HP EliteBook 1030 G1 Subnotebook Review

After you loosen a total of 11 Torx-T8 screws, it is no problem to remove the large bottom panel of the notebook. This is commendable, but it won't be necessary very often – the CPU and memory are soldered onto the motherboard and there is no fan you could clean. You will still be happy about the easy access if you want to replace the SSD or WLAN card and the battery.

At 3200x1800 pixels, the 13.3-inch display of the EliteBook has a higher resolution than some 30-inch monitors – this results in an impressive pixel density of 276 PPI. Sharpness and details are therefore excellent, but you are basically forced to use a scaling factor of at least 150%. This generally works pretty well with Windows 10, only some older applications can still have problems with extremely high resolutions. HP currently does not offer any other screen options for the 1030 G1, but a matte Full HD panel was already announced.

Not only the extremely sharp picture is an advantage of the panel: At almost 370 cd/m² it is also one of the brightest displays in this format right now. It is therefore usually no problem to reduce the luminance by a couple of levels most of the time, and there is no PWM flickering at any level. Only the minimum luminance at 18 cd/m² is a bit too high and the brightness distribution is not quite perfect, either.

Thanks to the IPS panel and a low black value of just 0.35 cd/m², dark picture content is conveniently rich. The resulting contrast ratio of 1146:1 represents what is currently possible with the LCD technology; much higher values would only be possible with OLED screens, which are still extremely expensive right now.

You also get a mostly undistorted and easily visible picture when you shift from the central seating position. The viewing angles are particularly wide with horizontal changes, while angles from above or below result in a slightly bigger contrast drop and paler colors. The performance of the EliteBook is average compared to other IPS screens.

HP decided to use the current top model of the frugal Core m lineup, the Core m7-6Y75. It is a Skylake chip with two cores including Hyper-Threading and the clocks can reach 1.2-3.1 GHz (2 cores up to 2.9 GHz) depending on the load. The default TDP for the whole 14-nm chip is 4.5 Watts, but this value can be adjusted by the notebook manufacturer.

As expected, the EliteBook is not equipped with a dedicated GPU and the graphics are exclusively handled by the integrated HD Graphics 515. With its 24 execution units (EUs), the technical specs are similar to the HD Graphics 520 of the more powerful 15-Watt models, but the Turbo Boost range (300-1000 MHz) and therefore the performance are more limited by the low TDP.

The Core m lineup currently does not support DDDR4-RAM and relies on the hardly slower and particularly efficient LPDDR3-RAM (effective clock 1866 MHz) instead. 16 GB in a dual-channel configuration is directly soldered onto the motherboard. The storage device is a compact M.2-SSD with a capacity of 512 GB.

Similar to other manufacturers, HP did increase the TDP limit of the Core m chip to improve the performance. While Dell, for example, only raises it to 5.5 Watts for the Latitude 13 7370, the processor in the EliteBook can consume up to 10.5 Watts – all the time. The limit is even increased to 15 Watts for the first 30 seconds.

The result of this adjustment is impressive: The Cinebench R15 Single-Core test is executed with the maximum clock (3.1 GHz), and the Multi-test with at least 2.7 GHz after the initial 2.9 GHz. The core frequency will only drop below the 2 GHz mark during the fourth run and starts to stabilize (depending on the ambient temperature) roughly on this level. This is the case for mains and battery operation.

Depending on the duration of the benchmark, the Core m7-6Y75 can even beat some of the Core i5 siblings. Sure: This kind of performance cannot be sustained for longer periods, but this is usually not required for a portable subnotebook. The responsiveness and the handling of short peak load are much more important – and HP's concept really works in this case.

Fast M.2-SSDs with PCIe interfaces are almost standard in the high-end segment – so it is more surprising that even the most expensive SKU of the EliteBook 1030 G1 is only equipped with a common SATA model. The SanDisk X300 does offer a lot of storage space (512 GB) but does not set any performance records with sequential transfer rates of around 470 (read) and 300 MB/s (write), respectively. Comparable PCIe-SSDs in the Latitude 13 or MacBook 12 easily surpass the 1 GB/s mark and can therefore copy large amounts of files much quicker. You can at least doubt if this is really important in practice; users of the EliteBook will hardly notice any differences when they launch applications thanks to the good 4K results of the X300.

Just like the CPU, the GPU of the EliteBook also comes pretty close to its Skylake sibling (particularly the HD Graphics 520 from the 15-Watt lineup) – at least when you look at the 3DMark scores. We have to be a bit careful here though, since real 3D applications usually create sustained load and therefore do not really benefit from a fast Turbo that is supposed to cover peak load. If you play for more than a couple of minutes or edit CAD models, you will have to expect a noticeable performance drop of the HD Graphics 515 due to the lack of a fan.

The system does leave an excellent impression in terms of video playback. It does not matter if you watch H.264 or H.265/HEVC, Full HD or 4K: Almost all the important standards are decoded by Skylake at minimum CPU load and the corresponding movies run smoothly. Only VP9 as well as HEVC Main 10 require additional support from the CPU and GPU.

Even though the EliteBook can consume quite a lot of power for short periods, the user does not have to expect burned fingers. The clocks are reduced stepwise based on increasing chassis and hardware temperatures, so the chassis does not get much warmer than lukewarm even under sustained loads. Only some spots at the right side will just surpass 40 °C, but this is also the case for some actively cooled competitors.

The Core m7 starts our stress test with almost its full Turbo Boost and a CPU consumption of 15 Watts before the mentioned throttling sets in. After around one hour, the 6Y75 levels off at 700 MHz (CPU) and 450 MHz (GPU), respectively, which corresponds with a power consumption of 5 Watts. If you only stress the processor with Prime95, you will at least get a CPU clock of 1.7 GHz. There is actually more potential here when you consider core temperatures of around 65 °C, but the chassis would also get much warmer as a result.

There can be different opinions about the basic concept of a passively cooled business notebook: If you have to run demanding calculations even at summery temperatures and need as much performance as possible, you will definitely be better off with a classic Core i processor. For simple office applications, browsing or video conferences, however, you usually do not need as much performance – other aspects like the input devices, weight and the noise development are more important.

HP took this approach and created an almost perfect device with the EliteBook 1030 G1. The notebook is among the best devices in terms of quality and can particularly convince with its build quality, the keyboard, and the display. The application performance is also pretty good, despite the mentioned limitations, since HP managed a good compromise between performance and heat development thanks to clever TDP and temperature limits. Only the comparatively short battery runtime does not really meet our idea of a perfect Ultrabook – the upcoming Full HD model will probably have more stamina if you can waive the extremely sharp QHD+ panel.

All in all, the 1030 G1 really deserves a recommendation, even though the high retail prices between 1,500 and 2,000 Euros (~$1697 and ~$2263) might scare off some potential buyers at first. Similar competitors, however, are not cheaper.