HP EliteBook Folio series guide

Where the EliteBook Folio line stands in 2026

HP's premium ultrabook nameplate of the early 2010s: 5 models in our catalog, 2012 to 2015, priced $132 to $184 with a median of $167 — every row priced, every row a 14-inch business machine weighing 1.43 to 1.63 kg. These were the thin-and-light flagships of their day; a decade later the premium has fully evaporated and the whole roster trades in a $52 band.

The configuration spread

Core i5 dominates the recorded CPU configurations (11 to Core i7's 6), plus one Core M row — the 2014 Folio 1040 G1's fanless 5Y51, a novelty of its era. Graphics are all integrated Intel HD (4000 through 5500 across the generations). RAM ceilings run 16 to 32 GB at the family's top, though several rows record 4–8 GB soldered configurations. The name sequence tells the family's story: 9470M and 9480m (the Ivy Bridge and Haswell years), then the 1040 G1/G2/G3 trio as the format matured.

Price versus age

The ladder is nearly flat: the 2012 9470M at $132, the 2014 pair at $135 (9480m) and $167 (1040 G1), and the 2015 pair at $179 (1040 G3) and $184 (1040 G2). Three years of progress cost about $50 total. The one wrinkle worth knowing: the 2015 pair is priced in reverse — the 1040 G3 with its newer 6th-generation Core i5 6300U lists at $179, five dollars below the older G2 with the 5th-generation 5200U. Age-based shopping doesn't work here; generation-checking individual rows does.

Which one to buy

The best row is the EliteBook Folio 1040 G3 (2015, $179, Core i5 6300U) — the newest platform in the bucket, and cheaper than its own predecessor. The EliteBook Folio 1040 G2 (2015, $184, Core i5 5200U + HD 5500) is its sibling at effectively the same money if a specific unit's condition is better. The EliteBook Folio 9480m (2014, $135, Core i5 4310U + HD 4400) is the value row at the roster's low end with a still-serviceable Haswell chip. The 2012 9470M ($132) and the Core M-based 1040 G1 ($167) we would pass on — one is fourteen years old, the other pairs premium pricing with the family's slowest recorded processor.

Bottom line

Across the roster the numbers describe capable-for-their-era hardware that time has passed: best CPU median 26.9, performance index 33.2, USComp Score 45, and zero games clearing recommended settings at the median configuration. Portability 68 remains genuinely decent — this was always a carry-first line — but energy efficiency 54.7, mobility 47 and reliability 18 are readings a buyer should weigh honestly. The summary: a $135–185 lane into a premium nameplate of another decade, where the 1040 G3 at $179 is the only row that earns a real recommendation, and only for light, budget-capped office use.