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    HP ZBook 15u G6 review – elegant work station on the go

    LaptopMedia.comReviewsHP ZBook 15u G6 review - elegant work station on the go

    From: Alex Iliev & Kroum Nikolov 30 December 2019 / 08:00 | 5

    PLEASE WHITELIST US. If it weren’t for the ads, LaptopMedia wouldn’t be running.
    Our articles are free to read but the equipment in our Labs isn’t. We want to be as objective and unbiased as possible, and you can help us keep our jobs by whitelisting our media in your adblocker.

    Mobile workstations are growing in popularity every year. This makes us extremely excited to test such laptops, as they differ quite drastically in the usage to the more convenient multimedia devices or the extremely powerful gaming solutions.

    This is exactly what a device we have with us right now. However, the HP ZBook 15u G6 is nothing like the Lenovo ThinkPad P52 for example. As its name suggests, it houses a slightly less powerful, but a lot more efficient hardware (if you want the maxed-out versions HP has the ZBook 15 for you). For the main computing, there is a Whiskey Lake Core i5-8265U or a Core i7-8565U, while the graphics load is given to the AMD Radeon Pro WX3200. Here, both the CPU and the GPU are evolutions of the last-year model.

    In addition to that, HP has loaded the laptop with some very neat goodies – a dedicated docking port, a fingerprint reader and even an IR face recognition system. On top of that, the ZBook 15u G6 complies with the MIL-STD-810G standard and has a spill-resistant keyboard.

    You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-zbook-15u-g6/

    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i5-8265U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 256GB SSD
    • 4GB RAM
    $1403.68
    More Info Buy from HP.com
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 512GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1699.00
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 1000GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1922.99
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    #CommissionsEarned
    View more laptops...

    Contents

    1. Specs Sheet
    2. What’s in the box?
    3. Design and construction
    4. Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance
    5. Display quality
    6. Health impact – PWM / Blue Light
    7. Buy our profiles
    8. Sound
    9. Drivers
    10. Battery
    11. CPU options
    12. GPU options
    13. Temperatures and comfort
    14. Verdict

    Specs Sheet

    HP ZBook 15u G6 - Specs

    CPU
    Intel Core i7-8665U 82 Intel Core i7-8565U 84 Intel Core i5-8365U 79 Intel Core i5-8265U 85
    GPU
    Intel UHD Graphics 620 225 AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5) 117
    Display
    15.6”, Full HD (1920 x 1080), IPS
    15.6”, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160), IPS
    HDD/SSD
    up to 2000GB SSD
    M.2 Slot
    1x 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 See photo
    RAM
    up to 64GB
    OS
    Windows 10 Home, Windows 10 Pro
    Battery
    56Wh, 3-cell
    Dimensions
    370 x 251 x 18 mm (14.57" x 9.88" x 0.71")
    Weight
    1.77 kg (3.9 lbs)
    Body material
    Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
    Ports and connectivity
    • 1x USB Type-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Sleep and Charge
    • 1x USB Type-C 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
    • HDMI 1.4b
    • Wi-Fi 802.11ac
    • Bluetooth 5.0
    • Audio jack 3.5 mm combo
    • Ultra Slim Docking Connector
    • SmartCard Reader
    Features
    • Fingerprint reader
    • Web camera 720p HD
    • Backlit keyboard
    • Microphone Dual-Array Microphone
    • Speakers 2 Stereo Speakers
    • Optical drive
    • Security Lock slot

    All HP ZBook 15u G6 configurations

    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i5-8265U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 0256GB SSD
    • 4GB RAM
    $1403.68
    More Info Buy from HP.com
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 0512GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1699.00
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 01000GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1922.99
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8565U
    • AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    • 0512GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1949.99
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i5-8265U
    • AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    • 01000GB SSD
    • 64GB RAM
    $2259.00
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    #CommissionsEarned
    See all HP ZBook 15u G6 review – elegant work station on the go configurations

    What’s in the box?

    Its package resembles nothing fancy on the outside, nor on the inside. The laptop is protected by a plastic antistatic bag, while the 65W charger (or 45W in some configurations) is located in a separate compartment.

    Design and construction

    So in terms of a footprint and overall build, the HP ZBook 15u G6 is quite unchanged from its predecessor. However, on the brights side, gone is the top plastic stripe that acted like an LTE antenna. The laptop also retained the 18 mm profile and 1.77kg weight, which makes it an extremely portable device, especially considering it is labeled as a mobile workstation.

    Moving to the lid of the device, we first started to open it with a single hand, and to our surprise, the results were kind of hit or miss. Perhaps at 50% of the times, we were easily able to open the lid singe handed while the rest of the times, the base has lifted from the ground. If you take a look at the camera assembly, there are two circular modules on either side of it. They are IR blasters that help with the IR face recognition this laptop offers. As of the performance – it is fast and accurate, even in low light conditions.

