HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI review: I don’t think I could go back to another business laptop

Business laptops are at their best when effortlessly conjuring a premium aura, from the feel of its chassis to the power it channels, and the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI delivers.

The EliteBook X is a gorgeous machine that I fell in love with at first sight thanks to its sturdy aluminum design, and I continued to be impressed throughout my testing. Its price point is a bit steep (which is expected of a business laptop), and you won’t be necessarily blown away by its display, but fantastic battery life, a crisp webcam, and impressive performance paint a picture of excellence.

HP is gunning for our best business laptops with this device, but will it make it? Keep reading to see if this machine is right for you.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI: Specs and benchmarks

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Price and configurations

The model of the EliteBook X G1a that I reviewed costs $2,199 at HP and is built with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor, AMD Radeon 890M integrated graphics, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. It has a 14-inch, 1920 x 1200 IPS display at 60Hz refresh rate.

The starting price is $2,099 at HP for an AMD Ryzen AI 7 Pro 360 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. Its most expensive model costs $2,749 at HP and features an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor, 64GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and a 2.8K OLED display. Frankly, the price of the machine is pretty steep, and it’s definitely not going on our best value lists any time soon.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Design

Pulling the EliteBook X G1a out of its box caused me to audibly “ooo” as I felt its cool aluminum chassis in my hand. While its design is arguably generic, I will never tire of a minimalist shell that looks and feels premium. Even the reflective HP logo at the center of its silver lid gives an air of professionalism.

Lifting its lid reveals a similarly minimalist deck, with a silver palmrest and two speaker grates at both ends of the keyboard. The keyboard itself is embedded within its own dark gray nook, which compliments the slightly brighter silver touchpad. The deck itself sports an EliteBook logo on the left and the Copilot symbol on the right. One thing I do love about the EliteBook X G1a is its rounded sides, as it feels smooth and sleek rather than blocky.

Its premium quality extends to every corner of the laptop. Its deck doesn’t bend when placing pressure against it, the lid feels sturdy, the hinges are firm with minimal wobble, all while the laptop remains light and thin. I love nothing more than a laptop that feels as good as it looks.

The EliteBook X G1a measures 12.29 x 8.45 x 0.36~0.52 inches and weighs 3.2 pounds. Here's how it compares:

• MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo A2VM — 11.82 x 8.75 x 0.64 inches, 2.9 pounds
• Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 Aura Edition — 12.3 x 8.5 x 0.56 inches, 2.1 pounds
• HP Elite x360 1040 G11 — 12.36 x 8.66 x 0.41~0.58 inches, 3.3 pounds

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Ports

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You’re getting multiple Thunderbolt 4 in a laptop, meaning you should be able to plug-in anything you need. Here is its full list of ports:

• 2 x Thunderbolt 4 ports
• 1 x USB Type-C port (Power Delivery, DisplayPort 2.1)
• 1 x HDMI 2.1 port
• 1 x headphone/mic jack
• 1 x USB Type-A port
• 1 x Kensington Lock

If you need something else that isn’t listed here, whether that be more Type-A or Type-C ports, or something unique like a microSD slot, check out our best USB Type-C hub or best laptop docking station to add any port you might need.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Battery life

Most business users find themselves on-the-go, so business laptops and long lasting battery life go hand-in-hand.We often look for battery life that can last you a full work day and then some, but it’s gotten rather competitive, with the longest lasting over 20 hours. On the Laptop Mag battery life test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits, the EliteBook X G1a lasted 12 hours and 34 minutes.

We typically recommend laptops with at least 10 hours of battery life, so coming at over 12 hours is great. It lasted longer than most of its business laptop competitors, but couldn’t outmatch the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo’s staggering 16 hours and 52 minutes of battery life.

Here's a look at how the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI's result stacks up against its actual competitors:

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Security and durability

The EliteBook X G1a comes with a TPM 2.0 security chip and has HP Wolf Security, which protects against cyber threats by providing endpoint security and can assist in remotely locating hardware. Other security applications like HP Sure Click protects against dangerous Office or PDF attachments, HP Sure Start features a self-healing BIOS that can assist through attacks, and HP Sure Sense provides protection against malware. It also has a fingerprint sensor, a webcam privacy shutter, and supports Windows Hello.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Display

The EliteBook X G1a’s 14-inch display is nothing to write home about, built with a 1920 x 1200 IPS panel at a 60Hz refresh rate. Its below average brightness and color depth is far from poor, but you won’t be blown away.

I watched the trailer for Bring Her Back and was quickly engrossed by eerie shots of dim environments. As the crimson splotch of a bloodied handprint is shown on screen, its bold hue is translated pretty well on the display.

For a panel that’s essentially doing the bare minimum in specs, it could have looked far worse. I recently reviewed the Acer Aspire 14 AI and it had the same specs on paper yet its brightness and color coverage were atrocious, averaging 284 nits and 44% DCI-P3, respectively.

The EliteBook X G1a, at the very least, channels 367 nits and 73% DCI-P3 color depth. Avoid direct sunlight, but it should handle the average well-lit office.

Here's how the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI’s display performed in our lab tests against its competitors:

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Keyboard and touchpad

Business laptops need a keyboard that can match your workload. The EliteBook X G1a’s keys are squishy and lack clickiness — every press is unsatisfying. However, the keyboard still feels good to type on thanks to the size of each key and the softness of the caps. If you’re a fan of clicky keyboards, look elsewhere.

