The HP EliteBook 865 G9 is a very capable business laptop with AMD’s latest Ryzen processors, a lightweight design, and long battery life.
The HP EliteBook 865 G9 is one of the largest business laptops in HP's lineup, and one of its most premium. It comes with a big 16:10 display, a premium aluminum design, and the latest AMD Ryzen 6000 series processors, which deliver very good performance. HP has also brought its 5MP webcam to all of its premium laptops in 2022, including the EliteBook 865.
There isn't one specific thing that I find particularly exciting about this laptop, but it does everything you'd expect it to, and it does it extremely well. The performance is great, the battery life is fantastic, and nothing feels short of expectations. It's also one of the few AMD laptops that comes with USB4 40Gbps ports, which is nearly identical to full-fledged Thunderbolt 3.
As tends to be the case with business laptops, all of that comes with a somewhat hefty price tag, but with frequent sales, it becomes much easier to justify.
About this review: HP sent us a high-end model of the EliteBook 865 G9 for the purposes of this review. It did not review the contents before publishing.
The HP EliteBook 865 G9 is one of the largest business laptops in HP's lineup, and one of its most premium. It comes with a big 16:10 display, a premium aluminum design, and the latest AMD Ryzen 6000 series processors, which deliver very good performance. HP has also brought its 5MP webcam to all of its premium laptops in 2022, including the EliteBook 865.
There isn't one specific thing that I find particularly exciting about this laptop, but it does everything you'd expect it to, and it does it extremely well. The performance is great, the battery life is fantastic, and nothing feels short of expectations. It's also one of the few AMD laptops that comes with USB4 40Gbps ports, which is nearly identical to full-fledged Thunderbolt 3.
As tends to be the case with business laptops, all of that comes with a somewhat hefty price tag, but with frequent sales, it becomes much easier to justify.
About this review: HP sent us a high-end model of the EliteBook 865 G9 for the purposes of this review. It did not review the contents before publishing.
The HP EliteBook 800 G9 series launched earlier this year, including the EliteBook 865 and other models in different sizes, as well as options with Intel processors. The easiest place where you can find it is on HP's own website, but other resellers are likely to carry it as well. As tends to be the case with many business laptops, this one may be hard to find at more consumer-oriented retailers like Best Buy.
The high-end model of the EliteBook 865 G9 that we got for this review costs $2,189, according to HP. However, that can vary a lot because business laptops like this often get significant discounts. I tried to build a similar configuration on HP's website, and it came out to $2,045.40, but it will depend on when you're buying.
With an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U and other high-end specs packed in a premium-feeling chassis, the HP EliteBook 865 G9 is a fantastic business laptop, as long as you have the money for it.
The design of a laptop is usually what I want to talk about first, even though there's nothing particularly exciting here. The vast majority of HP's laptops, especially business-oriented ones, come in a Natural Silver colorway, and that's the case here, too. It looks sleek and subdued, so it fits right into a workspace without attracting unwanted attention. It still feels premium, though, thanks to the aluminum base and magnesium lid. The only thing that feels a little less premium is the bezel around the display being made of plastic, but that's also somewhat common in business laptops. In HP's lineup, you can only avoid it by going for the HP Elite Dragonfly, which is noticeably more expensive.
I do wish it came in different colors, but I know that's not going to happen anytime soon. and especially not in HP's business lineup. The company always says it's the most popular color, and judging by the majority of laptops on the market, that seems to be the case.
Even though it has AMD processors, it actually supports USB4 40Gbps.
This is one of the largest laptops I've used in terms of screen size, but thankfully, it's not heavy. The starting weight of 3.84 pounds is very reasonable for such a large machine, and it still manages to be under 20mm thick, so portability is decent. The magnesium lid most likely plays a significant role in its weight.
One of the great things about the HP EliteBook 865 G9 is that it comes with a lot of ports for such a thin laptop. Even though it has AMD processors, it actually supports USB4 40Gbps, so you should be able to use most peripherals designed for Thunderbolt 3 with the two included ports. That's always been the big upside for using Intel laptops, but USB4 helps even the playing field as long as manufacturers are willing to take advantage of it.
