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HP’s ZBook lineup — which encompasses the light-weight ZBook Firefly, the inexpensive ZBook Energy, the highly effective ZBook Fury, and the best-of-all-worlds ZBook Studio manufacturers — doesn’t appeal to quite a lot of consideration. As a cellular workstation-class system, the ZBook Studio just isn’t as flashy as most gaming laptops or as inexpensive as most “creator” laptops, however in some ways, it’s higher than each.
Within the parlance of the tech nerd, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is a “cellular workstation.” On the {hardware} facet, that sometimes signifies that you’re getting a Xeon processor, error-correcting (ECC) RAM, and an A-series or Quadro graphics card, paired with some kind of reliability testing (MIL-SPEC or MIL-STD), software program certifications from main builders like Adobe, and an prolonged guarantee. All of this normally comes hooked up to a worth so excessive you’ll get altitude illness in the event you stare at it for too lengthy.
We don’t usually overview cellular workstations on PetaPixel as a result of the value enhance related to issues like ECC reminiscence and an enterprise GPU doesn’t translate right into a measurable efficiency achieve for photograph and video modifying, however HP did one thing fascinating with the ZBook Studio G8: the corporate kind of cut up the distinction.
The Studio G8 doesn’t use ECC reminiscence or an Intel Xeon CPU, and it may be configured with a standard GeForce RTX 30-series GPU, nevertheless it nonetheless comes with all the opposite workstation perks. In different phrases: it gives the identical efficiency as a high-end gaming laptop computer and the identical glossy, skilled design as a high-end client laptop computer, with higher construct high quality, assured reliability, and an extended guarantee than both of the opposite classes. Consequently, it is available in a little bit cheaper than comparable choices from, say, the Dell Precision lineup.
That’s to not say it’s low cost. The mannequin HP despatched us for overview nonetheless prices an eye-watering $4,400:
Even in the event you downgrade a few of the parts, you’re nonetheless going to spend some huge cash. We really requested the parents at HP to ship us “Good, Higher, Finest” configuration choices that they’d advocate, and essentially the most inexpensive of the bunch will nonetheless run you nearly $2,800:
However that’s to not say that the value isn’t justified, or no less than justifiable. From design to usability to uncooked efficiency, this laptop computer is unbelievable. It’s simply essential to set expectations from the get-go: We’re not speaking a few price range laptop computer at present. We’re not even speaking a few semi-affordable laptop computer. We’re speaking a few cellular workstation that costs a considerable premium in change for professional-grade reliability and assured efficiency.
If paying a $1,000 premium for MIL-STD reliability testing, software program certifications, and an prolonged guarantee sounds loopy to you, then a cellular workstation is the incorrect alternative and there’s no cause to learn on. Nevertheless, if that feels like an inexpensive funding and you want the truth that HP isn’t forcing you to throw further cash away on sure enterprise-grade specs you don’t need or want, then learn on, as a result of the HP ZBook Studio G8 seems to be a superb laptop computer for inventive professionals.
Design and Construct
There are just a few laptops that may compete with the likes of Apple and Razer with regards to chassis design, however the HP ZBook Studio G8 is correct up there with the perfect. The magnesium-and-aluminum alloy chassis is as inflexible as a tank, extraordinarily skinny, and carved into a pointy design language that I liked from the second I set eyes on this laptop computer.
Construct high quality actually is top-notch. HP’s workstation-grade “Z” units all bear MIL-STD-810 testing, making certain a degree of reliability that surpasses something you’ll be able to anticipate from an ordinary client laptop computer. The MIL-STD-810 normal features a suite of exams that examine for resistance in opposition to vibration, mud, sand, humidity, altitude, drops, temperature shock, and even a “Freeze/Thaw” check.
Including to the laptop computer’s reliability quotient is a three-year guarantee direct from the producer, a perk that normally prices further (if it’s accessible in any respect) if you purchase a client laptop computer.
Crack the ZBook Studio G8 open, and also you’ll reveal a superb keyboard that mixes a satisfying click on with a great quantity of journey, zero mush, and per-key RGB lighting that provides the laptop computer just a bit little bit of gaming flare. The lighting is managed by HP’s “OMEN” dashboard, and it’s a enjoyable contact on an in any other case very professional-looking laptop computer.
