HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero: A Complete Review

Unveiled at CES 2021, the HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero is the world’s lightest 14-inch business laptop. It also packs the serious punch of 11th Generation Intel® Core™ processors and never-offline 5G LTE and WiFi 6 capability. It even adds an integrated Tile™ option so its awesome power can’t fall into the wrong hands.

Speaking of security, the HP EliteBook G8 Aero’s HP Privacy Camera and HP Sure View Reflect protect you from visual hacking. Other HP security features put it staunchly in the stable of the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. It ups the ante on remote work, too, with an integrated 720p HD camera, top-firing speakers, and a world-facing third microphone for in-person meetings.

Read on to dig into the other features and benefits of the HP EliteBook Aero laptop.

An incredibly light laptop PC

The HP EliteBook 840 Aero is an easy-to-carry, ultralight, and ultra-thin business PC. At less than 2.5 lbs, you’ll easily tote it around in a messenger bag or backpack. And its vanishingly-thin 0.7 inch width makes working on an airplane tray table or a park bench a breeze. The upshot is a massively expanded freedom of mobility for today’s multi-tasking, multi-location workdays.

Those specs also make it the lightest mainstream business laptop money can buy. Yet, its Tiger Lake Intel processors, up to 2TB of SSD storage, and a max of 64GB of super-speedy DDR4 RAM take it out of compromise territory and well into the realm of a serious business machine.

Blazing connectivity

Your laptop’s connectivity is the lynchpin for collaborative remote work, and the HP 840 G8 Aero gives you plenty of capacity here. For example, you can get an optional 5G wireless connection from a Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ X55 modem or an available 4G LTE setup for those times you’re nowhere near a router.

There’s also a WiFi 6 connection for faster internet when more devices are competing for the same amount of bandwidth.

Crystal clear audio

To collaborate with far-flung team members, the HP 840 G8 sports an integrated 720p HD camera and a crystal-clear microphone to pick up real-world teammates. Its top-firing stereo speakers bounce the PC’s sound off your ceiling, adding depth and richness to approximate the feel of 5.1 surround sound.

AI-based audio by Bang & Olufsen keeps your tunes or calls crisp and clear in any situation. The AI makes small adjustments to sound levels for the optimal listening experience for movies, music, or calls.

Long battery life, lots of ports

An HP Long Life 3-cell, 53 Wh Li-ion polymer battery supports super-long battery life while streaming, even with the screen at full brightness. This HP EliteBook is chock full of powerful ports, too, with 2 USB Type-C Thunderbolt™ ports, 2 USB 3.1 ports, and an HDMI port to connect to everything you need.

Military tested for toughness

At least half of portability is durability, with more Americans working on the beach, at the lake, or halfway up a mountain. Since more people are working remotely than ever, the world demands portable PCs that can keep pace; and the HP EliteBook 840 G8 delivers.

Much like the preceding HP EliteBook 840 G7, this laptop has run the gauntlet of military-grade HP-MIL-STD 810 testing for altitude, physical shocks, freezing, extreme heat, vibration, crash hazards, dust, humidity, and radiation. In a word, it’s certified ready for the battlefield – even if that’s just the battlefield of your modern workflow.

11th Generation Intel Core processors

As of March 2021, the HP EliteBook 840 packs an 11th Generation Intel processor option, with both Core i5 and Core i7 varieties. If you’re wondering what that means for you, these chips serve up higher max turbo speeds, better graphics, and expanded memory capability, and add 2 more cores, for a total of 6.

Adding cores while reaching higher speeds is a one-two punch for productivity, since either will increase performance. That means this laptop can videoconference, edit video, and crunch office apps and data faster than its predecessors.

Graphics are hi-res & low-volts

Most PC users today can’t be pigeonholed as gamers vs office professionals vs creators. We’re all a little bit of each. Toss in streaming reruns of Mad Men, and the HP 840 Aero G8’s Intel UHD graphics bring the picture into focus.

The Intel UHD Graphics 620 GPU ushered in ultra-low voltage (ULV) graphics processing. Since then, gaming and intensive app use have enjoyed world-altering visuals without the heat and fan noise of the past. Thanks to Intel UHD Graphics Premium, the HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8’s graphics look just as good in Zoom calls as it does in Fortnite or League of Legends.

