Review: HP Elitebook x360 1030 G3

You will be forgiven for thinking that we were trying to mess with you or at least do something similar…this is especially when you consider the title of this one. To confirm, this isn’t a drill and yes our review today is based on a device from HP referred to as the Elitebook x360 1030 G3…a bit of a mouthful isn’t it? It’s a device we got to spend some quality time with towards the end of last year.

The Elitebook x360 1030 G3 is a premium laptop that has consumer design queues and enterprise strengths. It is the world’s smallest business convertible with a starting weight of only 1.25kg (2.76 lbs.) and is 15.8 mm thin. With up to 18 hours of battery life and 4G Cat9 LTE for ultimate connectivity, this sleek device features the world’s first active pen with proximity alert for business PCs to notify a user when the pen is left behind and an optional, first of its kind, outdoor viewable display. Out of the box the device comes equipped with:

A Notebook
Charger – 65W USB-C with smart power delivery
HP Active Pen (this may not be in all packages)

First Impressions and Build Quality

The first thing you will notice when first laying your eyes on the device is just how good looking it is with a dash of premium and high-end qualities about it, this is also part thanks to its natural silver finishes. The product is also quite light at 1.25kg and as thin as they come at 15.8mm.

HP also smartly fitted a full-sized HDMI Port (ahem…Apple take note) and a USB Type-A. On the left side you will find one USB 3.1 port with always-on charging, a headphone jack, the power button and a Nano SIM card slot. On the opposite (right hand) side you will find an HDMI 1.4 port, a security lock slot, two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a volume rocker.

The device is solidly built with an enormous amount of attention to detail being evident throughout. Adding to the fun is a removable bottom base plate for 100% access to all the parts. You might be asking what that means exactly? This essentially means that an HP technician can come to either your house or workplace and fix anything faulty with the device with no need for you to take it in store should you not feel like it. Quite nifty right?

The sides of the laptop come equipped with a glossy finish, while the hinge is stylishly cut outward and has a very cool EliteBook logo in the middle. When we folded it into tablet mode, we interestingly noticed that the tip of the laptop has magnets that connect to the underside. This makes working in tablet mode feel more comfortable and stable.

The Screen

The screen resolution is amazing with equally crisp colours coming through. The device is a bit brighter than the MacBook Pro 13 and over twice the brightness of the Dell XPS 13. This is thanks to its 13.5, 1080p BrightView screen and 415 nits (518 nits with Sure View panel).

Webcam & Sound

The Elitebook x360 1030 G3 also comes equipped with a 720p front camera which is decent enough for the basics such as Skype and the like. The camera is sharp and does show enough quality and detail.

As you know we are huge fans of music, movies and TV shows here. Therefore viewing quality and sound output is very important to us. We found the EliteBook x360’s Bang & Olufsen speakers complete with a cross-hatch speaker grill in front of the screen (that houses two speakers powered by separate left and right amplifiers) to be a winner delivering great sound quality. The same was also the case for the sound quality when using the Bluetooth 4.2 and the 3.5mm audio output to the headphones/speakers which came out at a clean 20-20kHz.

Overall Impressions

The HP Elitebook x360 1030 G3 is a great device for both business and personal use. Being an avid fan of great design and aesthetics, we were especially impressed with its rugged good looks that come complete with a thin and light feel to them…this device just drips in utter swag. Of course it does offer so much more but we chose to only focus on what matters to us the most and in that instance it more than came out tops. For those looking for something unique and unlike anything most people currently own at the moment, the HP Elitebook x360 1030 G3 is a no-brainer.

At a Recommended Retail Price of R31,999 (VAT included) it’s not exactly cheap however, considering what it offers and what you are getting in return then it’s understandable. The product is unfortunately not available in retail stores, it is instead available through HP’s entire commercial channel base. Feel free to view the device’s full specs here.

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#HP #HP Elitebook x360 1030 G3 #HP South Africa

Posted By

Thabiso Moloi

With many, many years of PR, digital & influencer marketing work under his belt, Thabiso has worked on a great number of technology, business and consumer brands. In addition, he has become obsessed with most things under the sun including music, series, sports, movies etc which he now regularly writes about. You can find him on Twitter: @Thabz_14