When I reviewed HP's EliteBook x360 1040 G5 back in February 2019, I said that it's nearly perfect. Indeed, it was the first business laptop to sway me from my ThinkPad loyalty, and it was probably the best for its time. But then I reviewed the EliteBook 840 G7 last month, and while it's not a convertible, it seemed like it had borrowed everything I loved about the premium 1000 series. At the time, I asked how HP could have possibly improved the x360 1040.
Now, here we are with the EliteBook x360 1040 G7. As it turns out, there was quite a lot that HP could improve. Following what it did with its Spectre lineup previously, it seriously chopped down the bezels. The top is 44% smaller, the sides are 18% smaller, and the chin is 21% smaller. Now, it has an 89% screen-to-body ratio.
It also has a new feature called HP Presence Aware. Presence Aware uses sensors to detect when you're sitting in front of the PC, waking it when you sit in front of it, and locking it when you walk away. When waking it, it offers a seamless, hands-free login experience, waking the PC and then activating the IR camera to log you in. When you walk away, it will lock the PC after an amount of time that you determine in Settings.
That's not all though. HP added noise reduction in the microphones, so your video calls will be less distracting when there are sirens, your dog is barking, and so on. Also, there's better integration with the power slider, so you'll get a better performance boost if you bump it up.
Check out the unboxing video below:
