HP EliteBook 725 G3 review

An ultralight 2016 EliteBook held back by a vintage AMD A8 processor

The HP EliteBook 725 G3 (2016) is a 12.5-inch business ultraportable built around an AMD A8 Pro-7150B with 16 GB of RAM, landing at $145 — well below the business-class median of about $297. Its one genuine strength is weight: at 1.26 kg it is 21% below the category median and lands in "ultralight" territory. The honest constraint is the AMD A8 CPU itself — a 2014-vintage part with performance at the floor of the bracket.

Ultralight weight is the standout

At 1.26 kg, the EliteBook 725 G3 sits firmly in "ultralight" territory and is one of the lightest machines in the bracket — the main reason to consider it. For a buyer whose only real requirement is a very cheap, very light laptop for basic tasks, the weight is genuine and meaningful.

The AMD A8 CPU is the honest ceiling

The weak spot by level is graphics performance, but the broader truth is that the AMD A8 Pro-7150B is the ceiling: a CPU score of 4.24 against a median near 53 places it at the bottom of the bracket, and overall performance (5.82) is similarly low. There is no discrete GPU, and the integrated Radeon graphics of this era handle only basic media. This is a machine for email, web, and light documents — anything more will feel slow.

Slow depreciation, near the floor

From a base near $1300, the laptop has settled to $145 at roughly 7.2% per year, with a projected value around $125 in two years. The curve has flattened, typical for hardware this far into its life.

Tightly bracketed by budget peers

Slightly pricier options include the HP 250 G7 ($155) and HP ProBook 4720s ($162); cheaper alternatives include the HP 250 G4 ($127) and Dell Vostro 3555 ($137), which sit in the same bottom bracket for similar money.

Bottom line

The EliteBook 725 G3 is worth the asking price only for a narrow niche: a buyer who specifically needs an ultralight, cheap laptop for genuinely light tasks. The AMD A8 CPU is an honest weak spot, and most buyers will get more value from a slightly heavier peer with a newer processor at a similar price.