The HP ZBook 8 G1i Review: A Workstation in Name Only?

It's got the workstation label, but its heart beats like a mid-range laptop. HP's new ZBook 8 G1i tries to bridge the gap between power and portability, but it often ends up in no man's land. While marketed for heavy-duty tasks, its actual performance suggests it's more of a glorified office machine than a professional powerhouse.

Dated Design and Odd Specs

Physically, the ZBook 8 G1i is a throwback. With a thickness of 27 mm and weighing in at 3.8 pounds, it feels chunky compared to modern rivals. The aesthetic is purely utilitarian—recycled aluminum and plastic in a muted gray. If you were handed this in 2014, you'd be impressed, but in 2025, those wide bezels are hard to ignore.

Under the hood, the choices are equally curious. It packs 64 GB of RAM, which is great, but the Intel Core Ultra 7 265H CPU sits squarely in the middle of the performance spectrum. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 500 Ada GPU is a niche, stripped-down chip that performs on par with the ancient mobile GTX 1000 series, making it a weak choice for a machine carrying the workstation tag.

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Performance and Pricing Woes

Benchmarking paints a clear picture: this isn't a high-end workstation. In graphics tests, it scored between half and a third of what the Asus ProArt P16 achieved. Furthermore, it fails to meet the requirements for a Copilot+ PC, meaning it lacks the AI muscle expected of modern professional laptops.

Pricing is where things get truly messy. HP initially listed the machine at over $4,000 before applying deep 'discounts.' However, at a real-world price of $2,739, it still struggles to justify its cost when compared to more powerful alternatives like the MacBook Pro M4 Pro.