Bright, versatile FHD display

Today’s versatile workflows and play-flows demand a versatile display. The HP 840 Aero G8’s 14-inch diagonal Full High Definition (1920 x 1080) display delivers incredibly crisp visuals. An optional 1000-nit panel serves up extra brightness when you’re working or playing outside in full daylight.

Its IPS technology ramps up colour fidelity, creating bright and vivid colours for gaming or videoconferencing. The 100% anti-glare coating lets you work reflection-free in bright light. There are also low-power and touch options. An ambient light sensor lets you move from dark to light workspaces without needing to tweak anything.

Built for micromobility

“Micromobility” is the new workforce watchword. It means you’re not just working in 3-hour blocks on a plane or in a coffee shop. You’re grabbing 3 minutes here, 10 minutes there on a bench, a hilltop, a hammock, or an upstairs bedroom. You’re fleeing a suddenly noisy environment to find a temporarily quiet one.

The HP 840 Aero G8 caters to staccato productivity with the light, tough, and easy-to-carry chassis. Its quiet, comfy rubber dome keys keep you unobtrusive, and the keyboard’s backlighting means you don’t have to squint and shade your eyes when you’re working in a darkened bedroom or living room. And so you never lose your laptop, the HP 840 Aero comes equipped with optional Tile capability.

Up to 64GB of memory

The average laptop has 8GB of RAM, which is fine for standard office apps like MS Excel or MS Word. But our world has thrust us into the Zoom-sphere, where using apps during video chats is commonplace. Many of us also need to work remotely on demanding apps like Hadoop or Qubole. The HP EliteBook 840 G8 answers the call with up to 64GB of DDR4 RAM.

That “DDR4” part is key, because it stands for “double data rate, fourth generation.” It blows the doors off the previous generation of RAM, and uses less power at the same time. That gives you longer laptop sessions off the grid, with a zippier feel than the machines of yesteryear.

Up to 2TB of SSD storage

It seems like every time you think, “I’ll never need that much storage,” you end up being wrong. The HP 840 G8 Aero takes care of that problem by delivering up to a showstopping 2TB of blazingly-fast PCIe solid-state drive storage (SSD).

To inject still more speed, the PCIe connection is 3 to 10 times faster than the older SATA version. That means when you’re working with big files for an Adobe Premiere project or a data modeling job, you won’t get in the digital quicksand when your laptop taps stored files.

AI-based HP security

By now, HP is well-known for making the world’s most secure and manageable PCs. The HP 840 G8 Aero packs the full slate, from BIOS to browser, with tools like HP Sure Sense8.

Until recently, PCs used lists of known malware to thwart attacks. You were only as safe as your latest update. But HP Sure Sense8 uses AI to spot suspicious files with Zero-Day protection.

Toss in HP Sure Start Gen, HP Sure Run, and other digital defenders, and these PCs are on the hunt for bad actors every moment. You can also order your HP EliteBook with an optional fingerprint sensor, shutter camera, smart card reader, and tamper lock. You can even add a nano security lock so you can lock it up just like a bike.

Sustainability to the max

New tech is great, but it’s even better when it’s got a tiny environmental footprint. The HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero keeps things slim with a chassis forged from 90% recycled – and recyclable – magnesium. It’s also crafted with recycled plastics, and even the packaging is 100% sustainably sourced to lower its environmental impact.

This device is part of HP’s portfolio of the world’s most sustainable PCs. HP is breaking new ground by sourcing ocean-bound plastics and eliminating plastic packaging. Also, from memory to storage to display, this laptop’s components sip less power than ever, for a smaller cost in energy.

New tech is great, but it’s even better when it’s got a tiny environmental footprint. The HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero keeps things slim with a chassis forged from 90% recycled – and recyclable – magnesium. It’s also crafted with recycled plastics, and even the packaging is 100% sustainably sourced to lower its environmental impact.

This device is part of HP’s portfolio of the world’s most sustainable PCs. HP is breaking new ground by sourcing ocean-bound plastics and eliminating plastic packaging. Also, from memory to storage to display, this laptop’s components sip less power than ever, for a smaller cost in energy.

Summary

This full review of the HP EliteBook 840 G8 Aero unearths an incredibly slim, but amazingly powerful laptop PC. You get blisteringly fast 5G and WiFi 6 connectivity, a max of 64GB of DDR4 RAM, and mega-powered 11th Generation Intel processor options. With its Tile functionality, serious camera, mic and speaker setup, super-light chassis, and fast startup, this laptop is a great pick for the modern working world.