Microsoft’s Edge browser on desktop is getting the ability to add text to PDF files, and you can try it today. The company announced the new feature in a blog post today, and it’s already available if you’re running Dev or Canary builds of the browser.
Most browsers these days come with a built-in PDF reader, and in Edge, you can do things like draw on them or use a highlighter. With this feature, you can now use the Edge browser to add text to any PDF files you receive, even ones that might not be designed to be fillable. Once it’s filled, you can save the PDF file with the added text and share it with whoever you want.
To add text to a PDF in Edge, you can click the Add text button in the toolbar at the top, or right-click anywhere on the document. Edge gives you four color options to choose from – black, blue, red, and green. You can also change the font size from 9px to 48px, with 12px being the default, or change the text spacing. The browser will also remember the formatting you choose for your text as long as the PDF file is open, so you can fill in multiple spaces more easily.
As mentioned above, you’ll need to be running Dev or Canary builds of Edge to use this feature. It’s also not available in every language, though it should accommodate the majority of users. It’s unclear when it will roll out to the Beta channel, and eventually to the general public.
If you want to start adding text to PDF files right now, you can download Microsoft Edge Dev or Canary from the Edge Insider downloads page. These builds are less stable and get updated more frequently – Dev usually gets updated every week, and Canary gets updates on a daily basis. And if you’re creating a PDF for someone who might not have this ability, check out our guide on how to make a PDF fillable.
If you’re a tech enthusiast with an iPhone, you’ve likely tried to join the WhatsApp TestFlight beta program. I know how frustrating it is to constantly refresh the page, desperate for an empty slot. This is especially true now, with WhatsApp testing the multi-device feature on the beta versions on iOS and Android. Well, you can finally use the multi-device feature on your iPhone without having to join the (currently full) TestFlight beta program.
WhatsApp is starting to roll out the multi-device feature on the stable iOS version of the app. I’m currently running the latest version available on the App Store, 2.21.180.14, and the multi-device prompt has shown up in my Linked Devices section. Once you agree to join, WhatsApp will log you out of your current linked sessions. You will then have to scan the QR code on all of your connected devices again.
Once you link a new device, it will take a few seconds to sync your messages. Time will vary based on the size of your message history. Once the syncing ends, you are ready to use your linked device independently, even if your phone is off. Note that you can only link up to four devices at a time, and none of them can be phones, except for the main device. A linked device can be a macOS/Windows computer, a WhatsApp Web session, or a Portal device. WhatsApp could be adding iPad and Android tablet support down the road.
When joining the multi-device beta, WhatsApp warns you that some features might not work, such as calling people who are using an old version of WhatsApp from a linked device of yours. We aren’t sure on what scale this feature is being rolled out and whether it is geo-restricted. If it doesn’t show up for you just yet, make sure you have the latest App Store version of WhatsApp.
WhatsApp’s FAQ, as of the time of writing this, still states that having the beta version of WhatsApp a prerequisite to join the multi-device beta.
Eligibility
The multi-device beta is currently available to eligible:
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business app beta users using the latest version of WhatsApp beta on Android and iPhone.
WhatsApp and WhatsApp Business app users in limited countries. The multi-device beta will be rolling out worldwide.
We could soon see them updating it or announcing the expansion to the stable releases of the app.
WhatsApp has grown to be more than just a simple messaging app in recent years. It has 2.5 billion active worldwide users, it’s the primary messaging application of many users, and it’s even partially a payment application in some places. In some places, it’s the best and easiest way to contact a business. Now, the company is testing out the addition of local business directories to help customers to find local shops, cafes, and more.
We’re kicking this off in São Paulo which is home to millions of small businesses. For those who aren’t in São Paulo to try it out, here’s what it looks like: pic.twitter.com/cMu9DwlUYw
The test is currently live in São Paulo, Brazil, home to millions of small businesses. In an interview with Reuters, Matt Idema, Facebook’s vice president of business messaging, said that India and Indonesia are likely good candidates for expanding the feature. Idema told Reuters that previously, businesses were promoting their WhatsApp numbers on packaging or websites or using Facebook ads to bring users into chats on WhatsApp.
