In 2019, every housewife has heard of Ryzen processors. Indeed, chips based on the Zen architecture have been very successful. The Ryzen 3000 series of desktop processors is well suited for both creating a system unit with an emphasis on entertainment, and for building powerful workstations. We see that when it comes to the AM4 and sTRX4 platforms, AMD has an advantage in almost all categories, as the "red" platforms are more functional and look better in the price-performance section. At the same time, which is not at all surprising, AMD is increasing its influence in the mobile computer market. Today you will get acquainted with three interesting laptops from HP - perhaps the largest representative of the corporate segment of computing technology.
HP Business Notebook Series
This review will focus on the HP 255 G7, ProBook 455R G6 and EliteBook 735 G6 series laptops. As we have already noted, AMD Ryzen mobile solutions are used in all cases. The main technical characteristics of the series are shown in the table below.
| HP 255 G7 | HP ProBook 455R G6 | HP EliteBook 735 G6 | |
| Display | 15,6", 1366×768, TN | 15,6", 1366×768, TN | 15,6 ", 1920 × 1080, IPS |
| 15,6", 1920×1080, TN | 15,6 ", 1920 × 1080, IPS | 15,6", 1920 × 1080, IPS, touch | |
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 3 2200U AMD E2-9000e AMD A9-9425 AMD A6-9225 |
AMD Ryzen 5 3500U AMD Ryzen 3 3200U |
AMD Ryzen 5 3500U AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U AMD Ryzen 3 3300U AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 2700U |
| Graphics | Built in CPU | Built in CPU | Built in CPU |
| RAM | 8 GB DDR4-2400 | 8 or 16 GB DDR4-2400 | 8 or 16 GB DDR4-2400 |
| Drive | SSD: 128 or 256 GB HDD: 500GB or 1TB |
SSD: 128, 256 or 512 GB HDD: 500GB or 1TB |
SSD: 128, 256, 512GB, 1TB |
| Wireless module | Realtek RTL8821CE, IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac, 2,4GHz, up to 433Mbps, Bluetooth 4.2 | Realtek RTL8821BE, IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac, 2,4GHz, up to 433Mbps, Bluetooth 4.2 | Realtek RTL8821BE, IEEE 802.11b/g/n/ac, 2,4GHz, up to 433Mbps, Bluetooth 4.2 Intel AX200 Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5 |
| Interfaces | 2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x HDMI 1.4b 1 x RJ-45 1 × card reader 1 × 3,5mm mini-jack speaker / microphone |
2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C 1 x USB 2.0 Type-A 1 x HDMI 1.4b 1 x RJ-45 1 × card reader 1 × 3,5mm mini-jack speaker / microphone |
2 x USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-A 1 x USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C 1 × smart card 1 × SIM card 1 × docking station 1 x HDMI 2.0 1 x RJ-45 1 × card reader 1 × 3,5mm mini-jack speaker / microphone |
| Built-in battery | 3 cells, 41 Wh | 3 cells, 45 Wh | 3 cells, 50 Wh |
| External power supply | 45 W | 45 W | 45 W |
| dimensions | 376 × 246 × 22,5 mm | 365 × 257 × 19 mm | 310 × 229 × 17,7 mm |
| Weight | 1,78 kg | 2 kg | 1,33 kg |
| Operating system | Windows 10 Pro Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Home Single Language FreeDOS |
Windows 10 Pro Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Home Single Language FreeDOS |
Windows 10 Pro Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Home Single Language FreeDOS |
| Warranty | 3 years | 3 years | 3 years |
| Price in Russia according to Yandex.Market | From 18 000 rub. | From 34 000 rub. | From 64 000 rub. |
In all three laptops that came to our office, matrices with Full HD resolution are installed - we will definitely talk about them in more detail. The main characteristics of the tested samples are presented in the screenshots below. The HP 255 G7 has a Ryzen 2 3U 2200-core processor and 8 GB of RAM, the ProBook 455R G6 has a Ryzen 5 3500U and 16 GB of RAM, and the EliteBook 735 G6 has a Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U and 16 GB of RAM. In all three cases, SSDs are used, on which the Windows 10 PRO operating system is installed.
|
|
|
|
I note that the ProBook 455R G6 and EliteBook 735 G6 models have, so to speak, relatives. So, on sale you will find the ProBook 445R G6 and EliteBook 745 G6 series. The difference in one digit in the name indicates that these are laptops with 14-inch screens. Otherwise, these series are very similar.
As you may have noticed, the HP ProBook 455R G6 and EliteBook 735 G6 use different versions of the Ryzen 5 3500U. In particular, the client can purchase a laptop with a PRO version of the processor. These processors support technologies such as AMD GuardMI and DASH 1.2.
GuardMI is a built-in security feature that helps customers avoid, as it can now be called, cybercrime. So, the AMD Memory Guard function encrypts and decrypts all RAM in real time. As a result, attackers have no chance of success associated with cold reboot attacks. By the way, solutions that support Intel vPro technology do not have an equivalent alternative to AMD Memory Guard. AMD Secure Boot provides a secure boot process for your computer and prevents threats from infiltrating critical software. Finally, Ryzen chips support Windows 10 security technologies such as Device Guard, Credential Guard, TPM 2.0, and VBS.
DASH technology (Desktop and mobile Architecture for System Hardware, system hardware architecture for stationary and mobile systems) greatly simplifies computer management. The technology is constantly improving, because we are dealing with an open standard that is constantly being upgraded and developed. DASH allows you to remotely manage desktop computers and mobile systems. These systems help administrators perform tasks regardless of the computer's power state or operating system. For example, it is possible to securely start the system remotely, even if it is currently turned off. The administrator can get all the necessary information about the health of the system components, even if the operating system is not available.
Among the three HP laptops in our test lab, only the HP EliteBook 735 G6 has a Ryzen PRO-series chip. Other laptops use "simple" versions of the AMD CPU. Nevertheless, HP offers its customers a number of interesting proprietary technologies, including those related to security.
For example, the HP 255 G7 models support a firmware Trusted Platform Module (TPM) that creates hardware-based encryption keys to protect user information, email, and credentials. The HP ProBook 455R G6 series is equipped with the HP BIOSphere Gen4 solution, which works automatically at the firmware level - it improves computer performance and reduces downtime, as well as automatically updates the firmware and checks the security of the device. Finally, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 series of notebooks supports HP Sure View Gen3 technology. With it, you can reduce the illumination of the screen, which makes it dark and unreadable for nearby people and allows you to quickly hide the information on the screen from prying eyes. And then there are HP Sure Start and HP Sure Click technologies, which also help protect the entire computer: from the BIOS to the browser.
All models use the professional version of Windows 10.
HP 255 G7
Housing HP 255 G7 is made of matte practical plastic in dark gray. The laptop is small, its thickness is only 23 mm. At the same time, the device weighs less than two kilograms, and therefore this 15-inch model is quite convenient to carry around - at least for a man. Consider that the laptop power supply weighs only 200 g.
|
|
|
The lid of the HP 255 G7 opens about 135 degrees. It will not be possible to open it with one hand - this laptop turns out to be too light if we are talking about 15-inch models. However, there are no complaints about the hinges themselves - they clearly position the screen and will last a long time.
|
|
|
|
A model came to our office that uses a TN panel with Full HD resolution - this is AUO B156HTN03.8 (AUO38ED). The type of matrix is easy to determine, since the screen has small viewing angles in both planes. In general, the laptop uses a good panel, because we are talking about an inexpensive series of laptops. So, the contrast ratio of AUO B156HTN03.8 is small - only 325:1. The maximum white luminosity is 224 cd/m2 and the minimum is 15 cd/m2. However, the average DeltaE greyscale error is 6,2 with a maximum value of 9,7. But the average in the ColorChecker24 test was 6 with a maximum deviation of 10,46. The manufacturer himself claims that the color gamut of the matrix corresponds to 67% of the sRGB standard.
HP 255 G7 is the only model reviewed today that is equipped with an optical drive. Here, on the right panel, you will find a USB 2.0 A-type port and a card reader that supports SD, SDHC and SDXC storage devices. On the right, the laptop has an RJ-45, HDMI output, two USB 3.1 Gen1 A-type connectors and a 3,5 mm mini-jack for connecting headphones and a microphone.
The HP 255 G7 uses a full-size keyboard with a numeric keypad. There is no built-in backlight, but in the daytime it is very convenient to use the keyboard, because it has large Shift, Enter, Tab and Backspace. The F1-F12 series works in combination with the Fn button by default, while priority is given to their multimedia functions. This feature is inherent in all laptops discussed in this article.
