HP Elitebook x360 830 G6: an almost perfect secure PC

Presentation

The HP Elitebook range wants to seduce those who are called prosumers (or "prosumers" in French), that is to say individuals looking for products combining recognized manufacturing quality with world-oriented features professional. A segment on which there are already several manufacturers, including Dell, or Lenovo with its famous ThinkPad range.

The Elitebook x360 is a 13-inch ultraportable that is structured around two main axes. Mobility, first of all, but also security. HP offers users the possibility of ensuring the confidentiality of their data in different ways: hardware or software. But these two arguments are not enough to impose themselves; a certain versatility is part of the requirements, which implies an impeccable product from a technical point of view.

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Screen

The HP Elitebook x360 is equipped with a 13.3-inch matte touch IPS panel with a definition of 1,920 x 1,080 px. If the vertical edges are thin, with only 5 mm thickness, this is not the case for the lower and upper edges. The screen / front ratio is 75%, which is just right.

During its passage in our lab, the slab of the Elitebook proved to be one of the best tested by us. The screen has a dynamic contrast (not deactivable) which works perfectly and allows a very large difference between blacks and whites when both are displayed. So our measurement indicated 2,260: 1, which is excellent, with most laptop tiles showing a contrast between 1,000: 1 and 1,500: 1. Respect for the colors displayed is also there, since the average delta E is 2.3. Thus, all the colors present on the screen are shown to be true, apart from the blues. The color temperature of the screen is also exemplary. Measured at 6,617 K, it is close to 6,500 K of the video standard. This gives a screen that neither pulls red nor blue when a blank page is displayed. To the eye, the quality of the screen is immediately visible and it flatters the retina in any situation.

But the high quality of the Elitebook panel is its anti-reflective treatment coupled with its maximum brightness which allows serene work outside, even in very bright sunshine. It is indeed 561 cd / m², which is the highest result of our entire test panel so far. The reflectance measured is 12.7%, which means that the slab is only very little subject to reflections. Finally, the remanence was measured at 11 ms, a very correct result for a PC not dedicated to the game. The user will not be too bothered by "fuzzy streaks" during movements on the screen. The viewing angles are also good (when Sure View is disabled, of course), which will allow you to see well even when placed on the sides.

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Performances

The HP Elitebook x360 830 G6 is equipped with an Intel Core i5-8365U vPro processor (4 cores, 8 threads, base frequency at 1.60 GHz, max turbo frequency at 4.10 GHz) supported by 8 GB of RAM in single channel and a 256 GB M.2 NVMe SSD. Solid characteristics coupled with an efficient cooling system, which gives excellent performance results.

During our usual test protocols (compression of videos and files or even 3D calculation), the PC reached the index of 54 on our scale of values. This places it above other PCs with a Core i5 (not vPro) and also above Ryzen 5. During intensive use (such as video compression on Handbrake) the processor does not weaken and offers a average and stable speed of 2.3 GHz. With such power, the user will be able to operate software greedy in computation without any difficulty, which is ideal for a computer primarily dedicated to prosumers.

The PC does not have a dedicated graphics card, but simply an iGPU Intel HD 620. With that, no need to think about playing properly. During our tests in 1080p with the graphics set to medium, neither Diablo 3 nor Overwatch exceeded 20 fps, which is neither surprising nor harmful for this product.

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Mobility / Autonomy

The HP Elitebook is a 13-inch ultraportable that logically focuses on mobility. If it is not the lightest on the market with its 1.4 kg, nor the thinnest with its 17 mm thickness, it remains in the standard of 13 inch PCs and can be transported easily all day in a small backpack or a satchel. In addition, its charger weighs only 326 g. A good point.

Autonomy is important for a working computer and the Elitebook does not disappoint on this point. During our usual test protocol (Netflix in Chrome, headphones plugged in, brightness set to 200 cd / m² and backlight off), it lasted exactly 11 h 10 min before switching off. An excellent score, which the user can hope to double in simple office automation. It will thus be possible to take the Elitebook for a day of work leaving its charger at home, and this, without worrying about falling out of battery.

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Audio

As one of our readers pointed out to us, it is indeed possible to deactivate the B&O software installed on PC. A laborious manipulation explained by HP in the meanders of its official forum, but reserved for the informed user. Therefore, we do not change the rating of this audio part. Thanks to AmaCha for bringing us the info.

The HP Elitebook speakers are placed between the keyboard and the screen, a wise choice that we would like to find more often on laptops. If the sound delivered is rather correct and balanced, dynamic compression very present (at any level of volume) is troublesome to listen to, even for the least sensitive ears. This causes an unpleasant pumping effect, especially when listening to music. Pity. Bang & Olufsen software is installed by default on the PC and offers various settings. We recommend disabling its automatic mode and staying on the "music" tab for a better sound experience.

This same software imposes an equalization on the headphone jack which completely distorts the sound. Not deactivable, it therefore poses a huge problem, the user having no control over this part. In this case, we were unable to perform our lab tests.

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Conclusion

The Elitebook x360 830 G6 is a technically almost perfect computer. Very well designed chassis, excellent screen, powerful processor and very long battery life, this PC has almost everything for it. Only his slightly sad style can displease, but that remains a detail compared to the general quality of the product.

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