HP launches new 5G-ready ZBook Firefly 14 G8 and ZBook Firefly 15 G8 powered by Intel Tiger Lake and NVIDIA T500 — as light as the MacBook Pro 13 and 2.6x faster than the Dell Precision 3350

In just about six months, HP has refreshed the ZBook Firefly mobile workstation series with Intel Tiger Lake processors, NVIDIA Quadro T500 graphics, and 5G connectivity. The ZBook Firefly comes in two variants — the Firefly 14 G8 and Firefly 15 G8.

HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8

The ZBook Firefly 14 G8 weighs just 1.35 kg making it one of the lightest mobile workstations around but packs some serious hardware. Powering the ZBook Firefly 14 G8 is a choice of Intel 11th gen Core i5-1135G7 and Core i7-1165G7 Tiger Lake processors, 32 GB DDR4-2666 dual-channel soldered RAM, and up to 2 TB NVMe drives with optional Intel Optane H10 32 GB with the 512 GB SSD option.

The ZBook Firefly 14 G8 comes with a discrete NVIDIA T500 GPU that complements the Iris Xe graphics on the Tiger Lake SoC. The T500 is a Quadro card based on the TU117 chip. This makes it equivalent to a GTX 1650 in terms of performance. This is a significant upgrade from the ZBook Firefly 14 G7's Quadro P520 graphics, which is based on the Pascal architecture. HP says the move to the T500 GPU makes the Firefly 14 G8 up to 2.6x faster than the Dell Precision 3550.

The ZBook Firefly 14 G8 also offers several FHD touch and non-touch display choices. These include a 500-nits 100% DCI-P3 HP DreamColor PANTONE-validated panel and a 1000-nits HP Sure View Reflect privacy screen among others.

Intel AX201 2x2 Wi-Fi 6 with Bluetooth 5 along with an Intel XMM 7360 LTE Advanced Cat 9 modem and a Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G Modem-RF system are available for wireless and WWAN connectivity. Port selection includes 2x USB 3 Type-A 5 Gbps ports, 1x HDMI 1.4b, 2x Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, and a 3.5 mm combo audio jack.

The HP ZBook Firefly 14 G8 will be available later in December. Pricing will be revealed closer to availability.

HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8

The ZBook Firefly 15 G8 offers similar specs as the Firefly 14 G8 but with a 15.6-inch screen and a chassis that weighs just 1.75 kg. The Firefly 15 G8 offers a choice between the Core i5-1135G7 and the Core i7-1165G7 CPUs pairing them with 64 GB DDR4-3200 dual-channel RAM.

In addition to the 15.6-inch FHD touch and non-touch display options, the ZBook Firefly 15 G8 also offers a 4K 400-nit display that is specified to cover 100% of the sRGB color gamut. The Quadro T500 graphics should help in making good use of the 4K display option for creative workflows.

Like the Firefly 14 G8, the Firefly 15 G8 offers also offers two Thunderbolt 4 ports but forgoes one USB Type-A port. The HDMI output here in 2.0b. The rest of the specs are very much similar to the Firefly 14 G8 including the choice of Intel XMM 7360 LTE and Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 5G modems.

Both the Firefly 14 G8 (53 Wh) and the Firefly 15 G8 (56 Wh) are rated to offer up to 14 hours of battery life.

The HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8 will be available later in December. Pricing information will be revealed later.