The 14-inch business laptop segment is one of the most competitive in the PC market.
At the top are glamorous models like the HDR-screened version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the new Huawei MateBook X Pro.
Below are workhorse systems like the ThinkPad T470 and T480, and Dell's Latitude 5490 and 7490.
Position HP's EliteBook 840 G5 between those two camps.
(It starts at $1,199; our test model is $1,835.) This highly IT-manageable, spiffy-looking machine has its charms, and while it does not displace our Editors' Choice pick, the X1 Carbon, it delivers enough flexibility to make it a strong contender for fleet deployments, with enough options to please a wide range of business-user needs.
A Mainstream Middleweight
The EliteBook 840 G5 looks glamorous with its silver aluminum unibody and stylized slash logo, but it is really a workhorse that woos IT managers with its Intel vPro manageability, HP Sure Start protection against BIOS hackers, and HP Sure Recover option.
(The last can restore a company's software image from the cloud if the solid-state drive has been wiped.) Compared to its G4 predecessor, it even has tethered screws on the bottom, so you can open the chassis for service or upgrades without dealing with easy-to-lose screws and screw caps.
Except for its 14- rather than 13.3-inch display and the welcome addition of dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to the keyboard, the EliteBook 840 G5 tester unit I have on hand is a near twin of the EliteBook 830 G5 ($1,149.00 at HP) I reviewed not long before it.
The model I have in hand has the same 1,920-by-1,080-pixel (1080p) native screen resolution, the same eighth-generation Core i7-8650U quad-core processor with Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated silicon, the same ports on the left and right edges, and the same 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD.
Also identical is the choice of a face-recognition webcam or a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello sign-ins, plus an option for a SmartCard slot, for enterprises that prefer that kind of secure-access solution.
The $1,199 base model makes do with a seventh-generation Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
At 3.27 pounds, the 840 G5 undercuts the 3.74-pound ThinkPad T470, just as it's undercut, in turn, by the MateBook X Pro ($1,700.00 at Amazon) (2.93 pounds) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon ($999.99 at Amazon) (2.49 pounds).
It's a little trimmer than the ThinkPad T470, at 0.7 by 12.8 by 9.2 inches versus 0.79 by 13.3 by 9.2 inches.
The Huawei is sculpted more like a 13.3-inch ultraportable, at 0.57 by 12 by 8.5 inches.
While its chrome HP logo and carved rear edge are stylish touches, the EliteBook 840 G5 is more than just a pretty face—it's passed MIL-STD tests against vibration, shock, temperature and altitude extremes, dust, humidity, and more.
The connectivity, meanwhile, is on-point, if not overly generous.
On the laptop's left side, you'll find a USB 3.0 Type-A port and a Kensington cable-lock slot, as well as, on this unit, the above-mentioned SmartCard slot...
On the right are a SIM card slot, an audio jack, another USB 3.0 port, HDMI and Ethernet ports, a docking-station connector, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and the AC adapter connector.
There is no SD card slot.
A sliding shutter uncovers the webcam, which captures well-lit, slightly soft-focus 720p shots and video.
Most users will appreciate the manual action of the shutter and the implied security of physically blocking the camera lens.
I appreciate the at-a-glance visual cue, myself, rather than having to rely on an OS or program-based assurance that the camera's not in commission.
The Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, meanwhile, are arrayed in a strip between the keyboard and the screen.
Their output can easily fill a room—with some boom and echo when volume is cranked all the way up—with crisp highs and well-defined lows.
Both MP3s and videos sound great.
Pick a Panel (But Be Sure It's the Right One)
As with the EliteBook 830 G5, HP chose to send its 840 G5 test unit with the lowest-common-denominator screen for review.
The good news is that the full HD display is an in-plane switching (IPS) rather than twisted nematic (TN) panel, so details and colors are fairly sharp, and the off-center viewing angles are wide.
The bad news is that it isn't very bright.
The company rates the screen at 220 nits.
As a result, those colors don't pop, and backgrounds aren't washday white.
The whole screen looks murky if you dial the backlight down two or three notches for the sake of saving battery power.
If you've got the budget, though, HP's got alternatives.
Most buyers would do well to opt for the upticked full HD display with 400 nits of brightness.
There's also a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) screen, plus a 1080p version of HP's Sure View privacy screen.
Sure View may appeal to business users who handle sensitive information often.
It protects the screen contents from being spied upon via casual glances (say, from the person sitting beside you on a plane or train).
Press the F2 key, and the display becomes legible only to someone seated directly in front of it.
As for the keyboard, a quibble first: I continue to hold a beef with HP's placement of the cursor-arrow directional keys in a row rather than a more intuitive inverted T.
Here, it's the usual HP arrangement, with half-height up and down arrows placed between full-height left and right ones...
But otherwise, this EliteBook's backlit keyboard is impressive, quieter than most yet with a firm and responsive typing feel.
It features HP's dedicated keys for placing, ending, and presenting during Skype calls, as well as both a comfortable touchpad and a mid-keyboard pointing stick (though the latter has only two instead of three buttons).
HP backs the EliteBook 840 G5 with a three-year warranty, not including onsite service.
