HP ZBook Studio x360: Convertible Mobile Workstation with Performance?

[@joaoblumel]

Great video! Just one question: the unit you're reviewing has the FHD screen, right? I just bought one (i7 8850H, Quadro P2000) with the dreamcolor 4k screen and I'm pretty sure it's 100% Adobe RGB and I think 130% sRGB and has a brightness of 600nits. Can you please just confirm that? I use it mainly for photography and video editing so color accuracy is really a main concern for me. Cheers!

[@vidshank]

What Is your suggestions for a good AES pen for this laptop if one intends to use it to digital painting

[@SuperDesignguy]

Great review. BH photo is selling a stripped down version i7 ( 4K non dream color ) 4 Gigs of ram?? 256 SSD for $1599.00 - I bought and extra 16 gigs of ram and this is a great deal. I use it for painting in Corel painter. Really like the 2-1 - Just get a good a good tablet stand. Excellent mobile workstation.

[@RandomPotatoProductions]

guys spectre 15 x360 or this for lasting a long time (as in years)? thanks!

[@lorenzobiondi5727]

I guess the zbook is the easiest to keep updated of the two, it comes with an empty ssd slot and easily accessible ram slots, so you can upgrade it at need. Apart from that, you can buy it with a dreamcolor display (100% adobe rgb and 600 nits) which is the most accurate monitor you could ever need (even in 20 years) as its pixel density and error margin is so small it's not perceivable by the human eye. I was in your same situation and in conclusion I'm going for the zbook, it has upgradable/replaceable hardware and a future-proof display. Also, in italy there is a 200€ difference between the two, which is worth it. I would not pay 1000€ more euros for the zbook, in that case you just buy a new monitor or manage to update the hardware as you can with the spare money.

[@2011Kestrel]

Nice review. The Zbook Studio X360 is my dream laptop - it's everything I'm looking for. BUT... The value is really not there. I can buy a Lenovo P1 for considerably less than a comparably equipped Zbook. In fact, I can frequently get a BETTER equipped P1 for less than the base Zbook. And Lenovo's keyboard is way better than the HP's. Even more disappointing, one can't buy a "good" Zbook here in Canada. Despite HP announcing the P2000 version of the Zbook back in October 2018, P2000 equipped Zbooks have only recently appeared in the US, and not here in Canada at all. And since HP lists the P2000 as a "customizable" option (even on HP's Canadian website) and HP Canada does NOT offer laptop customization (so why the hell even mention customizable options we can't have), I'm beginning to believe Canada won't see the P2000 option. We get the P1000 version, and that's it. Importing a P2000 equipped Zbook from the US is not a viable option - it would make an already over priced laptop even more ludicrously expensive. And for some reason the few US-based stores I've checked out will not ship that particular laptop to Canada at all. So, despite that I really love the HP Zbook Studio X360, it is the PERFECT laptop for me and I would dearly love to buy one, I'll probably be buying a Lenovo P1 instead. Sigh.

[@Sean-603]

Can't you just order from the us site

[@2011Kestrel]

sean fisher Yes, but the cost is ludicrous. I don't believe HP will ship it directly to Canada, so I'll also need to ship it by a third party shipper, which will add even more to the cost. And the warranty won't hold up - so if I have a problem I'll either have to ship it back to the US for repair or pay for it myself up here. HP Canada won't touch it. Either way, although I do love this laptop and it's everything I'm looking for, the laptop isn't worth the time or cost to get it from the US.

[@anastav6915]

I dont get it, if i can get this laptop with a P2000 in Greece cant you just buy it in Canada? I cant stand Lenovo, i usually dont give a shit for the look of something but Lenovo's P1 looks like a 1990 laptop to me and kinda feel sorry that i find it so ugly that it's a total deal breaker for me :"D

[@markdwyer3544]

Similar here in Australia.. Retailers only have the P1000 option. There is only 'refreshed' config I've come across with i9, P2000, 64GB RAM.. BUT, it only has the 1080p display.. Ignoring the display, the price is decent. A few people have complained the glass on the 1080p version flexes and causes discoloration of the screen when using a stylus. My only option for 4K display is E-2186M model with a P1000. Apparently HP here will do custom builds, but I'm guessing will charge a fortune for it. I basically want the refreshed config above with i9, P2000 but 4K display rather than 1080p.. My options are the Xeon E-2186M with 32GB, P1000 and 4K, or get a quote for a custom build which I'm sure will cost a fortune.

[@2011Kestrel]

anast dime A third party retailer might carry the Zbook X360 P2000, but as of yet I haven't seen any. And I shudder to think of the cost. HP Canada currently has only two sku's for the Zbook X360 - a Xeon with 512gb, 16gb ram, 1080p display; and a "bare-bones" i7-8750H, 256gb, 8gb ram, 4K display. Price...$4000 CDN and $3000 CDN respectively. Way too much for what you're getting! So the third party retailer would have to charge even more to make a decent profit and stay in business.

[@piby1802]

Thanks for the review. I really like how you get to the point and don't gossip around. One thing missing however is the fan review. How is the laptop's thermal management? Have you run any cpu intensive applications? Is there any significant fan noise especially when there is Xeon processor? I am planning to use egpu with this so I want to make sure it can handle it nicely without overheating and fan noise

[@BigBabaBrand]

I have the Zbook Studio X360 with a P1000 and i7 8850H. Unfortunately the fans are almost always running! Except in idle but as soon as you open a a web browser with some tabs or a lightweight app the fans start spinning. When the fans spin they are audiable and can get really loud like any laptop when you push them.

[@piby1802]

@@BigBabaBrand Have you checked whether BIOS is set to "Fan Always". Also what is your Power Configuration in Windows? www.manualslib.com/manual/1408651/Hp-Zbook-Studio-X360-G5.html?page=142

[@piby1802]

@@BigBabaBrand Is there a fan noise when you use it in Tablet mode? It will be really annoying if you take it to a meeting and it produces noise

[@BigBabaBrand]

@@piby1802 Yeah, I checked that and this BIOS option is turned off. My power configuration in Windows is set to balanced. Note: I even disabled two cores, so I'm actually running a 4/8 core CPU. So, I did some further digging. The fans spin up at very light loads already like 10% total CPU utilization (4/8 core CPU) after a very short time (after ca. 15 sec. - 30 sec.). In such cases the fans spin around 10% fan speed, which is clearly audible and could be annoying in quiet environments. Higher loads lead to higher temperatures and therefore higher fan speed. Interestingly, a fan speed of 30-40% is not that much louder than 10% fan speed. I don't see why the tablet mode would be any different in regards to fan noise. That being said, the fans are not always running but when they do it's too much and too loud for my taste. On the other hand, there is a 6/12 core CPU in this rather thin chassis, so higher temps and an aggressive fan profile are to be expected. You can mitigate the fan noise problem by installing notebookfancontrol (NBFC). Currently, there is no fan profile for the HP Zbook Studio X360 G5, though. Tweaking the power settings may also help. In my opinion it's a great, powerful and very sleek windows workstation. It may not be perfect but I'd still consider it one of the best portable windows workstations (apart from the Lenovo P1). Be prepared to do some tweaking if fan noise is a major concern to you.

[@bossanovamakesmegrow]

@@BigBabaBrand did you get an improvement on the fan noise since your last comment? I'm considering the zbook, but unnecessary fan noise is a pet peeve of mine (I know the fans need to get audible for heavier workloads, but for a single browser tab seems excessive)

[@jd2086]

If they only uses better display design... Those huuuugue bezels are unacceptable for today standards even more powerful workstations are using slim display bezels.