The EliteBook Ultra G1i is the latest version of HP’s premium range of ultrathin laptops, which were previously branded as “Dragonfly”. It comes in a sleek dark blue enclosure only about 1.2cm thick when closed (like most units in this segment, it’s a bit thicker at the back than the front). It feels very sturdy and well-balanced —you can lift its 1.2kg with one hand, without feeling like it’s in danger of bending.

The screen is big and clear, and HP has done a remarkable job of producing an extremely thin bezel around the display. The unit is overall only slightly larger than a 13-inch MacBook Air, yet its 14-inch screen feels vastly more expansive. The bezel includes a 9-megapixel Twebcam, which (thankfully) has a nice little privacy cover built in.

It features a good selection of ports, with a headphone jack, USB-C and even USB-A (increasingly rare these days, especially on laptops) on the left, and two more USB-C ports on the right. You can charge the battery from either the left or the right side, which I appreciate. An HDMI port might be a nice addition in this price range, but there are enough USB-C ports that a dongle probably isn’t too much of a headache.

Under the hood, the EliteBook sports an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, which has four performance cores and four efficiency cores and runs at 2.2GHz with turbo boost up to 5GHz. It also features Intel Arc graphics acceleration and an NPU for AI tasks that Intel rates at 48 Int8 TOPS, though AI performance is notoriously difficult to benchmark.

Speaking of AI, the EliteBook Ultra G1i meets Microsoft’s specs to be called a Copilot+ PC. And it comes equipped with HP’s own AI Companion, a beta application that allows you to run AI tasks either on device (better for privacy) or in the cloud. In use I found both modes usable, but it is a beta so no real judgment can be made for its performance.

Overall the machine is highly responsive and worked its way through everyday productivity tasks with the kind of efficiency you expect from a machine in this price range.

Battery life is also very good, and I managed to get several days’ use out of the EliteBook before it even started looking like needing a charge. Interestingly, the charge level seemed to drop off quite quickly at first, then plateau. I assume this is some intelligent power management going on behind the scenes to optimise battery usage to my needs.

One criticism I have is that the keyboard and trackpad both feel a little plasticky. Unlike equivalent notebooks from Lenovo or Apple, the HP’s keyboard feels decidedly not premium. At least to my fingers. Your mileage may vary.

HP also touts the audio performance of the EliteBook. It sports four stereo speakers, but still managed to sound tinny. While I doubt anyone’s buying a laptop like this as a home cinema, there are absolutely machines out there at comparable price points that will make streaming Netflix on a business trip sound better.

At a list price of $3,870, the EliteBook Ultra G1i is solid but not brilliant value.

It certainly looks great, and it feels astonishingly light for the performance it’s packing.

But its flimsy-feeling keyboard and thin-sounding speakers let it down. If multimedia isn’t what you need, and you’re interested in solid performance and portability, this may well be the device for you.

Rating: 8/10

Pros

  • Looks great
  • Incredibly thin, and one of the lightest PCs in its class
  • Plenty of ports
  • Very solid performance, pre-loaded for AI applications

 

Cons

  • Keyboard and trackpad feel cheap
  • No HDMI output
  • Audio output from speakers is unimpressive
  • At the price there are better-value competitors