HP ZBook Studio G3 Review: A Powerful, Lightweight Workstation

Are you in need of a powerful and lightweight workstation? If yes, then check out this HP ZBook Studio G3 review.

This review will provide you with all you need to know about this laptop’s specs and design. Specifically, you will have full detail about this laptop’s processor, memory, storage, graphics, and battery life.

Not only that, but I will be comparing this laptop with other similar laptops. Furthermore, I will share the laptop’s benchmark test result in most of these sections.

Lastly, I will be rating the laptop on a scale of one to ten in each section based on its performance. Hence, it is essential you read this review to the end to have first-hand information about this laptop.

HP ZBook Studio G3: At First Glance

The HP ZBook series is one of HP’s rich lineups that aims at delivering powerful workstations with slim form factors. The HP ZBook series consists of notable laptops like the HP ZBook 15, HP ZBook 15u G2, and G3.

A case in point for this review is the HP ZBook Studio G3, where the “G3” means it is one of the third generation releases of the series.

Thankfully, the HP ZBook Studio G3 follows the rule of the ZBook family by delivering outstanding performance at a pocket-friendly price. Specifically, at the time I wrote this review (March 2022), the HP ZBook Studio G3 costs $599.99 on Amazon.

At this point, I’m sure you cannot wait to hear about the outstanding performance of the HP ZBook Studio G3. Hence, without further ado, proceed to the remaining sections of this review, where I will unravel that.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Design, Dimension, and Weight

The HP ZBook Studio G3 does not look so much different from other models of the ZBook series. What is more exciting is that it looks even more attractive.

For build material, the HP ZBook Studio G3 is built of aluminum and magnesium. Meanwhile, the bottom of the laptop is made of plastic with a rubberized texture.

The rubberized texture will improve the grip of the laptop on surfaces and prevent it from slipping.

Overall, the build quality of the HP ZBook Studio G3 is solid. As a matter of fact, this laptop passed 15 MIL-SPEC-810G tests which are military-standard tests that check the durability of military equipment.

Back to the design of the HP ZBook Studio G3, starting with the lid, it is sturdy and does not give in to flex. The lid is decorated with multitudes of dotted patterns which gives a pleasant feeling when you run your palm through the lid.

There is also a glossy black hp logo at the center of the lid. Thankfully, the lid of the HP ZBook Studio G3 and pretty much everywhere else on it does not attract fingerprints.

Now, let’s proceed to open the lid. The rotation of the lid when opening and closing is made possible by two hinges.

Thankfully, the hinges are tight, and they prevent the display from wobbling.

Due to the tightness of the hinges, it is not easy to open the lid with only one hand. Now when you open the lid, you will find the 15.6-inch display.

The display is surrounded by thick bezels on its four edges with thicker bezels on the top and bottom than the sides. On some models of the HP ZBook Studio G3, you will find a 720p resolution HD webcam on the top bezel.

Meanwhile, on some models, HP did not include a webcam. Hence, the webcam is an optional feature.

So, if you need a webcam, ensure that it is included in the model of the laptop you purchase!

For the bottom bezel of this laptop, you will find a hp logo on a white background.

Back to the display, it is available in two options that you can choose from based on your needs and budget. Firstly, you can get the display of this laptop with a Full HD (1920 x 1080 pixels) resolution.

Secondly, the HP ZBook Studio G3 is also available in a 4K UHD (3840 x 2160 pixels) resolution. Basically, these two resolution options are great and will give a good display quality.

However, the HP ZBook Studio G3 with the 4K UHD resolution will perform better. This is because the 4K resolution display has more pixels which means better and clearer display content.

In addition to having the best display quality due to its 4K resolution, the second display option also has a Panel Self Refresh (PSR) feature. PSR allows the video processor to be turned off when the display produces a static image, thereby saving power.

Not only that but the second display option also comes with embedded display ports (eDP). eDP is internal audio and visual interface that allows the display to produce content in 4K resolution and beyond.

Simpler put, with the help of the embedded DisplayPort on the 4K resolution display model of this laptop, you will enjoy graphics content of excellent quality.

Still on the HP ZBook Studio G3’s display, both the FHD and 4K resolution options feature UVWA IPS technology. UVWA IPS are short for ultra-wide viewing angle in-plane switching.

This feature makes it possible to view the display from all angles without brightness or color loss.

In addition to that, both display options also have a maximum screen brightness of 300 nits which makes them moderately bright for outdoor use. Also, both display options have an antiglare coating which helps to reduce reflection.

Overall, the display options of the HP ZBook Studio G3 deliver a great viewing experience.

Moving on to the laptop’s base, you will find the keyboard neatly fixed to the matte-black keyboard deck. Thankfully, this keyboard has an excellent build, and the keys are decently spaced.

Additionally, the keyboard is splashproof which gives it the ability to resist liquid for a while. Thankfully, this will give you enough time to wipe off the liquid and keep the laptop undamaged.

For key travel, the keys on this keyboard have a decent key travel of 1.51mm. With this key travel, users should be able to type fast on this keyboard.

In case you are wondering what key travel is, it is the distance that a key depresses when it is fully pressed.

