HP ZBook Power G11 review: An all-aluminum beast

HP’s ZBook workstations are larger than most conventional laptops you might be tempted by, with 16 inches (40.6 centimeters) of screen real estate to accompany powerful specs that are designed to go beyond what your typical ultraportable can do. Indeed, most of the attention falls on the graphics chips included in these laptops — which range from capable mid-range workhorses to sophisticated and powerful heavyweights.

The HP ZBook Power G11 falls somewhere in the middle of the family, offering a robust Intel chipset alongside a great Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada graphics chip. This machine is ideal for 3D workflows, image editing, rendering and other visual work. It remains to be seen, however, if it’s worth the significant investment.

HP ZBook Power G11 review

HP ZBook Power G11: Design

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The ZBook Power G11 is incredibly robust and well constructed, with a sophisticated silver coating on an all-aluminum chassis that means business. There are no alternative color schemes to point out — so it’s take it or leave it as far as its look goes — but it feels just as robust as its performance when you’re using it.

Its keyboard does feature contrasting keys, which look sharp, alongside a cooler gray used for its touchpad. What you don’t get, however, is the flair and pizzazz that slimline and more compact models can afford, such as narrow bezels around the screen and, say, the shaved angular corners in the HP OmniBook series. But you aren’t really in the market for a ZBook if such things are your main priorities.

While the ZBook Power G11 will be heavier than many 14- or 15-inch laptops, this is entirely to be expected and in line with similar machines. For example, its 4.68-pound (2.12 kilogram) weight is only a shade lighter than the Dell XPS 16 laptop, which weighs 4.7 lbs (2.13 kg). This machine is, however, bulkier than you may be used to. Its width is the same as an XPS 16, but its depth and height are much larger — 9.9 x 0.9 inches (216.2 x 22.9 mm) versus 9.5 x 0.74 in (240 x 18.7 mm).

Either way, it’s not best suited to you if you’re mostly looking for something to use while away from the desk.

HP ZBook Power G11: Display

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The sharpness of the standard IPS HDR screen in the ZBook Power G11 is disappointing, with only a 1,920 x 1,200-pixel resolution that spans across a 16-inch panel, meaning a dreadfully low 141.5 pixels-per-inch (PPI). We prefer displays with a PPI ratio over 200, as there’s always a lack of sharpness below this figure. You can upgrade the resolution to 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, but this renders a PPI ratio of 188.7: that’s pretty average, but still short of the magic number that makes it a “great” choice.

Elsewhere, its brightness feels a little above average, which we confirmed in testing with a display calibrator, generating a result of 382 nits. Its white balance, however, was pretty much perfect with no major adjustments needed to RGB levels. Color accuracy, similarly, was reasonable, with our testing generating 99.4% coverage of the sRGB spectrum. Scores for color accuracy in the Adobe RGB and DCI P3 spectra of 73.6% and 80.5%, respectively, are dead average for laptops, although we usually expect a score of 90% and 95% or higher for “professional grade” monitors.

Altogether, the above means we wouldn’t rely on this machine’s screen for visual work unless you’re in a pinch. We would suggest using an external monitor instead, or at least verifying whatever it is you’re working on when you next have access to a better screen.

HP ZBook Power G11: Keyboard and touchpad

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We have mixed feelings about the ZBook Power G11’s keyboard. On the one hand, keystrokes are very satisfying, and tapping each key exudes a perfect balance of haptic feedback and snap — combined with a reasonable travel distance — for a satisfying typing experience, at least in theory.

On the other hand, the keys feel a little small and too crammed together, largely due to the inclusion of a number pad on the far-right. We aren’t enamored with number pads on laptops, and would rather the extra space you get in a larger chassis was dedicated to spacing out the keys a bit more. The way the specific keys are arranged also makes it easy to hit the wrong one, with Pg Up and Pg Down buttons dangerously close to the Left Arrow and Right Arrow keys.

Its touchpad, while spacious enough, has a strange smooth-yet-frictional texture to its glass surface. Some friction is good, but in the ZBook Power G11 it slows your movements down to a halt, and you end up with a “grating” feeling. This is a shame as the Left Click and Right Click buttons are just as enjoyable to use as the individual keystrokes.

