HP’s EliteBook Ultra G1i Windows Laptop Is High on Security, Low on Value

Specs are not bare-bones but are far from luxe; the 14-inch touchscreen has a 2,880 x 1,800-pixel resolution, and the system is powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 268V CPU. That’s a few steps up from the basic processor model, but still a step down from higher-end options you typically find at this price. The 32 GB of RAM is fair, but the 512-GB solid-state drive feels chintzy for the money, though perhaps that’s an acknowledgement that most business users will be leaning heavily on cloud or server-based storage instead. Ports are acceptable: three USB-C with USB4 support and a single USB-A port (with a flip-down cover). You’ll need one of those USB-C ports for charging.

Given the above specs, I was surprised that performance was generally on the low side, more in keeping with a true entry-level configuration than what the G1i includes. None of the benchmarks I ran were any more impressive than I’ve seen on slower, cheaper machines running Intel Core Ultra 7 Series 2 processors, and many of the scores I saw were below even those uninspired levels, albeit only slightly. I suspect the overhead from the Wolf Security features is giving the unit a slight performance hit that, while not severe, may be more noticeable when putting the laptop under heavy loads.

Battery life on a full-screen YouTube playback hit just over 14 hours, a decent score, and I was impressed by the completely silent operation of the laptop; I couldn’t get the fan to kick in, no matter how heavy a load I put on the device. The speakers are fine, and the screen looks good enough, but neither blew my socks off. I did appreciate the keyboard on the device, which has just enough travel and responsiveness to make for easy data entry, while also being fairly quiet. The touchpad is spacious but just short of being too large.

As with most laptops today, AI is a major focus for the EliteBook line, and HP’s AI Companion, the company’s own GPT-4o skin, is preinstalled on the unit. AI Companion purports to let you take fuller advantage of the onboard neural processing unit, though it requires an active internet connection to work and wasn’t any faster than any online tools available. You’re also getting double AI duty here, as pressing the Copilot button on the keyboard still brings up a standard Microsoft Copilot interface.

The temporary sale price of $1,999 makes the EliteBook Ultra G1i a better deal, but it still doesn’t measure up on a price-to-performance basis against competing systems. It does, however, provide a much stronger value proposition for its security and manageability benefits, though again, I doubt many of these features have much utility outside of large, corporate environments.