HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 Ultrabook Review
For the original German review, see here.
HP has updated the EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 that we tested in March 2014. Essentially, it makes extensive use of the latest Broadwell generation in place of Haswell hardware. Various configurations are again offered; a total of four could be scrutinized on the HP product page at test time. Differences are found in the processors, where buyers can opt for an Intel Core i5-5200U (2x 2.2 - 2.7 GHz, Hyper-Threading, TDP: 15 watts) or a faster i7-5600U (2x 2.6 - 3.2 GHz, Hyper-Threading, TDP: 15 watts) like in our review sample labeled H9W04EA. The working memory is either 4 or 8 GB, and the SSD optionally has a capacity of 128 or 256 GB. The two pricier models both feature 4G wireless modules, and the two less expensive models have to be satisfied with Wi-Fi. We will discuss the differences in screens further below.
Since the new G2 models are identical with the former generation, we will not go in-depth about casing, connectivity, input devices or speakers, and we refer readers to our detailed review of the 1040 G1. Equally sized contenders of the G2 would, for example, be Lenovo's ThinkPad T450s and Dell's Latitude 14 E7450. However, the lower-priced HP EliteBook 840 G2 is also a serious homegrown rival. An overview of good business ultrabooks can be found in our Top 10 chart.
Display
HP has opted for a glare-type Full HD screen (16:9) with touch support based on IPS technology that has a pixel density of 157 ppi at a 14-inch diagonal. It was only enough for a low-cost, non-touch, matte TN screen that also involved some drawbacks in the former HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 reviewed as model H5F62ET. Of the four available G2 models discovered on HP's corresponding website, only the review sample has a touchscreen while the others are all furnished with non-touch, matte screens with 1600x900 pixels (H9W00EA) or 1920x1080 pixels (H9W01EA, H9W05EA).
The image sharpness gives no reason for complaint when sitting at a normal distance of roughly half-a-meter. Like both contenders, the maximum brightness of approximately 275 cd/m² (center) is on a very good yet not exceptional level that many premium business laptops achieve or even surpass. We cannot think of any scenario where the brightness would be too low - at least indoors. An illumination of 85% actually should not be conspicuous. However, visible screen bleeding at the lower right edge was observed on a completely black screen in our review sample when using maximum brightness. That will likely only be noticed in dark content.
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Brightness Distribution: 85 %
Center on Battery: 274 cd/m²
Contrast: 1305:1 (Black: 0.21 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 3.93 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.86
ΔE Greyscale 5.28 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
61% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
68.3% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
94.8% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
66.1% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.49
HP deserves praise for the agreeably low black level of just 0.21 cd/m², which is not often achieved by IPS screens. Alongside the superb brightness, it leads to an exemplary contrast of 1305:1. Subjectively, we did not find black especially saturated, which might be due to the reflective surface. The IPS screens in both the ThinkPad T450s and Latitude accomplish low black levels but do not quite reach that of the review sample.
The screen in the G2 "only" covers 61% of the large AdobeRGB color space, which is usually only relevant for professional image editors. However, it achieves 95% of the wider spread sRGB color space to which the majority of consumer devices, such as monitors and digital cameras, are geared. Is this perhaps a candidate that can be recommended for image editing to hobby photographers? Not quite because the color shifts represented by the DeltaE rate should be less than DeltaE 3. The screen from AU Optronics (just) misses that in state of delivery. The color profile linked in the box might remedy this. Both Dell's and Lenovo's devices are impressive in terms of color accuracy. In total, the differences between the screens are very tight.