WhatsApp has also said that it will not be storing the location of people or their search results. Given that the company has been under fire recently from the Irish Data Protection Commission and was fined €225 million, it’s possible that it wishes to play as safe as possible with user data for the moment.
In the same interview, Idema said that WhatsApp still intends to add advertisements to the app. “There’s definitely a route on ads, which is Facebook’s core business model, that over the long term I think in some form or another will be part of the business model for WhatsApp,” he said. WhatsApp says about one million advertisers currently use Facebook and Instagram’s ‘click to WhatsApp’ ads to send users to the messaging app. WhatsApp has shopping tools like product catalogs and shopping carts that consumers use to purchase from businesses on WhatsApp.
Windows 11 is almost here. Microsoft has set the release date for October 5th, and soon many of us will be using the brand-new operating system. Windows 11 is different in many ways from Windows 10, so it’s good to be aware of how things work in this new version. If you’re a Windows Insider, you’re probably already aware of the many new features already available in preview. But for everyone else, we’re here to help. We’re going to be taking a deep dive into many parts of Windows 11, and this article will focus on the Microsoft Store.
Yes, the Microsoft Store has received a much-needed facelift for Windows 11, and it looks far better than it ever did on Windows 10. Outside of the UI changes we’re going to go into here, the new Microsoft Store also accepts more types of apps than ever before. You’ll be able to find a lot of web apps like TikTok or Reddit, plus traditional desktop apps will become more widely available since Microsoft has made the terms more appealing to developers. The Microsoft Store is set to become the one-stop shop for all your apps on Windows 11 — if Microsoft’s vision comes to fruition, at least.
Windows 11 Microsoft Store UI
When you first launch the Microsoft Store on Windows 11, you’ll immediately notice that things look different. Rather than a header menu, the different sections of the store are now listed on the left side of the screen. These include Apps, Gaming, and Movies & TV (if available in your region). You also have icons for each section, adding a touch of life to the interface, along with rounded corners throughout the UI. Down on the left side, you also get quick access to your library page and help.
Up at the top, you get a search bar to help you find content on the Microsoft Store, and next to it, your profile picture. This is where you can access your account settings like payment methods. You can also redeem a gift code for the Microsoft Store here, as well as the app settings. We’ll go into these pages later, but for now let’s focus on the four main sections.
Windows 11 Microsoft Store sections
It’s hard to miss, but when you open the Microsoft Store on Windows 11, you get this giant banner highlighting a specific item or group of items. The homepage brings everything together, so you might see movies and TV shows, apps, or games here. At the bottom of the banner, a carousel features all the highlighted items. You can see a progress bar showing how long it is before the banner transitions to the next item.
If you mouse over one of the items on the carousel, you can see its title, and the banner transitions are paused until you move away from it. This behavior applies to all four of the main sections of the app, as you can see below in the Apps section.
While this banner takes up most of the space, you can scroll down from here to see more items. On the Home section, you get to see various different categories highlighted as you scroll. You’ll see a collection of “essential” apps and popular free games, the top free apps, and trending items.
In other sections, the Microsoft Store goes more in-depth for each of the categories. Items are grouped into notable categories, like productivity apps, new PC games, and so on. At the very bottom of each section, there’s also a list of collections, highlighting specific types of items. For example, there may be a collection of games from Xbox Game Studios for fans of the brand.
As you navigate these sections, you’ll see yellow labels indicating that an item is on sale. In the gaming section, there are also labels for games included in Xbox Game Pass, meaning you can get them for free if you’re a subscriber.
Searching for apps
Using the search bar at the top will still feel very familiar, although Microsoft has been trying to improve the logic for search results here. When you start typing, you’ll find search suggestions for common searches, as well as products that may match your search terms. If what you’re looking for isn’t listed, you can press the Enter key on your keyboard to do a full search.
