HP Zbook Ultra G1a review: The mobile workstation that can game, too

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HP’s Zbook Ultra G1a is an all-round performer. It benefits from a powerful Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip that made all my computing needs so easy. From mucking around in office apps to browsing the web, the G1a did it all. This laptop could even play a few triple-A games thanks to the integrated Radeon 8050S chip. On top of all that, it just oozes luxury. From the spacious keyboard to the large display, this is a mobile workstation that feels very smooth to use.

HP ZBook Ultra G1a: Specifications

HP’s website shows the HP Zbook Ultra G1a in configurations up to AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 395 and AMD Radeon 8060S graphics with a top-of-the-line model costing $3,699. My laptop had the step-down build with an AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 processor with an integrated Radeon 8050S chip, which, at the time of writing, cost $2,229. The full specifications are as follows:

• Model number: B90JJUA#ABA
• CPU: AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390
• RAM: 64GB LPDDR5x 8533 MT/s
• Graphics: Integrated Radeon 8050S
• Display: 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UWVA, anti-glare, 400nits, 100 percent sRGB color gamut.
• Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe
• Connectivity: 2 x Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5 mm combo jack, Kensington lock.
• Networking: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Battery capacity: 74.5 Wh Li-ion polymer
• Dimensions:  12.29 x 8.45 x 0.71 inches
• Weight: 3.31 lbs (1.50kg)
• Cost: $2,229 (this configuration)

Compared to competitors, Dell offers the Dell 14 Premium, which features a Core 7 255H CPU with Intel Arc 140T graphics, and an MSRP of $1,899.99. At 3.79 pounds, it’s the slightly heavier of the two options and its NPU features only 13 TOPS of neural processing power.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Design and build

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a looks a lot like the laptops in HP’s EliteBook series. The design is very compact measuring just 12.29 x 8.45 inches, but the design is pretty luxurious. The laptop is comprised of an aluminum body that feels strong and very robust. There’s a scarcity of plastic here and more metal than you’ll find in a heap of cheaper laptops, However, the metal material means it’ll last a good while.

At 0.71 inches thick, the Zbook Ultra G1a is also very slender. It’s relatively light too at 3.33 pounds. It’s even lighter than the HP Pavilion Laptop 16. it was easy to pick up with one hand and carry around the office. When I slipped it into my work bag, it nestled right up against my work laptop without any fuss.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

HP did such a great job balancing the main components that the whole design feels effortless. 14-inch The 1920×1200 display is generous and frames up to a tall 16:10 aspect ratio.

The keyboard is large and the keys spacious. The hinges are strong and hold the lid at any angle you want it to. I couldn’t get any flex out of the lid despite using a lot of weight on it. The 140W charger is also small and compact and suitable for carrying.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Keyboard and trackpad

HP has provided a well-balanced keyboard with left and right Shift keys and right arrow keys, but it doesn’t have a numpad. Although only a 14-inch laptop keyboard, HP has managed to fit in the Page Up and Page Down keys above the arrow keys, the placement of which I really liked after a while.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

For typing, the large low set keys are a little on the soft side, but the rebound isn’t completely mushy, so they don’t feel fatiguing.

On the plus side, the keys are very stable. They don’t wobble or skew sideways on the down press, which makes for very accurate typing. The backlighting illuminates the top of each key well so that they are bright and easily visible at night. The touchpad is located in a very central position. Its moderate size means there’s plenty of room either side to rest your wrists.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Connectivity

The laptop has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, which accommodated my external mouse and keyboard and my external SSD with no fuss. Two of the USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means they provide a maximum file transfer speed of up to 40Gbps and you can also output to two displays at 4K resolution at 60Hz. The Ultra G1a also has an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5 mm audio jack, and a Kensington lock.

Wi-Fi 7 functionality provided me with a snappy enough connection to download the programs I needed to benchmark the laptop. My review model also had Bluetooth 5.4, which was handy for streaming music through my laptop speaker.

