HP ProBook 450 G8 review – some things never change… well this one did

Once again, HP is trying to create one of the best and arguably affordable business notebooks on the market. The manufacturer has built itself a reputation with their ProBook 400 series of notebooks, as they have always been stable and long-lasting.

However, there was always one thing that bugged us about them. They were paired with U-series processors that just didn’t have the performance. Either they were limited by their architecture, or by the manufacturer itself, in order to provide a quiet experience. Thankfully, this changed when Intel released their Tiger Lake processors. And HP was bold enough to put one inside of their ProBook 450 G8.

Once again, though, we were puzzled by the display choices. If you take a deep dive into HP’s official specifications, you will see that there are four 1080p IPS panel options and one … 768p panel. Completely useless in 2021 in our opinion. On the bright side, the top option includes 1000 nits maximum brightness, 100% sRGB coverage, and the Sure View system that blocks unwanted eyes from viewing your content.

Also, there are the obvious Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5 certificates, and some models will feature an optional IR face recognition system.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-probook-450-g8/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP ProBook 450 G8 - Spécifications

  • LGD064C
  • Précision des couleurs  6.5  4.2
  • HDD/SSD
  • jusqu'à 8000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 64GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro, No OS
  • Batterie
  • 45Wh, 3-cell
  • Matériau du corps
  • Plastic / Polycarbonate, Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 359.4 x 236.7 x 19.8 mm (14.15" x 9.32" x 0.78")
  • Poids
  • 1.74 kg (3.8 lbs)
  • Ports et connectivité
  • 3x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
  • HDMI
  • 1.4b
  • Lecteur de cartes
  • MicroSD
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Prise audio
  • 3.5 Combo Jack
  • Caractéristiques
  • Lecteur d'empreintes digitales
  • optional
  • Caméra Web
  • Clavier rétro-éclairé
  • optional
  • Microphone
  • Intervenants
  • Lecteur optique

What’s in the box?

Inside the package, we found some paper manuals and a 45W power brick with a barrel-style plug. Note that some units will come with 65W adapters, and some of them will use a USB Type-C connector.


Design and construction

Here comes one of the biggest improvements over last year’s device. HP has managed to drop the weight from 2.00 down to 1.74 kg, while the profile remains 19.8mm thick. Interestingly, the front side of the laptop is heavily cut and feels extremely thin. Other than that, you get an aluminum lid and a plastic base, which is a bit bendy, when you twist it. Also, instead of the very subtle trim on the lid, now you have the entire top portion made out of plastic, in order to house the antennas.

Thankfully, opening the lid can be done with one hand. Inside, we see thin bezels around the matte display and an HD Webcam with a privacy shutter. As we said, some units will feature an IR face recognition sensor.

Moving to the keyboard, we see a very adequate unit with good key travel, clicky feedback, and a backlight. It also has a NumberPad section and features spill-resistance. In terms of rigidity, we noticed some deck flex when you press on it, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary. By the way, HP has put the speakers above the keyboard, and while it looks like they’re huge, they actually use a very small portion of the grill.

Further down, we see the touchpad. Now, it is responsive, and fairly accurate, although we had an issue. We needed to press pretty hard to get it to register our clicks. It was very annoying, as the device produces a click even with low pressure. We hope that this problem is isolated to our unit, and not on everyone out there. On a more positive note, there is a fingerprint reader on the right side of the palm rest area. It is extremely fast, and accurate so thumbs up for that.

Let’s turn the laptop upside down. As the speakers are firing towards the user, there are no cutouts on the bottom panel, aside from the ventilation grills. Hot air, on the other side, now exits the chassis through the backside of the laptop (or in between the lid and the base, to be precise), instead of one of the sides, as we saw on older laptops.

Ports

On the left side of the device, there is a security slot, an RJ-45 connector, and a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port. Switch sides, and you’ll see the charging plug, a USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) port with Power Delivery and DisplayPort 1.4 capabilities, two USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, an HDMI 1.4b connector, an audio jack, and a MicroSD card reader.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

Thankfully, there are only 5 Phillips-head screws you need to undo before you can pry the bottom panel away from the chassis. Moreover, three of them are captive.

Inside, we see an unimpressive cooling solution, comprising one heat pipe, a medium-sized fan, and a heat spreader.

