First impressions of HP ProBook 455 G3 / 450 G3 – AMD-powered business solution, but with a discrete GPU?
We were quite astonished by the 14-inch version of HP ProBook 440 G3 and it looks like we are having a hard time not liking the 15-inch HP ProBook 455 G3, which is an AMD-powered solution this time. It has all what it takes to perfectly fit your everyday routine and help you get work done. But is it really worth opting for the AMD configuration or you’d better stick with the Intel variant? We find out in our upcoming full review and for now, here are our initial impressions of the device.
You can see the available AMD configurations (455 G3) here and Intel’s variants (450 G3) here.
Design
The design isn’t exactly different from the 14-inch model – it’s just bigger and heavier, of course. The 15-inch form factor gives more room for the palm rest area and also the keyboard to stretch to the sides and adding the Numpad area.
Anyway, we still have the soft-touch matte plastic finish on the lid and the contrasting brushed aluminum keyboard tray in the interior giving not only more premium feel but exceptional sturdiness as well. Speaking of the keyboard, we have absolutely nothing bad to say about it – long key travel, decent spacing and good ergonomics with tactile feedback. As for the touchpad, it’s good as far as the mouse buttons go and general swipes but two-finger gestures appear to be inaccurate at times. The hinges also feel pretty good – tight enough to keep the screen firmly in place and loose enough to be able to open the lid with one hand.
We are also happy to see that HP has added another USB port giving you more connectivity options compared to the 14-inch variant and most of the competition at this price range. Two USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports should do the trick for sure.
Hardware
The notebook we are currently testing is the AMD variant featuring AMD A8-7410 CPU paired with 8GB of DDR3L-1600 RAM and AMD Radeon R7 M340 (2GB DDR3) discrete graphics card, but the latter could be found only in selected regions. You will most likely come across configurations with AMD A10-8700P CPU and A8-7410 variants with both relying on the integrated graphics – Radeon R6 and Radeon R5, respectively.
There’s also a more mainstream version of the notebook with Intel chips – ProBook 450 G3. This one comes in a range of Core i3, i5 and Core i7 processors with the most popular one being the Core i5-6200U. The other two variants feature Core i7-6500U and Core i3-6100U. Interestingly, there are options out there featuring the same AMD Radeon R7 M340 GPU, but again, most regions will be offering the ones with Intel HD Graphics 520 iGPU. The best part, however, is that all variants offer a wide range of storage options – from 500GB HDD up to 1TB HDD + 128GB or 256GB M.2 SATA SSD.
Screen options are only with Full HD (1920×1080) and HD (1366×768) resolutions using a TN panel while packing the same 4-cell 44Wh battery. It will be quite interesting to see how the Core i5-6200U version will stack against the new AMD A8-7410 variant in terms of performance, energy efficiency and heat management since both configurations sell for about the same price.
Specs sheet
Configurations may differ depending on your region.
CPU | Intel Core i3-6100U (2-core, 2.30 GHz, 3MB cache) / Intel Core i5-6200U (2-core, 2.30 – 2.80 GHz, 3MB cache) / Intel Core i7-6500U (2-core, 2.50 – 3.10 GHz, 4MB cache) / AMD A10-8700P (4-core, 1.80 – 3.20 GHz, 2MB cache) / AMD A8-7410 (2-core, 2.20 – 2.50 GHz, 2MB cache) |
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RAM | up to 16GB (2x 8192MB) – DDR3L-1600 |
GPU | Intel HD Graphics 520 / AMD Radeon R6 (Carrizo) / AMD Radeon R5 (Carrizo) / AMD Radeon R7 M340 (2GB DDR3) |
HDD/SSD | 500GB HDD (7200 rpm) / 1TB HDD (5400 rpm) + 128GB or 256GB M.2 SATA SSD |
Display | 15.6-inch (39.62 cm) – 1366×768, TN panel, matte / 15.6-inch (39.62 cm) – 1920×1080, TN panel, matte |
Optical Drive | DVD burner |
Connectivity | LAN 10/100/1000 Mbps, Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.0 |
Other features |
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Battery | 4-cell, 44Wh |
Thickness | 23.8 – 24.8 mm (0.94 – 0.98″) |
Weight | 2.270 kg (5 lbs) |