Disclaimer:This review was made possible by a review unit provided by HP.
The company did not see the contents of the review before publishing.
It’s made to be highly functional and feature-packed, and that’s exactly what it is.
It’s a generic design, but it’s as easily portable as HP claims.
The aluminum shell is 50% recycled, and the bezel is 75% post-consumer recycled plastic.
The packaging is also 100% sustainable, with next to no plastic anywhere in sight.
It’s what I like to see.
More important than the looks, though, is how everything fits together.
The ZBook Firely 14" has plenty of flexing panels, creaking, and noticeable seams.
This laptop passed 19 MIL-STD 810H durability tests and underwent over 120,000 hours of testing in HP’s labs.
The bottom panel is easily removable to reach the swappable storage and memory.
Strangely enough, I’m not worried about this laptop’s durability.
You also get a headphone/microphone combo and another punch in-A 5Gbps port on the right.
The Firefly 14" is all function and no form, but that’s exactly what I expected.
A quick note on pricing and availability.
HP offers dozens of configuration options through its website.
Seriously, you’re free to customize nearly every part of this laptop.
At full price, this laptop is much harder to recommend, even for enterprise work.
Everything you might want to tinker with, you might do so at HP.
It’s a generic design, but it’s as easily portable as HP claims.
Need a touch screen?
There’s an option.
Don’t need a high resolution or max brightness?
It’s not sharp enough to ever hurt, but this uncomfortable edge wraps around the entire bottom of the laptop.
you could save some money and scale down.
Fortunately, HP sent me the most interesting display option for this laptop, the 14-inch DreamColor IPS display.
This display looks amazing on paper but delivers in reality, too.
A taller 16:10 aspect ratio makes this laptop great for productivity and makes the 14 inches feel more spacious.
Honestly, though, there’s just something about this display that’s so nice to look at.
Still, I kept that off for most of my review.
It’s just shy of HP’s rated color gamut, but this display still tested great.
This is the most comfortable display I have ever used in a laptop.
It’s just so…Comfortable.
That’s not a word normally ascribed to a display, but it’s true.
This display is sharp, colorful, and bright, and I’m a big fan.
Of course, it’s not perfect.
The contrast could be better, as this display’s contrast ratio is about average for an IPS panel.
At this price point, I’d expect better than average.
The ZBook’s read speeds are very good, which makes the (still good write speeds) look less impressive.(Image credit: Windows Central)
If you haven’t heard of the A500 before, that’s understandable.
This GPU has a different focus from NVIDIA’s consumer-facing GeForce line of gaming GPUs.
So, how does the ZBook Firefly 14" perform?
The Firefly 14" performed as expected in CrossMark.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I also got the aforementioned NVIDIA RTX A500.
In benchmarks, the HP Firefly 14" performed as I expected, with a few surprises.
In real-world use, this laptop ran like a dream.
The ZBook’s great single-core performance makes it standout, as does its higher scores over more powerful computers.(Image credit: Windows Central)
I never encountered any stutters or issues, and 32GB of RAM is more than enough for my workload.
This laptop kept up with me whatever I did, and it never slowed down over time.
I will repeat, though, that this is not a gaming laptop.
It’s a similar story in Geekbench 6.(Image credit: Windows Central)
HP doesn’t advertise it as such, and the NVIDIA A500 doesn’t fill that role.
It’s just not going to happen.
The Firefly 14" is far from the longest lasting laptop, but it’s very consistent.
The Firefly 14" did great in PCMark 10.(Image credit: Windows Central)
In my experience, 6 hours is a fair metric for this laptop’s battery life.
If you keep the display brightness only as high as you need it, you might improve your endurance.
The ZBook Firefly 14" is the perfect example.
As you can see, the Firefly 14" is not a gaming powerhouse.(Image credit: Windows Central)
Each key provides dependable tactile feedback, and everything is easy to find and read.
There is backlighting here, but it’s only one stage.
HP also advertises the keyboard as spill-resistant, but I did not test that claim for obvious reasons.
We’ve seen this approach to vents a million times, but it gets the job done.
A fantastic keyboard meets a less-fantastic touchpad on the Firefly 14".
However, the touchpad below the keyboard doesn’t quite earn the same unreserved praise.
It does use Windows Precision drivers for gesture support, but I experienced two issues with the touchpad.
There are a lot of laptops with better battery life than this one, but at least it’s consistent.
It’s a minor frustration, but I’ve also never seen this behavior on any other laptop.
The touchpad should always respond instantly.
The second issue is a little more annoying, though.
The Firefly 14" can lay almost completely flat, if you need it. You can also equip it with a SmartCard reader.
This touchpad has, strangely, slightly lower sensitivity than I expect from a modern touchpad.
That means doing small, precise movements at low speeds results in jagged, erratic cursor movements.
Should you do that, signing in with your face is fast and reliable on this laptop.
I love this keyboard. The touchpad… Not so much.
The camera itself is… okay.
At the end of the day, though, this webcam is average.
The Firefly 14" hits all the basics, even if it doesn’t excel at some of them.
Bottom-firing speakers can sound fine, as long as you’re on a flat surface like this one.
The mics, however, are surprisingly good.
My colleagues here at Windows Central reported that I sounded very natural and clear.
I had no issues using them for video conferences, videos, or even casual music listening.
HP adds a ton of its own software to its ZBook laptops, but most of it is useful to the right people.
HP also includes a ton of pre-installed apps and software on this computer.
I counted19of these programs, with most coming from HP.
Intel and NVIDIA have typical apps to view hardware information, update drivers, etc.
There’s also an annoying web link for Adobe offers and Spotify.
Just look at our list ofbest Windows laptops, and you’ll see plenty.
Want a convertible laptop with a touchscreen?
I’ve really enjoyed using this laptop, even with its flaws.
TheLenovo Yoga 9i 14is one of our favorite Windows laptops of all time.
Need that withIntel vProsupport?
HP has it covered with its incredibleHP Elite Dragonfly.
If you’d prefer a traditional clamshell design, theDell XPS 13 Plusis also a gorgeous, incredible machine.
These laptops best the HP ZBook Firefly 14" in some ways, but not all.
Pricing starts at $1,291.
Dell also boasts a huge lineup of enterprise computers.
You even get a number pad if you care about that.
ZBook Firefly 14" G10: Should you buy it?
You should buy this if …
You should not buy this if …
Most people don’t need this laptop.
Most people will prefer something more premium, flashier, or versatile with a convertible design.
Great, but not perfect.
The touchpad is also finicky with its low sensitivity and tendency to go to sleep.
Finally, battery life isn’t exceptional on this laptop, even if it is consistent.
Suppose it’s possible for you to forgive those weaknesses, though.
It performs flawlessly, the keyboard is comfortable, the screen is incredible, and everything just worked.
Just ensure you’re buying it at the discounted price, not HP’s overinflated retail prices.
