HP EliteBook Ultra G1i

A slim and stylish business laptop with a standout webcam, OLED panel and software, and the price is surprisingly competitive

- TIM DANTON

This is a Copilot+ PC, but HP adds its own AI Companion, too

There's little doubt who HP has in its sights with the EliteBook Ultra Gii. This 1.2kg laptop is for the executive on the go, someone who needs a lightweight travel companion that looks as good in the boardroom as it does in sales meetings. The advert almost writes itself.

HP achieves this thanks to a compact and slender magnesium chassis finished in dark, matte blue. It's different without being ostentatious, making the Dell 14 Premium (see p50) look almost drab by comparison.

This is despite the fact that Dell sacrifices practicality for style with its light-up row of function keys and invisible touchpad while HP stays on the right side of practical by sticking to a physical row of keys at the top. These are finished in a subtly different hue that again adds to the style. HP also includes a USB-A port along with the trio of Thunderbolt 4/USB-C 4 connectors (and 3.5mm combo jack).

"This is for the executive who needs a lightweight travel companion that looks as good in the boardroom as it does in sales meetings"

Key thinking

I don't normally talk about keyboards' backlighting, but HP has done a great job here. Pressing F5 flicks between off and two brightness levels, but the winning touch is how well the light shines through the keys to make it easy to see each one in dark conditions.

When it comes to typing, the keyboard is less stunning. No doubt HP has deliberately aimed for short, punchy key travel, but to me it feels too abbreviated, too harsh. And where the laptop keyboard master, Lenovo, often separates out the cursor keys in its ThinkPads, here the up/down keys are squeezed in by making them half height – and the function is doubled with PgUp and PgDn. None of this is a travesty, but I prefer Lenovo's approach and find I touch-type more quickly on its laptops.