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

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HP's Zbook Ultra G1a is an all-rounder. It uses the powerful Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip, which has made all my computing tasks much easier. From running office applications to browsing the web, the G1a can do it all. This laptop can even play some high-end games thanks to its built-in Radeon 8050S chip. On top of that, it just oozes luxury. From the spacious keyboard to the large display, this mobile workstation is easy to use.

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is the ideal mobile workstation. With a large display and keyboard, it provides the luxury computer office workers need.

HP ZBook Ultra G1a: Specifications

HP's website lists the HP Zbook Ultra G1a in configurations up to AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 395 and AMD Radeon 8060S graphics, with the top model costing $3,699. My laptop was a downgrade 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: 64 GB LPDDR5x 8533 MT/s
• Graphics: Integrated Radeon 8050S graphics card
• Display: 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) UWVA anti-glare display, 400 nits brightness, 100 percent sRGB color gamut.
• Storage: NVMe PCIe Gen 4 1TB
• Connectivity: 2 Thunderbolt 4, USB-C 3.2 Gen 2, USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, HDMI 2.1, 3.5mm combo, Kensington lock.
• Net: Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4
• Battery capacity: 74.5Wh lithium-ion polymer battery
• Dimensions: 12.29 x 8.45 x 0.71 inches
• Weight: 3.31 lb (1.50 kg)
• Expenses: US$2,229 (this configuration)

Compared to its competitors, Dell offers the Dell 14 Premium with a Core 7 255H processor and Intel Arc 140T graphics for a suggested retail price of $1,899.99. At 3.79 pounds, it's the slightly heavier of the two options, and its NPU only has 13 TOPS of neural processing power.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: design and build

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is very similar to the HP EliteBook series of laptops. The design is very compact (only 12.29 x 8.45 inches), but the design is quite luxurious. The laptop has an aluminum body that feels durable and very durable. There's less plastic and more metal than you'll find in a bunch of cheaper laptops. However, the metal material means it will last a long time.

At 0.71 inches thick, the Zbook Ultra G1a is also very thin. It's also relatively lightweight at 3.33 pounds. It's even lighter than HP Pavilion 16 Laptop. it was easy to pick up with one hand and carry around the office. When I put it in my work bag, it fit right into my work laptop without any problems.

HP has done such a great job of balancing the core components that the entire design feels effortless. The 14-inch display with a resolution of 1920×1200 is large in size and has an aspect ratio of 16:10.

The keyboard is large, the keys are spacious. The hinges are strong and hold the lid at any angle. I was unable to bend the lid despite putting a lot of weight on it. The 140W charger is also small, compact and portable.

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 numeric keypad. Even though it's only a 14-inch laptop keyboard, HP managed to place the Page Up and Page Down keys above the arrow keys, a layout that I grew to really like after a while.

For typing, the large, low keys are a little soft, but the rebound isn't exactly soft, so they don't feel fatiguing.

On the other hand, the keys are very stable. They don't wobble or warp when pressed down, allowing for very accurate typing. The backlight illuminates the top of each key well, making them bright and easy to see at night. The touchpad is located in the very center. Its moderate size means there is plenty of room on both sides to rest your wrists.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Connectivity

The laptop has three USB-C ports and one USB-A port, to which you can easily connect an external mouse and keyboard, as well as an external solid-state drive. The two USB-C ports are Thunderbolt 4 ports, which means they offer maximum file transfer speeds of up to 40Gbps, and you can output to two displays at 4K resolution at 60Hz. The Ultra G1a also has an HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm audio jack, and a Kensington lock.

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

The connection was fast enough to display images using the laptop's 5-megapixel IR camera in high detail. The AI-enhanced camera produced very natural images, and the dual microphones did a great job of ensuring my voice came through clearly.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Display, sound

My review model came with a 14-inch IPS-class LCD display with a resolution of 1920×1200 pixels. I had the base version, but some configurations feature an upgraded 2880×1800 OLED touchscreen.

Overall, the display itself is quite decent. The panel delivers 100 percent sRGB color reproduction and 400 nits peak brightness, which together deliver crisp images. However, I've seen much richer color saturation and contrast on other OLED panels.

However, I was never unhappy with the visuals. There were no lags or lags when playing media, and videos were smooth and flicker-free. The anti-glare feature also kept reflections to a minimum.

The laptop's upward-firing speakers also produce fairly detailed sound for such a thin laptop.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: performance

The AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 in my review unit is a powerful mobile processor released in January 2025 and based on the AMD Zen 5 architecture. It has 12 cores and supports 24 threads, and a maximum boost clock speed of 5.0 GHz.

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

The first test I tested it on was the Maxon Cinebench multi-threaded test. This test used all 12 cores of the processor to simulate how it could handle a similar computing task with all hands on deck.

As you can see, the Ultra G1a leads in this test. This is not surprising given the power of the AMD Ryzen AI Max Pro 390 chip compared to energy-efficient ultra-light laptop chips.

The Ultra G1a has proven that it can control temperatures and quickly complete heavy-duty tasks that even gaming laptops with high-end processors sometimes struggle with. I realized this by the time it took to complete our standard PCWorld encoding test in Handbrake. This is a better result than most light and thin laptops achieve.

PCMark's test showed how the Ultra G1a can handle a range of different office tasks, from working with spreadsheets to browsing the web.

Of course, the Ultra G1a handled this task very well, again almost leading the way. In fact, a score of 6083 means that it will run office applications and programs comfortably.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Graphics Performance

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

In the 3DMark Time Spy 1.2 test, the HP Zbook Ultra G1a showed good results. The overall score was 4343. This indicates that it has slightly better graphics performance than many performance laptops.

You can even game on the HP Zbook Ultra G1a, it has been confirmed Rise of the Tomb Raider reference. In this test, the Ultra G1a averaged 59 frames per second, which outperforms some lower-end gaming laptops.

These results indicate that the laptop has strong graphics performance for a laptop with an integrated GPU. Performance is still much lower than many top-tier gaming laptops, but it's strong enough to handle tasks like 3D editing, which 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 to repeat in the Movies & TV app for Windows. But first, I charged it fully, changed the volume to 50 percent, activated airplane mode, and adjusted the brightness.

I also turned off the keyboard backlight and plugged in cheap headphones to reduce noise. Just before pressing play, I unplugged the laptop and timed how long it took for the battery to drain.

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a lasted just over 14 hours before running out of juice. This result is better than expected. However, our battery test is easy (it's not too demanding). You can expect the laptop to last about half as long when running more demanding applications.

HP Zbook Ultra G1a: Conclusion

The HP Zbook Ultra G1a is the ideal mobile workstation. With a large display and keyboard, it provides the luxury computer office workers need. It also offers powerful performance that beats most ultrabooks. It even competes with some gaming laptops. While it may be more powerful than most Ultrabooks, it's just as portable: a thin and relatively light 14-inch laptop that's ideal for your daily commute.