If you were scouring the CES 2025 announcements for the best business laptop, look no further than the HP EliteBook Ultra G1i. In our review of the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite-powered HP EliteBook Ultra G1q last year one of our few concerns with the EliteBook Ultra was the potential software incompatibility due to the ARM-based Qualcomm chip. The new Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processor in the EliteBook Ultra G1i eliminates any such concerns.
Here's a closer look at what convinced us that this was the best business laptop of CES 2025.
Best Business Laptop of CES 2025: HP EliteBook Ultra G1i
Why it wins
The HP EliteBook Ultra G1i was the best business laptop debut at CES 2025 because, as with so many winners, the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. While the features — which include up to an Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to 2TB of SSD storage — are impressive, the total package makes for a productivity machine right out of the box.
And HP didn’t try reinventing the wheel in the business laptop category, which is a feature, not a bug. It looks similar to that ubiquitous MacBook design, which is just fine. Few executives want twinkling RGB lights. Instead, the EliteBook Ultra G1i focuses on results and security. The results will come faster with AI, courtesy of an NPU with up to 48 TOPS (Tera Operations per Second) that works with Windows 11 AI features. HP also pushes its proprietary Wolf Security features, which are table-stakes for enterprise-level businesses.
Release and availability wrap-up
The price is expected to start around $2,000, and this powerful, sleek business laptop full of ingenious touches will be on sale in March.