HP ZBook Power G11: Performance and battery

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Fitted in our review configuration was last year’s Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU, alongside an Intel AI Boost NPU (capable of hitting 36 TOPS) and an Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada GPU. It also came with 32 GB DDR5 RAM and 1 TB SSD storage, although you can upgrade at a cost.

On single-threaded tasks, the HP ZBook Power G11 scored 2,397. This is slightly higher than the first-gen Intel chip and about in line with scores of between 2,200 and 2,500 that Snapdragon X Elite chips register. The new Series 2 Intel chips, however, normally hit between 2,700 and 2,900, by way of comparison. Anecdotally, we noticed several performance hitches when using it day-to-day, including instances of input lag and one occasion where the Wi-Fi connection dropped entirely, and no networks were available.

On multi-threaded tasks, meanwhile, this machine hit 11,906 — a higher score than you would expect in Series 2 Intel chips, but lower than Snapdragon X Elite CPUs, which score between 13,000 and 15,000. It’s a mixed bag — but overall a good set of results and about in line for a mid-range workstation.

Where the G11 excels is in its whopping graphics score of 88,543 in the OpenCL benchmark — just a few points shy of a score you’d get with the Nvidia RTX GeForce 4060 GPU. That’s based on public data, although when we tested the GPU in the HP Omen 16, we achieved a disappointing score of 35,981 with the 4060 chip, so plenty of variables are at play. Overall, it’s a phenomenal result that’s head and shoulders above most laptops we’ve seen.

Similarly, a battery life of 17 hours and 48 minutes is fantastic for a larger laptop with beefy internals and plenty of power draw. We expected something more in line with the 4 hours and 52 minutes of the HP Omen, but it’s in line with slimmer ultraportables, which is fantastic if you need to use a hefty amount of graphical power while on the move.

Also worth mentioning are very zippy data read and write speeds of 6,998.06 and 5,613.99 megabytes per second (Mbps), respectively — excellent news for anyone transferring chunky files regularly.

HP ZBook Power G11: Ports and features

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You get pretty much everything you would ever need in the HP ZBook Power G11, with the manufacturer taking no shortcuts and making full use of the larger chassis.

There are two USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A ports (including one with charging support), an HDMI port, an SD Card reader and a Security lock slot, as well as a 3.5 mm headphone jack. You can also opt for an optional Nano SIM card slot and a SmartCard Reader. This is an excellent array — especially the inclusion of the SD card slot, which is great for anybody primarily in need of a machine to complement their photography.

You get all the AI features you’d typically expect from modern AI PCs in this machine, alongside some nifty security additions. Firstly, the 5MP camera features a shutter that you can flick on/off with a manual switch, while there’s a fingerprint scanner just beneath the keyboard. There’s also an array of software features, including HP Wolf Security, for those who want the added protection. A couple of downsides are the inclusion of Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 — where plenty of machines now offer Wi-Fi 7 and Bluetooth 5.4 connectivity.

HP ZBook Power G11: Should I buy it?

The ZBook Power G11 offers plenty of power in a reasonably portable machine, with its blockbuster graphics performance a major highlight — something that’s especially valuable when combined with a great battery life. We were disappointed by the screen, but you can always mitigate this by hooking the laptop up with an external monitor when you’re using it on your desk. Otherwise, it’s no heavier than many other 16-inch laptops, although we wouldn’t necessarily suggest you take it out on long photography trips.

For graphics-intensive work like photo editing at a minimum (but also more intensive tasks like video editing or 3D modeling) it’s a great machine, but only if you can afford its price tag.

If the HP ZBook Power G11 isn’t for you

The Dell XPS 16 is still a fantastic laptop — it’s cheaper than the ZBook and more compact too, making it a better option for carrying on the move. With the XPS 16, you also have the option to upgrade to a sharper OLED display — at a cost, of course.

We would also recommend the MacBook Pro 16-inch if you’re looking to spend a little more. You get a fantastic amount of power and a capable GPU (while not as powerful as the Nvidia RTX 3000 Ada, it’s certainly good enough for most moderate tasks you can throw at it). You also get a much better screen to work with.