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日本HP EliteBook 830 G9 review – this tiny beast will never disappoint you
HP’s EliteBook series offers one of the most premium notebooks from the brand. Regardless if you are looking for a small or large business device, you will find it with this nametag.
And if the price is not too offputting for you, then, you are in the right place. Today, we have a tiny performer, which is called the HP EliteBook 830 G9. It comes with a 13.3-inch display, featuring a 16:10 aspect ratio. The more vertical space should give you more room for productivity apps and tasks.
Ultimately, the performance expectations are really high. The laptop is supplied with Intel’s 12th Gen CPUs. Not only that, but it’s a part of the Intel Evo platform. What it does, is ensure that the devices, which bear the “Intel Evo” sticker, oblige with certain rules, and have to meet certain expectations.
This way, you, as a user, know that you’re getting the most out of the hardware you are supplied with.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-830-g9/
Contents
Specs, Drivers, What’s in the box
HP EliteBook 830 G9 - Specs
- Display
- 13.0”, WUXGA (1920 x 1200), IPS
- HDD/SSD
- up to 2000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 1x 2280 PCIe NVMe 4.0 x4 See photo
- RAM
- up to 16GB
- OS
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, No OS, Windows 11 Home
- Battery
- 51Wh, 3-cell, 38Wh, 3-cell, 51.3Wh
- Body material
- Aluminum
- Dimensions
- 300 x 215 x 19.3 mm (11.81" x 8.46" x 0.76")
- Weight
- 1.27 kg (2.8 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 2x USB Type-C
- 4.0, Thunderbolt 4, Power Delivery (PD), DisplayPort
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- HDMI
- 2.0
- Card reader
- Nano Sim
- Ethernet LAN
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.2
- Audio jack
- 3.5mm Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- optional
- Web camera
- HD
- Backlit keyboard
- optional
- Microphone
- Dual Array Microphones
- Speakers
- 2x Stereo Speakers
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
- Nano K-Lock
All HP EliteBook 830 G9 configurations
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitebook-830-13.3-inch-g9-notebook-pc/2100971065
What’s in the box?
Inside this notebook’s packaging, we found some paperwork, as well as a 65W USB Type-C power adapter.
Design and construction
Obviously, this is a tiny machine. It has a profile of 19.3mm and weighs only 1.27 kg. Even though this sounds a bit thick, the curved corners definitely make the laptop appear thinner than it really is.
It is made out of aluminum and shows off great flex resistance. Both when it comes to the lid, and the base.
You can easily open the lid with a single hand. The bezels around the display are thin, with the top one featuring a 5MP Web camera, a privacy shutter, and an optional IR face recognition scanner.
Looking at the base, we see a very comfortable keyboard. It has long key travel, clicky feedback, and a backlight. Moreover, it is spill-resistant, which is great for clumsy people.
Its touchpad has a glass cover, which makes it really smooth. At the same time, its clicking mechanism is satisfying and relatively uniform, until you go to the top part of the touchpad. There, the clicks become really cumbersome.
A quick look at the bottom panel reveals the two speaker cutouts and the ventilation grill. There, the fan is supplied with cool air, which is then worked through the cooling elements of the device, and exhausted through a vent in between the base and the lid.
Ports
On the left side, there is an HDMI 2.0 connector, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with Always On support, two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, and an optional Smart Card reader. Then, on the right, you get an Audio jack, another USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, a security lock slot, and a SIM card tray.
Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound
HP EliteBook 830 G9 is equipped with a WUXGA IPS panel, model number AUO AUO4B98. It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 13.3″ (33.8 cm), and the resolution – 1920 x 1200p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:10, the pixel density – 170 ppi, and their pitch – 0.15 x 0.15 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 51 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).
Viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.
Also, a video with locked focus and exposure.
The maximum measured brightness is 473 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 450 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 7%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6570K (average) – almost matching the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 56% Brightness (White level = 139 cd/m2, Black level = 0.08 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is very good – 1760:1.
To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.
Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.
Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.
The yellow dotted line shows HP EliteBook 830 G9’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 100% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.
Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.
We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.
Below you can compare the scores of the HP EliteBook 830 G9 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.
The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.
Response time (Gaming capabilities)
We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.
We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 23 ms.
After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.
Health Impact: PWM (Screen flickering)
Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.
HP EliteBook 830 G9’s display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level. This makes the screen comfortable for long periods of use.
Health Impact: Blue light emissions
Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.
Health Impact: Gloss-level measurement
Glossy-coated displays are sometimes inconvenient in high ambient light conditions. We show the level of reflection on the screen for the respective laptop when the display is turned off and the measurement angle is 60° (in this case, the result is 60.1 GU).
Sound
HP EliteBook 830 G9’s Bang & Olufsen speakers produce a sound of very good quality. Its low, mid, and high tones have no deviations from clarity.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP EliteBook 830 G9 configurations with 13.3″ AUO AUO4B98 (WUXGA, 1920 x 1200) IPS.
*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].
Read more about the profiles HERE.
In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.
Office Work
Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.
Design and Gaming
This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.
Health-Guard
Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.
Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount
Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests
CPU options
This device comes with the Core i5-1235U, Core i5-1245U, Core i7-1255U, or Core i7-1265U.