Furthermore, just below the keyboard, you will find the integrated touchpad. The touchpad also delivers a good user experience thanks to its responsiveness and multitouch support.

Before leaving the laptop’s deck, you will find some speakers on both sides of the keyboard. These Bang & Olufsen audio speakers are distortion-free and produce a good sound, although they have limited bass.

Moving to the sides of the laptop’s base, there you will find all the connectivity ports. Precisely, the right side features a 3.5 mm audio jack, one USB 3.0 port, one HDMI, two Thunderbolt 3, and an AC charging port.

On the left side, you will find two USB 3.0 ports, one Ethernet port, and an SD card slot. Although these ports are not numerous, the laptop contains all you need as far as connectivity is concerned.

Lastly, let me talk about the laptop’s weight and dimensions. Regarding that, the HP ZBook Studio G3 has a weight of 2000 g.

For dimension, it measures 375 x 255 x 18 mm (W x D x H). With a thickness of only 18mm, the HP ZBook Studio G3 is quite slim.

Not just that, it is also a lightweight laptop. Hence, it is slimmer and lighter than laptops like the Dell Latitude E6400.

Specifically, the Dell Latitude E6400 has a weight of 2540.1 g and a dimension of 352 x 241 x 26.6 mm (W x D x H).

In conclusion, the HP ZBook Studio G3 is well-built and lightweight. Therefore, I will be rating it a nine out of ten in this design section.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Processor (CPU) Performance

The HP ZBook Studio G3 is available in two processor configuration options. Firstly, you can get this laptop with a quad-core Intel Core i7-6820HQ processor.

This processor has a base frequency of 2.70 GHz. Also, it has a maximum frequency of 3.60 GHz and an 8 MB cache memory.

Secondly, you can get the HP ZBook Studio G3 with a quad-core Intel Xeon E3-1545M processor. This processor has a base frequency of 2.90 GHz, a maximum frequency of 3.80 GHz, and 8 MB cache memory as well.

Thankfully, the two processors are powerful and capable of performing high-level computing tasks. However, the Intel Xeon E3-1545M processor is even more powerful due to its higher clock speeds.

Meanwhile, this review is based on an HP ZBook Studio G3 with the Intel Core i7-6820HQ processor. To have an idea about the performance of this processor, I will be sharing its Cinebench R15 test result.

For better understanding, Cinebench R15 is a test that measures a computer’s processor power by using its cores. This test produces two results based on the number of processor cores used.

Hence, when the benchmark test subjects one processor core to test, it produces a single-core result. Meanwhile, when it uses all the processor cores, it produces a multi-core result.

You should be aware that the laptop that produces the highest score in this test has a better processor performance. That said, the HP ZBook Studio G3 had a single-core score of 149 points.

Also, it had a multicore score of 706 points.

In comparison, the Lenovo ThinkPad P50, which uses the same Core i7-6820HQ processor, performed below the HP ZBook Studio G3. Specifically, the Lenovo Thinkpad P50 had a single-core score of 117 points.

On the other hand, it had a multi-core score of 592 points.

As a result of its outstanding performance in the test, I will be rating the HP ZBook Studio G3 a nine out of ten in this processor section.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Memory (RAM) Performance

The HP ZBook Studio G3 is equipped with two DDR4 RAM slots. However, it ships with only a standard RAM size of 4 GB.

Now, before you frown at the standard RAM capacity, you should be aware that the RAM is upgradable. Speaking of upgradability, you can insert up to 32 GB of RAM on the HP ZBook Studio G3.

To upgrade the RAM, you can use both memory slots, as none of them is soldered to the motherboard. Hence, you can have up to 16 GB of RAM in each slot, just like my review unit.

Performance-wise, the standard 4 GB RAM should be able to perform light multitasking. However, with larger RAM sizes, you will get better performance.

For instance, a 32 GB model of the HP ZBook Studio G3, like the one I am reviewing, should be capable of opening 25 Chrome tabs simultaneously. In addition to that, you will still be able to stream YouTube videos on three of these tabs without experiencing slowdowns.

However, for a better performance evaluation of this laptop’s memory, I will be sharing its result in a PCMark 2007 benchmark test. Briefly, the PCMark test evaluates a computer’s memory performance.

Similar to the benchmark test discussed in the processor section, a higher score in this test denotes better performance.

Therefore, the HP ZBook Studio G3 scored 5336 points on the test. Thankfully, it outperformed the Lenovo ThinkPad P50, which scored 4892 points on the same test.

Based on the performance of the HP ZBook Studio G3 in the test, I will be rating it eight out of ten in this memory section.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Storage Options and Performance

The HP ZBook Studio G3 comes with three storage options. First of all, you can get this laptop with M.2 SATA SSD with a maximum storage capacity of 128 GB.

Secondly, the laptop comes with an NVMe PCIe SSD that takes a maximum storage capacity of 1 TB. Lastly, the HP ZBook Studio G3 is available in the M.2 SATA SED SSD storage type that takes a maximum storage capacity of 512 GB.

All three storage options are SSDs and that is a good thing because SSDs are the fastest storage type. However, the NVMe PCIe SSDs are even faster than M.2 SATA SSDs.

