Hands on: HP EliteBook X G2i

HP’s EliteBook X G2i is very light for a 14-inch business laptop, but it still feels premium and rigid, and tough enough to hold up for on the go use. The 3K 120Hz OLED is bright and vibrant, and the port selection is impressively complete for a sub-1kg machine – even if the two Thunderbolt 4 ports sit a bit close together for my taste. Performance and battery life are excellent for this class, though the fan noise is noticeable when you push it hard.

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  Excellent performance

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  Premium build

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  Ultra lightweight

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  No price yet

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  Some performance inconsistencies

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  Noisy under sustained load

My colleagues in the USA are busy covering CES, but HP didn’t want Australia to miss out – so the company shipped me a pre-release version of the new business-focused EliteBook X G2i running the newly released Intel Core Ultra X7 358H CPU.

Sadly, one of the conditions is ...