I took the 10fastfingers typing test and managed a score of 101 words per minute with 95% accuracy. This is a bit lower than what I can normally do, which might be a result of the keyboard’s soft feel. My only other criticism is that I’m not a big fan of its half-sized arrow keys.

Finally, a smooth and silky touchpad that makes dragging documents across the screen a sinch. I had no issue browsing the web or moving tabs and files, although the EliteBook X G1a does fall prey to the issue where the upper portion of its touchpad isn’t clickable. Multi-finger gestures also posed no problem; I could swiftly move between or minimize windows.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Audio

Wow! The EliteBook X G1a’s top-firing speakers are amongst the best I’ve tested. It’s powerful, clear, and loud, delivering every song and trailer with a punchiness that shows just how phenomenal the EliteBook truly is.

I listened to “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush and was blown away. The EliteBook X G1a’s speakers are full and clear, capable of reaching high volumes without sacrificing audio quality or sounding scratchy. Every piano plink boasted resounding power, all while maintaining clarity. The several instruments and voices layered atop each other towards the end of the song sounded gorgeous.

The muffled hums and eerie thumps in the Bring Her Back trailer sounded powerful, clear, and loud, reassuring me that I could enjoy the atmospheric horror movie with a spellbinding immersion.

I’m pretty confident you won’t need an external speaker solution, but if you need a pair of best headphones, be sure to check out our recommendations.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Performance and heat

Built with an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor, 1TB of SSD storage, and 32GB of RAM, the EliteBook X G1a performed exceptionally well in our performance tests and consistently proved itself as a productivity powerhouse.

It delivered a Geekbench 6 score of 14,719, which isn’t necessarily as impressive as what Apple’s higher-end MacBooks can accomplish, but it’s still solid. And it converted a video from 4K to 1080p through the HandBrake application in 3 minutes and 21 seconds, which was over a minute faster than its closest competitor, and several minutes faster than others.

Not only did the EliteBook X G1a stay remarkably cool throughout my testing but it’s also an exceptionally quiet machine. Its hottest point was 96 degrees, located at the middle underside of the laptop . While that is slightly above our 95-degree comfort threshold, it never felt uncomfortable in practice.

Here's how the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI performed in our lab tests compared to its competitors:

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Gaming and graphics

You won’t get much mileage out of the EliteBook X G1a if you’re looking to game, but its AMD Radeon 890M integrated graphics can yield some pretty decent performance when you need it.

We highly recommend looking at one of the best gaming laptops if you’re an avid gamer. However, AMD’s integrated graphics doesn’t disappoint when it comes to gaming performance, and the EliteBook X G1a is a good example of that. We played Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm at Medium, 1080p and managed 61 frames per second.

We also played Borderlands 3 at Badass, 1080p and achieved 29 fps, while it managed 28 fps in Shadow of the Tomb Raider at Ultra, 1080p. Both games nearing a playable 30 fps at maximum graphics is impressive for an iGPU.

Here's how the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI performed in a few of our typical game benchmarks:

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: AI features

Powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX Pro 375 processor featuring the AMD Ryzen AI Engine with its NPU capable of 55 TOPS (trillion operations per second) and an overall 85 TOPS.

HP’s main AI implementation is its HP AI Companion app, which has four key features: Ask, where the AI performs tasks like summarizing articles or finding information. Analyze, which allows the AI to filter and create data based on your files. Discover, which lets the user engage in AI content. And Perform, which works to ensure your drivers and BIOS configuration is optimized.

Beyond Copilot’s AI chatbot assistant, other features like Cocreator, Recall, and Live Captions are available. Cocreator can take illustrations by the user and make something else based off it, Recall takes frequent photos of your screen to go through them in the future for things you might’ve forgotten, and Live Captions provides subtitles in real time for audio and video.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Webcam

Laptop webcams usually suck, so I was shocked when the EliteBook X G1a 14 AI’s 2560 x 1440 camera made me feel as if I was looking directly into a mirror. I took a photo of myself and I could see every little detail on my face, from the newborn hairs growing above my recently trimmed eyebrows to the small details in the pattern of my shirt.

I cannot imagine why you’d need to purchase one of the best webcams when the one you’re getting here is as good as it is.

HP EliteBook X G1a 14: Software and warranty

The EliteBook X G1a comes with Windows 11 Pro and the typical suite of applications you’d expect, including the Xbox app, Paint, Photos, OneDrive, Media Player, and more.

It also features plenty of applications from HP, including HP Documentation, HP AI Companion, HP PC Hardware Diagnostics, HP Privacy Settings, HP Support Assistant, HP Sure Click Secure Browser, HP System Information, HP Wolf Security, and myHP — which is where you can modify settings, change key functions, optimize your PC, and get support.

By default, the EliteBook X G1a comes with a 1-year basic hardware and software warranty.

Bottom line

HP delivers an expensive business laptop, but the EliteBook G1a 14 AI is the definition of premium. I love the way this laptop feels thanks to its sturdy aluminum chassis, alongside a robust lid, deck, and hinges while staying light and thin. Beyond that, its speakers are powerful and its 2K webcam is crisp.

It’s far from a perfect laptop, however, as I would have liked a slightly more colorful and brighter display considering its price point. And while this is just personal preference, its keys are far too squishy. For a fantastic alternative, the MSI Summit 13 AI+ Evo A2VM is $1,599 yet is similarly excellent for business. Otherwise, the HP EliteBook X G1a 14 AI is a great machine.