    Next, there is the base. Similarly, to the last-year model, it is not only home to the keyboard and the touchpad, but also to the speakers (which are hidden beneath the rather long grill) and a fingerprint reader. While, the reader itself is not very satisfying, as it is significantly slower than the IR face recognition, we were pretty happy with the keyboard and the touchpad.

    First, the key travel is sufficient, and the actual feedback each key gives is very uniform and clicky. Add to that a fairly bright backlight and an anti-spill feature and you get a very decent keyboard experience. But wait! There’s more! Not only it features full-sized Number Pad keys, but it also has a proprietory nipple – quite similarly to Dell’s Latitudes, Lenovo’s ThinkPads and HP’s own EliteBook series. Despite that, we would definitely stick to the touchpad, which has a glass surface, dedicated mouse buttons (although they are meant for use with the nipple) and an NFC connectivity beneath it.

    Since the speakers are right above the keyboard, on the bottom side you will only see a grill for ventilation, while the hot air will come out of the left side of the laptop.

    Ports

    On the left side of the laptop, you are going to see a single USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port with a charging function and a Smart Card slot. That means that the I/O is predominantly located on the right side. There you will find the charging plug, a Thunderbolt port, as well as a proprietary docking port, an RJ-45 and HDMI connectors, and another USB Type-A 3.1 (Gen. 1) port.

    Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

    Once again, this is a pretty easy device to teardown. The backplate comes off when you unscrew the 10 Phillips head screws and then pry it from the chassis.

    As our unit was configured with a dedicated GPU, there are two heat pipes in use for the cooling. What is kind of unpleasant is that the CPU and the GPU are placed very close to each other, which may impede the effectiveness of the cooling system.

    Just beneath the two chips, there are two RAM DIMMs that are able to hold up to 32GB of DDR4 memory, while on their left, you can see the M.2 PCIe x4 NVMe drive slot.

    Battery-wise there is a 56Wh unit, which looks a little small for the packaging. No, that 56Wh is not enough, but we certainly feel that HP could have fitted more.

    Display quality

    HP ZBook 15u G6 has a Full HD IPS panel, with a model number CMN150D. Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 142 ppi, their pitch – 0.18 x 0.18 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 60 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

    Viewing angles are excellent. We provide images at different angles.

    The maximum measured brightness is 284 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 261 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 6520K (average) – matching the 6500K optimum for sRGB. The average color temperature through the grey scale before profiling is 6460K.
    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 60% Brightness (White level = 145 cd/m2, Black level = 0.1 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 impressive – 1480:1.

    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 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 ZBook 15u G6’s color gamut coverage.

    Sadly, its display covers just 54% 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 ZBook 15u 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 = 21 ms.

    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 ZBook 15u G6’s display uses PWM to adjust its brightness until 75 nits. Moreover, the pulsations have a very high frequency, which makes it comfortable for long working periods.

    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.

    Conclusions

    HP ZBook 15u G6’s display has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and good contrast ratio. While it doesn’t use an aggressive form of PWM to adjust its brightness, the limited color coverage can be considered as a disadvantage.

    Buy our profiles

    Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP ZBook 15u G6 configurations with 15.6″ CMN150D (FHD, 1920 × 1080) 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 - screen profile

    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.

    $4.96
    Buy Now Checkout Added to cart
    Design and Gaming - screen profile

    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.

    $4.97
    Buy Now Checkout Added to cart
    Health-Guard - screen profile

    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.

    $4.98
    Buy Now Checkout Added to cart
    All
    $9.99
    Buy Now Checkout Added to cart

    Sound

    HP ZBook 15u G6’s speakers are decent. Their low, mid and high frequencies are clear of deviations.

    Drivers

    All drivers and utilities for the ZBook 15u G6 can be found on HP’s official web page: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-zbook-15u-g6-mobile-workstation/22892886

    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 has a 56Wh battery pack onboard.

    With it, the ZBook 15u G6 achieved exceptional battery life – more than 14 hours of Web browsing and a little bit less than 15 hours of video playback.

    • Web surfing
    • Video playback
    In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    56Wh, 3-cell
    $1949.99
    price
    857 min.
    battery
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    533 min.-37.8%
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    650 min.-24.2%
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    71Wh, 8-cell
    $1599-18%
    783 min.-8.6%
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    56Wh
    507 min.-40.8%
    For every test like this, we use the same video in HD.
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    56Wh, 3-cell
    $1949.99
    price
    883 min.
    battery
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    488 min.-44.7%
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    542 min.-38.6%
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    71Wh, 8-cell
    $1599-18%
    654 min.-25.9%
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    56Wh
    438 min.-50.4%
    We use F1 2017’s built-in benchmark on loop in order to simulate real-life gaming.
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    56Wh, 3-cell
    $1949.99
    price
    battery
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    56Wh, 3-cell
    133 min.
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    71Wh, 8-cell
    $1599-18%
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    56Wh
    98 min.