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 | Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | Dell Latitude E7450 | HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (H5F62ET) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | -8% | -1% | -38% | |
| Display P3 Coverage | 66.1 | 64.8 -2% | 66.6 1% | 40.89 -38% |
| sRGB Coverage | 94.8 | 83.8 -12% | 92.4 -3% | 60.4 -36% |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 68.3 | 61.2 -10% | 67.7 -1% | 41.91 -39% |
| Screen | -2% | -5% | -90% | |
| Brightness middle | 274 | 272 -1% | 280 2% | 282 3% |
| Brightness | 263 | 268 2% | 257 -2% | 259 -2% |
| Brightness Distribution | 85 | 91 7% | 75 -12% | 86 1% |
| Black Level * | 0.21 | 0.245 -17% | 0.3 -43% | 0.65 -210% |
| Contrast | 1305 | 1110 -15% | 933 -29% | 434 -67% |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.93 | 4.35 -11% | 3.45 12% | 13.08 -233% |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.28 | 3.7 30% | 3.35 37% | 14.4 -173% |
| Gamma | 2.49 88% | 2.68 82% | 2.37 93% | 2.2 100% |
| CCT | 7108 91% | 6076 107% | 6940 94% | 19526 33% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 61 | 54.7 -10% | 60 -2% | 39.13 -36% |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 83.5 | 92 | ||
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -5% /
-4% | -3% /
-4% | -64% /
-75% |
* ... smaller is better
Despite the screen's good brightness, its glossiness makes it almost impossible to work without distractions even in favorable light conditions or in the shade outdoors. It is not easy to find a position that does not affect the desktop's legibility too much particularly on sunny days. That is especially too bad seeing that it limits the EliteBook's actually high mobility factor. However, that is common for touchscreens since they can only be cleaned properly when they have a glossy surface. The not very rich black reproduction particularly in bright surroundings was also noticed here.
IPS again provides the 1040 G2 with a lot of elbowroom without significant image quality losses from slanted viewing angles. The brightness and contrast is only reduced moderately when looking at the screen from the sides or from below and will barely be noticed. Even the screenshots in the corners of our viewing-angle collage, representing viewing angles shifted by 45 ° on two levels, show that the color reproduction is barely affected. Not every IPS screen manages that. However, the reflections of the glare-type surface are more visible when not sitting directly in front of the screen.
Performance
Thanks to a swift i7 quad-core, 8 GB of RAM in dual-channel mode and the strong SSD, HP's EliteBook Folio is not only unconditionally suitable for relatively low-requirement office suites, but it should also easily cope with more demanding tasks, such as intricate image editing in Photoshop. However, it might find its limits in strongly parallelized games or even 3D rendering software that highly benefit from four or more physical cores. The Intel Core i5-5200U (2x 2.2 - 2.7 GHz, Hyper-Threading, TDP: 15 watts) installed in the cheaper H9W00EA version should easily be enough for most typical application scenarios.
Processor
Intel's Core i7-5600U (2x 2.6 - 3.2 GHz, Hyper-Threading, TDP: 15 watts) is a smart dual-core from Intel's latest Broadwell generation, which can process up to four threads simultaneously via Hyper-Threading. Its low TDP of 15 watts makes it suitable for especially compact and slim ultrabooks and laptops. In particular the energy efficiency has been improved within the framework of the reduced manufacturing process (shrink "tick") to 14 nm in contrast to the former Haswell generation. However, the performance could also be increased by 10 to 15% due to the in detail improved architecture and slightly higher clock rates compared with its direct i7-4600U precursor (2x 2.1 - 3.3 GHz, Hyper-Threading, TDP: 15 watts).
Compared with Lenovo's ThinkPad T450s based on the same CPU, the processor performance in both Cinebench R11.5 and R15 proved marginally inferior (max. 8%), which should not be noticed in routine use. That is likely because the core rate of the 5600U in the 1040 G2 settled at just 2.6 to 2.7 GHz after a few seconds in real-life load via the multi-core benchmarks, while the CPU in the T450s could maintain the specified 3.1 GHz for approximately 30 seconds before it only dropped to 2.8 GHz in the same scenario. Overall, the review sample's CPU achieved the expected performance throughout. The clock dropped drastically for a short time after pulling the plug, but then settled to a stable 2.6 GHz.
System Performance
We again use PCMark 7 and 8 for assessing the system performance. Besides the processor's performance, their results also include that of the GPU and primarily the storage device with different weighting depending on the single test. We cannot explain why HP's EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 achieves a 38% lower score than Lenovo's ThinkPad T450s and even lags behind the weaker Dell Latitude E7450 in the actually reliable PCMark 7 - especially since its total score of all laptops with the same CPU/GPU and an SSD lets it ascend to the second place with only 1% behind the leader. The normally more diversified PCMark 8 seems to in fact illustrate the distribution of power better in this case. However, the review sample also falls behind the T450s marginally.
