The Complete HP Elitebook 840 Guide For 2022
HP’s EliteBook laptops are robust and well-specified machines aimed at business users, which compete with Lenovo’s ThinkPads and Dell’s Latitude series. For a Core i5-based 14-inch EliteBook 840 G7 with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, prices start at £1,074 (inc. VAT). This price is very attractive, but note that it uses 10th-generation Intel processors rather than 11th-generation (Tiger Lake) chips. This 14-inch HP EliteBook 840 laptop is compact and solidly built. A smaller 830-series model is available if you prefer a 13.3-inch screen, but since the 840 has relatively narrow bezels and a slim design, many will prefer the larger screen. A small backpack can hold the EliteBook 840 G7 easily, and it is not particularly heavy.
The Design Of HP Elitebook 840:
In terms of business-class laptop designs, the EliteBook 840’s silver design is about as buttoned-down as it gets. Taking a closer look, you’ll find some nice touches, as well as some improvements over previous-generation EliteBook 800-series PCs, some of which were inherited from the more expensive EliteBook 1000-series.
With its silver design and professional look, the EliteBook 840 is about as business-class as a laptop. Look closer, though, and you’ll see some pleasant touches, as well as some improvements over previous-generation EliteBook 800-series PCs, some of which were handed down from the more expensive EliteBook 1000-series.
A subtle but professional-looking “ELITEBOOK” logo appears on the spine of the device, above the rear venting, just as on the new-generation EliteBook 1040 x360.
The Display Screen:
The review unit’s 14-inch LED-backlit Full HD (1920 x 1080) display panel can be serviced. This model has an undesirable 16:9 aspect ratio, is not particularly bright, and has surprisingly large bezels when compared to other premium HP models. In a strange twist, HP sells EliteBook 840 models with 1366 x 768 (!!) and 1600 x 900 displays, too, like it’s 2001 or something, and there’s an even dimmer display configuration than what I had. However, those bezels are actually significantly smaller than those on the previous generation. There is an 85 percent screen-to-body ratio on the G7, compared with 76 percent on its predecessors. On the other hand, the bezels are 19 to 34 percent thinner than their predecessors, depending on which side you’re looking at.
I understand that HP needs to differentiate between its 800- and 1000-series, which are even more expensive. However, the EliteBook 840 starts at over $1350 with a Full HD display. It is hoped that a future generation version will have narrower bezels and use 16:10 displays that better utilize the available space. The good news is that the display on the review unit has an anti-glare coating that really works. The display panel seems matte, which is great for productivity.
These Are The Internal Components of:
The EliteBook 840 G7 is powered by 10th-generation Intel Core processors, some with vPro and some without; HP has added so-called G8 versions with 11th-generation Core processors as well since shipping me this review unit. The review unit has a six-core Intel Core i7-10810U processor, 16 GB of RAM, and 512 GB of M.2-based NVMe SSD storage, but only integrated graphics.
Performance is excellent for productivity work, but the processor, RAM, and storage are all overkill. HP touts some thermal innovations in the EliteBook 840, among them some additional sensors to keep the machine cool under load, but the review unit sometimes exhibited hissy fan noise during application installation and other business tasks. However, the 840 never seemed to get hot.
A Combination of Audio And Video:
Located on either side of the keyboard, the EliteBook 840’s audio subsystem consists of two upward-firing stereo speakers tuned by Bang & Olufsen. Music and video playback with excellent sound quality and nice stereo separation, with bright and crisp sound. An HP Audio Control app lets you switch between presets and tweak the equalizer, but I found no reason to move it from auto-detection mode.
The HP EliteBook 840’s webcam offers just 720p resolution, and the quality is decent at best. I like the wide 86-degree field of view, compared with about 75 degrees for most webcams. Additionally, it comes with a privacy shutter (which can be operated manually) and Windows Hello facial recognition capabilities.
Additionally, the unit includes two front-facing microphones and one world-facing microphone, the latter of which offers noise cancellation (that I did not test). The 840 was used in a few meetings at work, and I consider it successful since no one noticed it. On the top row of the keyboard, there’s a microphone mute button/key, also a nice touch.
The keyboard is:
HP’s EliteBook 840 comes with HP’s collaboration keyboard, although it differs from previous models in a few ways. For some reason, a pointer nubbin is jammed right into the center of it. Overall, I like how HP places the power button, which is integrated into the keyboard, adjacent to the Delete key, unlike some other PC manufacturers. It is also nice to have a vertical row of keys for Home, Page Up, Page Down, and End on the far right. (Cough, Dell.)
The Fingerprint:
A fingerprint reader is separate from the keyboard and not integrated into a key like that found on other HP premium PCs. Still, it’s fast and reliable.
The Touchpad:
The smallish glass precision touchpad is also excellent and accurate, but it sits about an inch to the left of other HP portable PCs for reasons I can’t explain. It was fine to use, but it looked weird, and I had to compare it with other PCs to be sure I was seeing it correctly.
Duration of Battery Life:
There is an amazing amount of battery life compared to Lenovo Laptops. As a result of writing into a web app, browsing the web, watching some videos, and listening to music, my battery was depleted by just 16% after three hours. In other words, a battery life of over 18 hours would be more than sufficient to last a working day. I would normally have the 250 nits screen set much higher, resulting in longer battery life because working with it on its default battery-power setting of about 50% isn’t very efficient.