HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 review – when privacy and security are the top priority

The premium convertible market targets a very narrow and specific niche of people. What they ultimately need is supreme security, uncompromised stability, and performance to be able to do pretty much all your work on the go. Let’s not forget that as a 2-in-1, it has to provide an accurate color representation, so that you can show your clients the most true-to-life image.

So, as you can see, this is not an ordinary target group, and the HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 has to be uncompromised in every direction to be competitive.

First of all, it comes equipped with the best Intel can provide in the ULV space – up to the Core i7-1185G7. In addition to that, you get a reportedly great display with a resolution of either 1080p or 4K. Now, there are three panels, all of which are based on IPS technology. As we said, there is one 1080p with a reported maximum brightness of 400 nits, while the 4K panel manages to reach 550 nits. However, like many of HP’s premium notebooks, this one can be purchased with a display, equipped with the Sure View reflective technology.

Its main goal is to keep the sensible content of your work to yourself. The way it works is by utilizing the backlight, and a reflective layer on top of the display. So, with the press of a button, the only one able to see the content is you. And everybody sitting directly behind you.

Since this notebook is not predominantly sold with this panel, we will focus more on the rest of the features. Some of them include 4G LTE connectivity, Wi-Fi 6 support, and a neat present from HP inside the box.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-x360-1040-g8/

Contents


Specs Sheet

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 - Specs

  • IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78)
  • Color accuracy  3.0  1.4
  • HDD/SSD
  • up to 2000GB SSD
  • RAM
  • up to 32GB
  • OS
  • Windows 10 Pro, Windows 11 Pro, Windows 10 Home
  • Battery
  • 54Wh, 4-cell, 78.5Wh, 4-cell
  • Body material
  • Aluminum
  • Dimensions
  • 319.3 x 203 x 16.6 mm (12.57" x 7.99" x 0.65")
  • Ports and connectivity
  • 2x USB Type-C
  • 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), Thunderbolt 4, DisplayPort
  • 2x USB Type-A
  • 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), Power Delivery (PD)
  • HDMI
  • 2.0
  • Wi-Fi
  • 802.11ax
  • Bluetooth
  • 5.0
  • Audio jack
  • 3.5mm Combo Jack
  • Nano SIM Slot
  • Features
  • Fingerprint reader
  • optional
  • Web camera
  • HD
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Microphone
  • 4x Multi-Array Microphones
  • Speakers
  • 4x Speakers, Bang & Olufsen
  • Optical drive
  • Security Lock slot

What’s in the box?

In addition to the mandatory paperwork and the 65W USB Type-C power adapter, inside the package, we found a dedicated HP Rechargeable Active Pen, and a USB Type-A to Type-C cable.


Design and construction

There is one thing that you can’t miss on this notebook, and it is the design. The sharp edges, the cool touch provided by the aluminum chassis, and the portable form factor. All of this combined results in a compelling package made entirely out of aluminum. It has a profile of 16.6mm and weighs 1.31 kg, and its anodized finish doesn’t let smudges and fingerprints stick to the surface. Moreover, the structural integrity seems on point with very little visible flex even with a lot of force applied to the chassis.

Now, the lid can be opened with a single hand, but as soon as you pass 60°, the base will lift up. On the bright side, the hinges provide a very smooth movement, and once you open in tablet mode, a set of magnets help the lid stick to the base. This makes it comfortable for both handling, and using the Active Pen HP provides with the device. Speaking of which, you can stick the Pen to the left side of the notebook, again, thanks to the help of magnets.

As for the display, it has extremely thin bezels around it. By the way, due to the fact that our unit is equipped with the Sure View technology, it has an anti-reflective layer on top despite the glass protective layer. Interestingly, there is a pronounced strip hidden in the top bezel, which holds a ton of sensors. This includes the HD camera, some microphones, an ambient light sensor, and an IR face recognition sensor. Moreover, you get a proximity sensor, which detects your presence/absence and logs out of the device as soon as you stand from your desk.