On the bright side, there are two RAM SODIMM slots, that can fit up to 32GB of DDR4 memory in dual channel mode. Also, you will find one M.2 slots for NVMe storage.

For this laptop, HP supplies a 45Wh battery pack.

Display quality

HP ProBook 450 G8 comes with a Full HD IPS panel, model number LGD064C. Its diagonal is 15.6″ (39.62 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 142 ppi, their pitch – 0.18 x 0.18 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 60 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels).

The viewing angles are good. We offer images at different angles to evaluate the quality.

The maximum measured brightness is 257 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 238 nits (cd/m2) average across the surface with a maximum deviation of 12%. The Correlated Color Temperature on a white screen and at maximum brightness is 6100K (average) – warmer than the 6500K optimum for sRGB.
In the illustration below you can see how the display performs from a uniformity perspective. The illustration below shows how matters are for operational brightness levels (approximately 140 nits) – in this particular case at 79% Brightness (White level = 140 cd/m2, Black level = 0.13 cd/m2).
Values of dE2000 over 4.0 should not occur, and this parameter is one of the first you should check if you intend to use the laptop for color-sensitive work (a maximum tolerance of 2.0 ). The contrast ratio is good – 1040:1.

To make sure we are on the same page, we would like to give you a little introduction to the sRGB color gamut and the Adobe RGB. To start, there’s the CIE 1976 Uniform Chromaticity Diagram that represents the visible specter of colors by the human eye, giving you a better perception of the color gamut coverage and the color accuracy.

Inside the black triangle, you will see the standard color gamut (sRGB) that is being used by millions of people on HDTV and on the web. As for the Adobe RGB, this is used in professional cameras, monitors, etc for printing. Basically, colors inside the black triangle are used by everyone and this is the essential part of the color quality and color accuracy of a mainstream notebook.

Still, we’ve included other color spaces like the famous DCI-P3 standard used by movie studios, as well as the digital UHD Rec.2020 standard. Rec.2020, however, is still a thing of the future and it’s difficult for today’s displays to cover that well. We’ve also included the so-called Michael Pointer gamut, or Pointer’s gamut, which represents the colors that naturally occur around us every day.

The yellow dotted line shows HP ProBook 450 G8’s color gamut coverage.

Its display is limited just to 53% of the sRGB/ITU-R BT.709 (web/HDTV standard) in CIE1976.

Our “Design and Gaming” profile delivers optimal color temperature (6500K) at 140 cd/m2 luminance and sRGB gamma mode.

We tested the accuracy of the display with 24 commonly used colors like light and dark human skin, blue sky, green grass, orange, etc. You can check out the results at factory condition and also, with the “Design and Gaming” profile.

Below you can compare the scores of HP ProBook 450 G8 with the default settings (left), and with the “Gaming and Web design” profile (right).

The next figure shows how well the display is able to reproduce really dark parts of an image, which is essential when watching movies or playing games in low ambient light.

The left side of the image represents the display with stock settings, while the right one is with the “Gaming and Web Design” profile activated. On the horizontal axis, you will find the grayscale, and on the vertical axis – the luminance of the display. On the two graphs below you can easily check for yourself how your display handles the darkest nuances but keep in mind that this also depends on the settings of your current display, the calibration, the viewing angle, and the surrounding light conditions.

Response time (Gaming capabilities)

We test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “black-to-white” and “white-to-black” method from 10% to 90% and vice versa.

We recorded Fall Time + Rise Time = 33 ms.


Health impact – PWM / Blue Light

PWM (Screen flickering)

Pulse-width modulation (PWM) is an easy way to control monitor brightness. When you lower the brightness, the light intensity of the backlight is not lowered, but instead turned off and on by the electronics with a frequency indistinguishable to the human eye. In these light impulses, the light/no-light time ratio varies, while brightness remains unchanged, which is harmful to your eyes. You can read more about that in our dedicated article on PWM.

HP ProBook 450 G8’s backlight is not PW-modulated at any brightness level. This ensures comfort to the eyes in this aspect.

Blue light emissions

Installing our Health-Guard profile not only eliminates PWM but also reduces the harmful Blue Light emissions while keeping the colors of the screen perceptually accurate. If you’re not familiar with the Blue light, the TL;DR version is – emissions that negatively affect your eyes, skin, and your whole body. You can find more information about that in our dedicated article on Blue Light.

