HP EliteBook 755 G2 (J0X38AW) Notebook Review

Although the screen is based on the relatively cheap TN technology, the first impression of the image is impressive. With just 0.61 cd/m², the black reproduction is sufficiently rich so that a contrast ratio of 549:1 is achieved. Thus, the 755 G2 outstrips, for example, Lenovo's ThinkPad S540 (346:1), but not a high-quality IPS screen with rates of 1000:1 or more. These screens are now even found in many low-budget consumer devices - and consequently we would expect more from a premium laptop for corporate customers.

The same is true for the color calibration ex-factory. Unfortunately, the manufacturer has failed vigorously here, which is expressed in a visible bluish cast and a very high DeltaE of 10.5 (colors) and 12.4 (grayscale). We would recommend using an adapted color profile (download possible in the chart above), which reduces the shifts to a minimum. Only the limited color space cannot be improved and thus prevents using the laptop as a professional photo or graphics workstation.

Finally, we would like to briefly deal with the viewing-angle stability. It is not one of the screen's strengths due to the underlying TN technology. The screen is particularly sensitive to vertical movements and reacts with loss of contrast and color deviations. The user has slightly more elbowroom from the sides. Nevertheless, the EliteBook remains to be an office device for a single user.

Four CPU cores, a clock rate of up to 3.3 GHz - the technical specs of the 19-watt chip look really impressive at first. However, the notorious "but" follows: First, the performance per clock is still far below that of the competition, and then the impressive Turbo headroom is utilized only very inadequately. The frequency fluctuates only between 2.5 and 2.8 GHz even in the single-thread benchmarks; just 1.9 to 2.1 GHz is achieved when both modules are loaded. That naturally has an impact on the performance. A Core i5-4200U surpasses that by 30 to 60% depending on the application, and the A10 Pro-7350B also has a hard time competing against a Core i3-4030U. We would have definitely expected more here, especially since AMD's even more frugal and cheaper A6-6310 does not calculate very much slower. No performance differences between battery and AC modes were noticed.

Although the user does not get a swift SSD in the lower-priced configuration of the 755 G2, a small comfort is the fast 500 GB HDD with 7200 revolutions per minute. In contrast to most conventional hard drives, the considerably higher speed of the HGST Travelstar Z7K500 not only improves the access time to an acceptable 16.9 milliseconds, it also ensures remarkable transfer rates. A good 102 MB/s in the HD Tune benchmark is absolutely impressive for a conventional magnetic storage device. However, the EliteBook naturally cannot quite match the responsiveness of an accordingly more expensive SSD system.

Of the Kaveri's 512 GCN Shaders, only 384 units are active in the Radeon R6. Only the 35-watt FX-7600P top model offers the full extension of the chip with its Radeon R7. However, the memory interface is more important for the performance, which is the decisive bottleneck. The bandwidth is just 25.6 GB/s even with the ideal dual-channel configuration and DDR3-1600 that the GPU and processor have to share. But then, (almost) every integrated graphics solution struggles with the same problem.

The Radeon R6 conducts its strong Shader power quite well on the virtual lane in the synthetic 3DMark 11, which is comparatively easy on the bandwidth. A lead of approximately 50% on the HD Graphics 4400 (also with dual-channel interface) underlines AMD's superiority in the graphics field. Only the jerky playback of our 4K test video (H.264, 100 Mbps) was disappointing - Intel's contenders do a better job here.

The difference between the Radeon R6 and HD 4400, both with the same memory configuration, diminishes slightly to approximately 20% on average in the real gaming benchmarks. Although smooth gaming fun will not emerge from absolutely unplayable frame rates, some higher detail settings can certainly be selected. Nevertheless, more than low to medium settings and 1024x768 pixels are only rarely possible in current games.

The graphics unit's performance will likely be boosted noticeably with a higher TDP specification. The core clock drops to approximately 400 MHz during simultaneous CPU and GPU load in order to comply with the 19 watts specified for the entire APU.

The noticed, though not yet distracting, temperature increase of up to approximately 34 °C just in idle was a bit surprising. Since the fans in other contenders remain inactive when idling, this can only be the result of higher power consumption - but more about that in the following section. The average load rates of 38 °C were as we expected and are within an uncritical range. Consequently, the laptop can be used on the thighs without hesitation.

Despite a low core temperature of only 67 °C, the A10 APU throttled heavily in our stress test. A CPU clock of just 1.1 GHz is far remote from the actual base clock of 2.1 GHz. The graphics unit fluctuates between 280 and 410 MHz at the same time - as much as 553 MHz would be possible here. We assume that HP limits the chip's consumption before the maximum 19 watts in order to keep both the noise development and casing temperatures on a low level.

Same quality, lower price: As to the casing's build, the screen or the input devices' properties, HP's EliteBook 755 G2 is an equal match for the at least 100 Euros (~$128) more expensive 850 G1. Well, almost because we do not want to keep the omitted keyboard backlight and axed M.2 slot a secret at this point.

Informed readers will have guessed that the A10 Pro-7350B cannot quite keep up with a swift Core i5 processor even before this test. The advantage of a Core i5-4200U ranges with about 30 to 60% according to our benchmarks and is thus also occasionally noticed in practical use. It would, however, be foolhardy to call the Kaveri APU sluggish - the chip has more than enough power for common office tasks and light multitasking. The tide turns when it comes to the graphics unit. AMD's relatively fast GPU will rarely pay off in a pure office device because the modern HSA concept hardly shows its assets in current applications. Furthermore, Intel's HD Graphics 4400 is only slightly behind the Radeon R6 that is apparently slowed down by memory and consumption limitations.

We deem the short battery runtime to be by far the biggest drawback of the 755 G2. The EliteBook shuts down in under four hours in everyday use, which makes having the power supply at hand essential. That is the main reason why it is difficult for us to give the laptop an unconditional purchase recommendation. Potential buyers would be well advised to wait for the announced EliteBook 750 G1, which is a somewhat less expensive version of the 850 G1 and thus a direct contender of the 755 G2.