HP ProBook 430 G6 review – a great attribute for the business environment

HP has probably one of the most popular semi-affordable business notebooks series out there – the ProBooks. It can be found in the hands of accountants, large firms and offices, or even at some economy students. As we already know from our ProBook 450 G6 review, the sixth generation of the 400 series introduces some visual changes that make the laptop a little bit more premium. This is done by linking the design more to the EliteBook family, rather than the fifth generation of ProBook 400s.

Apart from getting rid of the black base, HP has given the ProBooks the Whiskey Lake processors, which are known to be slightly faster than the Kaby Lake-R, but more importantly – they have better efficiency, hence – provide a better battery life.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-probook-430-g6/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP ProBook 430 G6 - Specs

  • Chi Mei CMN1375
  • Color accuracy  4.0  3.0
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD + up to 1000GB HDD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Pro, Windows 10 Home, No OS
  • Battery
  • 45Wh, 3-cell, 45Wh, 45 Wh
  • Body material
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 309 x 231 x 18 mm (12.17" x 9.09" x 0.71")
  • Weight
  • 1.49 kg (3.3 lbs)
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), DisplayPort, HDMI
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • HDMI
  • 1.4b
  • Card reader
  • SD, SDHC, SDXC
  • Ethernet LAN
  • Gigabit Ethernet
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ac (2x2)
  • Bluetooth
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm audio jack
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • HD 720p
  • Backlit keyboard
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Single digital microphone
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot
  • HP Premium Spill-resistant Keyboard

All HP ProBook 430 G6 configurations

#CommissionsEarned

What’s in the box?

Inside the retail box of this laptop, we received nothing more than the standard – a laptop, a 45W power adapter, as well as some paper manuals and warranty slips.

Design and construction

Apart from featuring a more naturally premium design than the fifth-generation ProBook 430, the G6 is also in better shape. While it weighs the same 1.49 kg, its diet proved to be more prominent in its waistline – 18 mm, compared to 19.8 mm from last year. In addition to that, HP has also given the laptop thinner bezels and base that is the same color as the rest of the device.

Interestingly, opening the lid with a single hand is not a problem for the ProBook 430 G6. Also, thanks to its aluminum lid, it is durable enough to withstand some serious bending action.

Then, at the base of the laptop, you can see the up-firing speakers, which are placed just above the keyboard. Speaking of which, it is good for typing, although the keycap size is not the most impressive out there. Additionally, it has an average key travel, while the feedback is rather clicky.

Further below there are the touchpad and the fingerprint reader (which is optional). They are both snappy and accurate. We were kind of impressed by the larger than regular size of the touchpad, which is rare to see on a Windows laptop.

As usual, the ventilation of the laptop happens from the grills on the bottom plate, while the hot air escapes from the left side of the machine.

Ports

Accompanying the exhaust on the left side, you are going to see a USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port that supports faster charging, as well as an SD card reader. Then, on the right, you will find the barrel-style plug, a USB Type-C 3.1 (Gen. 1) port with a DisplayPort output, an RJ-45 and an HDMI connector, another USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) and an audio jack.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

So, if you are familiar with the ProBook 430 from last year, you are going to expect that this laptop is going to feature a service lid as well. For good or for bad, however, HP got rid of it, in favor of easier access to all of the internals. This now happens by removing the entire bottom panel of the device, which is held by 7 Phillips-head screws. Weirdly, two of them are free to come off the panel itself, while the rest of them stay attached.

Its cooling is nothing spectacular – a single, yet long, heat pipe, which cools the processor thanks to a fan and a heat spreader.

Upgradability-wise, we found a rare picture in the 13-inch laptop world. There are two RAM DIMMs that, depending on the processor you get the laptop with, support up to 32GB of DDR4 memory. Additionally, there is a single M.2 slot, which can fit a PCIe NVMe device.

Lastly, there is a 45Wh battery to be found here, which is somewhat average in terms of size, compared to some direct competitors.


Display quality

HP ProBook 430 G6 is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, Chi Mei CMN1375. Its diagonal is 13.3-inch (33.78 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 166 ppi, their pitch – 0.153 х 0.153 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 53 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

Viewing angles are excellent on this screen. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

The maximum measured brightness is 252 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 236 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 11%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 7140K – colder than the 6500K standard temperature for sRGB. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 7040K.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 76% Brightness (White level = 138 cd/m2, Black level = 0.11 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 excellent – 1300:1 (1200:1 after profiling).