Further down we see the keyboard. It has a dual-stage backlight and a spill-resistance layer. But this is not the most impressive thing about it. Instead, it has very good feedback, which is both tactile, and quiet. Plus, the key travel is surprisingly long, given the profile of the notebook. We also observed very little deck flex in general.

Appropriately, it is paired with a responsive touchpad, which has a glass surface, delivering smooth gliding to your fingers. And before we forget – there is one more feature there – an NFC coil built to the top right corner of the touchpad.

In case you didn’t see, there is a couple of speakers surrounding the keyboard. But this is not all, as two more are hiding at the bottom panel. There is also the ventilation grill, while the hot air escapes from super slim cutouts on the back.

Ports

On the left side of the notebook, there is a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an audio jack, a SIM card tray, and a security lock slot. Switch sides, and you will find another USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) port, an HDMI 2.0 connector, which is followed by two Thunderbolt 4 connectors, either of which can be used for charging.


Disassembly, upgrade options and maintenance

Taking apart this laptop is as easy as undoing five Torx-head screws and prying the bottom panel with a plastic tool.

In this case, the battery pack has a capacity of 54Wh. Please, make sure you unplug the battery connector before you do anything on the inside.

Unfortunately, but unsurprisingly, the memory here is soldered to the motherboard. With that said, the laptop comes in configurations including 8, 16, or 32GB of LPDDR4 RAM, all working in dual-channel mode. Storage-wise, there is a single M.2 PCIe x4 slot, hidden by a metal bracket.

Looking at the cooling solution, we see two heat pipes leading to a pair of heat sinks. Perhaps the most controversial part of this system is the fans, which are really small and have a very thin profile.


Display quality

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 is equipped with a Full HD IPS touchscreen panel, IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78). Its diagonal is 14-inch (35.5 cm), and the resolution – 1920 х 1080p. Additionally, the screen ratio is 16:9, the pixel density – 157 ppi, their pitch – 0.16 х 0.16 mm. The screen can be considered Retina when viewed from at least 56 cm (from this distance, the average human eye can’t see the individual pixels). One important feature of this device is its Sure View technology. Its purpose is to block unwanted viewers from seeing the content of your screen. A key role in that place the backlight and an additional light directing layer.

We apply these photos to evaluate the viewing angles. The 45-degree photos are taken with a longer exposure than the front-facing one.

The following set of images are taken with the same exposure (manual shooting mode) in a dark room.


The maximum measured brightness is excellent – 605 nits (cd/m2) in the middle of the screen and 601 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 6300K – slightly warmer than the standard 6500K temperature 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 29% Brightness (White level = 141 cd/m2, Black level = 0.07 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 very good – 1900:1.

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 EliteBook x360 1040 G8’s color gamut coverage.

Its display covers 89% 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 EliteBook x360 1040 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 = 29 ms.

After that, we test the reaction time of the pixels with the usual “Gray-to-Gray” method from 50% White to 80% White and vice versa between 10% and 90% of the amplitude.


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 EliteBook x360 1040 G8’s backlight does not use PWM for brightness adjustment. This makes it comfortable and safe for use 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.

Conclusion

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8’s touchscreen IPS panel has a very high maximum brightness, great contrast ratio, and reasonably wide color coverage (89% of the sRGB gamut). We are happy to find that its backlight doesn’t flicker at any brightness level, which makes the laptop comfortable and safe for long periods of use. Moreover, with the help of our Gaming and Web design profile, the color representation is accurate enough for e-commerce and other scenarios. As we said, it comes equipped with the Sure View system. When it’s enabled, you can take advantage of the narrow viewing angles. This, respectively, will keep your work to yourself (and everyone sitting right behind you).

Buy our profiles

Since our profiles are tailored for each individual display model, this article and its respective profile package are meant for HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 configurations with 14.0″ IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78) (FHD, 1920 × 1080) IPS panel.

*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.