The laptop uses a 720p 30Hz webcam. This is quite enough for Skype calls. I will add that unlocking the operating system is possible, including with the help of face identification (Windows Hello technology), and controlling various functions using a voice command system (virtual assistant Cortana).
Disassembling the HP 255 G7 is not easy. To remove the bottom, you must first peel off the rubber feet and unscrew a few hidden screws. We did not do this. The HP 255 G7 test version uses a dual-core Ryzen 3 2200U processor, 8GB DDR4-2400 RAM, and a 256GB Samsung MZNLN000HAJQ-1H256 SSD.
A simple cooling system, consisting of one copper heat pipe and one fan, is responsible for dissipating heat from the Ryzen 3 2200U. In Adobe Premier Pro 2019, which, as we know, heavily loads the processor-RAM subsystem, the frequency of the 2-core chip was stable at 2,5 GHz, although it can reach 3,4 GHz under less load. At the same time, its maximum temperature reached 72,8 degrees Celsius, and the noise level measured from a distance of 30 cm was 40,8 dBA. Well, we can see that the HP 255 G7 cooler works both efficiently and not very loudly.
It makes sense to disassemble the laptop over time, since the test model is well upgraded. So, 8 GB of RAM is assembled as a single SO-DIMM form factor module, but the HP 255 G7 motherboard is equipped with another such connector. The Samsung MZNLN256HAJQ-000H1 drive belongs to the PM871b series, connects to the M.2 connector, although it works with a SATA 6 Gb / s interface. At the same time, using the SATA connector, you can connect another 2,5'' form factor drive to the laptop. The performance level of Samsung MZNLN256HAJQ-000H1 is shown in the screenshot above.
HP ProBook 455R G6
Housing HP ProBook 455R G6 is partially made of metal with a smooth silver coating. The manufacturer claims that the keyboard panel and laptop screen cover are made of aluminum. The bottom of the laptop is plastic. We have no complaints about the build quality of the device. In addition, the laptop has a military quality certificate MIL-STD 810G.
|
|
|
The lid of the HP ProBook 455R G6 opens to 135 degrees. Notebook hinges clearly position the screen in any position. The lid itself can be easily opened with one hand. The thickness of the laptop does not exceed two centimeters, and its weight is only 2 kg, which, as we have already noted, is an excellent feature for models with 15,6-inch screens.
On sale you will find many versions of this laptop. We tested a model equipped with a BOE07FF IPS-matrix with Full HD resolution and anti-glare coating. However, on sale you can find versions of the HP ProBook 455R G6 with screens with a resolution of 1366 × 768 pixels.
|
|
|
|
The laptop display has a maximum brightness of 227 cd/m2. The minimum white luminosity is 12 cd/m2. The contrast is not very high for an IPS-matrix - 809:1.
In general, the screen calibration is carried out at a good level. The notebook uses a matrix, the color gamut of which is 67% of the sRGB standard. The average gray scale error was 4,17 (12,06), and the deviation when measuring 24 color patterns was 4,87 (8,64). The gamma is 2,05, which is slightly below the reference parameter of 2,2. The color temperature tends to the recommended 6500 K. Well, it is obvious that the quality of the BOE07FF matrix is quite enough for work in the office and beyond.
Among the interfaces on the left side of the laptop there is only a powered USB 2.0 A-type connector and a card reader that supports SD, SDHC and SDXC flash media. Most of the end is occupied by the cooler grille. On the right, the HP ProBook 455R G6 has USB 3.1 Gen1 Type-C, combined with DisplayPort (you can also charge a laptop with it), RJ-45, HDMI output, and two more USB 3.1 Gen1, but A-type. As you can see, everything is in order with the functionality of the test sample.
When looking at the panel with the keyboard, the fingerprint sensor located on the right immediately attracts attention. Otherwise, the button layout of the HP ProBook 455R G6 is very similar to the keyboard layout of the just reviewed HP 255 G7. Unless this model has a “two-story” Enter, larger buttons with up and down arrows, but a smaller left Shift. And the HP ProBook 455R G6 keyboard has a three-level white backlight.
The laptop is very easy to understand. The HP ProBook 455R G6 motherboard has two SO-DIMM slots at once - in the case of our test sample, two DDR4-2400 memory modules with a total capacity of 16 GB are installed in it. It also uses a 9GB SanDisk SD8SN128W-1006G-128 SSD and a 5000GB Western Digital WDC WD60LPLX-2ZNTT500 hard drive. You will get acquainted with the speed of these storage devices by examining the attached screenshots.