Subjectively, the reviewer found the performance mostly lag-free and nearly perfect owing to the fast loading of programs and the operating system, as well as smooth, excessive multitasking.
| PCMark 8 | |
| Home Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | |
| Dell Latitude E7450 | |
| Work Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | |
| Dell Latitude E7450 | |
| PCMark 7 Score | 5295 points | |
| PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 3100 points | |
Help | ||
Storage Device
Seeing that all laptops in the test sport an SSD storage device, we will focus on the results of the dedicated SSD benchmark AS SSD. The trio is almost exactly on par in sequential read, and they achieve typical data rates for modern SSDs with slightly below 500 MB/s. The EliteBook and Latitude both surpass the ThinkPad by 17 to 20% in reading small, random data blocks (4K read), which is more important for office use. However, they do not come close to the top rate of 30 MB/s. The distance is even considerably greater with multiple threads (4K 64 read). The Samsung PM851 in the review sample generally does a good job and is the winner within our test group with clear advantages (write score) in some cases.
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 HD Graphics 5500, 5600U, Samsung SSD PM851 256 GB MZNTE256HMHP | Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 HD Graphics 5500, 5600U, Intel SSD Pro 2500 Series SSDSC2BF360A5L | Dell Latitude E7450 HD Graphics 5500, 5300U, Samsung SSD PM851 mSATA 128 GB | HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (H5F62ET) HD Graphics 4400, 4200U, Intel SSD Pro 1500 Series SSDSC2BF180A4H | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AS SSD | -28% | -10% | -15% | |
| Seq Read | 480.7 | 489.6 2% | 467.2 -3% | 450.4 -6% |
| 4K Read | 25.98 | 22.19 -15% | 26.57 2% | 21.23 -18% |
| 4K-64 Read | 356.1 | 210.1 -41% | 313.2 -12% | 186.5 -48% |
| Score Write | 292 | 125 -57% | 210 -28% | 334 14% |
| CrystalDiskMark 3.0 | -20% | -1% | -25% | |
| Read Seq | 499.9 | 414.4 -17% | 444.8 -11% | 426.2 -15% |
| Read 4k | 28.4 | 28.87 2% | 33.75 19% | 27.37 -4% |
| Read 4k QD32 | 393.3 | 215.7 -45% | 345.2 -12% | 170.3 -57% |
| Total Average (Program / Settings) | -24% /
-24% | -6% /
-6% | -20% /
-19% |
Graphics Card
The CPU-integrated Intel HD 5500 GPU that clocks at up to 950 MHz here has to share the tight TDP with the processor cores. Thus, the maximum clock cannot always be fully utilized. Owing to some optimizations, the new Broadwell GPU can outperform its former Haswell counterpart, Intel HD 4400, by 20 to 25% - at least when it can access the working memory via dual-channel interface (shared memory). It supports OpenCL 2.0 and DirectX 11.2 and, like its precursor, it is capable of hardware-based decoding of H.264 videos, while the upcoming H.265 is still partially processed via software.
Depending on the benchmark, HP's EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 is located in the upper midfield (3DMark 11) or even in the top group (3DMark 2013) when comparing the graphics performance with that of other laptops based on the same, but some with a lower-clocking GPU. The HD 5500 in Dell's Latitude E7450 lags behind by 50 MHz due to its lower clock limit. The total score of 3DMark 11 was even slightly higher with 1171 vs. 1133 points in battery mode, which is still within the range of measuring inaccuracies. A benchmark list of many mobile graphics cards and further details about the tested games can be found in our FAQ section.
| 3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance GPU (sort by value) | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | |
| Dell Latitude E7450 | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (H5F62ET) | |
| 3DMark | |
| 1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Graphics (sort by value) | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | |
| Dell Latitude E7450 | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (H5F62ET) | |
| 1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Graphics (sort by value) | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 | |
| Lenovo ThinkPad T450s-20BWS03F00 | |
| Dell Latitude E7450 | |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G1 (H5F62ET) | |
| 3DMark 11 Performance | 1133 points | |
| 3DMark Ice Storm Standard Score | 52755 points | |
| 3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 5322 points | |
Help | ||
Gaming Performance
The HD 5500 is not suitable for up-to-date games with simultaneously high graphics requirements. Acceptable frame rates can only be achieved in the more often than not unsightly minimum settings in 1024x768 pixels. However, the situation should ease a bit when gaming is limited to titles released up to around 2012. Even newer and/or less graphically demanding games like Diablo III (2012) or the popular Dota 2 (2013) can be played smoothly in medium presets.
| low | med. | high | ultra | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BioShock Infinite (2013) | 0 game wont start | 24.38 | ||
| Thief (2014) | 16 | |||
| Alien: Isolation (2014) | 33.14 | 22.01 |
Emissions
System Noise
The G2 was satisfied with passive cooling in idle mode and low load typical for office software, and it also remained absolutely noiseless thanks to the SSD. The CPU stress test Prime95 alongside the GPU loading FurMark caused a gentle, subtle noise after a few seconds, which the reviewer only perceived when listening closely and at a distance of less than a meter in normal ambient noise.