In addition to receiving efficient and health-friendly profiles, by buying LaptopMedia's products you also support the development of our labs, where we test devices in order to produce the most objective reviews possible.

Office Work

Office Work should be used mostly by users who spend most of the time looking at pieces of text, tables or just surfing. This profile aims to deliver better distinctness and clarity by keeping a flat gamma curve (2.20), native color temperature and perceptually accurate colors.

Design and Gaming

This profile is aimed at designers who work with colors professionally, and for games and movies as well. Design and Gaming takes display panels to their limits, making them as accurate as possible in the sRGB IEC61966-2-1 standard for Web and HDTV, at white point D65.

Health-Guard

Health-Guard eliminates the harmful Pulse-Width Modulation (PWM) and reduces the negative Blue Light which affects our eyes and body. Since it’s custom tailored for every panel, it manages to keep the colors perceptually accurate. Health-Guard simulates paper so the pressure on the eyes is greatly reduced.

Get all 3 profiles with 33% discount


Sound

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8’s Bang & Olufsen tuned speakers produce a good quality sound. Its low, mid, and high tones are clear of deviations.


Drivers

All of the drivers and utilities for this notebook can be found here: https://support.hp.com/us-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-elitebook-x360-1040-g8-notebook-pc/38228601

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. This device comes equipped with a 54Wh battery pack. It lasts for 12 hours and 18 minutes of Web browsing, and 11 hours and 22 minutes of video playback.

In order to simulate real-life conditions, we used our own script for automatic web browsing through over 70 websites.


CPU options

This notebook comes in iterations including two Core i5 (Core i5-1135G7, Core i5-1145G7) and two Core i7 (Core i7-1165G7, Core i7-1185G7) processors.

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 CPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the CPUs that can be found in the HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different CPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / CPU.


GPU options

Respectively, the graphics card you get is dependent on the CPU, as there are no dedicated options. This means you are “stuck” with the integrated Iris Xe Graphics G7 with either 80 or 96 EUs.

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 GPU variants

Here you can see an approximate comparison between the GPUs that can be found in the HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 models on the market. This way you can decide for yourself which HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8 model is the best bang for your buck.

Note: The chart shows the cheapest different GPU configurations so you should check what the other specifications of these laptops are by clicking on the laptop’s name / GPU.


Gaming tests

DOTA 2HD 1080p, Low (Check settings)HD 1080p, Normal (Check settings)HD 1080p, High (Check settings)
Average FPS135 fps85 fps60 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 i7-1165G7 (15W TDP)0:02 – 0:10 sec0:15 – 0:30 sec10:00 – 15:00 min
HP EliteBook x360 1040 G83.43 GHz (B+23%) @ 98°C @ 40W2.84 GHz (B+1%) @ 88°C @ 27W2.43 GHz @ 69°C @ 17W
HP Elite Dragonfly G23.17 GHz (B+13%) @ 98°C @ 34W2.34 GHz @ 76°C @ 18W2.14 GHz @ 73°C @ 16W
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Pro (14)3.90 GHz (B+39%) @ 85°C @ 61W2.57 GHz @ 69°C @ 26W2.37 GHz @ 57°C @ 20W
HP Spectre x360 13 (13-aw2000)3.46 GHz (B+24%) @ 97°C @ 42W3.03 GHz (B+8%) @ 97°C @ 32W2.49 GHz @ 82°C @ 22W
HP Pavilion 14 (14-dv0000)3.08 GHz (B+10%) @ 91°C @ 40W2.79 GHz @ 89°C @ 29W2.13 GHz @ 71°C @ 18W
Acer TravelMate P4 (TMP414-51)2.99 GHz (B+7%) @ 94°C @ 33W2.66 GHz @ 93°C @ 27W1.86 GHz @ 68°C @ 16W
Dell Inspiron 13 7306 2-in-13.12 GHz (B+11%) @ 99°C @ 33W2.68 GHz @ 99°C @ 25W2.04 GHz @ 83°C @ 16W
ASUS ZenBook Flip S UX3713.48 GHz (B+24%) @ 90°C @ 43W2.79 GHz @ 90°C @ 27W1.95 GHz @ 69°C @ 14W
Acer Swift 3X (SF314-510G)3.74 GHz (B+34%) @ 95°C @ 45W3.45 GHz (B+23%) @ 95°C @ 37W3.09 GHz (B+10%) @ 85°C @ 28W
Acer Swift 3 (SF313-53)3.55 GHz (B+27%) @ 95°C @ 44W3.17 GHz (B+13%) @ 95°C @ 34W2.32 GHz @ 64°C @ 17W

