HP EliteBook Ultra 14" G1i Negro 2024

A stunning 2.8K OLED screen and snappy AI features make this a joy for work, but the stingy 512GB SSD and questionable reliability keep it from being a slam dunk. Find it for a good price and it's a great buy; pay full retail and you'll feel burned.

For everyday work, this thing flies. The Core Ultra 7 268V handles a dozen browser tabs, Slack, and Office apps without breaking a sweat. What surprised us was the integrated Intel Arc Graphics. It's not going to run Cyberpunk, but it's a solid step up from the old Intel UHD days, landing in the top 60% of our database. The real party trick is the NPU for local AI tasks, like real-time transcription and Windows Studio Effects, which feel snappy and genuinely useful. The 512GB SSD is just middle of the pack, though, and you'll feel that pinch if you keep a lot of local files.

The obvious competitor is the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro. The MacBook will crush it in raw GPU power and battery life, but the EliteBook fights back with that superior OLED screen and a more flexible port setup. For Windows die-hards, the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is a much better pick if you need any gaming or GPU muscle, though it's less of a boardroom machine. The Microsoft Surface Laptop is a closer rival in spirit, but the HP's screen and RAM advantage make it the better choice for creators who live in Excel and Figma all day.

Pricing is a rollercoaster. We've seen it as low as $1,533 and as high as an eye-watering $363,826 from different vendors. At the low end, this is a compelling premium ultrabook. At the high end, you're being robbed. The sweet spot is clearly the $1,500 range, where that screen and 32GB of RAM make it a strong value against a MacBook Air. Just make sure you're not the one paying the absurd markup. Shop around, and Newegg seems to have the most sensible listing right now.

The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i is a business laptop that's secretly a killer screen with a keyboard attached. That 14-inch 2.8K OLED panel is the absolute best right now, and it makes everything from spreadsheets to streaming look fantastic. The real story here is Intel's new Core Ultra 7 268V chip with its 48 AI cores, which HP is betting big on for local AI tasks and Copilot+ features. It's a thin, well-built machine with 32GB of RAM and a surprisingly decent port selection for 2024. But don't let the 'Ultra' name fool you. This is not a workstation replacement, and the integrated graphics will remind you of that quickly if you try to push it.

If you're looking for a gaming machine or a mobile workstation for 3D rendering, this isn't it. Go get an ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 or a MacBook Pro instead. Also, if rock-solid reliability is your number one priority, our data suggests you should look at a Lenovo ThinkPad. The EliteBook's low reliability percentile is a red flag for anyone who can't afford downtime.

Buy it for the screen and the AI-ready chip, but only if you find it for under $1,800. The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i is a fantastic premium productivity laptop that stumbles on storage and reliability. It's a purpose-built tool for knowledge workers who want a gorgeous display and are curious about on-device AI. If you don't care about Copilot+ and just want a reliable workhorse, a ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a safer bet. But if you want to stare at a best-in-class OLED all day, this is your machine.