The Windows 10 Pro preinstall comes with a surprisingly high number of not terribly compelling casual games, but HP restricts its bundling to useful system utilities.
Solid Performance, Slightly Pricey
With its Core i7-8650U processor (a 1.9GHz quad-core) and fast Samsung SSD, the EliteBook 840 G5 turned in an admirable score of 3,517 points in our PCMark 8 office productivity benchmark (we consider anything over 3,000 excellent).
And while the 830 G5 with the same CPU was a trifle off in our Handbrake video editing and Adobe Photoshop image-manipulation tests, the 840 G5 posted thoroughly competitive times of 1 minute 18 seconds (1:18) and 2:57, respectively.
It was a different story in our 3DMark graphics tests and Heaven and Valley gaming simulations, where the EliteBook (and other laptops with integrated graphics) got schooled by the Huawei and its Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete graphics.
Upscale configurations of the 840 G5, however, can be fitted with dedicated graphics, too, in the form of AMD's Radeon RX 540, which won't be enough to satisfy hardcore gamers but should bring noticeably perkier graphics performance.
Perhaps the HP's toughest test came in our battery life rundown, where lasting through a mere eight-hour workday no longer cuts the mustard.
Our test unit survived for a very respectable 12 hours and 51 minutes, though it trailed the 17-plus hours of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the T470 ($881.10 at Lenovo) with its optional extended-life battery.
See How We Test Laptops
A Striking Biz Laptop, But Mind the Price
With its sleek and sturdy construction, pleasing performance, and variety of configuration choices, the EliteBook 840 G5 is a very likable business laptop, though not quite likable enough to undo our Editors' Choice vote for the lighter X1 Carbon.
Our main complaints are the base model's dingy screen and our test unit's $1,835 list price despite said screen.
While HP and its channel partners frequently offer the system on sale, it strikes us as a bit expensive compared to rivals such as the $1,499 MateBook X Pro.
Still, if we were HP's even more costly EliteBook 1040 14-incher ($1,479.00 at HP) , we'd be worried—the EliteBook 840 G5 is that good.
Pros
Sleek design.
Good battery life.
Available 4K and privacy-screen display options, as well as discrete graphics.
Comfortable backlit keyboard.
View More
Cons
Expensive with options.
Base screen is dreary.
The Bottom Line
The midrange EliteBook 840 G5 is a first-class 14-inch business laptop that challenges its up-the-stack HP kin, though you'll want to upgrade from the dim default screen.
The 14-inch business laptop segment is one of the most competitive in the PC market.
At the top are glamorous models like the HDR-screened version of the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the new Huawei MateBook X Pro.
Below are workhorse systems like the ThinkPad T470 and T480, and Dell's Latitude 5490 and 7490.
Position HP's EliteBook 840 G5 between those two camps.
(It starts at $1,199; our test model is $1,835.) This highly IT-manageable, spiffy-looking machine has its charms, and while it does not displace our Editors' Choice pick, the X1 Carbon, it delivers enough flexibility to make it a strong contender for fleet deployments, with enough options to please a wide range of business-user needs.
A Mainstream Middleweight
The EliteBook 840 G5 looks glamorous with its silver aluminum unibody and stylized slash logo, but it is really a workhorse that woos IT managers with its Intel vPro manageability, HP Sure Start protection against BIOS hackers, and HP Sure Recover option.
(The last can restore a company's software image from the cloud if the solid-state drive has been wiped.) Compared to its G4 predecessor, it even has tethered screws on the bottom, so you can open the chassis for service or upgrades without dealing with easy-to-lose screws and screw caps.
Except for its 14- rather than 13.3-inch display and the welcome addition of dedicated Home, End, Page Up, and Page Down keys to the keyboard, the EliteBook 840 G5 tester unit I have on hand is a near twin of the EliteBook 830 G5 ($1,149.00 at HP) I reviewed not long before it.
The model I have in hand has the same 1,920-by-1,080-pixel (1080p) native screen resolution, the same eighth-generation Core i7-8650U quad-core processor with Intel UHD Graphics 620 integrated silicon, the same ports on the left and right edges, and the same 16GB of memory and 512GB SSD.
Also identical is the choice of a face-recognition webcam or a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello sign-ins, plus an option for a SmartCard slot, for enterprises that prefer that kind of secure-access solution.
The $1,199 base model makes do with a seventh-generation Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB SSD.
At 3.27 pounds, the 840 G5 undercuts the 3.74-pound ThinkPad T470, just as it's undercut, in turn, by the MateBook X Pro ($1,700.00 at Amazon) (2.93 pounds) and ThinkPad X1 Carbon ($999.99 at Amazon) (2.49 pounds).
It's a little trimmer than the ThinkPad T470, at 0.7 by 12.8 by 9.2 inches versus 0.79 by 13.3 by 9.2 inches.
The Huawei is sculpted more like a 13.3-inch ultraportable, at 0.57 by 12 by 8.5 inches.
While its chrome HP logo and carved rear edge are stylish touches, the EliteBook 840 G5 is more than just a pretty face—it's passed MIL-STD tests against vibration, shock, temperature and altitude extremes, dust, humidity, and more.
