🔬[REVIEW] HP EliteBook 865 G9 -  AMD has its advantages too
Channel: LaptopMedia
Date: 2023-01-03

📈 💵  Specs and Prices: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-865-g9/
🔬 In-depth Review: https://laptopmedia.com/review/hp-elitebook-865-g9-review/

➡️  CONTENTS:
[0:00] Introduction
[0:22] Design and construction
[0:48] Keyboard and Touchpad
[1:19] Ports
[1:51] Display quality
[2:23] Battery life
[2:37] Performance
[3:00] Temps and Stability
[3:32] Disassembly and upgrade options
[3:47] Verdict
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🔬[REVIEW] HP EliteBook 865 G9

HP’s EliteBook series of notebooks offer both AMD and Intel hardware, however, the EliteBook 865 G9 is the first one that we get to feature the Ryzen 6000-series of CPUs, as the laptop offers both U-series and H-series chips, along with plenty of display options.

[Intro]

The device is enveloped in aluminum, resulting in a light and tough structure. A 16-inch product, it weighs only 1.76 kg and has a profile of 19.2 mm. There’s little flex from both the lid and the base, even when we type harshly on the keyboard, which is excellent. The design of the EliteBook is pure business with rounded edges and corners, along with minimal branding. 

[Input devices]

When we open the lid, we see the base, including the keyboard, touchpad, and fingerprint reader. The board is fantastic, as the key travel is long and the feedback is clicky. While a backlight is optional, the spill resistance comes as standard, so some drops of water won’t be damaging. With that said, keep the sugary drinks away, as it’s a mess to clean up sticky keys. The touchpad has a large surface area and a glass cover. It’s very smooth and precise, a total win in our book. 

[Ports]

Since this is an AMD-powered device, you lose the Thunderbolt connectivity. However, on the left, there are still two USB4 ports with 40Gbps transfer speeds for charging and DisplayPort 1.4 output, an HDMI 2.0 port, and a single full-sized 5-gigabit USB port. Moving to the other side, we find one more full-sized USB port, an audio jack, and a SIM card tray. There is an optional SmartCard reader available as well.  

[Display]

There are several FHD+ IPS panels. The base variant has 250 nits of brightness and doesn’t have good color coverage for Creator work. If you want that, you should look for either the 400-nit or the 1000-nit display, both of which cover 100% of the sRGB gamut. 

[Battery]

With a 51.3 Wh battery pack, the EliteBook lasts for 14 hours and 17 minutes of both web browsing and video playback, which is perfectly balanced, as all things should be. And it’s a great result.

[Performance]

It’s achieved when paired with the Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U, a total powerhouse CPU. While being as efficient as it is, it also brings very good performance, outperforming the low TDP opposition from Intel, mainly the Core i7-1255U, in 3D Rendering. Intel CPUs are still quicker in 2D Rendering. 

[Cooling]

Although it’s good, we have seen better-performing laptops with the same CPU and the reason why that is almost always the cooling. The EliteBook 865 G9 comes with one heat pipe and one fan and the stress test results place it very similar to the ThinkPad Z13. We also tested the laptop with a cooling pad, which leads to a 9°C lower temperature. 

The fan on the inside spins fast but it’s quiet about it, while the outside temperature isn’t hot at all, so you get both comfort and performance.

[Teardown and upgradeability]

Upgradeability is really good, as the laptop has two SODIMM slots for up to 64GB of DDR5 memory and a single M.2 slot for Gen 4 drives.

We’ll have our teardown video in the upper right corner.

[Verdict]

The HP EliteBook 865 G9 is a great machine for the office, offering stable performance and enough battery life for more than a whole day of use. It’s also incredibly comfortable, with low noise and temperatures, despite the thin and light chassis. 

For more details about the EliteBook, we’ll have our written review linked below.