Conclusions

HP ProBook 450 G8’s IPS panel has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a non-flickering backlight. Its only disadvantages are the low color coverage and the slow pixel response times.

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP ProBook 450 G8 configurations with 15.6″ LGD064C (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS.

*Should you have problems with downloading the purchased file, try using a different browser to open the link you’ll receive via e-mail. If the download target is a .php file instead of an archive, change the file extension to .zip or contact us at [email protected].

Read more about the profiles HERE.

En plus de recevoir des profils efficaces et favorables à la santé, en achetant les produits de LaptopMedia, vous soutenez également le développement de nos laboratoires, où nous testons les appareils afin de produire les examens les plus objectifs possibles.

Travail de bureau

Le travail de bureau devrait être utilisé principalement par les utilisateurs qui passent le plus de temps à regarder des morceaux de texte, des tableaux ou simplement à surfer. Ce profil vise à offrir une meilleure distinction et une meilleure clarté en conservant une courbe gamma plate (2,20), une température de couleur native et des couleurs perceptuellement précises.

Conception et jeux

Ce profil est destiné aux designers qui travaillent avec les couleurs de manière professionnelle, et pour les jeux et les films également. Design and Gaming pousse les panneaux d'affichage à leurs limites, les rendant aussi précis que possible dans la norme sRGB IEC61966-2-1 pour le Web et la TVHD, au point blanc D65.

Santé-Guard

Santé-Guard élimine le modulation de largeur d'impulsion nocive (PWM) et réduit le lumière bleue négative qui affecte nos yeux et notre corps. Comme il est adapté à chaque panneau, il parvient à maintenir la précision perceptive des couleurs. Santé-Guard simule le papier, ce qui réduit considérablement la pression sur les yeux.

Obtenez les 3 profils avec 33% de réduction


Sound

HP ProBook 450 G8’s speakers are a bit quiet, but the quality is decent. However, the low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this laptop can be downloaded from here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-probook-450-g8-notebook-pc/37973141

Battery

Now, we conduct the battery tests with Windows Better performance setting turned on, screen brightness adjusted to 120 nits, and all other programs turned off except for the one we are testing the notebook with. Although it is paired with a rather modest 45Wh battery, the ProBook 450 G8 lasts for 9 hours and 39 minutes of Web browsing, and 7 hours and 55 minutes of video playback.


CPU options

The CPU choices here include the Core i3-1115G4, Core i5-1135G7, and the Core i7-1165G7.

HP ProBook 450 G8 Variantes du CPU

Vous pouvez voir ici une comparaison approximative des processeurs que l'on trouve dans les modèles de la [série] sur le marché. Vous pourrez ainsi décider par vous-même quel modèle de la [série] vous offre le meilleur rapport qualité/prix.

Remarque : Le tableau présente les différentes configurations de CPU les moins chères. Vous devez donc vérifier quelles sont les autres spécifications de ces ordinateurs portables en cliquant sur le nom de l'ordinateur portable / CPU.


GPU options

In addition to the integrated UHD Graphics, and Iris Xe Graphics G7, you can get the laptop with the GeForce MX450 with 2GB of GDDR5 memory.

HP ProBook 450 G8 Variantes du GPU

Vous pouvez voir ici une comparaison approximative entre les GPU que l'on peut trouver dans les modèles de la [série] sur le marché. Vous pourrez ainsi décider par vous-même quel modèle de la [série] vous offre le meilleur rapport qualité/prix.

Remarque : Le tableau présente les configurations de GPU les moins chères. Vous devez donc vérifier les autres spécifications de ces ordinateurs portables en cliquant sur le nom de l'ordinateur portable / GPU.


Gaming tests

cs-go-benchmarks

CS:GOHD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Medium (Check settings)HD 1080p, MAX (Check settings)
Average FPS77 fps59 fps28 fps

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS77 fps48 fps30 fps

Temperatures and comfort

Max CPU load

In this test we use 100% on the CPU cores, monitoring their frequencies and chip temperature. The first column shows a computer’s reaction to a short load (2-10 seconds), the second column simulates a serious task (between 15 and 30 seconds), and the third column is a good indicator of how good the laptop is for long loads such as video rendering.

Average core frequency (base frequency + X); CPU temp.

