Last year around this time, I reviewed the HP EliteBook 1040 G4, a clamshell laptop with a 45W Intel H-series processor. This year"s model is the EliteBook 1040 x360 G5, and it"s a very different unit. Now it"s a convertible, ditching the 45W H-series processor for a 15W U-series chip.
One of the biggest issues with last year"s model is that it didn"t have dedicated graphics, so the 45W CPU was sucking down power while it wasn"t providing that extra GPU power needed for things like video editing. I expect that to be resolved this time around.
But let"s talk about that display, because this thing is nice. It has a 14-inch 1080p anti-glare display, and it"s one of the best anti-glare screens I"ve ever used. It doesn"t look washed out or blurry, something that"s often the case with matte displays.
The keyboard seems solid as well, with HP continuing to take steps to make it more stable while also being quieter than the competition. Of course, it also has HP"s renowned security features, such as Sure View Gen 2, Sure Start, Sure Click, and more. It also supports HP"s PhoneWise service, which allows you to send and receive texts and make and receive calls from your PC.
Check out the unboxing video below:
Make sure to subscribe to Neowin on YouTube! It"s the best channel in the universe!