HP EliteBook series guide

Where the EliteBook line stands in 2026

This bucket holds HP's newest mainstream-business naming — the 2025–2026 "EliteBook 8" generation — plus one older relative: 8 models spanning 2020 to 2026, priced $371 to $1,300 with a median of $1,144. Seven of the eight rows are the current generation, in 13, 14 and 16-inch widths, all with 64 GB RAM ceilings and 1.13 to 1.69 kg weights. Unlike the X/Ultra premium line, this family keeps one foot in graphics capability: a single row carries a discrete RTX card.

The configuration spread

The CPU counts are dominated by the new-name chips: Core Ultra 5 in 32 configurations and Core Ultra 7 in 27, with AMD Ryzen AI (4), the basic Intel series (4) and Ryzen 5/7 filling the rest. Graphics are integrated on almost every row — Intel Xe3 2-core on the 2026 trio, Radeon 760M on the AMD 2025 pair, Arc integrated on one — with the notable exception of the EliteBook 8 G1i 16", which pairs its Core Ultra 5 225H with an RTX 500 Ada 6GB. That is a workstation-class graphics option in a mainstream business chassis.

Price versus age

The ladder is a cliff with a plateau: the lone 2020 row (an 840 Aero G8) at $371, then all four 2025 rows at a flat $1,144 and all three 2026 rows at a flat $1,300. Within each year, price is blind to both chip and screen — the 13, 14 and 16-inch 2026 machines all ask $1,300, and the Ryzen 5 230, Core Ultra 5 225H and RTX-carrying rows of 2025 all ask $1,144. The only performance-relevant price decision in this family is the year; everything else is fit and silicon preference at fixed money.

Which one to buy

The row this guide exists to point at is the EliteBook 8 G1i 16" (2025, $1,144, Core Ultra 5 225H + RTX 500 Ada 6GB) — discrete graphics at the same price as every integrated sibling, the clear GPU-per-dollar winner in this roster. The EliteBook 8 G1i 14" (2025, $1,144, Core Ultra 5 225H + Arc integrated) is the same platform in the carry-friendly width. The EliteBook 8 G2i 14" (2026, $1,300, Core Ultra 5 322 + Intel Xe3) is the newest-generation pick, and the EliteBook 840 Aero G8 (2020, $371, Core i5 1145G7) is the budget anchor — a serviceable Tiger Lake machine at a third of the modern money.

Bottom line

Across the roster the profile is a strong modern business machine with an unusually capable ceiling: performance index 62.7, USComp Score 63.5, portability 70.6, energy efficiency 82.5 and reliability 78 — and with 14 games clearing recommended settings at the median configuration plus a gaming index of 43 — the strongest gaming showing this roster's own numbers can post, courtesy of that single RTX row. Best GPU median 37.9 reflects the same lift. The summary: buy the RTX 500 row at $1,144 unless you specifically need the 2026 platform; the 2020 Aero at $371 is the honest budget fallback.