There is also a USB Type-A port and an HDMI port on the left side of the laptop, along with an optional Smart Card reader. On the right side, there's an additional USB Type-A port, a headphone jack, and the optional nano-SIM slot, along with a Kensington lock slot.
I feel this setup is a bit unbalanced, and I would have liked to have one of the USB4 ports on the left side to distribute them a bit more evenly. Still, this is a great selection, and exactly why you would get a business laptop in the first place.
I don't consider myself picky with laptop keyboards, but the HP EliteBook 865 G9 has a great one. Typing on this keyboard feels great, and the keys have a satisfying amount of travel without bottoming out too harshly. I don't get many typos, either — aside from my personal mix-ups from changing between keyboards from different regions. The keys are also backlit, which means you can comfortably type at night without having to squint.
HP makes excellent use of the additional space here to include a number pad. They're usually exclusively available on laptops that are larger than 15 inches, but even then, many don't have them. While it comes at the cost of top-firing speakers, most laptops used for productivity don't actually need great speakers to begin with.
An intriguing feature here is the HP programmable key, which lives on F12. Using the myHP app, you can customize it to launch an app, website, or open a file or folder. You can also combine multiple actions to all trigger with a single key press, assign specific text bits to the key, or make it so that pressing the programmable key triggers a sequence of key presses.
And then there's the touchpad, which is also fantastic. The EliteBook 865 G9 has a very large, smooth touchpad to make use of all that available space in the chassis. It's very easy and comfortable to use, including the feel of the click, which doesn't feel overly hard or too soft. It's just right.
If you're wondering why there wasn't an EliteBook 865 G8, it's because this is actually a successor to the EliteBook 855. The HP EliteBook 865 G9 comes with a 16-inch display, and it's the first time this laptop comes with a 16:10 aspect ratio. It's a feature most common in premium laptops, but it's been slowly trickling down into more affordable devices. With the taller screen, it also became larger overall, so the name was changed to reflect this.
You'll also get a WUXGA panel (1920 x 1200) on every configuration. Some people might prefer at least Quad HD for something this large, but everything on the screen looks just fine at this resolution, and it makes perfect sense for office work. Unless you plan to be pixel-peeping, you won't have any complaints. The model HP sent us comes with a low-power panel that promises up to 400 nits of brightness, though the base model has just 250 nits. There's also a variant with HP Sure View Reflect, the company's privacy screen technology, that can reach up to 1,000 nits.
Based on my testing, the panel reached 396 nits at 100% brightness. Most laptops I've tested tend to exceed the advertised maximum brightness, so the fact it's lower is a first. Still, it's not like the panel isn't bright enough; I typically used it at 40% brightness indoors and it was perfectly visible. Contrast is also pretty good at up to 1,330:1, and the white point is also acceptable.
As for color coverage, it's obvious this is a laptop made for office work, so the focus here was on the sRGB color gamut, which the EliteBook 865 G9 covers well. Coverage isn't amazing for P3 or Adobe RGB, but this isn't the kind of laptop you're buying for creative work anyway.
One of the best things about this laptop — and most of HP's laptops this year — is the webcam. HP is leading the charge by using 5MP webcams in most of its laptops, with support for 1080p video. Because of that high-resolution sensor, the camera can also use face tracking and auto framing to keep you in focus without sacrificing image quality. This kind of auto-framing, which crops into the frame, can be a bit unresponsive at times, but it's still nice to have.
The HP EliteBook 865 G9 is available with a few processor options from AMD's Ryzen 6000 series processors, and my particular unit is a relatively high-end with a Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U, which has 8 cores, 16 threads, and can boost up to 4.7GHz. This is probably the best option for mobility, but there's actually a model with an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850HS, which is a more powerful 35W processor if you want more performance at the expense of battery life.