That is accompanied by a slick, glass-topped trackpad that gives a exact and very well-optimized expertise that may compete with the best-of-the-best. As a result of the speaker grill is positioned above the keyboard, the trackpad isn’t fairly as large as those you’ll discover on the newest Apple and Dell computer systems, nevertheless it was lots sufficiently big for me.
Port choice is stable, with solely a little bit room for enchancment. On the left facet of the machine is an audio-combo jack, a USB Sort-A port, and a Kensington lock; on the appropriate facet, you’ll discover a sealable SD card slot, a Mini DisplayPort 1.4 port that’s linked on to the GPU, and two Thunderbolt 4 ports that may carry 40Gbps of knowledge, energy, and a show sign.
My gripes are minimal. Primarily, I used to be aggravated that the Thunderbolt 4 ports are linked on to the iGPU with no approach to re-route that sign within the BIOS (that is in line with HP). Consequently, anybody utilizing a high-end 4K exterior show will need to use the Mini DisplayPort for true 10-bit shade or excessive refresh-rate gaming.
For that cause alone, I actually want that HP had included an HDMI 2.1 port on this configuration as a substitute of the MiniDP port. Not one of the screens I’ve ever reviewed got here with a MiniDP to DP 1.4 cable within the field, wihch forces me to purchase a brand new cable to be able to get full efficiency out of the ASUS ProArt PA32UCG I used to be utilizing once I reviewed this laptop computer and eliminates the choice of utilizing this as a “single-cable” setup with Thunderbolt offering knowledge, show, and energy.
Fortuitously, the included show is greater than adequate to do skilled inventive work. The mannequin we’re testing features a touch-enabled 4K AMOLED display screen that was capable of hit properly over 100% sRGB, 99.9% DCI-P3, and 91.6% Adobe RGB with a superb Delta E of lower than 2 and a most brightness of ~400 nits.
If OLED isn’t your factor, the ZBook Studio G8 can also be accessible with a 4K 120Hz “HP DreamColor” LCD show with an marketed peak brightness of 600 nits and 100% protection of DCI-P3, or an much more inexpensive Full HD mannequin that guarantees 100% protection of sRGB.
It’s good to see a producer supply each a 4K LCD and a 4K OLED possibility with equivalent gamut protection, in addition to a extra inexpensive (however nonetheless acceptable) Full HD possibility. Should you’re bought on the peace of thoughts of a cellular workstation however hate the value tag it carries, the lower-end display screen possibility opens the door to get inventive together with your configuration, particularly in the event you plan to make use of an exterior show a lot of the time.
As for our 4K OLED unit, you’ll be able to see the outcomes from our DisplayCAL exams under:
If there’s a giant draw back to the high-res display screen on our mannequin it’s in all probability battery efficiency, which is decidedly center of the street.
As with different high-performance notebooks, the ZBook Studio’s 83WHr battery can’t help the pc’s full 110W TDP (30W to the CPU, 80W to the GPU), and if you’re pushing the pc to its battery-powered efficiency restrict, you’ll be able to anticipate not more than about two hours of intense photograph modifying. In a extra affordable, battery saver or balanced mode, I used to be capable of get about six hours of use for writing, occasional content material consumption, and lightweight photograph modifying, however don’t anticipate this laptop computer to compete with one thing that’s powered by AMD.
General, I discovered rather a lot to like and little or no to complain about with regards to the design and construct high quality of the ZBook Studio G8. It’s a superb laptop computer that felt like a little bit piece of navy gear with simply sufficient design flare. The wonderful keyboard and trackpad, the professional-grade show, and the twin Thunderbolt 4 ports all make it a stable contender for critical inventive work.
Photograph Modifying Efficiency
Given the extraordinarily skinny design, I used to be skeptical that the HP would have the ability to squeeze each ounce of efficiency out of its Core i9-11950H and NVIDIA RTX 3070. I used to be solely sort of proper. In most of our benchmarks, the ZBook couldn’t fairly out-perform the newest Razer Blade 15 Advanced, which technically makes use of an ever-so-slightly slower Core i9-11900H, however the thinner ZBook Studio was nonetheless capable of churn out top-shelf efficiency numbers.
