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HP EliteBook x360 1030 G3

 & Eric Grevstad Contributing Editor

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
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65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Meet the HP EliteBook x360 1030 G3

It's meant as a compliment to say this business convertible is so compact that I briefly mistook it for a Chromebook.

Flipped Around

The system has passed MIL-STD tests for toughness, and there's no flex when you grasp its screen corners or mash its keys. In fact, when you fold it into tablet mode, magnets snap the screen into place to give you a firm surface for writing or sketching.

Flat-Out Light

Clad in a snazzy CNC-machined aluminum unibody, this latest trim of the EliteBook x360 weighs in at 2.76 pounds and measures 0.62 by 12 by 8.1 inches.

Silver Streaks

HP's stylized four-slash chrome logo decorates the lid.

Connections on the Left...

This slender edge is home to a USB 3.1 Type-A port, a headphone jack, the power button, and a nano-SIM slot for mobile broadband.

...and on the Right

On this side, you'll find an HDMI port, a cable-lockdown security slot, two Thunderbolt 3/USB Type-C ports, and a volume rocker for use in tablet mode. (The AC adapter makes use of a USB-C connector.)

The Key Layout

Apart from the arrangement of the cursor-arrow keys, the EliteBook x360's keyboard is easy to like, with adequate travel and a nice, clicky feel.

The First Two Speakers...

Speaker grilles flank the black keys.

...and the Second Two

Two additional speakers reside on the unit's bottom.

Three Types of Panel

Our test unit had a sunny IPS 1080p screen. Your other display options are a full HD panel with HP's Sure View privacy screen (which, at the press of the F2 key, darkens the panel and narrows its field of view to thwart snoops) and a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) touch display.

In Sum, a Superb 2-in-1

In everything from its travel-friendly size to its symphonic sound, the EliteBook x360 1030 G3 is a rare mix of executive status symbol and trusted workhorse.

About Our Expert

Eric Grevstad

Eric Grevstad

Contributing Editor

My Experience

I was picked to write PCMag's 40th Anniversary "Most Influential PCs" feature because I'm the geezer who remembers them all—I worked on TRS-80 and Apple II monthlies starting in 1982 and served as editor of Computer Shopper when it was a 700-page monthly rivaled only by Brides as America's fattest magazine. I was later the editor in chief of Home Office Computing, a magazine about using tech to work from home two decades before a pandemic made it standard practice. Even in semi-retirement, I can't stop playing with toys and telling people what gear to buy.

The Technology I Use

I wish I still had my TRS-80 Model 4P, Laser 128 (educational toymaker VTech's Apple IIc clone), Psion Series 5, and ThinkPad 701C with the fold-out "butterfly" keyboard.

My main machine is a Lenovo Yoga 9i all-in-one desktop with a 13th Gen Core i9 and 32-inch 4K display running Windows 11 Home, Microsoft 365 Family, and Norton 360 with LifeLock. My wife and I get 400Mbps Spectrum internet as part of our homeowners' association fee, but I pay a fortune for streaming services.

I also have a Google Pixel 7 Android phone and pay Mint Mobile $15 a month. We share a Volvo XC60 Recharge plug-in hybrid; I'd have a car of my own, but it seems wasteful to buy a Corvette E-Ray to drive 10 miles a week.

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