But that's not to say performance is lacking in any way with this machine. The Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U breezes through all kinds of office workloads, and you'll never find yourself wishing for more. Plus, the integrated Radeon Graphics 680M delivers the best integrated GPU performance you'll find on a laptop right now. The 16GB of RAM is also enough to handle multitasking with various browser tabs and apps open, though if you need more, you can go all the way to 64GB. The RAM also uses SODIMM slots, so you can upgrade it after the fact if you want to save money at checkout. You can also get up to 2TB of SSD storage.
Looking at benchmarks, you can see that AMD still comes out ahead in terms of multi-core CPU performance compared to Intel's U-series processors. Of course, P-series models like the ones in the Dell XPS 13 can have better performance, but they also use a lot more power, and it can be hard keeping the thermals in check. And with the difference in GPU, the EliteBook 865 G9 actually scores better in general-purpose benchmarks like PCMark 10, with 3DMark showing how much of a difference those AMD Radeon integrated GPUs make.
CrossMark is an interesting one to look at because it seems to heavily favor Intel processors. Based on multiple laptops I've tested with it, AMD models always score lower despite coming out ahead in other measurements.
One thing to note about performance is that, like other AMD laptops, the HP EliteBook 865 G9 loses a lot of performance when it's not plugged into a charger. Every laptop performs worse on battery power compared to AC power, but AMD laptops tend to be more significantly affected. In fact, I'm simultaneously testing an HP Envy x360 — which has 9W Intel processors — and while the EliteBook 865 G9 comes out ahead by a wide margin on AC power (based on PCMark 10), the Envy x360 performs better on battery. Some people find this to be a deal-breaker, but the hit in performance isn't significant enough to give you a bad experience. I didn't have any performance issues in real-life usage.
As for the RAM, performance seems to be on par with other AMD-powered laptops with DDR5 memory, like the Lenovo Slim 7 Pro X I reviewed earlier this year. It's pretty much what you'd expect from any modern laptop. You also get a PCIe 4.0 SSD, with the maximum sequential speeds you'd expect. A trend I've started to notice is that PCs with AMD processors generally yield lower speeds for random reads and writes compared to Intel-powered models, even when sequential speeds are much higher. However, I can't decisively say it's a problem with AMD-powered devices based on my relatively small sample size.
Finally, let's talk battery life, which is one of the best specs here. I like to test battery life in two ways. First, I have a more standardized test. I play a 720p YouTube video with brightness and volume set to 50% until the laptop dies. The HP EliteBook 865 G9 lasted 13 and 30 minutes for that one, which is very good.
Then, I test a more realistic scenario by using the laptop for work as I normally would. I leave the screen at 40% brightness and let battery saver mode kick in at 20% battery. The lowest I got was 5 hours and 41 minutes, but this was during a very busy day involving multiple hours of meetings. Otherwise, I almost always got over 6 hours (even with some virtual meetings), and I even got over 7 hours a few times. The best time was 8 hours and 9 minutes. This is a great battery, although HP does sell a model with a smaller battery, which will be less impressive.
You should buy the HP EliteBook 865 G9 if you:
You shouldn't buy the HP EliteBook 865 G9 if you:
There's very little not to like about the HP EliteBook 865 G9. The AMD processors deliver great performance across the board, and you get great battery life. It has a premium design that's not overly heavy considering the size of the laptop, and perks like the smart 5MP webcam, a large touchpad, and a comfortable keyboard make this a fantastic laptop for work.
I'd say the biggest barrier to buying the HP EliteBook 865 G9 might be the price, but as I previously mentioned, business laptops like this tend to go on sale frequently and get heavy discounts. If you can take advantage of one of those deals, this is an absolutely fantastic machine.
With an AMD Ryzen 7 Pro 6850U and a large 16-inch display, the HP EliteBook 865 G9 is a fantastic business laptop.
I’ve been covering the tech world since 2018, and I love computers, phones, and – above all that – Nintendo videogames, which I’m always happy to talk about.