Intel Core i5-1135G7 (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP ProBook 450 G83.73 GHz (B+55%) @ 90°C2.44 GHz (B+2%) @ 71°C2.09 GHz @ 64°C
Lenovo Yoga 7 (14)3.34 GHz (B+39%) @ 94°C2.97 GHz (B+24%) @ 94°C2.39 GHz @ 75°C
HP ProBook 650 G83.58 GHz (B+49%) @ 92°C2.44 GHz (B+2%) @ 75°C2.09 GHz @ 62°C
Acer Aspire 5 (A515-56G)3.68 GHz (B+53%) @ 83°C2.25 GHz @ 63°C2.15 GHz @ 62°C
Acer Aspire 5 (A514-54)3.54 GHz (B+48%) @ 87°C2.01 GHz @ 66°C2.03 GHz @ 67°C

Here, the ProBook 450 G8 performed pretty much exactly like the ProBook 650 G8. We measured the same 2.44 GHz at the second checkpoint and 2.09 GHz at the end of the test. Although the performance output is not impressive under longer loads, it’s good that it is able to boost the clocks so high in shorter ones.

Comfort during full load

This unit is perfect for business people. Even under an extreme workload, the fan is quiet, and the temperature of the keyboard doesn’t exceed 34°C.


Verdict

Today we had a business machine that finally provides some performance out of the box. The Tiger Lake processors are a decent choice and their integrated graphics will surely allow you for some light gaming experience. But let’s be honest, you’re not here, because you want to play games. This is a business device after all, isn’t it?

Well, in day to day tasks it performs just great. Its dual SSD support means that you will have a snappy experience pretty much all the time. Also, the two RAM SODIMM slots ensure that your laptop is future-proof as well. And if you have a lot of accessories, you can count on three USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) ports, as well as a faster USB Type-C 3.2 (Gen. 2) ports, an HDMI connector, Ethernet jack, and even a MicroSD card reader. Not bad, eh?

HP ProBook 450 G8’s IPS panel (LGD064C) has a Full HD resolution, comfortable viewing angles, good contrast ratio, and a non-flickering backlight. Its only disadvantages are the low color coverage and the slow pixel response times.

Not in the last place, there is the battery life, which is decent. With light Web browsing, you will get about 9 hours and a half, while watching HD videos non-stop will drain the battery for about 8 hours. If your work includes more intensive tasks, you might need to keep the charger close.

Other than that, the fingerprint reader was super fast and accurate, and there is an optional IR face recognition for the ultimate Windows Hello experience. Add the Wi-Fi 6 support and the backlit spill-resistant keyboard and you end up with a very good business machine. Well… almost. Although it is probably isolated to our particular unit, we have to mention that the ProBook 450 G8 we had, had an issue with its touchpad. Even though it clicks when you press it, it hardly registers input. Only if you push further down so you feel the bottom panel with your finger, it will recognize it.

It was annoying, and at first, we thought that we are not doing something right, but then the issue didn’t resolve by itself. So please, HP, improve your quality control, because no businessman would be happy with this, even if the issue persists only on some devices.

We don’t mean that the ProBook 450 G8 is a bad notebook. Actually, if it wasn’t for this particular problem, we would absolutely have recommended the laptop. Oh and yes, please skip those versions that feature 768p panels.

Pros

  • Great spill-resistant keyboard
  • Decent performance and good battery life
  • The display doesn’t flicker at any brightness level (LGD064C)
  • Wide I/O and on point upgradeability
  • Optional IR face recognition and fingerprint reader


Cons

  • Covers only 53% of sRGB (LGD064C)
  • The touchpad on our unit failed to register some clicks (might not be an issue with other units)

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-probook-450-g8/

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anon
anon
3 années il y a un an

the slot for second SSD is M.2 2242, not 2280!

Joze
Joze
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  anon

I can’t find second slot of neither the M.2 2242 nor the 2282 and it’s not mentioned in the HP specifications for ProBook 450 G8.

George
George
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Alex Iliev

Kudos for your excellent eyesight. Just bought it and it only has 256gb nvme. Can anyone tell if it’s sata or nvme 2242 cause the nvme are very rare.

James
James
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Alex Iliev

But the m2 slot on the left of the battery seems lack of fixed screw position on system board?

