Since we already have a review for the HP EliteBook 860 G10, now it's time to see what the HP EliteBook 650 G10 has to offer. The smaller sibling comes at a lower price and expectedly there are some cut downs here and there. The first noticeable difference is the 15.6" panel with a regular 16:9 aspect ratio. Speaking of which, there are ten display options (yes, ten) and we can spot some 768p units in the mix as well as a touchscreen variant. Still, most of the screens are 1080p models but read the specs very carefully before buying. Just like its premium "cousin", the 650 G10 version relies on Raptor Lake U or P-series CPUs. This time around, you get DDR4 memory which is a cost-saving solution. On the other hand, we can hint that the upgradability is good and the same applies to the I/O. The connectivity is up to date - Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3. You can also pay extra for an optional WWAN card, fingerprint reader, and an IR camera. We are happy to see that the privacy shutter, the TMP 2.0 chip, and the self-healing bios are standard features for all devices. If you want your laptop to be as secure as possible, you can opt for a vPro processor. For gamers in the office, there is an optional dGPU and HP claims that the notebook has passed many MIL-STD 810H tests. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-650-g10/ Specs, Drivers, What's in the box Drivers All drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/hp-elitebook-650-15.6-inch-g10-notebook-pc/2101595156 What's in the box? Inside the package, we find the laptop itself, a bit of paperwork, and a 65W barrel plug or Type-C adapter. Design and construction Not much has changed compared to the 650 G9 version. It's not a bad thing since the machine looks modern. It's not among the thinnest and lightest though. The profile thickness is 19.9mm and the laptop stops the scales at 1.78 kg (that's the starting weight). So, the new notebook is slightly heavier than its predecessor. The lid can be opened with a single hand but you can twist the unit with ease. The base is solid, you can slightly bend the zone above the touchpad and below the Arrow keys but that happens only when you press down the base on purpose. The chassis is mostly made of metal. The bezels around the panel are narrow and the top one houses a 720p Web camera with a privacy shutter and Temporal Noise Reduction. There is also an optional 720p IR unit and a 5MP IR variant. The lid lifts the back of the laptop when the angle of opening is very wide. Unfortunately, there are no rubber feet at the bottom of the lid so scratches are inevitable. The speaker grill is placed above the keyboard. The latter is very comfortable for long hours of typing because of the long travel and the clicky feedback of the big keycaps. The board is spill-resistant but the backlight isn't a standard feature. The optional fingerprint reader is positioned below the NumPad section. The touchpad isn't among the smoothest that we have tested but its accuracy is above average which is good. However, you'll notice an annoyingly loud sound when left-clicking with the pad. The bottom plate is business as usual - two long rubber feet and a decently sized ventilation grill. The heat is guided through a vent on the back of the laptop that aims at the hinge cover. Part of the hot air makes its way to the display when the CPU is working hard. Ports On the left, you can spot a Nano Security Lock Slot, LAN, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, and an optional Smartcard Reader. On the right, there is a power connector, a Thunderbolt 4, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port with charging capabilities, an HDMI 2.1, an Audio combo jack, and an optional Nano SIM card slot. Both Type-Cs support USB Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4. Display quality, Health impact (PWM), Sound HP EliteBook 650 G10 is equipped with a Full HD IPS panel, model number LG Display LGD071E. It comes with a 60Hz refresh rate. Its diagonal is 15.6" (39.6 cm), and the resolution - 1920 x 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 142 ppi, and 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 comfortable. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality. Also, a video with locked focus and exposure. The maximum measured brightness is 265 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 256 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 6410K (average). 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 76% Brightness (White level = 141 cd/m2, Black level = 0.12 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 – 1170:1. 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 650 G10's color gamut coverage. Its display covers 52% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976 and 41% of DCI-P3. 