HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14 review: Plenty of promise but falls short

HP ZBooks are synonymous with power, which is why ITPro has reviewed a handful of machines in this lineup so favourably – if all guns blazing performance is what you're looking for, you'd be hard-pressed to look any further. That's because these machines look good and feel great to use, too, thanks to the engineering prowess the manufacturer has shown in building this family of workstations.

On the slimmer side of this family is the new HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14, a more portable AMD-powered 14-inch alternative to the typically large and boisterous desktop replacements like the excellent HP ZBook Power G11 or the HP ZBook X G1i models. But does its more slender frame mean it's any less punchy? It's crucial to consider, especially given that ZBooks tend to be fairly expensive.

HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14: Design and display

You can immediately see from the look and feel of this laptop that it means business – ditching the features you'd usually find in an ultraportable for a thicker frame. We are fully on board with the high-end build quality (including MIL-STD testing) and premium feel of its aluminum chassis, which is finished in a sharp Meteor Silver color. It's as if the 16-inch version of the HP ZBook had been miniaturized very elegantly.

If you're mostly looking for something more suited to using on the move, we'd point you elsewhere – but this machine is very portable for what it is. At 3.17lbs (1.44kg) heavy, it's a weightier than average; it's sandwiched between the HP EliteBook Ultra 14 G1q – 2.98 lbs (1.34 kg) – and the HP Elitebook X G1a – 3.51lbs (1.59kg). All three are lighter than the MacBook Pro M4 (14-inch), however, which weighs 3.4lbs (1.55kg). That said, it's good enough to use on the move if you don't mind the extra weight and size; with a thickness of 0.74in (18.9mm), it's chunkier than most, but not by much.

Encased in plastic bezels is a 14-inch IPS HD display that's very sharp (2,560 x 1,600 pixels, translated to a solid pixels-per-inch of 216). We also noticed how bright it was to the naked eye, which we confirmed in our testing with a display calibrator. The machine registered a peak luminescence of 470 nits – about 100 nits brighter than average. You won't find many that can match this unless you turn to a MacBook Pro (516 nits), the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 Aura Edition (also 470 nits), or the Microsoft Surface Laptop (474 nits), among a few other competitors.

We were also impressed with 99.8% coverage of the sRGB spectrum, 81.2% coverage of the Adobe RGB spectrum (for photography), and 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 spectrum (for video editors). All three are good results and, while not the best out there, far better than you'll find in the average notebook. Coupled with a 120Hz refresh rate and HDR, it makes for really crisp and clean viewing experience. Of slight concern, however, was a high black level of 0.61 nits, as well as an average and maximum Delta-E score of 1.5 and 4; while falling between 3 and 6 is usually a "good" result, these days most panels hit a maximum close to 1.

HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14: Performance and battery life

This is the first ZBook that's powered with an AMD processor – the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (8 cores) to be precise – and it's paired with an AMD Radeon 860M graphics chip. Our review unit also came with 32GB DDR5 RAM as well as a 512GB SSD. Overall, the performance was a mixed bag, and didn't live up to the levels we expected.

In testing with Geekbench 6, we registered a pretty strong single-threaded score of 2,797 – comfortably beating most other processors apart from the M4 chip in the latest MacBooks. But multi-core performance was sluggish, hitting 10,809. This is on par with the second-generation Intel Ultra 7 processors, and a tad behind the Snapdragon X Elite chips (which tend to hit between 13,000 and 15,000). While the score is not terrible by any means, we'd have certainly expected something closer to a MacBook Pro. By contrast, we registered a score of 11,196 in the Dell Pro 13 Premium, and it's comparable to 10,684 in the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 Aura Edition. The SSD, meanwhile, is just as fast as we have come to expect from those fitted into HP machines, with read/write speeds of 7,071MB/s and 5,694MB/s, respectively. This is about as fast as you're likely to get in a laptop.

Graphics performance, however, was disappointing; we registered a paltry 22,153 in our OpenCL benchmark. The new generation of Intel Arc Graphics cards can usually achieve between 25,000 and 30,000, by contrast. And the Nvidia RTX PRO 2000 Blackwell that we tested in the bigger and beefier HP ZBook X G1i scored a mammoth 87,860. Also worth noting that the integrated graphics in Apple's M4 chips usually hit between 36,000 and 39,000, depending on the context and model.

Its battery life is also below average, with the model lasting 12hrs 12mins in our looped video playback test. This is a better score than you'd have expected a few generations ago, but plenty of Windows laptops can reach 15-hours-plus these days.

HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14 review: Features

We loved using the keyboard fitted into the HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14 – it's pretty much identical across all of HP's current line-up of laptops and 2-in-1s, with minor differences, and that's no bad thing at all. In this instance, the keys are incredibly snappy and offer plenty of force feedback – we may suggest it's a bit too much, if there are any criticisms to make, meaning typing for prolonged periods of time may feel quite difficult until you get used to the sheer amount of feedback you get with each keystroke. The trackpad was flawless, on the other hand, and about as useful and fuss-free as we have seen.

One of the highlights when it comes to a machine like this is also the sheer amount of connectivity options you get in a relatively portable body. The 14-inch ZBook includes two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, a USB-A port, an HDMI 2.1 slot, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a security lock slot, and an Ethernet port. While you don't get the SD card or SIM slots you would find in the 16-inch ZBooks, this is far more than you'd get compared with most notebooks on the market. Wireless standards are up-to-date too, with Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 compatibility.

One thing you'll be guaranteed is a suite of security services courtesy of the HP Wolf Pro Security Edition software, as well as hardware-level protection and biometric login thanks to a fingerprint reader and Windows Hello compatibility via the 5MP webcam. Elsewhere, you'll find all manner of AI-friendly features, powered by the 50 TOPS NPU fitted into the machine, including the Poly Camera Pro app to adjust your framing and picture quality during calls. HP Smart Sense also adjusts your performance to for an optimal PC experience, according to the manufacturer.

HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14 review: Is it worth it?

We weren't blown away by the HP ZBook 8 G1ak 14 – although it's a perfectly capable machine that's enjoyable to use day-in and day-out. It looks every bit the part as a workstation should, with an outstanding build quality and extremely robust chassis, while also looking easy on the eye. However, it unfortunately fails to deliver on the performance levels you would really want from a machine built like this. While the display is also excellent, you can find better displays (with superior technologies like OLED) in ultraportables like the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 – and better performance in plenty of comparable non-workstations too. For that reason, while there is plenty of potential in this machine, it's hard to recommend over alternative devices unless you need the connectivity features, added security extras, and a really bright display.

HP ZBook X G1i review specifications