HP ProBook 16" 4 G1a Pike Silver 2025

Scoring 53.1 out of 100 overall, the ProBook 4 G1a is defined by its top-tier connectivity, ranking in the 91st percentile for ports. The 16-inch screen is a letdown with only 62.5% sRGB coverage, and the integrated Radeon 740M graphics are a non-starter for anything beyond casual use. Grab it if you need every port under the sun at a sub-$1,000 price, but skip it if screen quality or any kind of GPU performance matters to you.

The Ryzen 5 220 is a hexa-core chip clocked at 3.5GHz, scoring in the 63rd percentile for CPUs in our laptop database. That's solid but unremarkable, roughly on par with a last-gen Intel Core i5 from a couple of years ago. For the target audience of developers and general office users, compile times and large spreadsheet calculations will be fine, but you won't be setting any records. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is about average for a mid-range business machine, sitting in the 62nd percentile. That's enough to keep a typical setup of Slack, a dozen browser tabs, VS Code, and Outlook running without constant swapping, though heavy virtual machine users might feel the pinch.

The integrated AMD Radeon 740M graphics are the real bottleneck. Scoring in the 57th percentile, it handles desktop compositing and 4K video playback without stuttering, but our gaming benchmark gave it a brutal 17.3 out of 100. You can forget about modern AAA titles, and even older games will need to run at low settings and reduced resolutions. The 512GB SSD lands right in the middle of the pack at the 53rd percentile, offering sequential reads around 3,500 MB/s. Fast enough that booting Windows 11 Pro and launching apps feels instant, but not the blistering speeds of newer PCIe 4.0 drives we've tested in pricier competitors.

Stacked against the Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro, the HP gets trounced in display quality, processing power, and battery life. That MacBook's screen is in another league entirely, and the M4 chip runs literal circles around the Ryzen 5 220. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is lighter, packs a dedicated RTX 4060 GPU that makes the Radeon 740M look like a pocket calculator, and has a superior high-refresh screen, though you'll sacrifice the HP's excellent port selection. The Lenovo Legion 5i offers similar port variety but with a real gaming-capable GPU and better screen for a comparable price when the HP is marked up. Where the ProBook makes sense is against something like the MSI Prestige, where it fights to a draw on build and connectivity but loses badly on display accuracy. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is more portable and has a gorgeous touchscreen, but you'll pay more and get fewer ports, making the HP the sensible choice only if I/O is your absolute top priority.

Pricing for this configuration is all over the map, ranging from $921 up to $2317 depending on the vendor. At the low end, if you can snag this near $900, it's a reasonable deal for a well-connected business machine with a Pro version of Windows and a current-gen Ryzen chip. But anywhere north of $1,200, you have to start questioning the value when the display is only hitting 62.5% sRGB and the graphics performance is this limited. The sweet spot is clearly with the retailer offering it at the lower end of that spread, though we can't name which one has the best deal at this second due to fluctuating stock. Just know that paying anything close to the $2,300 mark for these specs would be a tough sell when a MacBook Air with an M3 chip and a far better screen isn't much more.

HP's ProBook 4 G1a scores a total of 53.1 out of 100 in our database, driven by strong connectivity but a display that falls well short of modern standards. The port selection is the standout here, landing in the 91st percentile, which means you get Thunderbolt, two USB-C ports, two USB-A, Ethernet, and HDMI 2.1. That's more I/O than you'll find on most thin-and-lights these days. But while it's a flexible workstation for the office, the 62.5% sRGB screen and middling compute scores keep it firmly in average territory overall.

At 1.75kg, it's not heavy but not especially compact either, sitting in the 28th percentile for portability. The 56Wh battery is adequate for a workday of docs and spreadsheets, and you've got 16GB of DDR5 paired with a 512GB NVMe SSD for snappy multitasking. Just don't expect much beyond office apps and light browser work. The integrated Radeon 740M graphics deliver a gaming score of 17.3 out of 100, which is about as low as it gets for anything beyond solitaire.

Content creators, gamers, and anyone who values a vibrant display should look elsewhere without hesitation. The gaming score of 17.3 out of 100 tells you everything you need to know about the Radeon 740M: it's there to put pixels on the screen, not to render them beautifully or quickly. The 300-nit panel with its narrow color gamut sitting in the 68th percentile will frustrate designers and photo editors. Even students and office workers who spend hours staring at the screen might find the muted colors tiring. If your budget can stretch to something with at least a 100% sRGB display and optional dGPU, like a Lenovo Legion or even a last-gen MacBook Air, skip the ProBook.

The HP ProBook 4 G1a is a no-nonsense office laptop with port selection that puts most ultrabooks to shame. If your workflow revolves around plugging in multiple monitors, an Ethernet connection, and a handful of USB peripherals without a dongle in sight, this is one of the better choices around, especially if you can find it near the $921 mark. But the compromises are real: the screen is dull by 2024 standards, gaming is essentially off the table, and overall performance is just average. For a business fleet machine where I/O and a fair price are what matter, it works. For anyone else, you can do better.