George
George
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  James

Opened her up during the weekend. This is apparently a B key m.2 SATA port. It’s reported as m.2 sata in hwinfo as well. Probably for the WAN or microSD card. My part number has neither. Can’t tell if it supports m.2 storage as well. No setting in BIOS. Will try samsung 860 and report back. However, this laptop DEFINITELY has NO second pci express m.2 slot!

George
George
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Alex Iliev

Said port is actually 3042 key B pcie (for wwan). No way of upgrading storage there! Alex Iliev & Kroum Nikolov really dropped the ball on this one. ONLY ONE ssd in this laptop 🙁 Please correct it -also in 650 g8 review.

mmortal03
mmortal03
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Alex Iliev

It still says “2x 2280 M.2 NVMe slots” at the top of this page, as well as “2x 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4″ under the HP ProBook 650 G8 on the compatibility list, so those also need to be corrected: https://laptopmedia.com/laptop-m-2-ngff-ssd-compatibility-list/

Last edited 3 années il y a un an by mmortal03
George
George
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  mmortal03

Quite right. The two m.2 slots are still mentioned. Unfortunately, this is a very common misconception with this (and the 650) laptop, since it doesn’t make much sense that HP removed the 2.5 sata port, yet did not replace it with a second drive option (m.2 sata). I found this review that hits the nail on the head, and hopefully saves other potential buyers from a wrong purchase decision: Great Laptop Reviewed in the United States on March 22, 2021 I purchased this laptop for a friend. I intended to add an SSD drive, since most literature you read about… Read more »

Tolga Ünal
3 années il y a un an

Is Intel Iris Xe Graphics better than MX330? I will use this laptop for video rendering and coding

akala
akala
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Tolga Ünal

If you’re planning to game with it, MX330 way to go. For video rendering, I don’t think there will be much difference between (QuickSync better than NVENC if you don’t have a powerful card -in this case, you don’t-). For coding, you should worry about the battery, I think no need for an external card because it’ll eat the battery unnecessarily.

Last edited 3 années il y a un an by akala
User
User
3 années il y a un an

Is the top cover [that houses the keyboard] made of plastic or aluminium?

George
George
3 années il y a un an
Répondre à  User

It’s metal as is most of the laptop. It reminds one of Probook 6xx gen1 which was built like a tank. However the metal is very thin. For example, lifting the laptop by holding on to the keyboard cover, the pressure exerted usually registers touchpad movement and/or click!

Phillip
Phillip
2 années il y a un an

Can I use two external monitors on this unit? One through Display Port and another through HDMI?

George
George
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Phillip

You can connect it to TWO external monitors

1. Using HDMI to HDMI port using HDMI cable

2. Using USB-C to DP using direct USB-C – DP cable

You can also use option using dock using HP USB-C Gen 5 dock, you can connect up to 3 monitors and also use the dock to charge your machine (single cable).

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Video-Display-and-Touch/Can-t-configure-multiple-display-on-2-monitors/m-p/8246125

Last edited 2 années il y a un an by George
Claudio lott
Claudio lott
2 années il y a un an

Can i charge my 450/455 G8 with USB-C?

anon 450 G8 User
anon 450 G8 User
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Claudio lott

Yes. I am using a 65w usb-c PD power supply with the laptop.

The biggest concern I have is the heavy throttling while saturating all cpu cores (Prime 95 small FFTs stress test, for example), where not only the cpu clocks will fall to the values presented in the article, but also the CPU usage will significantly fall from 100% (saturated) to 80 – 75%.
EDIT: Just be sure your USB-C power supply supports 20V output.

Last edited 2 années il y a un an by anon 450 G8 User
Claudio lott
Claudio lott
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  anon 450 G8 User

I would like to power it via monitor via USB-C for example with model P34hc – do you think it will work?

George
George
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  Claudio lott

Your monitor can charge the notebook if it’s able to provide at least 45W on USB-C port.
So YES.
https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Business-Notebooks/Charging-via-type-c-port-support-PD/td-p/8203968

George
George
2 années il y a un an
Répondre à  anon 450 G8 User

If you want to push the hardware to its limits and bypass the manufacturer’s artificial (throttling) limits, then THROTTLESTOP and NBFC are your friends:
https://web.archive.org/web/20220126143452/http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/the-throttlestop-guide.531329/
https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/forums/throttlestop.93/
https://github.com/hirschmann/nbfc

Last edited 2 années il y a un an by George