Table of Contents
Last Updated on March 29, 2020
Design
The detachable ZBook x2 G4 has an unique style. A chassis bordering half of the deck contains cooling loops and immediately looks like the corner ‘ cut-off’ corners. These characteristics alone distinguish the ZBook x2 G4 from the rest. The concept that the lid portion is assisted by a pickstand is hardly old. HP built a stand that does its job very well: well hinged and sturdy during the testing period. The stand is able to hold the screen nearly at any angle so as to have only a few degrees between the screen and a flat surface as soon as it reaches its limits.
This device’s design nature allows users to disconnect the keyboard and use it as a tablet only. Yet given that it is a laptop for artists who likely will want to work directly on the screen often times, we believe the keyboard would probably be detached most of the time. Being a highly performant device, if used by programmers or computer science passionates, the situation could be entirely different. It provides screen protection while moving and this feature is likely to be necessary if a used outside or on the go.
This device has a total weight of 2.17 kg or 1.65 kg, but the keyboard is not included in this weight. Although this device is superbly designed and portable, it isn’t necessarily lightweight.
Display and Audio
The DreamColor comes with a variety of profiles for sRGB / BT.709, DCI-P3 and DICOM, but only 90 percent of P3 is shown and adjusted to a DCI-P3 theater, not D65 P3 screen. Again, it does not work for HP to reach calibration targets beyond the panel gamut, but it does work on a software update for the problem.
Although it uses 10-bit color measurements and is fairly accurate, it is still an 8-bit IPS panel with 10-bit frame rate command. If you need a broader gamut and more accuracy beyond Adobe RGB color you can connect it to a better external monitor via HDMI or Thunderbolt 3. This is another explanation for the significance of hardware profiles. This is the only way to ensure that the integrated-in and external display use the right settings. Nevertheless, hardware configuration profiling only functions with the X-Rite i1 systems as with most DreamColor solutions.
We’ve seen some backlight flush issues, but it’s not worse than anyone Iweve heard — and with the built-in Wacom EMR surface, probably harder to use than average. In the corners, we checked the uniformity and it wasn’t so terrible. The audio module is however deceiving and some cases of use are excluded from moderate battery life.
Performance and battery life
We used an Intel Core CPU of the 8th Generation i7-8650U with 32 GB of RAM and a dedicated 2 GB VRAM Nvidia Quadro GPU. The HP ZBook x2 G4 is a powerhouse for creative types, and it has a lot to do with it. The detachable layout was well conceived and well applied. In comparison to most conventional laptops, HP has developed four configurations that it believes are best for various artists. For photographers there is one configuration, another one for digital artists, one for video editors and onefor digital professional artists, all at different prices. All use Intel Core processors for four-core systems (excluding the configuration of the digital artist using a 7th Gen dual core CPU) and have various storage quantities and RAM. Under a heavy load the tablet can be a little toasted. The back of the tablet weighed 97 degrees Fahrenheit after downloading 15 minutes of HD video from YouTube. That is only a bit higher than our comfort level of 95 degrees. It should not be a problem in laptop mode because the middle of the keyboard and the touchpad remained 77 degrees hot. The PCIe SSD of ZBook transferred 4.97 GB of files in 8 seconds or 631.2 Megabytes of blazing per second. That’s slower than the average (523Mbps), but it still shows good performance.
We also ran a video editing experiment with a software that encodes a 4 K video into a 1080p video. Twenty minutes, 25 seconds t took the ZBook to complete it, which is quite nice. This is a high-quality device with a price tag that speaks for itself. It’s not for all, but if you’re searching for a detachable workstation with excellent pen responsiveness, it is your best option.
Should you buy the HP Zbook X2 G4 Detachable Laptop/Tablet?
The HP Z Book x2 is a versatile digital design device that, although with inferior battery life, has a high-rise display, a fantastic style and easy shortcuts for the innovative Adobe suite. It is expensive, but there is no computer like that out there. We do not suggest this to anyone other than professional hardcore artists or publishers who want a tool that can do it all. It will provide you with a light and powerful display for less and has great integration with iPads. There’s also a beautiful pencil included, but you won’t get the same graphics in tablet mode.
If you are looking for professional inking and Photoshop integration into an all-in – one system, you need not look beyond the ZBook x2. Be prepared to give all your applause and whistles, as well as pay a significant amount for this product.