the EliteBook 840 G7: A Productivity Powerhouse

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