A few months back, I reviewed the Intel version of the HP EliteBook 840, and I must admit, I’m quite fond of the sleek, all-metal design that EliteBooks boast. The HP EliteBook 845 G7 essentially shares the same chassis design but is equipped with a superior processor.
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Table of Contents
Design and Upgrade Options
The HP EliteBook 845 G7 flaunts a thin and stylish design. These laptops exhibit outstanding build quality, and their all-metal construction is not only durable but also visually attractive. I adore the silver appearance of the laptop; it exudes sleekness and a premium feel.
Opening the lid with just one finger is a testament to the impressive build quality. Furthermore, there’s a shutter switch located atop the lid, enhancing security and privacy by deactivating the webcam.
When it comes to portability, weighs 2.93 pounds, which is quite impressive, particularly for business users who frequently travel.
HP has made it quite straightforward to access the internals of the HP Elite 845 G7 laptop. Simply remove the screws, pop off the bottom plate, and you’re ready to go. Beneath the plate, you’ll discover two slots for the RAM sticks, enabling easy upgrades. Additionally, the SSD slot and Wi-Fi card are user-upgradable, which is excellent news. Equipped with Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.0, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 laptop is well-prepared for future connectivity needs.
Ports and Connectivity
HP EliteBook 845 G7 have a Kensington lock port, two USB-A ports, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a smart card reader on the left side. The right side, you’ll find the nano SIM card slot, where you can insert your LTE SIM if you opt for the LTE connectivity. You also have an HDMI port for display output and, finally, the power port.
Keyboard and Touchpad
Positioned on the keyboard deck is a fingerprint scanner. The keyboard itself stands out as one of the highlights of the HP Elitebook laptop, offering satisfying key travel, tactile feedback, and a multi-stage backlight, facilitating work in dark or dimly lit environments. A standout feature is the programmable f11 key, which can be tailored to launch applications, websites, files, or folders, offering high levels of customization that I particularly appreciate.
Regarding the touchpad, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 boasts a precision touchpad crafted from glass, ensuring high responsiveness. Two-finger scrolling operates smoothly, and all gestures function as expected. HP has done an excellent job with the touchpad. Moreover, the 845 G7 includes a trackpoint, which is remarkably responsive and ideal for navigating through the operating system.
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Display and Speakers
One standout feature of the HP EliteBook 845 G7 is its display comes with a 14-inch Full HD display boasting a resolution of 1920×1080 and a 16:9 aspect ratio. This aspect ratio is perfect for media consumption, such as watching Netflix, Amazon, or YouTube, as there won’t be any black bars on the top and bottom of the screen as you might encounter with a 16:10 aspect ratio.
The display itself is exceptionally crisp and bright. It’s a 400-nit low-power display, and I measured its brightness at 377 nits, which is quite impressive. The matte display is a bonus feature as it reduces glare and reflections. Furthermore, the color gamut coverage is excellent. For content creators working with applications like Lightroom, Photoshop, or video editing software, this display will certainly meet their needs.
The HP EliteBook 845 G7 features two top-firing speaker grilles, which I personally prefer over the more common bottom-facing speakers found in laptops. The top-firing speakers deliver better sound quality as they project sound towards the user, resulting in improved sound projection. The volume on the laptop is decent, capable of filling up a room nicely. Moreover, there’s a hint of bass, and the mids sound quite good. Overall, these Bang & Olufsen speakers are truly impressive.
Webcam
The webcam positioned on the HP EliteBook 845 and is driven by the AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 4750 processor. It has proven to be quite impressive. The webcam offers a resolution of 720p at 30 frames per second, which is decent. However, the camera does feature a shutter switch, offering additional privacy and security.
Battery Life
The HP EliteBook 845 G7 delivered outstanding performance in terms of battery life, clocking in at 12 hours and 15 minutes during my continuous web surfing test over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. This translates to all-day battery life, which is excellent. The extended battery performance can be credited to the 53-watt-hour battery capacity and the efficiency of the AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 4750U processor.
Additionally, the low-power display plays a role in the impressive battery performance. When it comes to providing long-lasting, all-day battery life, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 laptop certainly doesn’t disappoint.
Performance
PCMARK 10 | 4840 |
GEEKBENCH 5.1 (Single Core) | 1132 |
GEEKBENCH 5.1 (Multi-Core) | 4942 |
CINEBENCH R20 | 2487 |
CINEBENCH R15 | 1372 cb | 72.78 fps |
3DMARK Time Spy | 1125 |
3DMARK Fire Strike | 3102 |
The Ryzen 7 processor has been featured in many other laptops that I’ve reviewed, and they all demonstrated exceptional performance, particularly in productivity tasks such as Microsoft Office, email, and web browsing. Everything runs smoothly and efficiently.
Furthermore, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 laptop is surprisingly capable of gaming, despite not being specifically designed as a dedicated gaming machine. While its primary focus is on meeting business needs, it still provides a very satisfactory gaming experience. For gaming lovers, it’s certainly up to the task. It delivers playable frame rates, as evidenced by the numbers in various popular gaming titles.
Thermal and Cooling
I was highly impressed by it, Typically, other laptops with a similar thin and light design tend to experience thermal throttling fairly quickly, meaning they reduce their clock speeds to prevent overheating. However, the EliteBook 845 G7 laptop maintained good clock speeds for quite a while even as the temperature rose. It took a significant amount of time before it began to thermal throttle. This indicates that the thermal management on this laptop is exceptionally well-executed.
As for surface temperatures, it never became excessively hot or uncomfortable. The cooling system did an excellent job of keeping temperatures under control. When it comes to the fan, it kicks in under heavy loads, and you can certainly notice its presence. However, it’s not excessively loud, which is a positive aspect. Under heavy load, the fan noise is noticeable but not to a bothersome extent. Overall, the cooling system of this laptop is well-designed and effectively manages temperatures.
Conclusion
My thoughts on the HP EliteBook 845 G7 with the AMD Ryzen 7 Pro? I absolutely love it. This laptop offers a fantastic blend of performance and efficiency. The AMD Ryzen 7 Pro delivers excellent performance while maintaining impressive battery life. The thermal performance is also outstanding, with minimal throttling even under heavy workloads. It’s truly remarkable.
Not only it’s perfect for productivity tasks, but it’s also surprisingly capable of handling gaming. The keyboard is top-notch, providing a comfortable typing experience. The all-metal design adds a premium and durable feel to the laptop. I particularly appreciate the top-facing speakers, as they deliver quality sound and volume. The Bang & Olufsen speakers enhance the overall audio experience.
Now, onto the display – the 14-inch matte display is fantastic. The HP EliteBook 485 G7 boasts a low-power 400nit display, and even though I measured it at 377 nits, it’s still remarkably bright and suitable for both indoor and outdoor use. The display offers excellent contrast, deep blacks, and covers the color gamut exceptionally well. For content creators, this display is definitely worth considering.
Considering all these features, the HP EliteBook 845 G7 is a great value at around $1600. While it may not be the cheapest option, it’s important to remember that this is an EliteBook – a premium high-end device tailored for businesses. It’s fantastic to see AMD making its mark in these premium laptop.
On the HP EliteBook 845 G7 Laptop, you get a great combination of performance and efficiency. The AMD Ryzen 7 Pro offers excellent performance while maintaining good battery life. The thermals on this laptop are also very impressive, with minimal thermal throttling even under heavy loads. It's remarkable.
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Design and build Quality9
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Keyboard and trackpad8.8
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Display9
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Ports8.5
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Battery Life8.5
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Webcam7.5