Search results can be filtered by the type of item you’re looking for, age ratings, and whether you want to include free or paid apps. Results are presented in grid format, with prices and ratings easily viewable from the search page.
Microsoft Store product pages
When you open a product page, the experience is also significantly different from what it used to be in Windows 10. What the page looks like depends on what type you’re looking at. For apps, you’ll see a banner on the left side featuring the app icon, name, overall rating, and the download button.
In the larger portion of the window, you get a carousel with screenshots of the app, the full description, and more. Scrolling down lets you see more information about the publisher, terms of use, permissions the app has, and what languages it supports. There are also recommendations for similar types of apps at the bottom.
For games and movies, the layout is different. You’ll see a large banner with a highlight image from the product, and you can click the product’s icon to watch a trailer for it. Naturally, these are types of content that warrant trailers more than typical apps would, so it makes sense. You can still see the description, screenshots, and ratings by scrolling down.
For Xbox games, you’ll also see options for either buying the game or playing it on Game Pass, and you may also see a message if your PC doesn’t meet the requirements to play the game. Also, downloading Xbox games will take you to the Xbox app, instead of happening in the Microsoft Store directly.
For everything else, when you begin a download, you’ll see a progress indicator in the pause button, represented as a circle around the pause/resume icon. You’ll also see exactly how much data has been download compared to the total size. If you want to keep track of multiple downloads at once — or if you want to cancel a download — you’ll have to use the library section of the Store.
Windows 11 Microsoft Store: Your library
Moving on to the library section of the Microsoft Store, this is where you can see all the items you’ve previously bought or downloaded. By default, these are listed in the order they were last updated or downloaded, but you can change that. You can filter the list to only include apps, games, or movies, and there’s also a section for apps included with your device. From here, you can open the Store listing for each item, open the app or game in question, or click the ellipsis icon to share the app or pin it to your taskbar or Start menu.
This page is also where you can check for updates for your apps, and manage all your ongoing and pending downloads. The “Get updates” button will check for updates to all your apps, and any downloads will be at the top of the page. You can pause and resume downloads, or cancel them altogether by clicking the ellipsis icon next to the app.
Settings
Finally, let’s take a look at the settings for the Microsoft Store. As we mentioned above, clicking your profile picture will bring up a few options related to your account and the Store itself. The first three options are more related to your account. You can sign out from the Store if you’re using your Microsoft account, or manage your settings like payments methods and devices, which will take you to your browser. You can also redeem a gift card or code from this menu.
But what we’re focusing on on here is the settings page, which is fairly basic. Here, you can choose whether you want apps to update automatically for example, but the big settings are purchase sign-in and offline permissions. Purchase sign-in is disabled by default, which means whenever you make a purchase on the Microsoft Store, you have to enter your credentials, be it a password, PIN, or biometric authentication. Enabling this toggle means you won’t have to sign in every time, but it can also result in accidental or unwanted purchases.
Offline permissions, on the other hand, has to do with apps with limited licenses, meaning apps that can only be used on one device, or a handful of devices at a time. If you enable offline permissions on a specific device, it will make that device your default. That way, if you’re not connected to the internet, these apps will still work.
That covers most of what you need to know about the Microsoft Store on Windows 11. With the operating system less than a month away from release, it’s good to be prepared so you don’t feel lost after the update. We’ll be diving deep into more Windows 11 features so you can stay on top of everything.
Ever since rumors arose that Google was developing its own chip for Pixel phones, one of the burning questions that we’ve been asked over and over again is: What are its specifications? Leak after leak have confirmed various tidbits about the Google Tensor chip, but none have confirmed details on the most important part: the CPU. A recent Geekbench listing purportedly from the Google Pixel 6 Pro sparked wild speculation online about the Tensor’s CPU, and we can finally address some of those theories thanks to our source.
All the Google Tensor rumors to date
First of all, a bit of context. In early 2020, various Korean sources and American news website Axiosreported that Google’s “whitechapel” chip will be designed in cooperation with Samsung and fabricated on SLSI’s 5nm process. Rumors at the time claimed that Google’s chip will feature an octa-core ARM processor comprised of two Cortex-A78 + two Cortex-A76 + four cortex-A55 cores, an off-the-shelf Mali GPU from ARM, hardware optimized for machine learning, and optimizations for the company’s Google Assistant service. Given the challenges in developing a custom SoC, it made sense for Google to use existing CPU cores for its first mobile chipset, so these rumored specs seemed plausible to many.
Many months passed without any news on Google’s custom silicon until 9to5Googlereported in April that the chip will debut on the Pixel 6 series. Finally, Google last month confirmed its plans to ship the Pixel 6 series with its in-house chip, called the Google Tensor. They also confirmed a few high-level details about the chipset, such as how its TPU is used to run HDRNet on every frame in a video, how the chip powers new on-device AI features, and how the chip protects user data with its second-gen Titan M2 module.
Google’s surprise announcement in early August confirmed most of the leaked information from last year, while confirmation for some of the remaining rumors came from other leaks. A comment left by a Googler on the Google Issue Tracker corroborated the tidbit about the off-the-shelf Mali GPU, which we now know is the Mali-G78. A teardown of an Android 12 beta release revealed the Pixel 6 will have a Samsung Exynos modem, which was later corroborated by Reuters. The last remaining spec that had yet to be confirmed was the CPU, which is why so much attention was put on this one Geekbench listing.
The Geekbench result that many assumed was from the Pixel 6 Pro. While we can never be 100% certain, we are strongly leaning towards this benchmark being legitimate. The build fingerprint, kernel version string, CPU frequencies, CPU clusters, GPU info, and more match the values from our source’s Pixel 6 Pro. It would be very unlikely for someone to have faked this listing, which would be possible but requires the person to know the exact values to fool our source who has real hardware.
Based on the incomplete CPU information in this listing, leakers such as Digital Chat Station extrapolated the CPU configuration of the Google Tensor chip. The most shocking part of this speculation for many was the suggestion that the Google Tensor CPU will have two Cortex-X1 cores, Arm’s most powerful Cortex CPU to date. In contrast, neither the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 nor the Samsung Exynos 2100 have more than one Cortex-X1 core. If this chip also has two Cortex-A78 cores in addition to the dual Cortex-X1 cores, then the Google Tensor may be the fastest chipset on an Android device to date.
As many have noted, the Geekbench score falls well below the average Exynos 2100 Galaxy S21 and Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 device, which is strange considering the hardware in question. After speaking with Andrei Frumusanu, Senior Mobile Editor at AnandTech, we came to the conclusion that you can’t reach a conclusion about the true performance of the Pixel 6 Pro just from this one benchmark result. As he noted in our discussion, it’s hard to tell which core was stressed for the single-core part of the benchmark, and the core was seemingly locked to 2.15GHz anyway, which is well below the maximum frequency of the X1 cores. There are several factors that could have contributed to this underwhelming benchmark result, such as unoptimized DVFS or scheduler parameters, all of which could have prevented Geekbench from running the cores at their peak frequencies. If we want to find out how fast the Pixel 6 Pro is, we’ll have to wait for more people with the phone to run the benchmark.
Google Tensor specs from a real Pixel 6 Pro
While the benchmark doesn’t confirm the microarchitectures of the Google Tensor’s CPU cores, we were finally able to determine what are likely the designs for each CPU core thanks to our source. Yesterday, a source who has a real Pixel 6 Pro reached out to us, and we learned from his device that the tri-cluster core design and CPU frequencies revealed by that Geekbench listing are accurate. Following our report yesterday, we found the exact CPU parts in the Google Tensor chip, which are exposed to the system through /proc/cpuinfo, a file that is populated by the CPU itself and read by the kernel. Thus, the chances that it’s been spoofed are very low, though there’s a low possibility that Google themselves masked the CPU IDs in the output. We say it’s a low possibility because Google did not bother spoofing or obfuscating any other data on the device, but who knows — it may very well be that the Google Tensor’s CPU parts are the only thing they care about hiding.
Assuming the output wasn’t tampered with, we’ve determined that the Google Tensor will have the following CPU configuration:
2x ARM Cortex-X1 clocked at 2.802GHz
2x ARM Cortex-A76 clocked at 2.253GHz
4x ARM Cortex-A55 clocked at 1.80GHz
AnandTech‘s Andrei thinks the use of dual X1 cores is sensible, but he, as well as others we’ve spoken to, are perplexed by the apparent use of dual A76 cores. The Cortex-A76 was announced back in mid-2018 and has been succeeded by the A77 and more recently the A78, which is significantly better in terms of power, performance, and area (PPA). It’s hard for us to rationalize why Google may have chosen to go with two A76 cores instead of two A78 cores when there’s very little apparent benefit in doing so. We even checked the cpuinfo output from various Qualcomm and Exynos devices just to make sure the results were as expected and that we weren’t misinterpreting the output from the Pixel 6 Pro. We’d love to be proven wrong on this claim, but there’s no doubt that this CPU configuration is what the cpuinfo output from a real Pixel 6 Pro device suggests.
One important detail we don’t know about is the amount of cache available to the CPU cores. A large cache is quite important for the cores to reach the performance that Arm claims they can.
Furthermore, we still don’t know the number of GPU cores, which is difficult to find as that information isn’t readily exposed to the system. We previously learned that the Pixel 6 will have the same GPU design as the Exynos Galaxy S21 — the ARM Mali-G78 — a fact that we can corroborate through the real hardware. The GPU may be clocked at up to 848MHz, though without knowing the number of cores, we don’t know how well the phone will perform in comparison to other devices with this GPU.
ARM Mali-G78
In our previous report, we confirmed that the Google Tensor includes the “g5123b” modem, which very likely refers to Samsung’s Exynos 5123 modem. We also reported that the phone supports Wi-Fi 6E (ie. 6GHz Wi-Fi), has a Tensor Processing Unit (TPU) code-named “abrolhos” clocked at up to 1.230GHz, will be paired with a 12GB LPDDR5 RAM module, and will also feature at least one storage variant with 128GB of UFS storage. The phone will also have an UWB radio for short-range location tracking and digital car key support, among other features.
AV1 decode, other new tidbits
The Pixel 6 Pro ships with Google’s AV1 decoder (c2.google.av1.decoder), which is hardware-accelerated by the Google Tensor chip. The device can decode AV1 content at up to 4K resolution and 60fps. It can also decode HEVC content at up to 4K resolution and 120fps, or 8K resolution and 30fps. In comparison, the Samsung Exynos 2100 can decode AV1 content at up to 8K resolution and 30fps, or HEVC content at 8K resolution and 60fps. Still, the fact that the Google Tensor chip supports hardware-accelerated AV1 decoding at all is significant, as thus far all Qualcomm Snapdragon chips — and, by extension, Google’s past Pixel phones — have not supported that feature.
That Google chose to include HW AV1 decoding in its own Google Tensor chip shouldn’t come as a surprise, seeing as how the company has been one of the biggest proponents of the royalty-free video codec. The company’s push to require AV1 support was one of the primary grievances cited by Roku when it removed the YouTube TV app from its platform.
Speaking of codecs, our source confirmed to us that the Pixel 6 Pro supports both the aptX and aptX HD codecs, two Bluetooth audio codecs used by many wireless headsets on the market. These codecs must be licensed from Qualcomm, so some of our readers were concerned the Pixel 6 series wouldn’t support them since they don’t have Snapdragon chips. A Snapdragon chip is not required to support aptX, though, so these concerns were mostly baseless. However, it’s still good to confirm the Pixel 6 series will support high-quality Bluetooth audio. Sony’s LDAC is also supported.
Lastly, our source confirmed something we already suspected: There’s no video output on the Pixel 6 Pro. Google has, once again, opted to not implement DisplayPort Alternate Mode, which allows a DP video signal to be sent over the USB-C port. Android has had a barebones desktop mode for a few releases now, but Google seems to want nothing to do with it. That’s unfortunate because phones are more than powerful enough to handle day-to-day tasks for the average user, and with 12GB of RAM, the Pixel 6 Pro can easily handle all your multitasking needs.
Intel is set to launch its latest generation of CPUs, known by its codename Alder Lake, in the coming weeks and months. Now, a retailer leak has revealed prices for some of the desktop CPUs that are part of Intel Alder Lake family.
The information was spotted by Neowin on the Provantage website, though the website seems to have been updated since to remove these products from the listing. However, the leak includes both boxed prices – for consumers – and tray prices, generally for OEMs to implement on their devices. Here’s what the prices revealed look like:
CPU
Cores/Threads
L3 Cache
Boxed price
Tray price
Core i9-12900K
16/24
30MB
$604.89
$605.92
Core i9-12900KF
16/24
30MB
$578.13
$578.49
Core i7-12700K
12/20
25MB
$422.17
$420.26
Core i7-12700KF
12/20
25MB
$395.61
$392.26
Core i5-12600K
10/16
16MB
$288.77
$283.59
Core i5-12600KF
10/16
16MB
$261.77
$263.15
There are a few things worth noting about this list. First off, it obviously doesn’t include every processor in Intel’s lineup. All of these CPUs are part of the K series, which means they’re overclocking-capable. You also see a few CPUs with the F designation, and that means they don’t include integrated graphics. A lot of desktop PCs, especially with powerful processors, are used for gaming, and thus, have a dedicated GPU anyway. This allows those users to save some money on the CPU.
Another thing that might get your attention here is the number of cores and threads. With the Alder Lake architecture, Intel is moving to something to a hybrid chip design that includes both performance cores and efficient cores. The performance cores support hyperthreading, so each core has two threads, but the efficient cores only have one thread each. That’s why the number of threads isn’t double the number of cores, which is what we’d usually see on most CPUs.
From that, we can deduce that the Core i9 processors have 8 performance cores and 8 efficient cores, Core i7 CPUs have 8 performance cores and 4 efficient cores, and the Core i5 models have 6 performance cores and 4 efficient cores. As such, these processors have the same number of performance cores as the previous generation had in total.
Finally, there’s the matter of the actual pricing, and there’s a notable increase from the previous generation. For reference, Intel lists the recommended price of the Intel Core i9-11900K between $539 and $549. That represents a roughly 10% increase for the Core i9-12900K. The increase is smaller across the rest of the range, usually hovering just below 10%.
While prices are leaking now, we likely still have a while to wait before Intel releases Alder Lake desktop processors. Typically, new architectures debut with mobile processors inside laptops, and it’s only a few months later that we see desktop processors officially announced. Of course, there’s always a chance that things will play out differently this time, but that remains to be seen.
I have to say, HP has been really killing it lately. I recently reviewed the HP Pavilion Aero, and I found it truly remarkable that the company put that much value into a mainstream laptop. It felt more premium than Pavilion. I get the same feeling from the HP EliteBook 840 Aero.
This thing feels like a premium PC. It wasn’t long ago that the EliteBook 800 series was thicker and heavier, but now it offers much of the same that you’d get from an EliteBook 1000. It’s super-light at two and a half pounds, it’s got one of the best keyboards around, and it’s offered with 5G connectivity. I’ll put it this way — despite all the different laptops I’ve had my hands on to review, this is the one I’ve been taking to events, simply because it’s so good and has cellular connectivity.
HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 Specs
CPU
Intel Core i7-1185G7 vPro (3.0GHz, up to 4.8GHz with Intel Turbo Boost Technology, 12 MB L3 cache, 4 cores)
HP Long Life 3-cell, 53 Wh Li-ion
HP Smart 65 W External AC power adapter
Ports
(2) Thunderbolt 4 with USB4 Type-C 40Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4)
(2) SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (1 charging)
(1) Stereo hjeadphone/microphone combo jack
(1) HDMI 2.0b
(1) AC power
Audio
Audio by Bang & Olufsen, dual stereo speakers, dual array world-facing microphones
Webcam
720p HD IR privacy camera
Input
HP Premium Collaboration Keyboard – spill-resistant, backlit keyboard
Clickpad with multi-touch gesture support
Connectivity
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX201 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5 combo
Qualcomm Snapdragon X55 LTE+5G
Price as configured
$3,329
Note that the price is as configured on HP.com. You can almost certainly find it for less.