    CPU options

    As this is a mobile workstation laptop, it is expected to see a mobile chip operating inside of it. The two options for you are the Core i5-8265U and the Core i7-8565U – both 4-core/8-thread solutions.

    • 3D Rendering
    • Adobe Photoshop
    Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    1169.00
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    1130.00-3.3%
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    1130.00-3.3%
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    1619.00
    Intel Core i7-8750H
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    2335.00+99.7%
    Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    0.00
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    14455.00
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    14455.00
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    0.00
    Intel Core i7-8750H
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    15197.00
    Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    9.31
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    11.63+24.9%
    Intel Core i7-8550U
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    11.63+24.9%
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    10.37
    Intel Core i7-8750H
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    10.72+15.1%

    HP ZBook 15u G6 CPU variants

    Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the HP ZBook 15u G6 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP ZBook 15u G6 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.

    • 3D Rendering
    • Adobe Photoshop
    Results are from the Cinebench 20 CPU test (the higher the score, the better)
    Intel Core i5-8265U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    1174
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8665U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1699.00+21%
    1208+2.9%
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    1169-0.4%
    Results are from the Fritz chess benchmark (the higher the score, the better)
    Intel Core i5-8265U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8665U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1699.00+21%
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    Results are from our Photoshop benchmark test (the lower the score, the better)
    Intel Core i5-8265U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    7.93
    performance
    Intel Core i7-8665U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1699.00+21%
    7.23-8.8%
    Intel Core i7-8565U
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    7.41-6.6%

    GPU options

    If you don’t need any significant graphics power, you can go for the integrated UHD Graphics 620. However, HP has got your back with a dedicated “professional-grade” GPU – the AMD Radeon Pro WX3200, which comes with 4GB of GDDR5 memory.

    • 3DMark Fire Strike (G)
    • Unigine Heaven 3.0
    • Unigine Heaven 4.0
    • Unigine Superposition
    Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    3131.00
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    2565.00-18.1%
    AMD Radeon RX 540 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    2488.00-20.5%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    7581.00+142.1%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q (4GB GDDR5)
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    7491.00+139.3%
    Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    909.00
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    623.00-31.5%
    AMD Radeon RX 540 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    491.00-46%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    2390.00+162.9%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q (4GB GDDR5)
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    2371.00+160.8%
    Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    716.00
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    397.00-44.6%
    AMD Radeon RX 540 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    383.00-46.5%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    1784.00+149.2%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q (4GB GDDR5)
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    1541.00+115.2%
    Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99
    price
    551.00
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G5
    413.00-25%
    AMD Radeon RX 540 (2GB GDDR5)
    HP EliteBook 850 G5
    300.00-45.6%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q
    Asus ZenBook 15 UX534
    $1599.00-18%
    1578.00+186.4%
    NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti Max-Q (4GB GDDR5)
    Dell XPS 15 (9570)
    1921.00+248.6%

    HP ZBook 15u G6 GPU variants

    Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the HP ZBook 15u G6 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP ZBook 15u G6 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.

    • 3DMark Fire Strike (G)
    • Unigine Heaven 3.0
    • Unigine Heaven 4.0
    • Unigine Superposition
    Results are from the 3DMark: Fire Strike (Graphics) benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    Intel UHD Graphics 620
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    1123
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    3131+178.8%
    Results are from the Unigine Heaven 3.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    Intel UHD Graphics 620
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    304
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    909+199%
    Results are from the Unigine Heaven 4.0 benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    Intel UHD Graphics 620
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    230
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    716+211.3%
    Results are from the Unigine Superposition benchmark (higher the score, the better)
    Intel UHD Graphics 620
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1403.68
    price
    242
    performance
    AMD Radeon Pro WX 3200 (4GB GDDR5)
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    $1949.99+39%
    551+127.7%

