HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2-Z2W73EA

HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2-Z2W73EA

These days with the consumer and business notebook market saturated customers are often spoilt for choice but don't let the HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2-Z2W73EA fool you. While this notebook certainly takes visual cues from HP's other notebook the Spectre x360, the EliteBook x360 G2 is purpose built for the business crowd. Starting with an overall view of the notebook chassis it does resemble the Macbook Pro to the unwary, with its sleek lines and machined aluminium construction the Elitebook x360 G2 looks and feels premium. It's all aluminium construction not only keeps it slim and light but also reasonably sturdy and solid. Tipping the scales at 1.3 kg the Elitebook x360 G2 weighs about on par with most of its competition. Moving on to a brief overview of its specs, the Elitebook x360 G2 comes equipped with Intel's 7th generation i7 processor, 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. As with most notebooks of this class having a U series processor strikes a balance between performance and battery life. While the manufacturer rating states a battery life of up to 16 hours 30 minutes, actual real-world tests actually come slightly shorter at 14 hours which isn't to say it's bad, in comparison with its competition like the Lenovo Yoga 910 or Microsoft's Surface Book the Elitebook x360 G2 actually scores somewhere in the middle which is reasonably good.

One of the few features which sets it apart from other manufacturers is that for a business orientated notebook it's packed with a myriad of privacy tech, starting with the display panel itself HP has integrated a feature called Sure View which prevents anyone but the user to view the screen at the touch of a button. Essentially what this does is limit viewing angles of the display while still being able to enjoy the clarity and vibrancy of the IPS display. In terms of the actual IPS panel performance it actually scores quite well with an sRGB rating of 110 percent although brightness is slightly diminished scoring only 240 nits when compared with other IPS panels. Meanwhile other security features includes your standard fingerprint reader, Kensington lock, Smart Card Reader, TPM 2.0 chip and an integrated webcam which works with Windows Hello for face recognition logins. Input-wise the EliteBook x360 G2 includes a spill resistant backlit keyboard which has a reasonably key good travel distance with an added soft click for feedback. For a notebook this thin it is surprising that HP was able to integrate such a good keyboard. Although one major gripe as with most notebooks of this size is the half size up and down arrow keys which may or may not be an issue. Another bonus feature of the keyboard is a set of dedicated keys for mute/unmute mic, screen share, pickup call and hang up, which really goes to show the support HP has given to business communication. As for the touchpad, similar to other high-end notebooks the EliteBook x360 G2 touchpad is reasonably wide and spacious which usually isn't the case for most notebook of similar class. Along with the regular inputs HP also offers and inking feature which uses Wacom's technology and allows users to fill out and sign documents with ease. For audio the EliteBook x360 G2 has 4 bottom-firing speakers certified by Bang & Olufsen however these speakers are mainly for providing a much more natural sounding audio in conference calls as opposed to entertainment. Overall for a business notebook HP has provided a feature rich business orientated notebook which is sure to satisfy the most hardened business users out there.

Hands-on article by Jagadisa Rajarathnam