HP Elitebook Folio 1020 hands-on, first impressions

Announced back in December 2014, the HP Folio 1020 is one of the thinnest and lightest ultrabook powered by an Intel Core M processor.

Weighing at only 1.2kg (2.68lbs), it is one of the lightest laptop we’ve used before, though the Macbook Air 11.6 (2.38lbs), Acer Aspire S7 11.6 (2.2lbs) and the Sony Vaio Pro 13 (2.3lbs) are still slightly lighter.

However, since it uses Intel newer Core M processor, we think the Folio 1020 is directly competing with the likes of the Asus Transformer Book T300 Chi and the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro.

The Folio 1020 comes in a silver aluminum body with a matte finish in a simple clam-shell design. It has a nice smooth feel to it, elegant looks and fairly thin profile.

Inside is a 12.-5 inch IPS LCD display with a QHD resolution (2560×1440 pixels) in a bright and crisp edge-to-edge glass panel with multi-touch capability.

The Folio 1020 is powered by an Intel Core M running at a base clock speed of 1.2GHz but can boost the speed up to 2.9GHz when needed. HP paired with with a generous 8GB of RAM. While even more powerful ultrabooks only have 4GB, the 8GB memory helps keep up with multi-talking and heavy applications like Photoshop.

While performance of Intel Core M may not keep up with its cousins like the Core i5 or Core i7, we think it’s still better than Core i3 equivalents. For storage, you have a large 512GB of super fast SSD storage.

The lower power consumption of the Core M chip likewise proved to be an advantage when it comes to battery life. On moderate to heavy use, we manage to get around 4 to 5 hours on a single full charge. In power saving mode and only running on office productivity app such as MS Office or Excel, we managed to get as much as 8.5 hours.

We were surprised to learn that HP uses a new trackpad design called ForcePad which is a pressure-sensitive multitouch trackpad that is very much similar to the Force Touch of the new Macbook.

It takes a bit of practice to get to used to the trackpad that does not have those old clickable areas on the bottom corners to indicate an action.

HP added some more subtleties with the Folio 1020. There are two full-sized USB ports, an HDMI port, microSD card slot and an expansion slot or Docking Port for an adaptor that connects to a LAN port and VGA port. The Folio 1020 is compatible with the HP 2013 UltraSlim Docking Station to extend the capability of the laptop.

On top of these, the Folio 1020 also comes with a built-in NFC for quick pairing with 3rd-party accessories and a fingerprint scanner for added security (like password-less logging to Windows 8).

The HP Folio 1020 is positioned to be a business-oriented ultra mobile laptop and it’s exactly what its offering with the Folio 1020. Granted that Intel Core M might not really appeal to those who seek better performance than your typical Core i5 ultrabooks, the trade-off in terms of battery life somewhat is justified.

The Folio 1020 retails for around USD$1,600 (our unit’s configuration) and available in HP’s online store.

Hp Folio 1020 specs:
12.5-inch QHD display @ 2560×1440 pixels
Intel Core M 5Y71 1.2GHz dual-core
Turbo Boost 2.9GHz
Intel HD Graphics 5300
8GB DDR3 RAM
512GB SSD
WiFi 8021.11 b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth 4.0
DTS Studio Sound
720p HD webcam
4-cell battery
Windows 8.1 Pro

Watch out for our full review of the Folio 1020 in a week or two.