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 650 G10 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 = 29 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 650 G10's display doesn't flicker at any brightness level. This makes the screen pretty 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 24.4 GU). Sound HP EliteBook 650 G10's speakers produce a sound of good quality. However, its low, mid, and high tones have some slight 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 650 G10 configurations with 15.6" LG Display LGD071E (1920 x 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 bg.laptopmedia@gmail.com. Read more about the profiles HERE. Performance: CPU, GPU, Gaming Tests All benchmarks and tests were conducted with the "Best performance" preset activated in the Windows “Power & Battery” menu. Also, the "Fan always on while on AC Power" function is enabled in the BIOS. CPU options This notebook can be picked with the Intel Core i3-1315U, Core i5-1335U, Core i5-1345U, Core i5-1350P, Core i7-1355U, Core i7-1365U, or Core i7-1370P. GPU options If the iGPU inside of the CPU isn't enough for your needs, you can get the optional NVIDIA GeForce RTX2050 with 4GB GDDR6 memory. Gaming tests CS:GO HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings) HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings) Average FPS 80 fps 75 fps 39 fps DOTA 2 HD 1080p, Low (Check settings) HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings) HD 1080p, High (Check settings) Average FPS 98 fps 56 fps 32 fps The performance of the Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 (80EU) isn't great because our laptop has one stick of 16GB DDR4-3200 MHz that works in a single-channel mode. [eBook Guide + Tools] How to MAX OUT your Laptop 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 i5-1335U (15W TDP) 0:02 - 0:10 sec 0:15 - 0:30 sec 10:00 - 15:00 min HP EliteBook 650 G10 3.73 GHz @ 2.87 GHz @ 88°C @ 49W 2.81 GHz @ 2.09 GHz @ 90°C @ 29W 2.50 GHz @ 1.88 GHz @ 81°C @ 24W HP 250 G10 3.33 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 73°C @ 40W 3.08 GHz @ 2.23 GHz @ 85°C @ 35W 2.11 GHz @ 1.76 GHz @ 76°C @ 22W ASUS Vivobook 17 F1704 (X1704) 3.10 GHz @ 2.14 GHz @ 71°C @ 30W 3.09 GHz @ 2.16 GHz @ 89°C @ 30W 1.97 GHz @ 1.67 GHz @ 70°C @ 18W ASUS Vivobook 15 F1504 (X1504) 2.99 GHz @ 2.07 GHz @ 66°C @ 28W 2.94 GHz @ 2.07 GHz @ 81°C @ 28W 2.02 GHz @ 1.68 GHz @ 75°C @ 18W Acer Aspire 5 (A515-58M) 2.05 GHz @ 2.74 GHz @ 61°C @ 47W 1.81 GHz @ 2.54 GHz @ 64°C @ 40W 1.22 GHz @ 2.23 GHz @ 61°C @ 28W HP ProBook 440 G10 2.39 GHz @ 2.93 GHz @ 93°C @ 50W 1.51 GHz @ 2.29 GHz @ 92°C @ 30W 0.94 GHz @ 1.87 GHz @ 72°C @ 19W HP ProBook 450 G10 3.41 GHz @ 2.79 GHz @ 94°C @ 48W 2.80 GHz @ 2.17 GHz @ 94°C @ 31W 1.87 GHz @ 2.04 GHz @ 81°C @ 23W Acer Swift Go 16 (SFG16-71) 3.29 GHz @ 2.46 GHz @ 65°C @ 45W 3.06 GHz @ 2.37 GHz @ 71°C @ 42W 1.80 GHz @ 1.98 GHz @ 61°C @ 28W Lenovo ThinkBook 14s Yoga Gen 3 1.91 GHz @ 1.20 GHz @ 63°C @ 19W 1.86 GHz @ 0.90 GHz @ 74°C @ 14W 1.83 GHz @ 0.90 GHz @ 60°C @ 13W Here, the Core i5-1335U can maintain impressively high CPU clocks in short and long loads. The temperatures in the first two columns are high but in longer stress, the processor settles at 81°C which is okay. Gaming comfort The HP Power Manager app lacks power presets. You can control the machine's performance via the default Windows modes. Still, the noise under max load is low and at the same time, the keyboard isn't scorching hot to the touch. 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. Our notebook is equipped with a 51.3Wh battery pack. It lasts for 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 7 hours and 9 minutes of video playback. Disassembly, Upgrade options, and Maintenance If you want to open the device, you have to undo 5 Phillips-head screws. Then, pry the bottom panel with a plastic tool, starting from the top two corners. Here's how the bottom plate looks on the inside. This is a 51.3Wh battery. If you have to take it out, detach the connector from the mainboard, and undo the six Phillips-head screws, that are keeping the unit in place. The battery lasts for 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 7 hours and 9 minutes of video playback. Memory-wise, there are two SODIMMs that can handle up to 64GB of DDR4-3200MHz in dual-channel mode. For storage, there is one slot for 2280 Gen 4 SSDs and one for 2230 NVMes. The slot for shorter devices also fits a WWAN card for optional LTE connectivity. The cooling system is basic. It has one large fan, a single heat pipe, one heat sink, and a heat spreader. Storage performance The SSD of our notebook is the 512GB KIOXIA KBG50ZNV512G. This is a Gen 4 NVMe that reached 53°C during our testing (which is normal). Verdict The HP EliteBook 650 G10 is a good business device that doesn't lack too many features compared to some other more expensive premium machines. The cooling is very good despite the fact that it has just one fan and s single heat pipe. In our case, the optional Core i5-1335U can maintain high P and E core frequencies and the fan remains quiet. The keyboard doesn't become too hot during max CPU stress so you can use it normally. Yes, the comfort under load is on point which is very important for an office device like this one. The notebook feels snappy but our laptop isn't going to top the benchmark charts because it has one 16GB memory module that works in a single channel mode. This reminds us that the upgradability options are good - two SODIMMs for up to 64GB of DDR4-3200 MHz RAM and two M.2 slots. The one that is meant for 2230 SSDs is also compatible with a WWAN card for optional LTE connectivity. The I/O seems up to date with its two Type-C, two Type-A ports, and HDMI 2.1. Also, the keyboard is comfortable for typing and has a NumPad. The 16:9 1080p IPS display (LG Display LGD071E) isn't the most color-accurate panel on the market but it's good enough for work because it's PMW-free, and it has wide viewing angles and a good contrast ratio. The battery life is long, no matter the modest 51.3Wh capacity - 11 hours and 7 minutes of Web browsing, or 7 hours and 9 minutes of video playback on a single charge is a respectable result. At the end of the day, the HP EliteBook 650 G10 impresses with its good keyboard, nice upgradability, PWM-free IPS display, and capable cooling solution. You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-650-g10/