Speed Philippines – July 2019

TESTED

50 JULY 2019

SOLID WORKHORSE

HP EliteBook 1050 G1

PRODUCT

TEST NO.

2158

HP markets the EliteBook 1050 G1 as a business notebook—it’s sleek, chic, and professional-looking, has enough battery

power to get you through your work day, and comes with privacy features that prove useful when you’re working outside.

While not pitched at students and content creators, the EliteBook 1050 G1 can also serve these types of users well, thanks

to a powerful chip, a dedicated GPU, huge memory and storage, and Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers.

DIMENSIONS

360 x 254 x 18.9 mm, 2.06 kg

The HP EliteBook 1050 G1 is huge, hefty, and means business. If you opt for the base

variant, you’ll get a decent notebook that can handle demanding workloads almost

flawlessly. Go for any of the high-end options (if budget permits) and you’ll find

yourself with a solid workhorse that can run whatever you throw at it.

SPEED SAYS

GEEK METER

THE

NUMBERS

WORDS KATRINA RIVERE-DIGA

DISPLAY
15.6” IPS anti-
glare LED-backlit
OS
Windows 10
CPU
8th-gen Intel
Core i5 or i7
MEMORY
Up to 32GB RAM
STORAGE
Up to 2TB SSD
CONNECTIVITY
Wi-Fi 802.11a/b/
g/n/ac, USB 3.0,
HDMI 2.0, SD
card reader, USB
Type-C, audio
out/audio in
combo jack
PRICE
TBA

The EliteBook 1050 G1 has an all-aluminum body, comprised

of brushed and polished material, and some sharp and

aggressive lines. HP calls it an “ultraslim” business

notebook, but we all know that’s relative. Weighing 2.06kg,

this 19mm thin laptop isn’t something you’d like to carry with

you every day. If you do, you’d need a fairly big bag, plus a

protective sleeve to keep scratches at bay.

The EliteBook 1050 G1’s side bezels are

narrow, but the forehead is quite huge

because the camera and IR sensor are

there. I wish HP made the chin smaller,

though, because it looks like a lot of

wasted space.

Face recognition is fast and works great even in low-lit

environments. I love that HP equipped this laptop with a

privacy screen for the camera, which you can slide so that

you don’t have to get paranoid about being watched.

In case you find yourself using this laptop in a

public place, HP has deployed its Sure View Gen2

system, which you can easily switch on so that the

laptop’s display will not be easily readable by the

person sitting to your left or right.

The backlit keyboard has good-sized well-spaced

keys. Unfortunately, the keyboard layout takes some

getting used to. There’s an extra column of keys on

the right; I accidentally pressed PgDn a few times

while aiming for the Enter key.

The screen is matte and has no glare,

which is great. It’s bright, sharp, and

has good viewing angles, at least in the

vertical plane. It’s not the best screen

for sharing content; on the other hand,

that means it’s great for privacy.

HP claims that the EliteBook 1050

G1 can last up to 16 hours on a full

charge. During my time with the

review unit, I got about 12.5 hours

before needing to plug the charger.