Just like HP's former EliteBook Folio G1, the G2 belongs to one of the quietest fan-based laptops that are currently available. Since the keyboard does not make much noise, it can be used in the most noise-sensitive environments. That is also true for both contenders, which are sometimes even more restrained during load.
Noise Level
| Idle |
| 29.6 / 29.6 / 32.2 dB(A) |
| Load |
| 36.4 / 36.4 dB(A) |
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30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
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min:  , med:  , max:  Voltcraft sl-320 (15 cm distance) | ||
Temperature
The temperatures only increased to about 33 °C on the critical wrist rest area even during full load. The underside was a bit warmer with 42 °C in some places. Although that will warm the thighs when playing games, the reviewer never perceived the waste heat as uncomfortable.
The base clock of the i7-5600U is 2.6 GHz, but only 2.5 GHz could be maintained stably in sole use of Prime95. Consequently, minor throttling was ascertained at least in this rather unrealistic scenario. Adding Furmark really pulls down the system, and more than 1.6 GHz was not possible. The ULV processor's low TDP takes its toll here finally, just like in all other comparable devices. That will not have an impact in routine use.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 35.9 °C / 97 F, compared to the average of 34.3 °C / 94 F, ranging from 21.2 to 62.5 °C for the class Office.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 42.4 °C / 108 F, compared to the average of 36.8 °C / 98 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 27.5 °C / 82 F, compared to the device average of 29.5 °C / 85 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are reaching skin temperature as a maximum (33.4 °C / 92.1 F) and are therefore not hot.
(-) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 27.6 °C / 81.7 F (-5.8 °C / -10.4 F).
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Only a comparison between equally sized business laptops based on the same CPU/GPU and an SSD would make sense here. However, we can only fall back on our ThinkPad T450s due to the brand new processor. It consumes almost exactly the same amount of energy as the review sample in the different idle load states. However, it guzzles 20 to 87% more from the outlet during load (load avg. max.) That cannot only be related to the T450s' better Turbo utilization. Since the E7450 with the weaker i5 CPU also consumes more, the G2 can be said to be very energy efficient under consideration of the high performance.
| Off / Standby | 0.1 / 0.3 Watt |
| Idle | 3.2 / 6.5 / 7.4 Watt |
| Load |
25.6 / 26.1 Watt |
   
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Key:
min: ,
med: ,
max: Voltcraft VC 940 | |
Battery Runtime
The G2 has the lead in most single battery runtime tests within the test field as well as compared with it precursor. Although the E7450 has the strongest battery with 54 Wh and at the same time the slowest CPU, our review sample (42 Wh) defeats it marginally in the real-life Wi-Fi test (our test criteria) and with an even greater difference in the idle test. The also weaker G1 can - matching the lower performance - only succeed under load.
Pros
Cons
Verdict
The tested version of HP's EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 reaps in 3 points more in the total rating than the somewhat lower price of the G1 model that we tested. That allows it to just enter the exclusive group of our current Top 10 chart of business laptops.
The reviewer, however, does not understand the price of not less than 2623.89 Euros (~$2884, HP Store, 05/18/2015) demanded by HP.
For clarification: Only half the price is demanded for the also brand new Acer TravelMate P645-S that achieved 88 points more! Although it is somewhat weaker and also a shocking 5 mm thicker, it is in no way only worth half as much. Consequently, the G2 is far remote from a purchase recommendation. In our opinion, the admittedly superb laptop without any noteworthy shortcomings will only be interesting when 1000 Euros (~$1099) more or less is not important, but perhaps every millimeter of height is.
HP EliteBook Folio 1040 G2
- 02/16/2016 v5 (old)
Sven Kloevekorn
Price comparison