Therefore, the NVMe PCIe SSD storage option of the HP ZBook Studio G3 offers the largest storage space and the fastest speed. Hence, I will recommend you buy the HP ZBook Studio G3 model with this storage configuration.

In other not to give room for confusion, I will tell you how the M.2 SATA SSD differs from the M.2 SATA SED SSD. The “SED” in M.2 SATA SED SSD is short for “self-encrypted drive.”

Hence, the M.2 SATA SED SSD is a type of M.2 SATA SSD that automatically encrypts and decrypts stored data. Hence, enabling the proper security of sensitive data.

At this point, I will share with you the performance of an HP ZBook Studio G3 with a 1 TB NVMe PCIe SSD in a Crystaldiskmark test. Speaking of Crystaldiskmark, it is a test that measures the read and writes speed of a computer’s storage drive.

For clarity, read speed describes how fast a computer’s storage drive opens files. On the other hand, write speed describes how fast a computer’s storage drive saves files.

In the test, the HP ZBook Studio G3 had a read speed of 3042 MBps and a write speed of 2743 MBps.

In comparison, the ASUS ZenBook Duo UX481FL with the same storage type had a read speed of 1516 MBps. The ASUS ZenBook Duo also had a write speed of 1415 MBps.

Hence, the HP ZBook Studio G3 will open files and save files faster than the ASUS ZenBook Duo. Therefore, I will be rating the HP ZBook Studio G3 an eight out of ten in this storage section.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Graphics Card Performance

For gamers reading this review, this section is one you probably have been anticipating. So now that we are here, let’s get down to the graphics specs of this laptop.

The HP ZBook Studio G3 comes in three graphics options. To start with, the laptop offers two integrated graphics options, which are Intel HD graphics 530 and Intel HD Graphics P580.

As the third graphics option, you can get this laptop with a dedicated NVIDIA Quadro M1000M. For clarity, the difference between integrated and dedicated GPUs is that the former lacks Video RAM while the latter does not.

For further clarification, Video RAM (VRAM) is a special memory that temporarily stores graphics data. The absence of Video RAM on integrated GPUs makes them unfit for performing graphics-intensive tasks.

Meanwhile, since dedicated GPUs have Video RAM, they handle graphics-intensive tasks better.

In addition to what I have said, the integrated Intel HD graphics 530 and Intel HD Graphics P580 have the same clock speed. Specifically, they both have a base frequency of 350 MHz and a boost frequency of 1050 MHz.

The NVIDIA Quadro M1000M, on the other hand, has a boost frequency of 993 MHz. Additionally, it has 2 GB GDDR5 VRAM.

For performance assessment, we will use an HP ZBook Studio G3 with the NVIDIA Quadro M1000M graphics card. With this graphics card, the laptop should be able to play games effectively.

For instance, the laptop should play BioShock Infinite (2013) smoothly at 100.1 fps on high settings.

In addition to the gaming performance we have talked about, I will also share the result of this laptop in a 3DMark test. For your information, the 3DMark test is used to evaluate a computer’s graphics handling ability.

Therefore, in this test, just like every other test discussed in this review, a higher score means better performance. In the 3DMark test, the HP ZBook Studio G3 scored 117,745 points.

In comparison, the HP ZBook Studio G3 had a slightly better score than the Dell Precision 5510, which scored 117,636 points. However, the Lenovo ThinkPad P70 performed better than the HP ZBook Studio G3 by scoring 144,030 points.

For a better perspective, the two laptops, the HP ZBook Studio G3 compared with, use the same NVIDIA Quadro M1000M graphics card. Hence, it is fair to say that the performance of the HP ZBook Studio G3 is average.

Based on these, I will be rating the HP ZBook Studio G3 eight out of ten in this graphics section.

HP ZBook Studio G3: Battery Life and Performance

The HP ZBook Studio G3 comes with a 4-cell, 64 Wh Li-ion battery. However, HP did not specify how long this battery lasts per charge.

Regardless, I will be sharing that information by employing a battery test performed by laptopmag.com. The test involved surfing the web with a screen brightness of 100 nits.

Consequently, the HP ZBook Studio G3 lasted 5 hours and 8 minutes which is not particularly bad. However, it is not outstanding either.

In comparison, the Dell Precision 5510 performed better, with a battery life of 5 hours and 34 minutes. Also, the Lenovo ThinkPad P70 performed better than the HP ZBook Studio G3, with a battery life of 5 hours and 53 minutes.

As a result of its performance in the test, I will be rating the HP ZBook Studio G3 eight out of ten in this battery section.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

The HP ZBook Studio G3 is a powerful workstation that comes in a lightweight form factor. Its overall performance is outstanding, and you are getting it for a lesser price than you will find other workstations in the market.

Specifically, you will be able to purchase the HP ZBook Studio G3 at a price of $599.99 (price applicable in March 2022). Although I am impressed by the overall performance of this laptop, I believe its battery life could be better.

Nevertheless, if you need a workstation that is not as heavy and expensive as most other workstations, I recommend the HP ZBook Studio G3.

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