Design: The HP EliteBook 840 Aero has a magnesium chassis
I actually feel like the EliteBook 840 Aero has an aluminum body, but it doesn’t. It’s made out of a magnesium alloy, which is what brings the weight down from where it would be if it was aluminum. It might feel more like metal to me just because it comes in the same Natural Silver color. When something looks a certain way, our brains might tend to think it feels a certain way.
That’s mostly irrelevant though. All that really matters is it has a magnesium alloy build and it feels premium. The weight is just under 2.5 pounds, making it nice and easy to carry around. Obviously, there are lot of parallels that can be drawn to the more consumer-focused Pavilion Aero, which was under 2.2 pounds and a 13 inch laptop.
At 2.5 pounds with 5G connectivity, the HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 is perfect on the go.
The HP EliteBook 840 Aero is a lightweight laptop that’s made to be used on-the-go. With an ultra-light design, it’s the type of thing you can throw in your bag and forget it’s even there. Yes, I’ve actually double-checked when leaving the house. It also comes with options like 5G connectivity, so you’re instantly connected from wherever you are. Those two things working together make for the perfect on-the-go experience.
It’s also got plenty of ports, starting with two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A ports on the left side. On the right side, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, HDMI, and an AC power port. As usual, I didn’t use the barrel charger. You’ve got two Thunderbolt 4 ports, so I just used USB Type-C like I always do.
And of course, Thunderbolt 4 means you can connect an external GPU on one port, or dual 4K monitors on another. It’s the most powerful kind of port you can get.
Ultimately, the external design of the EliteBook 840 Aero looks a lot like any other EliteBook. It comes in Natural Silver with flat sides, and the front is chamfered making it easier to open.
Display: The HP EliteBook 840 Aero has an FHD 400-nit screen
As the ‘840’ number indicates, this EliteBook has a 14 inch display, and there are several configuration options, all of which are FHD. The one HP sent me includes a 400 nit non-touch panel, while there’s also a 250 nit option and one with the company’s Sure View privacy display.
400 nits feels like the sweet spot between brightness and battery life. The problem with 250 nit screens is they’re simply not bright enough in all situations. It can be a real problem.
The display is still 16:9, which is something of a shame with the industry heading toward 16:10. We’ll probably see the taller screens in next year’s models as they start to become more ubiquitous.
The display is pretty good too, supporting 99% sRGB, 72% NTSC, 78% Adobe RGB, and 78% P3. As far as mainstream productivity-focused laptops go, that’s pretty good.
The HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 has narrow bezels on the sides, with a bit more room for the webcam and IR camera. The bad news is the webcam is still 720p, something that’s still an issue even in the premium tier. Sadly, webcams simply weren’t a priority until the last year and a half.
Audio quality is pretty solid too, thanks to the B&O speakers. When you’re in a meeting, it’s pretty clear the Achilles’ heel is the HD webcam. Other than that, the calling experience is pretty sound.
Keyboard and touchpad: It’s the best around
HP’s EliteBooks have some of the best keyboards on the market. Lenovo is renowned for the keyboards on ThinkPads, but at the least, HP has matched Lenovo in this area, if not surpassed it. It’s comfortable, accurate, and making its way down the lineup. For a while, I had to criticize HP while Lenovo was putting great keyboards in all of its ThinkPads, while you had to shell out for the premium tier with HP. That’s not the case anymore.
There are some differences between the HP EliteBook 840 Aero and the premium tier though. In fact, these are differences that are reflected across the entire EliteBook 800 series.
