HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8: How much better can an entry-level workstation get?

Prospective buyers don't have to search long for a mobile workstation with a 14-inch display because the selection is extremely limited. Those who want a dedicated graphics card in addition to a powerful CPU will end up with the HP ZBook Firefly 14 sooner or later.

We had already reviewed the ZBook Firefly G7 variant, where the filter technology known as "SureView" was a major annoyance. This privacy filter is no longer installed now; not only are viewing angles and brightness better as a result, but PWM is no longer present as well.

Another new feature in the HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8 is the Tiger Lake CPU, but it only brings significant improvements in single-core performance. The Nvidia Quadro T500 that is now installed also adds considerable improvements, and it offers a noticeable increase in graphics performance compared to the Quadro P520 that was previously installed.

Besides performance, battery life has also increased significantly. The Firefly 14 G8 lasts three hours longer than the Firefly 14 G7 with almost 13 hours in our real-world Wi-Fi test.

However, some points of criticism, such as the lack of a memory card reader and Gigabit LAN port, are still present. The fact that you can't upgrade RAM is also understandable in principle, but it's not really an advantage.

Our comprehensive review shows the improvements that buyers of the HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8 can expect in detail compared to the predecessor model.