HP EliteBook 845 G7 (AMD)

The HP EliteBook 845 G7 is a business laptop that many professionals favor right now. Beyond its elegant, refined design and stable performance, it also offers battery life long enough to cover all your work needs. But what advantages does this laptop have over its rivals in the same segment? Join Hung Phat as we review this product in the article below.

The HP EliteBook 845 G7 has an elegant, refined design

The HP 845 G7 is a classic example of the EliteBook line, one of the most elegant and modern families of office laptops. The G7's silver aluminum chassis is slim, with distinctive rounded curves and corners. The sleek, stylized HP logo adds to its refined look. The single hinge is sturdy and smooth, letting you open the lid easily with one hand.

Thanks to these materials, the HP Elitebook 845 G7 has passed 12 MIL-STD 810H tests, along with 120.000 hours of reliability testing through HP's Comprehensive Testing Process. Weighing 1,34kg and measuring 12,74 x 8,45 x 0,7 inches, the 845 G7 slips easily into a backpack or handbag, so you can take it with you to school or work.

A display with vivid image quality

The 14-inch full HD (1920x1080 pixel) IPS display produces crystal-clear images with softly saturated, bright colors. Measured brightness is 250 nits on the model with the integrated HP Sure View privacy screen. Black levels and contrast are generally good, and the high brightness makes it excellent for outdoor use on a matte screen.

HP Sure View protects sensitive information on your computer screen by making it hard for onlookers to see it from the sides. The trade-off is that it has a more limited viewing angle than a standard IPS panel.

Ports on the HP Elitebook 845 G7

The Elitebook 845 G7 comes with a fairly wide range of connections. On the left edge, you will find a nano security lock, two USB Type-A 3.1 Gen 1 ports (one with charging), a combo headphone / microphone jack and a smart card reader. On the right side of the computer are a power connector, an HDMI 2.0 port, two USB Type-C 3.1 Gen 2 ports and an optional nano SIM card slot.

Wireless connectivity is handled by a combo Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2 × 2 and Bluetooth 5 card. WiFi 6 speeds were excellent in our testing with a UniFi WiFi 6 wireless access point. The Bluetooth connection is reliable with a mouse or keyboard.

Keyboard & Touchpad

The black rubber Chiclet-style keys on the HP EliteBook are very responsive, with good bounce. Key travel is relatively deep, and the layout is sensible. The keys are quiet and make no noise while you type. The keyboard is also spill-resistant, with drain holes beneath the vent cover that help protect your computer in an unfortunate accident. The keys are backlit at two levels, which is handy when you have to work at night.

The ClickPad has a large, smooth glass surface with multi-touch gestures enabled. Two buttons are built into the touchpad and worked well during testing. The Microsoft Precision driver ensures accurate finger gestures. The EliteBook also includes a Trackpoint above the ClickPad with two physical buttons. The Trackpoint takes a little time to get used to at first, but you will soon switch naturally between the Trackpoint and the ClickPad depending on your habits. The two physical buttons work quietly.

Audio & Webcam

The EliteBook 845 G7 is equipped with Bang & Olufsen speakers along the edges of the keyboard. The sound is good for video calls, together with 3 multi-array microphones. Audio quality is above average, but it lacks bass and the volume is moderate. The EliteBook 845 G7 also comes with HP Audio Control software, which is a big help because it lets you adjust the equalizer to get closer to your ideal sound profile.

The 720p HD webcam is flanked by an ambient light sensor and an infrared camera for face authentication with Windows Hello. The webcam is ordinary, with below-average video quality and washed-out colors.

The HP EliteBook 845 G7 delivers stable performance

Our review unit today has an AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U APU powering the EliteBook 845 G7. It runs at a 2,1 GHz base clock, with a boost clock of up to 4,0 GHz, 6 cores and 12 threads, and a TDP of 15 to 25 watts.

The PRO in the processor name brings a range of business features such as hardware security (for example, AMD Memory Guard), plus better manageability, longer availability and software stability.

With 16GB of DDR4 memory and a 256GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD, the EliteBook can keep 30 Chrome tabs and 5 YouTube videos open without lag or stutter.

The Ryzen 5 PRO 4650U APU also includes integrated AMD Radeon™ Vega Graphics that run very stably and handle some light photo and video editing. That means it can also play light games at low 1080P settings. For example, Fortnite, LoL and CS: Go will run at low to medium settings.

Battery life

According to HP, this laptop is equipped with a 3-cell, 53Whr Li-ion battery. With the screen brightness reduced to 50% and only light office applications running, the Elitebook 845 G7 delivers 7 to 9 hours of battery life. The EliteBook also supports HP Fast Charge, reaching up to 50% in 30 minutes with the slim 65W AC adapter.