HP ZBook Firefly G9 Overview - Very Niche Indeed

In this video, I cover HP's newest iteration of the ZBook Firefly. This laptop is marketed as a mobile workstation, but it is the least powerful model available. As such, who is it for? Watch this video to find out.
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[@SomeoneAbstruse]

Thanks for a good overview and some good takes To me it looks like the firefly also could work well for engineering students (web stidies with some meetups at campus) On the go project starts and overview, while having unlimited power from a desktop at home. Portable and travel friendly. And you get a numpad. That is a big selling point. Comparing firefly to graphics equipped thinkpads, price is favourable to thinkpads (in my market). Even competes well with elitebooks here

[@andysilvers9532]

Great points. I would only buy a ZBook Firefly on sale.

[@privatechannel1875]

Nice 👍

[@philippfromm550]

Thank you for the Video. Could you tell me sth about the screen quality of the firefly 16 g9? I would like to use it for CAD work, design stuff, no photo or Video editing. Is the 1920x1080 screen good and bright enough? Thanks, best regards.

[@andysilvers9532]

Thank you for your comment. 1200p is more than enough for CAD work (and it saves battery life). However, you have to be careful. HP offers 2 1200p screens and one of them sucks. 250 nits is not bright and I would avoid this one. 400 nits is quite good and you should get this one. Double check before you buy. Thanks.

[@stecap]

Hey Andy, thanks for the brilliant video! Would you mind doing a tiny compare-and-contrast regarding the trackpad of this ZBook Firefly vs the one on the ZBook Fury? It seems to me that a trackpad without separate keys is interesting, but it can have its shortcomings. When you press the bottom part of the touchpad, do you feel a left and right click, accompanied by a small 'travel' downward of the lower part of the touchpad? If so, this might open a gap for dust and dirt...

[@andysilvers9532]

Thank you for your brilliant comment. ; ) Anyway, are you saying you would like a video on ZBook trackpads?

[@stecap]

@@andysilvers9532 a video regarding the trackpads might be asking too much, I'd be glad if you could share a few thoughts in a comment...

[@andysilvers9532]

@@stecap Ok. Trackpads can vary in design wildly. On the new Dell XPS 13, there are no buttons and the trackpad seems like the one on the Firefly - but it isn't. That one uses vibrating sensors to imitate the feel of a key press. The Firefly has no buttons unlike the Fury G8 and G9. I have the G8 and I love the buttons. My thought is that dust is unlikely to get under the trackpad buttons on the Firefly, but in theory it could and that would be annoying. All in all, the trackpad on the Firefly appears to be a bog standard unit with Microsoft drivers.

[@stecap]

@@andysilvers9532 Thanks for your insights. I think that in computer mice, trackpads, and keyboards the concept of bog-standard, as in 'basic', is highly underrated :)

[@dirtybirdxx]

So i do graphic design work inside of photoshop & illustrator. I want to also learn video editing. After watching your video and having strong considerations for this laptop would you recommend i go with the elitebook instead

[@andysilvers9532]

For graphic design itll be fine, but for video editing (especially in Resolve) I recommend anything with a GPU. No elitebook that I'm aware of has a dedicated GPU so even a Firefly with Nvidia A500 would be better. However, id recommend a Lenovo Thinkbook for its features and price.

[@adanko5071]

can you use an active stylus if so which one is compatible

[@andysilvers9532]

There are very few touch screen options and the few that exist have very low brightness and I'd never buy them on a mobile work station. And I don't think active stylus like Wacom EMR are supported anyway. Get an elite book x360 or Envy x360 for pen support.

[@Vanuatoo]

Would it be great for Software Development?

[@andysilvers9532]

You know it's funny you mention it. Yes the laptop would be good for that but you need to look into the new HP Dev One laptop and see if it's right for you.

[@MB-gl3cj]

@@andysilvers9532 Looks cool and affordable, however using an OS not Ubuntu or Windows are uncommon in most businesses with security policies plus it is only available in U.S., no network jack, both CPU and NIC are not Intel even tho AMD specs are good, I had problem in the past from using non-Intel brand specifically in Android emulation, Docker containers, VMWare Virtualization support which are common software to use.

[@andysilvers9532]

I understand completely, however I can confirm that Ubuntu can be installed easily.

[@jaseyn]

I disagree with statement about positioning of laptop on the narket. Its a great product for creativity itself. I have a G8 for an year and it is all I was ever wanted. I write, mix and produce music and do other work related to audio. I dont need a powerfull graphic. I needed a powerful Cpu with great mobility and low noise from cooling system. It is FireFly. I find it because your rewiew on Power G7 by the way. Thanks fir that. But Power is too graphic-centric. And it is great too. My wife have it. We buy both.:) Ps Sorry for my English, if so. Not native.

[@andysilvers9532]

Thanks for your comment. You actually don't disagree with me at all. My point is that power intensive work can't be done on the Firefly but light work like audio can. The issue is that the computer lacks "zbook" power making a cheaper option like the envy or spectre a better choice for many.

[@jaseyn]

​@@andysilvers9532I disagree that audio is light work ;-) Video work requires parallell processing. Audio editing heavy depends on realtime processing (serial). And in this the Firefly shines. ts strong point is not the power of the GPU. That's what attracted me to it. The right combination of RAM and CPU, complete with two thunderbolts, turned out to be a better solution for me than the Power model. Because with an increase in video performance, the operation of the cooling system also increases, and, accordingly, the noise. For me, it was very critical to be able to work fully with the fans turned off. Thank you. Your past reviews have helped me make the right choice.

[@andysilvers9532]

@@jaseyn Yes, the CPU in the G8 Firefly is good and the G9 is better. My point is not that the Firefly is slow. Instead, my point is that it's nowhere near as fast as a Fury or Studio, yet it costs the same amount. Therefore, an Envy or Elitebook or ProBook with 2 thunderbolt ports would be better for many people. Also, I'm so glad to hear that I was able to help you before. Did I help you choose your Firefly G8? If so, that's pretty cool.

[@jaseyn]

@@andysilvers9532 Yes. After your review on Power G7 I liked Zbooks in general and soon after that I bought Firefly. So, Thanks again.