The Ryzen 5 3500U CPU is cooled by a cooler consisting of two heat pipes and one tangential fan. Under serious load, the HP ProBook 455R G6 is not very loud - the measuring device from a distance of 30 cm recorded 41,6 dBA at the peak. Processing a 4K project in Adobe Premier Pro 2019 took us a total of 2282 seconds. The chip frequency periodically dropped to 1,8 GHz - this is due to exceeding the power limit, but the average frequency of the 4-core was 2,3 GHz. The processor did not overheat: the maximum heating of the chip was 92,3 degrees Celsius, but the average temperature was 79,6 degrees Celsius. Well, the HP ProBook 455R G6 cooler does its job well.
HP EliteBook 735 G6
Admittedly, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 is very similar to the HP ProBook 455R G6 just reviewed. Only this model is already completely made of aluminum.
|
|
|
Before us is the most compact laptop. The thickness of the HP EliteBook 735 G6 is only 18 mm, and its weight does not exceed 1,5 kg. This laptop is easy to take with you everywhere.
The laptop's lid opens to about 150 degrees and can be easily lifted with one hand. All versions of the HP EliteBook 735 G6 use Full HD IPS panels. There is also a version on sale that supports HP Sure View technology, which we have already talked about. And you can also buy a modification of the HP EliteBook 735 G6 with a touch screen.
|
|
|
|
The test unit in our lab uses an AUO AUO5D2D IPS panel equipped with an anti-reflective coating. It is characterized by excellent image quality, and therefore HP EliteBook 735 G6 can be advised, including professionals working with photos and videos.
See for yourself, the maximum brightness of the screen is 352 cd/m2 (the minimum is 17 cd/m2). We measured a gamma of 2,27 and a contrast ratio of 1628:1. Yes, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 is great for watching movies too. The picture is bright, clear and very deep. The color temperature of the screen turns out to be slightly higher than the nominal value of 6500 K. Because of this, the average deviation on the gray scale is 1,47 with a maximum value of 2,12 - this is a very, very good result. The average error in the ColorChecker 24 test was 2,25, and the maximum error was 4,75. AUO5D2D has excellent viewing angles and no PWM detected.
The laptop is equipped with the following connectors: two USB 3.1 Gen1 A-type, one USB 3.1 Gen2 C-type (charging function is supported, as well as DisplayPort cable connection), HDMI-out, Ethernet port, smart card reader, 3,5, 735mm mini jack, SIM card slot and docking station slot. As you can see, the functionality of the HP EliteBook 6 G2 is all right. We can connect to a laptop, for example, two monitors at once. And if you need to further increase the set of connectors in your computer, then you can use the HP Thunderbolt GXNUMX docking station, for example.
Keyboard HP EliteBook 735 G6 has a white two-level backlight. The rest of the layout is very similar to what we saw in the HP 255 G7, only the numeric keypad is missing. All three laptops also support HP Noise Cancellation, which reduces ambient noise, including keyboard sounds.
However, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 is equipped with two manipulators: a touchpad with three buttons and a mini-joystick. The touch panel of the device is quite convenient to use. The coating at first glance seems the same as on the case, but in fact it turns out to be smoother and more pleasant to the touch.
The webcam is equipped with a protective shutter - useful for those who think that Big Brother is watching them.
The laptop is quite easy to understand. What is nice, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 uses removable RAM, not soldered. In our case, two DDR4-2400 modules with a total capacity of 16 GB are installed.
Unlike the first two laptops, this model has a fast NVMe drive - the results of its testing are shown below. There is no option to install a 2,5-inch hard drive on the HP EliteBook 735 G6.
The Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U is cooled by a cooler consisting of one copper heat pipe and one fan. In the Adobe Premier Pro 2019 program, with which we seriously load the laptop, the frequency of the 4-core periodically dropped to 1,76 GHz. As with the HP ProBook 455R G6, this is due to the processor's TDP limitation. The cooling system does its job: the maximum CPU temperature was only 81,4 degrees Celsius, and the maximum noise level was 41,3 dBA.
Test results
CPU and memory performance was measured using the following software:
- Corona 1.3. Testing rendering speed using the renderer of the same name. Measures the build speed of the standard BTR scene used to measure performance.
- Blender 2.79. Determination of the final rendering speed in one of the popular free packages for creating three-dimensional graphics. The duration of building the final model from Blender Cycles Benchmark rev4 is measured.