Whether or not you’re operating Photoshop, Lightroom, or Seize One, you’ll be able to anticipate the Studio G8 to fly by most photograph and video modifying duties with ease, all whereas staying remarkably quiet in comparison with a few of the gaming laptops I’ve examined.
For our comparisons at present, we’re exhibiting the outcomes from the HP side-by-side with the identical exams run on an M1 iMac, an AMD-powered ASUS Zephyrus G14, and the aforementioned Blade 15 Superior. Full specs under:
Lightroom Traditional
In our normal import and export exams, the ZBook clocked in a tiny bit slower than the Razer Blade, however quicker than our different check machines. As a reminder, these exams encompass importing 110 61-megapixel Sony a7R IV and 150 100-megapixel PhaseOne XF RAW information, producing 1:1 (Lightroom Traditional) or 2560px (Seize One Professional) previews, making use of a custom-made preset with heavy international edits, after which exporting those self same information as 100% JPEGs and 16-bit TIFFs.
You possibly can see the outcomes for Lightroom Traditional under:
Seize One Professional
The story is even higher in Seize One, the place the pc’s RTX 3070 lastly will get to flex its muscle.
As we’ve talked about in a number of of our previous opinions, Lightroom does not use any kind of GPU acceleration throughout import or export, relying completely on the efficiency of your CPU and RAM to generate the numbers you see above. Nevertheless, Seize One does reap the benefits of the GPU, so when it comes time to export the heavily-edited Sony a7R IV and Section One XF variants in C1, the HP ZBook Studio G8 was capable of shut the hole with the Blade and commerce blows on the high of the pack.
The outcomes are basically a wash between the three PCs, all of which profit from NVIDIA RTX 30 collection GPUs, with the M1 iMac falling method behind:
Photoshop
Lastly, we ran our typical Photoshop check: Puget Systems‘ industry-standard PugetBench benchmark.
PugetBench assigns an General and 4 Class scores after timing all kinds of duties together with fundamental stuff like loading, saving, and resizing a big .psd, GPU-accelerated filters like Sensible Sharpen and Subject Blur, and closely RAM-dependent duties like Photograph Merge. As we’ve previously, we ran model 0.8 of this specific benchmark, as a result of it was the final model to incorporate a Photograph Merge check.
As you’ll be able to see, the highly effective GPU, 32GB of 3200MHz RAM, and the NVIDIA RTX 3070 GPU come collectively to place up spectacular numbers in each class examined:
Efficiency Takeaways
There’s no questioning the HP ZBook Studio G8’s efficiency chops. Is it essentially the most highly effective laptop computer cash should buy? Positively not. HP’s personal ZBook Fury lineup, the Alienware x17, and the Lenovo Legion 7i (to call just a few) can all be configured with extra highly effective (and power-hungry) CPU/GPU combos that will no-doubt outperform the ZBook Studio. Nevertheless, it’s superior to see this sort of efficiency throughout the board from such a skinny system.
That is significantly spectacular photograph modifying efficiency packed inside a chassis that’s thinner than we beforehand thought potential for an Intel-based workstation.
Wonderful Design, Nice Efficiency, Painful Value Tag
Should you can abdomen the value, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is an exceptional laptop computer for photograph and video editors who need nice efficiency paired with assured reliability. That latter level actually issues to working professionals, who typically go for high-end gaming laptops with less-than-ideal construct high quality and lower-quality shows to be able to obtain this sort of efficiency.
Nevertheless, even if you perceive the advantages, the Studio G8’s worth is absolutely exhausting to swallow. The variant I examined right here prices about $1,000 greater than you’ll spend on an (already costly) Razer Blade 15 Advanced with principally the identical core specs, a extra highly effective GPU, quicker PCIe Gen 4 storage, and a next-gen OLED show that covers 100% of each DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB.
