Living With an HP Elite X360 1040 G11: A Solid 2-in-1 With Great Performance

HP Elite X360 1040 G11

HP Elite X360 1040 G11 Review: A Premium 2-in-1 Convertible with Outstanding Performance

Over the last few weeks, I’ve had the opportunity to use the HP Elite X360 1040 G11 as my primary laptop, and I have been thoroughly impressed with its capabilities. This machine delivers strong performance, excellent battery life, and a sleek, premium design, making it a compelling option for business professionals and power users alike.

The Elite X360 Design and Features

The HP Elite X360 1040 G11 is part of HP’s 11th generation premium enterprise 2-in-1 convertible line. It offers the flexibility of both a traditional laptop and a tablet, thanks to its versatile hinge that allows the screen to rotate 360 degrees, folding flat against the back of the laptop. This feature, combined with the included stylus, provides a great option for presentations, note-taking, and media consumption. While I generally find larger 2-in-1 devices less ideal as tablets, the versatility of this setup is hard to ignore.

For those who prefer a more traditional laptop without the convertible features, HP also offers the EliteBook 1040, which shares much of the same hardware but lacks the 360-degree hinge and stylus. Notably, the machine bears the EliteBook branding just below the keyboard, despite the official “Elite X360” name.

In terms of dimensions, the Elite X360 measures 12.36 by 8.6 inches, with a thickness ranging from 0.41 to 0.58 inches. The version I tested weighed 3.28 pounds, and with the 65-watt charger and HP Pen included, the weight increases to 3.95 pounds. It’s a touch heavier and thinner than other comparable devices, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 2-in-1, but feels solid in hand. The laptop is constructed from an aluminum frame and cover, sporting a fresh “Glacier Silver” finish that gives it a unique look compared to other silver or gray laptops. The slightly larger touchpad and keycaps further enhance its usability.

Some of the standout new features on this model include an integrated power button and fingerprint sensor located in the top-right corner of the keyboard, as well as the inclusion of the Windows Copilot key.

Display and Ports

The Elite X360 model I tested came with a 14-inch IPS touchscreen, offering a 1920×1200 resolution and 400 nits of brightness—standard for this type of machine. There are also higher-end display options available, including a 2880×1800 OLED panel and two privacy screen configurations. While I didn’t get to test the OLED display, I have previously been impressed with HP’s privacy screens, and the included IPS display performed admirably, though the OLED would likely offer deeper blacks and more vibrant colors.

One of the most impressive aspects of the Elite X360 is the variety of ports. On the left side, you’ll find an HDMI 2.1 port, two USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, and a 3.5mm audio jack. The right side features a locking slot, a 5Gbps USB-A port, a 10Gbps USB-C port, and an optional SIM card reader (my unit included the optional WWAN 5G modem). I particularly appreciated the inclusion of both USB-A and HDMI ports, which many enterprise laptops omit, while still having USB-C ports on both sides for charging convenience.

Video Conferencing and Audio Performance

For video conferencing, the Elite X360 comes equipped with a 5MP IR camera. While it performed adequately, it wasn’t the best I’ve encountered. It features dynamic color tuning for image correction, but I found it to be somewhat lacking compared to other models, such as HP’s EliteBook Ultra G1q. The camera’s wide field of view was a plus, and it worked seamlessly with Windows Hello and facial recognition features. There’s also a physical webcam shutter, which is a welcome privacy feature.

The laptop also supports HP’s Studio Effects for background blurring and other enhancements during video calls. You can also access additional camera settings through the Poly Camera Pro app, which provides options for framing, zooming, and applying watermarks.

As for audio, the Elite X360 is equipped with two top-firing and two bottom-firing speakers, along with dual-array microphones and discrete amplifiers. For a business laptop, the sound quality was impressive, providing clear audio during video calls and decent playback for media.

Performance and Battery Life

The Elite X360 1040 G11 that I tested featured an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. This 28-watt processor offers six performance cores (with multithreading), eight efficient cores, and two low-power efficient cores, totaling 16 cores and 22 threads. With a base frequency of 1.4GHz and a turbo boost of up to 5.0GHz, the performance was strong across various tasks. It also includes Intel Graphics with 8 Xe cores, although machines with discrete graphics will still have an edge in graphic-intensive workloads.

In benchmark tests, the Elite X360 generally outperformed other similar devices, such as the Lenovo X1 2-in-1 and X1 Carbon Gen 12, though it did fall slightly behind larger machines like the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16, which had a more powerful 45-watt processor and discrete graphics.

The battery life on the Elite X360 was particularly impressive. During my testing, the laptop lasted 17 hours and 38 minutes on the PCMark 10 Modern Office battery test at 100 nits brightness. Lowering the brightness to 40 nits extended the battery life to nearly 20 hours, which is among the best I’ve seen on any Intel-based laptop.

Final Thoughts

The HP Elite X360 1040 G11 is a solid performer with a host of premium features. Its design, flexibility, and battery life make it an excellent choice for business professionals who need a reliable and powerful 2-in-1 convertible laptop. While it’s on the pricier side, starting at $1,499 for the base model and climbing to over $2,299 for higher-end configurations, it remains competitive within its category. For those seeking a capable and durable laptop for work or personal use, the Elite X360 1040 G11 is a strong contender.