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction of 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 in 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 ProBook 430 G6’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 53% 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 ProBook 430 G6 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 – this panel is not among the fastest out there.


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 ProBook 430 G6’s display uses PWM to adjust its brightness until 69 nits. Thankfully, the flickerings have a high frequency and are not harmful 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.

Conclusion

HP ProBook 430 G6’s display has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio and doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust its brightness levels. Its disadvantage is the modest color coverage.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP ProBook 430 G6 configurations with 13.3″ Chi Mei CMN1375 (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 ProBook 430 G6’s speakers produce a good quality sound. Its low, mid and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

You can download all of the drivers and utilities you need here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-probook-430-g6-notebook-pc/23200806

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. As we mentioned, the laptop features a 45Wh unit.

We got around 12 hours of Web browsing from this notebook and 4 minutes shy of 10 hours and a half 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.

We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.


CPU options

When buying this laptop you can choose from Intel Pentium 5405U, Celeron 4205U, Core i3-8145U, Core i5-8265U, and the Core i7-8565U.


GPU options

Its graphics card options are linked to the processor you choose since there are no dedicated GPUs available for this device. The respective models feature Intel HD Graphics 610, UHD Graphics 610 and UHD Graphics 620.


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 i5-8265U (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP ProBook 430 G62.55 GHz (B+59%) @ 64°C2.47 GHz (B+54%) @ 72°C2.09 GHz (B+31%) @ 76°C
Lenovo Ideapad L340 (15″)3.27 GHz (B+104%)@ 72°C1.99 GHz (B+24%)@ 60°C2.01 GHz (B+26%)@ 65°C
ASUS VivoBook S15 S5322.96 GHz (B+85%) @ 75°C2.95 GHz (B+84%) @ 90°C2.17 GHz (B+36%) @ 68°C
Lenovo ThinkBook 13s2.76 GHz (B+73%)@ 75°C2.74 GHz (B+71%)@ 84°C2.11 GHz (B+32%)@ 74°C
Lenovo ThinkPad T490s3.43 GHz (B+114%)@ 91°C2.69 GHz (B+68%)@ 91°C2.19 GHz (B+37%)@ 80°C
HP ProBook 450 G62.69 GHz (B+59%)@ 64°C2.53 GHz (B+60%)@ 68°C2.09 GHz (B+31%)@ 71°C

Similarly to the 15-inch version of the ProBook 400 series, the ProBook 430 G6 has conservative thermal management. It prioritizes low noise and temperatures too high frequencies. This results in slightly inferior clock speeds in the first parts of the test and pretty respectable at the end, while at the same time it maintains relatively low fan speed.

Verdict

If you are in need of a business laptop that will do the job – well certainly the ProBook 430 G6 is the laptop for you. It now looks more modern and completed than ever. While everything in it would make us recommend you buy it, we have to note that, if you happen to own the fifth generation of this model, the difference is not big enough to convince you of upgrading.

Naturally, performance on this notebook is not as great as you will see on the ZenBook 13 UX333 for example, and moreover, you don’t have a dedicated GPU option. However, what you get is a great battery life. We were able to get around 12 hours of Web browsing and almost 10 hours and a half of video playback.

HP ProBook 430 G6’s display has an IPS panel (Chie Mei CMN1375) with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio and doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust its brightness levels. Its disadvantage is the modest color coverage.

Then you can add the upgradability of this laptop. First, you can easily pop the bottom plate off as it is held in place by only 7 Phillips-head screws. More importantly, there are two RAM DIMMs that you can fit with up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in total. Additionally, there is an M.2 slot that supports NVMe drives.

Also, if you are into the business world it is highly possible that you need the versatility of wide connectivity selection. Despite the lack of Thunderbolt support, this laptop offers you everything you might need – from an SD card reader to Ethernet support.

So, basically, this laptop is great for you, but if you happen to have a couple of hundred bucks more in your pockets, you can check out the Dell Latitude 5300.

Pros

  • Comfortable backlit keyboard
  • Narrow bezels and good design
  • Great battery life
  • Upgradability is on point and its parts are easy to access
  • Doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust its brightness levels (Chie Mei CMN1375)


Cons

  • No Thunderbolt support
  • Covers only 53% of sRGB (Chie Mei CMN1375)

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-probook-430-g6/

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
1 Comment
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Alina
3 years ago

Can I replace the IDE hard drive with SSD on this laptop?