You actually must worth these un-sexy cellular workstation perks in the event you’re going to justify that sort of worth hike.
Professionals
- Wonderful efficiency
- Skinny, gentle, rugged design
- Incredible trackpad and keyboard
- A number of color-accurate show choices
- Strong port choice with two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an SD card slot
- MIL-STD-810 examined
- 3-year guarantee included
Cons
- No HDMI port
- SSD is PCIe 3.0, not 4.0
- RAM just isn’t upgradable
- Sky excessive worth
I hate to spend a lot time addressing a pc’s worth since much more goes into judging the real-world worth of a pc than the price of its parts, so generally, I’ll concentrate on efficiency and value and go away the financial calculus to particular person readers who’ve particular person budgets and don’t give a person rattling whether or not I feel a laptop computer is “fairly priced.”
Nevertheless, “cellular workstations” just like the ZBook Studio G8 exist in a distinct financial actuality, and it’s essential to grasp the advantages and downsides of that actuality earlier than you both a) spend method an excessive amount of on a laptop computer you don’t want, or b) ignore options and advantages that would make the laptop computer value each final penny.
For me, a well-built client laptop computer is dependable sufficient. I merely don’t use my computer systems exhausting sufficient to justify the value bounce and there are some actually unbelievable choices on the market. However in the event you’re an expert photographer or video editor who wants a well-rounded, rock-solid machine that may go together with you in every single place for the subsequent three to 5 years, the HP ZBook Studio G8 is value a really shut look. It’s cheaper than a lot of its direct rivals within the workstation-class, offers you a greater variety of configurations to select from, and it churns out higher efficiency than we anticipated from one thing so glossy.
Are There Options?
A number of main laptop computer makers have a workstation model that provides comparable advantages to the ZBook Studio. The most well-liked are in all probability Lenovo’s ThinkPads and Dell’s Precision lineup. As I discussed earlier, these laptops normally swap NVIDIA’s GeForce graphics for a cellular Quadro or A-series GPU, typically they use error-correcting “ECC” RAM, and infrequently they embrace longer warranties, the aforementioned military-grade certifications, and shows that put an emphasis on shade and/or battery life over velocity and/or gaming efficiency.
For photographers, we’d advocate avoiding something with ECC reminiscence, an Intel Xeon processor, or an A-series/Quadro card, just because these upgrades have a tendency to extend the value considerably with out including a lot to real-world photograph and even video modifying efficiency. An Eleventh-gen Core i7 or Core i9 CPU, DDR4 RAM and a GeForce RTX 30 collection GPU is simply fantastic. As a substitute, in the event you’re taken with a cellular workstation, focus extra on options like a stable producer guarantee, standardized reliability testing, and a killer LCD or OLED show with close-to-100% protection of both AdobeRGB or DCI-P3.
A lot of HP’s ZBook-branded laptops, Dell’s Precision laptops, and several other of Lenovo’s ThinkPad fashions commerce blows right here in a wide range of worth brackets and configurations, relying on the sort of CPU, GPU, and show efficiency you want.
Should you’re not taken with a cellular workstation, you could find comparable efficiency and stable construct high quality for a lot much less cash by buying a high-quality client or gaming laptop computer like the Dell XPS 15/17, the Razer Blade 15 Advanced and Razer Blade 17, or the ASUS Zephyrus G14/G15 (simply to call just a few). You’ll get much more performance-bang-for-your-buck by going with a “client” or “creator” laptop computer vs a correct “cellular workstation,” simply concentrate on what you’re giving up.
Ought to You Purchase It
Sure.
The caveats above apply, however apart from just a few minor gripes that I point out above, I can’t fault this laptop computer. For creatives, it’s a workhorse. The ZBook Studio G8 delivered much more “umph” than I anticipated from such a skinny and lightweight chassis whereas staying comparatively quiet, it seems to be and feels nice, and it gives a great number of configuration choices that enable you dial in a ratio of price-to-performance that works for you.
It’s in the end as much as you to resolve if the un-glamorous advantages of a cellular workstation are well worth the inflated price ticket. But when they’re, then I’ve no qualms recommending this laptop computer.
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