- x265 HD benchmark. Testing the speed of video transcoding to the promising H.265/HEVC format.
- CINEBENCH R15. Performance measurement of photorealistic 4D rendering in CINEMA XNUMXD animation package, CPU test.
The display was tested using the X-Rite i1Display Pro colorimeter and the HCFR app.
The battery life of the laptop was tested in two modes. The first load option - web surfing - involves alternately opening and closing the tabs of the 3DNews.ru, Computeruniverse.ru and Unsplash.com sites with an interval of 30 seconds. For this test, the current version of the Google Chrome browser is used. In the second mode, the built-in player of Windows 10 plays FHD-video with the extension .mkv with the replay function activated. In all cases, the same display brightness is set to 180 cd / m2, the “charge saver” power mode is turned on and the keyboard backlight is turned off, if any. In the case of video playback, laptops operate in airplane mode.
At the very beginning of the article, we noted that the Ryzen desktop processors that came out this year compete super-successfully with Intel solutions. Well, the test results below show that AMD solutions look at least as good in the mobile market, but often better.
| Intel Core i7-8550U [HP Specter 13-af008ur] | AMD Ryzen 3 2200U [HP 255 G7] | AMD Ryzen 5 3500U [HP ProBook 455R G6] | AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U [HP EliteBook 735 G6] | |
| Corona 1.3, s (less is better) | 450 | 867 | 403 | 470 |
| Blender 2.79, s (less is better) | 367 | 633 | 308 | 358 |
| Adobe Premier Pro 2019 (less is more) | 2576 | 4349 | 2282 | 2315 |
| x265 HD Benchmark, FPS (more is better) | 9,7 | 5,79 | 11,1 | 10,4 |
| CINEBENCH R15 points (more is better) | 498 | 278 | 586 | 506 |
Of course, one must take into account that the performance of a computer in modern programs that use several threads at once depends not only on the “processor-memory” link. Here, for example, a solid-state drive is important. Here, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 has a fast PCI Express SSD - and it is a great helper when performing tasks related to active reading and writing data.
In general, the best results naturally showed the HP ProBook 455R G6. Its increased size allowed for a more impressive cooler. Therefore, the Ryzen 5 3500U chip runs at higher clock speeds than the Ryzen 5 PRO 3500U found in the HP EliteBook 735 G6.
|
|
|
|
Obviously, the laptops discussed in this article are unlikely to be used for gaming. In such models, graphics play the role of an assistant to the central processor, because it is used quite often not only in games. We can see that the integrated Vega graphics are noticeably faster than the integrated GPU from Intel. In the case of the HP ProBook 455R G6 and HP EliteBook 735 G6 models, we are talking about more than a twofold advantage.
However, it is normal to play some “simple” (those for which graphics are not the main thing) projects will still work out. I do not take into account applications with high system requirements - it is obvious that the graphics built into the CPU are unlikely to manifest themselves in a positive way in them. However, in simple games like Dota 2 and WoT at the minimum graphics quality settings, I managed to get a playable frame rate at a resolution of 1920 × 1080 pixels.
We have already tested the quality and performance level of the main components of the test notebooks. It remains to learn another important characteristic of any mobile computer - autonomy.
The table below clearly shows that all three laptops have good endurance and, in general, are located strictly according to the capacity of the battery used in a particular model. Here, which is not at all surprising, the HP EliteBook 735 G6 system showed itself best of all - it worked for almost 10 hours in video viewing mode! An excellent result, we must admit, because we tested laptops at a high screen brightness - 180 cd / m2.
| Battery life, 180 cd/m2 | ||
| Web (opening tabs in Google Chrome) | View video | |
| HP 255 G7 | 4 13 hours minutes | 5 4 hours minutes |
| HP ProBook 455R G6 | 6 38 hours minutes | 7 30 hours minutes |
| HP EliteBook 735 G6 | 7 hours | 9 46 hours minutes |
Conclusions
With the laptops we've just reviewed, we think you've seen that HP is capable of satisfying the needs of any user who needs a laptop for a variety of office tasks and, if necessary, entertainment. A large series of mobile computers based on AMD processors has multitasking, decent performance and the possibility of further upgrades. The reviewed laptops are functional and efficient. In the corporate segment, security is very important, and solutions from both AMD and HP perform well in this field. Finally, the tested laptops look good against the background of competitors and in terms of price.
Source: 3dnews.ru