The connectivity was quick enough to render images via the laptop’s 5MP IR camera in fine detail. The AI enhanced camera produced very natural-looking images and the dual array microphones did a decent job making my voice sound clear.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Display, audio

My review model shipped with a 14-inch 1920x1200p LCD IPS-grade display. I had the base version, but some configurations come with an upgraded 2880×1800 resolution OLED touchscreen.

Overall, the display itself is quite decent. The panel delivers 100 percent sRGB color and 400 nits of peak brightness, which together make for a sharp image. I’ve seen much richer color saturation and contrast in other OLED panels, though.

Still, I was never unhappy with the visuals. There was no lag or delay playing media, and videos were fluid and flicker free. The anti-glare functionality also kept reflection down to a minimum.

The laptop’s upward firing speakers also produced quite a detailed sound for a laptop so thin.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Performance

My review model’s AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip is a powerful mobile processor launched in January 2025 and based on AMD’s Zen 5 architecture. It has 12 cores and supports 24 threads, and reaches a maximum boost clock speed of up to 5.0GHz.

The Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 includes the Radeon 8050S integrated graphics chip and a 50 TOPs XDNA 2 neural engine.

The first benchmark I tested it on was Maxon’s Cinebench Multi-Threaded benchmark. This test fired all the processor’s 12 cores to simulate how it could handle a similar all-hands on-deck computing task.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

As you can see, the Ultra G1a topped the field in this test. That’s not surprising considering the power of the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip compared to the power-conserving ultralight laptop chips in the field.

The Ultra G1a proved it can keep thermals in check to finish heavy tasks quickly, which even gaming laptops with high-performance processors sometimes struggle with. I figured that from the fast time it took to finish our standard PCWorld encoding test in the Handbrake utility. This is a better result than most light and thin laptops will achieve.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

The PCMark benchmark provided an indication of how the Ultra G1a might handle a range of different office tasks from spreadsheeting to web browsing.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

To be sure, the Ultra G1a performed very well in this task, almost topping the field again. In fact, a score of 6,083 means it will comfortably run office apps and programs.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Graphics performance

The Radeon 8050S features 32 compute units and is based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture. It’s similar in performance to the Nvidia RTX 4060 laptop GPU, so I was expecting better performance than many of the ultralight laptops in the lineup.

In the 3DMark Time Spy 1.2 benchmark, the HP Zbook Ultra G1a performed well. It achieved an overall score of 4,343. This indicates it does have a slightly better graphics performance than a lot of productivity laptops.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

You can even do some gaming on the HP Zbook Ultra G1a as was confirmed by the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. In this test, the Ultra G1a averaged 59 FPS, which beat out some lower-tier gaming laptops in performance.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

These results point to the laptop being a strong graphics performer for one with an integrated GPU. Performance is still far below many top-tier gaming laptops, but it’s strong enough for undertaking tasks like 3D editing that would make full use of the laptop’s Radeon 8050S.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Battery life

To test the laptop’s battery life, I set a 30GB 4K video on repeat in the Windows Films and TV app. But first I charged it up full, changed the volume to 50 percent, activated airplane mode, and adjusted the brightness.

I also switched the keyboard backlighting off and plugged in a cheap pair of headphones to keep the noise down. Just before pressing play, I unplugged the laptop from the power outlet and timed how long it took to run out of juice.

Dominic Bayley / Foundry

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a managed just over 14 hours before running out of juice. That result is better than expected. That said, our battery test is a lightweight one (it’s not too demanding). You can expect the laptop to last approximately half that time running more demanding applications.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Conclusion

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is an ideal mobile workstation. With a generously sized display and keyboard, it provides the kind of luxurious computing that office workers seek. It also features powerful performance that beats out most ultrabooks. It even holds its own against some gaming laptops. While it may be more powerful than most ultrabooks, it’s just as portable, being a slim and relatively lightweight 14-inch laptop, perfect for the daily commute.