The future of work is undoubtedly hybrid, with employees splitting their time between home and the office – if they even go to the office.
To accommodate these changes, HP has unveiled a number of new releases targeting those looking for a more flexible way to work, and Tech Radar Pro was invited to see what the company has in store.
HP is perhaps best known for its computing devices, and in a swanky London venue decorated to reflect the hybrid working theme, the company was offering a selection of new business laptops targeting both business and creative users.
Go (and stay) hybrid
This included the new HP Envy 16, the company’s first 16-inch Envy model aimed at gig workers and creatives. Inside, you have a choice of a 12th Gen Intel Core i5, i7, or i9 processor, along with 16GB or 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of internal storage.
To keep you connected with all the work devices you need, the Envy 16 has a huge array of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, SD card, HDMI 2.1 and headphone jack , offering almost everything you could possibly need in a working day. , with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 also included.
There’s also a 17.3-inch Envy version that HP says can replace a desktop PC, with its 16:9 aspect ratio making it ideal for a number of use cases. Both new offerings come with the new HP Palette suite designed for creatives, with tools for fast wireless image sharing, face-matching technology, and Duet, a tool that lets users plug in a device secondary to extend their workspace, for example when drawing or modeling. .
The company also launched two new mobile workstations, the HP ZBook Studio G9 and the HP ZBook Power G9, aimed primarily at creatives and artists, but equally useful in many industries.
The former offers processor options up to an Intel Core i9 vPro processor, with options for an NVIDIA RTX A5500 or GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and up to 64GB of RAM and 4TB of storage to help handle the heavy image or video workloads.
At a more affordable price, the ZBook Power G9 (pictured below) offers a 15.6-inch display, up to the Intel Core i9 vPro processor, 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, plus an HD webcam 720p and multiple USB and Thunderbolt connection ports.
Also new is the Z2 mini G9 workstation, which seeks to replace a traditional PC tower for creatives and small businesses. Packing a massive amount of power and connectivity into a compact 8.3 x 8.6 x 2.7-inch build that should fit anywhere in the home or office, HP says it’s even been used in some data centers for a cheaper storage and server alternative.
The mini workstation can support up to eight displays and has USB, DP, HDMI, VGA and Thunderbolt port options that can be customized to your liking, all secured by HP Wolf Pro Security.
Finally, video calling has become part of everyday work life for many of us, and HP wants to make the experience a little more bearable with its Presence platform working alongside its Control and Control Plus devices to act as a standalone hub for your meetings.
Users interact via a 6- or 8-inch touchscreen that gives full control over every aspect of a meeting, from the participant list to adjusting volume and lighting levels. The control can be paired with the company’s AI See 4K Camera (pictured above), a standalone (and upright) device that can automatically adjust its lighting and framing levels to ensure you get a crystal-clear view .
Working with both Microsoft Teams and Zoom, the Control and Control Plus are again designed to fit into any office space, and can even be quickly disconnected if you need to move to another location for a impromptu meeting.
So with the working hybrid here to stay, it looks like some companies are finally making sure we’ll all have the kit we need to do our job effectively.