Results are from the Cinebench R23 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
GPU options
Graphics-wise, you don’t get any “option”, since the GPU is soldered to the motherboard.
Results are from the 3DMark: Time Spy (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the 3DMark: Wild Life benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
Gaming tests
| CS:GO | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) | HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 154 fps | 117 fps | 72 fps |
| DOTA 2 | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) | HD 1080p, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 135 fps | 87 fps | 56 fps |
Temperatures and comfort, Battery Life
Max CPU load
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.
Average P-core frequency; Average E-core frequency; CPU temp.; Package Power
| Intel Core i7-1255U (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP EliteBook 830 G9 | 3.77 GHz @ 2.77 GHz @ 74°C @ 46W | 3.22 GHz @ 1.84 GHz @ 82°C @ 36W | 2.61 GHz @ 1.84 GHz @ 64°C @ 22W |
| Acer Aspire 5 (A517-53G) | 3.43 GHz @ 2.61 GHz @ 64°C @ 46W | 3.21 GHz @ 2.49 GHz @ 68°C @ 41W | 2.68 GHz @ 2.18 GHz @ 62°C @ 28W |
| HP Spectre x360 14 (14-ef0000) | 3.55 GHz @ 2.74 GHz @ 88°C @ 43W | 3.20 GHz @ 2.50 GHz @ 90°C @ 35W | 3.03 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 90°C @ 32W |
| HP EliteBook 860 G9 | 3.23 GHz @ 2.57 GHz @ 85°C @ 41W | 3.09 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 86°C @ 38W | 1.82 GHz @ 1.58 GHz @ 57°C @ 16W |
| HP 15 (15-dw4000) | 3.19 GHz @ 2.42 GHz @ 69°C @ 40W | 1.90 GHz @ 1.49 GHz @ 57°C @ 17W | 1.91 GHz @ 1.49 GHz @ 56°C @ 17W |
| Lenovo ThinkPad E15 Gen 4 | 3.44 GHz @ 2.63 GHz @ 78°C @ 43W | 2.98 GHz @ 2.24 GHz @ 75°C @ 36W | 2.15 GHz @ 1.57 GHz @ 70°C @ 23W |
| MSI Modern 15 (B12M) | 3.63 GHz @ 2.68 GHz @ 78°C @ 44W | 3.63 GHz @ 2.65 GHz @ 86°C @ 44W | 3.26 GHz @ 2.40 GHz @ 85°C @ 35W |
Considering its size, the EliteBook 830 G9 demonstrates a fantastic performance. It reaches high clocks in short scenarios. In addition, the P-cores don’t drop too much in the long run, which is good for more intensive apps and programs.
Comfort during full load
At the same time, the laptop is pretty quiet, and it reaches a very low temperature on the keyboard – well below body temperature.
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with the Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with.
In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance
To open this notebook, you need to undo 5 captive Phillips-head screws. Then, as usual, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, and remove it from the device.
The 51.3Wh battery pack lasts for 13 hours of Web browsing, or 11 hours of video playback. To take it out, unplug the battery from the motherboard, and undo all four Phillips-head screws.
Inside, there are up to 16GB of DDR5 RAM, working at 4800MHz. Unfortunately, it is soldered to the motherboard. Storage-wise, you get one M.2 PCIe x4 slot, which supports Gen 4 SSDs.
As for the cooling, there is one heat pipe, a heat sink, and a fan. There are some cooling plates around the heat pipe, for better heat dissipation of the CPU.
Verdict
To be completely honest, 13-inch business laptops don’t get much better than this. The simplicity of its build and the complexity of its software (and hardware) security features make your user experience seamless. This feeling is further expanded by the fantastic keyboard and the incredibly smooth touchpad.
In addition, you can log into your device with the help of Windows Hello. This happens through the fingerprint reader, or the IR face recognition scanner.
HP EliteBook 830 G9’s IPS panel has a WUXGA resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and a very good contrast ratio. Its maximum brightness is pretty high, which makes the machine perfect for outdoors use. In addition, there is no PWM used for brightness adjustment.
Thankfully, this laptop’s display covers 100% of the sRGB color gamut. Our Gaming and Web design profile will be your best friend if you need to work with color-related content. It drops the Average dE from 4.9 down to 1.5, which is within the standards for the Web.
As we said, the high maximum brightness enables you to use the machine in bright sunlight scenarios. However, this will drain your battery faster. Thankfully, in normal conditions, it lasts up to 13 hours of Web browsing or around 11 hours of video playback on a single charge.
While the port selection looks good, we still miss the SD card reader. The two Thunderbolt 4 connectors definitely make up for that. But there is nothing that can make up for the lack of memory expansion.
Nevertheless, the EliteBook 830 G9 is a laptop worth investing in. Regardless if you’re buying it for yourself, or for your employees. A relatively comparable unit in terms of pricing is the Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Gen 3, so don’t miss our review.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-830-g9/
Pros
- No PWM (AUO AUO4B98)
- Smaller and rigid chassis
- Premium build quality
- Great keyboard and touchpad
- IR face recognition + fingerprint reader
- Thunderbolt 4 connector, MicroSD card reader
- Covers 100% of sRGB and has accurate color representation with our Gaming and Web design profile (AUO AUO4B98)
Cons
- Soldered RAM
- No SD card slot
