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日本HP EliteBook 840 G8 review – another great enterprise machine
This is the third laptop from the eight-generation EliteBook 800 series we have in our office. What we learned testing other notebooks from this series is that HP has produced business notebooks with very high quality. However, they seem to lack a bit of performance and don’t happen to be a very good choice for a year-on-year upgrade.
Let’s not make any assumptions for the EliteBook 840 G8 though. As an enterprise model, you have to keep in mind, that it is loaded with firmware and software security enhancements. In terms of performance, you can make use of up to a Core i7-1185G7 and a GeForce MX450 – quite a potent combo in the ULV world.
Interestingly, the laptop is offered with four different 1080p IPS panels. One has touchscreen sensitivity, the other is identical, par the touch-support. Then, there is a low power unit with high color accuracy, and finally – a panel that has the Sure View privacy screen. The iteration we have here today is packed with the third one of the bunch, and we expect to see a decent battery performance, if not else.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-840-g8/
Contents
Specs Sheet
HP EliteBook 840 G8 - Specs
- HDD/SSD
- up to 2000GB SSD
- M.2 Slot
- 1x M.2 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4
- RAM
- up to 64GB
- OS
- Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Home, Windows 10 Home
- Battery
- 56Wh, 3-cell, 53Wh, 3-cell
- Body material
- Aluminum
- Dimensions
- 323.3 x 214.6 x 17.9 mm (12.73" x 8.45" x 0.70")
- Weight
- 1.32 kg (2.9 lbs)
- Ports and connectivity
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
- 1x USB Type-A
- 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
- 2x USB Type-C
- Thunderbolt 4
- HDMI
- 2.0
- Wi-Fi
- 802.11ax
- Bluetooth
- 5.0
- Audio jack
- 3.5mm Combo Jack
- Features
- Fingerprint reader
- optional
- Web camera
- HD
- Backlit keyboard
- optional
- Microphone
- Dual Array Microphone
- Speakers
- 2 Speakers, Bang & Olufsen
- Optical drive
- Security Lock slot
All HP EliteBook 840 G8 configurations
What’s in the box?
Even though this is a premium business notebook, the packaging is pretty modest. You only get some paper manuals and a 65W USB Type-C power brick.
Design and construction
Once again, there is no visual difference between this laptop, and its predecessor – the EliteBook 840 G7. We are talking about a metal construction, executed with aluminum panels all around, except for a plastic stripe in the top section of the lid. The build quality is great and leaves nothing more to be expected from it. In terms of weight, the scales stop at 1.32 kg, while the profile sits at 17.9mm.
Unfortunately, the lid cannot be opened with a single hand, but once you pass the 15° mark, the hinges provide a smooth movement. Thankfully, the bezels around the matte panel are rather thin. HP even managed to put an IR face recognition sensor, and a proximity sensor around the HD camera.
Moving to the base, you will find one of the best keyboards out there. It is even comparable to that of the ThinkPad series of Lenovo. Nevertheless, it offers good key travel, clicky feedback, a backlight, and spill-resistance. In addition, there is the Black Nipple surrounded by the G, H, and B keys. It works together with two buttons above the touchpad.
By the way, this device’s touchpad offers a very smooth gliding experience thanks to its glass surface. In its top right corner, you will notice a sticker that indicates the presence of an NFC coil. And to the right, just beneath the “Right” Arrow key, there is the fingerprint reader.
Another good feature of this laptop is its speakers. They are front-firing and bear Bang & Olufsen branding.
If you are wondering where the fan draws air through, you can check the bottom panel. There is the only (yet big) ventilation grill. As for the exhaust, it is located in between the lid and the base.
Ports
The left side of the notebook houses a security wedge-shaped slot, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, an audio jack, and a Smart Card reader. Then, on the right, you get a power plug, an HDMI 2.0b connector, two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, and a SIM card tray.
Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance
You only need to undo 5 Phillips-head screws to access this laptop’s internals. Then, just pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, and remove it from the chassis.
What powers the notebook, when it’s not plugged into the wall is a 53Wh battery pack.
You will notice that there are two metal brackets. One of them hides two RAM SODIMM slots, which fit up to 64GB of memory in total and work in dual-channel mode. As for the storage, there is one M.2 PCIe x4 slot.
This notebook’s cooling solution comprises a single thin heat pipe and a fan of average size.
Display quality
HP EliteBook 840 G8 has a Full HD IPS display, model number AUO AUO068B. Its diagonal is 14″ (35.56 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 157 ppi, their pitch – 0.161 x 0.161 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 56 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).
It has excellent viewing angles. We have provided images at 45 degrees to evaluate quality.
The maximum measured brightness is 453 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 421 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 13%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6700K (average) – slightly colder than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective.
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 – 1780:1.
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 the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. 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 840 G8’s color gamut coverage.
Its display covers 97% 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 HP EliteBook 840 G8 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).
The next figure shows how well the display can reproduce 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 = 26 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 / Blue Light
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 840 G8’s backlight doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment at any level. This makes it comfortable for extended periods of use in this aspect.
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.
Buy our profiles
Since our profiles are tailored for each display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP EliteBook 840 G8 configurations with 14.0″ AUO AUO068B (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS panel.
*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
Sound
HP EliteBook 840 G8 has Bang & Olufsen speakers. They produce a loud and crisp sound with clear low, mid, and high tones.