Between the G, H, and B keys, there’s a pointing stick. That’s right, it’s the little nub you can use to control the pointer on the display. Lenovo puts them on all its ThinkPads, which is a pain point, and both HP and Dell only include it on more mainstream machines. Frankly, it’s a relic from the era when Windows touchpads were terrible.
This also results in a smaller touchpad. For anyone who might be using the pointing stick to control the pointer, you can use the two physical buttons above the touchpad with it. Of course, the touchpad itself is still clickable.
Performance: It has Tiger Lake vPro processors, and 5G
The EliteBook 840 Aero G8 that HP sent me includes an Intel Core i7-1185G7, 16GB RAM, a 512GB SSD, and 5G connectivity, so it’s pretty specced out. And yes, it’s pretty awesome. It performs like a champ, which is no surprise given the dozens of other PCs we’ve seen with similar specs.
As you’d expect, this is a laptop that’s designed for productivity, even though the Core i7-1185G7 has a massive boost in graphics performance over the previous generation. Given that productivity focus, that’s why the excellent keyboard is even more important, adding to that total package of a Tiger Lake U processor, Iris Xe graphics, and more.
Like many, my workflow consists of web apps that I access through the browser, along with some local apps like Skype, Slack, OneNote, and so on. That’s also where the 5G connectivity comes in. It’s tough to describe how much this improves the user experience. I know that public Wi-Fi is pretty common, but cellular makes connecting to the internet seamless and secure. There’s no more asking for Wi-Fi passwords, signing up for mailing lists to connect, and so on.
I mention my work flow because frankly, there’s not that much I do offline anymore. While apps like Photoshop and Office do work offline, it represents a significant shift in how I work. All of my files are in OneDrive too, so syncing becomes an issue too.
5G makes the HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 the perfect travelling companion.
It’s worth noting that while this laptop is pricey, it does come with a 4G option, which costs less. 5G comes at a weird premium over 4G, and that’s especially strange because 5G itself isn’t particularly valuable. Most of the time, it’s no faster than 4G LTE, and sometimes even slower.
For battery life, I was able to get up to seven hours and four minutes, which is pretty good. The worst I got was four hours and nine minutes, but I think that was more of an edge case. As usual, this was with the screen at medium brightness and the power slider on a balanced setting.
For benchmarks, I used PCMark 8, PCMark 10, 3DMark, and Geekbench.
HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8
Core i7-1185G7
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 1
Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U
Acer ConceptD 3 Ezel
Core i7-10750H, GTX 1650
Lenovo Yoga 7i
Core i7-1065G7
PCMark 8: Home
4,495
4,298
3,945
4,043
PCMark 8: Creative
4,736
4,568
4,631
4,771
PCMark 8: Work
4,140
3,857
3,812
3,963
PCMark 10
4,948
4,963
4,958
4,932
3DMark: Time Spy
1,560
1,093
3,058
1,055
Geekbench
1,518 / 4,966
1,238 / 5,081
1,522 / 4,680
The HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 benchmarks pretty well, beating last year’s H-series processors with dedicated graphics.
Conclusion: Should you buy the HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8?
Like I said at the beginning of this review, I’ve been using the EliteBook 840 Aero everywhere I go, even when I have plenty of devices to choose from. Honestly, it’s the 5G that makes it the perfect travelling companion, but when you add in the phenomenal keyboard and the lightweight package, it gets even better.
The two big downsides are it’s expensive and it has a 720p webcam. I haven’t talked too much about the price, because the pricing on HP.com right now is absurd. You’ll be able to find it at a lower price from channel partners, and frankly, the price should come down on HP’s own website. The 720p webcam is just an awkward part of buying a laptop in 2021, as these things were designed before we all found out how important webcams would be.
Aside from that, it’s everything I want it to be. It reminds me of the Elite Dragonfly series, which is in the premium tier. That’s the other time HP went and made a magnesium alloy super-light business laptop, and this is designed to be more mainstream.
If you can find this at the right price, I totally recommend it. HP makes fantastic business laptops, and this has everything you’ll want.