Even though the fans of this device are extremely small, they somehow manage to cool the CPU quite well.

Comfort during full load

The hottest spot we measured on the outside was about 40°C. However, the rest of the keyboard was pretty cool, and the fans weren’t that loud either.


Verdict

Now, we have to be fair – the EliteBook x360 1040 G8 is not a cheap laptop. You need to sacrifice a good amount of your budget in order to get your hands on one. However, the premium you pay does not come without coverage since you get a ton of features, that you might never even use. Not only do you get an HP Active Pen inside the box, but there is an NFC coil for quick pairing with a mobile device or wireless Smart Card. Also, most of the bezel above the display is put to good use as it holds a bunch of sensors. This includes an ambient light sensor, a proximity one (that detects your presence and logs in and out of the notebook with the help of the IR sensor.

In addition to that, you get LTE connectivity, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and quite a decent I/O. Despite that, it doesn’t feature an SD card reader.

HP EliteBook x360 1040 G8’s touchscreen IPS panel (IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78)) has a very high maximum brightness, great contrast ratio, and reasonably wide color coverage (89% of the sRGB gamut). We are happy to find that its backlight doesn’t flicker at any brightness level, which makes the laptop comfortable and safe for long periods of use. Moreover, with the help of our Gaming and Web design profile, the color representation is accurate enough for e-commerce and other scenarios. As we said, it comes equipped with the Sure View system. When it’s enabled, you can take advantage of the narrow viewing angles. This, respectively, will keep your work to yourself (and everyone sitting right behind you).

Personally, this feature is useless to us, but we are not in the sphere of classified information either. On the other side, we like that the battery holds its game, as it delivers 12 hours and 18 minutes of Web browsing, and 11 hours and 22 minutes of video playback.

The fact that the laptop also has decent performance, and stays cool on the outside during long extreme workloads is impressive as well. But wait. No laptop is perfect, right? Well, yes, there is a couple of downsides to this device, which can be overlooked by some, but others will find it a bit unsettling. In addition to the lack of an SD card reader, there is a lack of memory upgrades. While HP offers you three configurations, regarding the RAM – 8, 16, or 32GB, all working in dual-channel mode, you should plan ahead before making choices. In this case, the 16GB version seems like the sensible choice.

Other than that, the notebook is extremely comfortable to use, thanks to the tactile feedback of its keyboard. Not only that, but the touchpad is super smooth, and offers pretty accurate tracking.

So, if you have the spare change, getting this notebook for your business will hardly be a bad decision.

You can check the prices and configurations in our Specs System: https://laptopmedia.com/series/hp-elitebook-x360-1040-g8/

Pros

  • Slim design with strong chassis.
  • Covers 89% of sRGB colors and has a great color accuracy when our Gaming and Web design profile is present (IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78))
  • Very good battery life
  • Two Thunderbolt 4 ports and an LTE card slot
  • Supports PCIe x4 M.2 SSDs
  • Doesn’t use PWM for brightness adjustment (IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78))
  • IR face recognition + fingerprint reader + a proximity sensor that detects your presence + NFC connectivity
  • Optional Sure View system for the privacy of your work (IVO X140NVFC R0 (IVO8C78))
  • HP Rechargeable Active Pen inside the box


Cons

  • Memory is soldered to the motherboard
  • Lacks an SD card slot

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