    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 i7-8565U (15W TDP) 0:02 – 0:10 sec 0:15 – 0:30 sec 10:00 – 15:00 min
    HP ZBook 15u G6 2.53 GHz (B+41%) @ 64°C 2.03 GHz (B+13%) @ 56°C 2.00 GHz (B+11%) @ 60°C
    ASUS ZenBook 15 UX534 3.32 GHz (B+84%) @ 85°C 3.10 GHz (B+72%) @ 89°C 2.68 GHz (B+49%) @ 83°C
    MSI PS63 Modern 3.17 GHz (B+76%) @ 95°C 2.56 GHz (B+42%) @ 95°C 2.32 GHz (B+29%) @ 95°C
    ASUS ZenBook 15 UX533 3.92 GHz (B+118%) @ 65°C 3.82 GHz (B+112%) @ 79°C 2.71 GHz (B+51%) @ 75°C
    HP Spectre x360 15 (15-df0000) 3.10 GHz (B+72%) @ 69°C 1.92 GHz (B+7%) @ 61°C 1.88 GHz (B+4%) @ 64°C
    Dell Inspiron 14 5482 2-in-1 3.12 GHz (B+73%) @ 96°C 2.56 GHz (B+42%) @ 94°C 2.01 GHz (B+12%) @ 76°C

    Comfort during full load

    In terms of noise, the laptop doesn’t get too loud under heavy load. Additionally, the hottest spot we measured was about 43C and unsurprisingly – it was the nipple.

    Verdict

    Putting it straight, the HP ZBook 15u G6 is not really a significant upgrade over the ZBook 15u G5. In fact, it is pretty much the same device with a refreshed processor and GPU. While to some extent both of them work better than their previous versions, the differences are just too small.

    Especially, when it comes to the CPU. Last year, we saw a significant underperformance from the Core i7-8550U. Now, things are just the same, with the processor not being utilized fully (and we all know the potential of Core i7-8565U). Nevertheless, the ZBook 15u G6 still stays a very respectable piece of hardware.

    The upgradability is good with the two RAM DIMMs and the single M.2 storage slot. Despite the lack of a 2.5″ SATA drive support, we were happy to see four PCIe lanes for the M.2 drive, which makes it support extremely high speeds. Moreover, the laptop is equipped with a Thunderbolt connector.

    HP ZBook 15u G6’s display has an IPS panel with a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, and good contrast ratio. While it doesn’t use an aggressive form of PWM to adjust its brightness, the limited color coverage can be considered as a disadvantage.

    So, what is its greatest strength? – definitely the battery life. It goes to 14 hours of Web browsing and around 15 hours of video playback.

    In terms of the business usability – you have a great keyboard and touchpad, with the former having long keystrokes and tactile feedback, and the latter being super smooth and housing an NFC antenna inside. Additionally, the laptop is equipped with a fingerprint reader and an IR face recognition system, to please those security freaks. If we have to be completely honest (and we do) the fingerprint reader is far from the best in the industry – it is pretty accurate, but its speed is mediocre.

    We would gladfully give this device an Editor’s choice award if it wasn’t for the sub-par performance – especially in longer tasks. While the CPU is the bomb when it comes to short tasks, like editing an image in Photoshop or doing some Excell maths, as soon as you try to render a video, the clock speeds plummet drastically. It is the same with the graphics card – at the beginning of a benchmark it performs really nice, but when you go five or more minutes into the test, its performance gets halved.

    Pros

    • Thin and light form factor
    • Packed with security and usability features
    • Comfortable input devices
    • Astounding battery life
    • IR face recognition and fingerprint reader onboard
    • Thunderbolt support and PCIe x4 M.2 slot
    • Doesn’t use aggressive PWM to adjust its brightness
    • Has a good contrast ratio and comfortable viewing angles

    Cons

    • Underperforming hardware
    • Covers only 54% of sRGB

    You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-zbook-15u-g6/

    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i5-8265U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 256GB SSD
    • 4GB RAM
    $1403.68
    More Info Buy from HP.com
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 512GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1699.00
    More Info Buy from Amazon
    HP ZBook 15u G6
    • Intel Core i7-8665U
    • Intel UHD Graphics 620
    • 1000GB SSD
    • 16GB RAM
    $1922.99
    More Info Buy from Amazon
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    JohnST
    JohnST
    1 year ago

    You do not have display parameters in many reviews. It is becoming a rule. Why is such a review I ask? The display is one with the key elements of a laptop after all!

    4
    Reply
    Kris
    Kris
    1 year ago

    What about the display?

    0
    Reply
    SteveB
    SteveB
    1 year ago

    Totally agree with JohnST – unless there is some reference to the percentage coverage of sRGB / AdobeRGB the review is pointless for anyone requiring visual colour accuracy.

    0
    Reply
    JohnST
    JohnST
    1 year ago

    After three months, will you fill in the display parameters? It’s a joke, isn’t it?

    0
    Reply
    Alex Iliev
    Author
    Alex Iliev
    1 year ago
    Reply to  JohnST

    Actually, It is not a joke. We were extremely busy in the past several months to provide you with the highest quality content, we could deliver.

    So now, perhaps if you reload the page, you can read the full review, updated with its proper display portion.

    0
    Reply

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