The connectivity, meanwhile, is on-point, if not overly generous.
On the laptop's left side, you'll find a USB 3.0 Type-A port and a Kensington cable-lock slot, as well as, on this unit, the above-mentioned SmartCard slot...
On the right are a SIM card slot, an audio jack, another USB 3.0 port, HDMI and Ethernet ports, a docking-station connector, a Thunderbolt 3 port, and the AC adapter connector.
There is no SD card slot.
A sliding shutter uncovers the webcam, which captures well-lit, slightly soft-focus 720p shots and video.
Most users will appreciate the manual action of the shutter and the implied security of physically blocking the camera lens.
I appreciate the at-a-glance visual cue, myself, rather than having to rely on an OS or program-based assurance that the camera's not in commission.
The Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, meanwhile, are arrayed in a strip between the keyboard and the screen.
Their output can easily fill a room—with some boom and echo when volume is cranked all the way up—with crisp highs and well-defined lows.
Both MP3s and videos sound great.
Pick a Panel (But Be Sure It's the Right One)
As with the EliteBook 830 G5, HP chose to send its 840 G5 test unit with the lowest-common-denominator screen for review.
The good news is that the full HD display is an in-plane switching (IPS) rather than twisted nematic (TN) panel, so details and colors are fairly sharp, and the off-center viewing angles are wide.
The bad news is that it isn't very bright.
The company rates the screen at 220 nits.
As a result, those colors don't pop, and backgrounds aren't washday white.
The whole screen looks murky if you dial the backlight down two or three notches for the sake of saving battery power.
If you've got the budget, though, HP's got alternatives.
Most buyers would do well to opt for the upticked full HD display with 400 nits of brightness.
There's also a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) screen, plus a 1080p version of HP's Sure View privacy screen.
Sure View may appeal to business users who handle sensitive information often.
It protects the screen contents from being spied upon via casual glances (say, from the person sitting beside you on a plane or train).
Press the F2 key, and the display becomes legible only to someone seated directly in front of it.
As for the keyboard, a quibble first: I continue to hold a beef with HP's placement of the cursor-arrow directional keys in a row rather than a more intuitive inverted T.
Here, it's the usual HP arrangement, with half-height up and down arrows placed between full-height left and right ones...
But otherwise, this EliteBook's backlit keyboard is impressive, quieter than most yet with a firm and responsive typing feel.
It features HP's dedicated keys for placing, ending, and presenting during Skype calls, as well as both a comfortable touchpad and a mid-keyboard pointing stick (though the latter has only two instead of three buttons).
HP backs the EliteBook 840 G5 with a three-year warranty, not including onsite service.
The Windows 10 Pro preinstall comes with a surprisingly high number of not terribly compelling casual games, but HP restricts its bundling to useful system utilities.
Solid Performance, Slightly Pricey
With its Core i7-8650U processor (a 1.9GHz quad-core) and fast Samsung SSD, the EliteBook 840 G5 turned in an admirable score of 3,517 points in our PCMark 8 office productivity benchmark (we consider anything over 3,000 excellent).
And while the 830 G5 with the same CPU was a trifle off in our Handbrake video editing and Adobe Photoshop image-manipulation tests, the 840 G5 posted thoroughly competitive times of 1 minute 18 seconds (1:18) and 2:57, respectively.
It was a different story in our 3DMark graphics tests and Heaven and Valley gaming simulations, where the EliteBook (and other laptops with integrated graphics) got schooled by the Huawei and its Nvidia GeForce MX150 discrete graphics.
Upscale configurations of the 840 G5, however, can be fitted with dedicated graphics, too, in the form of AMD's Radeon RX 540, which won't be enough to satisfy hardcore gamers but should bring noticeably perkier graphics performance.
Perhaps the HP's toughest test came in our battery life rundown, where lasting through a mere eight-hour workday no longer cuts the mustard.
Our test unit survived for a very respectable 12 hours and 51 minutes, though it trailed the 17-plus hours of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon and the T470 ($881.10 at Lenovo) with its optional extended-life battery.
See How We Test Laptops
A Striking Biz Laptop, But Mind the Price
With its sleek and sturdy construction, pleasing performance, and variety of configuration choices, the EliteBook 840 G5 is a very likable business laptop, though not quite likable enough to undo our Editors' Choice vote for the lighter X1 Carbon.
Our main complaints are the base model's dingy screen and our test unit's $1,835 list price despite said screen.
While HP and its channel partners frequently offer the system on sale, it strikes us as a bit expensive compared to rivals such as the $1,499 MateBook X Pro.
Still, if we were HP's even more costly EliteBook 1040 14-incher ($1,479.00 at HP) , we'd be worried—the EliteBook 840 G5 is that good.
Pros
Sleek design.
Good battery life.
Available 4K and privacy-screen display options, as well as discrete graphics.
Comfortable backlit keyboard.
View More
Cons
Expensive with options.
Base screen is dreary.
The Bottom Line
The midrange EliteBook 840 G5 is a first-class 14-inch business laptop that challenges its up-the-stack HP kin, though you'll want to upgrade from the dim default screen.