Drivers
All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitebook-840-g8-notebook-pc/38216725
Battery
Now, we conduct the battery tests with 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. This laptop’s 53Wh battery pack lasts for 13 hours and 34 minutes of Web browsing, and 12 hours and 43 minutes of video playback.
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.
CPU options
Like the 13-inch model, this device comes with either the Core i5-1135G7, Core i5-1145G7, Core i7-1165G7, or the Core i7-1185G7.
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)
HP EliteBook 840 G8 CPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the HP EliteBook 840 G8 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP EliteBook 840 G8 model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.
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
However, unlike its smaller sibling, the EliteBook 840 G8 can be equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce MX450, in addition to its integrated graphics card.
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 Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
HP EliteBook 840 G8 GPU variants
Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the HP EliteBook 840 G8 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP EliteBook 840 G8 model is the best bang for your buck.
Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.
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 (Graphics) 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 | 66 fps | 50 fps | 23 fps |
| DOTA 2 | HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) | HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) | HD 1080p, High (Check settings) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average FPS | 84 fps | 50 fps | 31 fps |
Temperatures and comfort
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 core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.
| Intel Core i5-1135G7 (15W TDP) | 0:02 – 0:10 sec | 0:15 – 0:30 sec | 10:00 – 15:00 min |
|---|---|---|---|
| HP EliteBook 840 G8 | 3.58 GHz (B+49%) @ 98°C @ 46W | 2.51 GHz (B+5%) @ 88°C @ 26W | 2.31 GHz @ 82°C @ 20W |
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i (13″) | 3.77 GHz (B+57%) @ 93°C @ 49W | 3.42 GHz (B+43%) @ 94°C @ 40W | 2.73 GHz (B+14%) @ 69°C @ 25W |
| ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 UX482 | 3.13 GHz (B+30%) @ 92°C @ 39W | 3.01 GHz (B+25%) @ 92°C @ 33W | 2.44 GHz (B+2%) @ 73°C @ 22W |
| Dell Precision 15 3560 | 3.77 GHz (B+57%) @ 95°C @ 46W | 3.37 GHz (B+40%) @ 99°C @ 36W | 2.61 GHz (B+9%) @ 85°C @ 21W |
| Lenovo ThinkBook 14 Gen 2 | 3.79 GHz (B+58%) @ 90°C @ 47W | 3.47 GHz (B+45%) @ 90°C @ 39W | 3.05 GHz (B+27%) @ 79°C @ 28W |
| Dell XPS 13 9310 | 3.15 GHz (B+31%) @ 100°C @ 40W | 2.73 GHz (B+14%) @ 100°C @ 30W | 1.65 GHz @ 73°C @ 15W |
| Dell Vostro 14 5402 | 3.02 GHz (B+26%) @ 99°C @ 29W | 2.61 GHz (B+9%) @ 99°C @ 25W | 2.00 GHz @ 76°C @ 15W |
| Acer Aspire 5 (A514-54) | 3.54 GHz (B+48%) @ 87°C | 2.01 GHz @ 66°C | 2.03 GHz @ 67°C |
Apparently, the cooling solution of this notebook is not the best out there. However, it manages to maintain a pretty high frequency for short bursts of time. In the longer runs, though, it drops beneath the Base clock speed.
Comfort during full load
Thankfully, the positive thing about this test is that the laptop was pretty quiet even under an extreme workload. And while the middle part of the keyboard is relatively warm, it’s definitely not too much to handle.
Verdict
From a technical perspective, this laptop is amazing. It has a great battery life (although shorter than that of its predecessor), the performance is okay, and it is blisteringly fast in day-to-day use.
HP EliteBook 840 G8’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, high maximum brightness, and a very good contrast ratio. Additionally, it covers 97% of the sRGB color gamut and doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment. Thankfully, our Gaming and Web design profile manages to extract the best of the display. It improves the color accuracy to an Average dE of <1.0. This makes the screen really appetizing for e-commerce retailers, presenters, and Web designers.
Ultimately, you have very good upgradability with two SODIMM slots for memory expansion, and one M.2 PCIe x4 slot for storage. Also, the I/O is decent with two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, a Smart Card reader, a SIM card tray, and more. We do miss the SD card reader, but it is good that you can get 5G support on this model.
Other features include optional IR face recognition and fingerprint reader. Its keyboard is backlit and spill-resistant which is great for the more clumsy people out there (like us).
If it has all the goodies out there, what would be the reason not to get it? Well, the performance increase over the last generation of processors on this particular unit is not that big. And most of the features (minus the 5G support) can be found on the EliteBook 840 G7. This means you don’t really need to upgrade if you have an older device.
You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-840-g8/
Pros
- Decent battery life
- PCIe x4 support + 64GB of DDR4 memory in dual-channel
- Two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, Wi-Fi 6, and optional 5G support
- 97% of sRGB coverage and great color accuracy with our Gaming and Web design profile (AUO AUO068B)
- Doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment (AUO AUO068B)
- Spill-resistant keyboard
- IR face recognition and fingerprint reader
Cons
- No SD card reader
- Just a minor upgrade over its predecessor
resolution and quality of the web camera is very poor
la principale évolution par rapport au G7 est la carte graphique, Intel Xe bien meilleures que la solution intégré UHD