The future of working is undoubtedly hybrid, with employees splitting their time between home and the office – if they even go into the office at all.
To address these changes, HP has unveiled a number of new releases targeting those looking for a more flexible way to work, and TechRadar Pro was invited along to see what the company has in store.
HP is perhaps best known for its computing devices, and at a swanky London venue decked out to reflect the hybrid working theme, the company had a selection of new business laptops targeting enterprise and creative users alike.
Going (and staying) hybrid
This included the new HP Envy 16, the company's first 16-inch Envy model, aimed at gig workers and creatives alike. Inside there's a choice of 12th Gen Intel Core i5, i7 or i9 CPU, as well as 16GB or 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB internal storage.
To keep you connected with whatever work devices you require, the Envy 16 features a huge array of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, SD card, HDMI 2.1 and headphone jack, providing almost everything you might need in a working day, with Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2 also included.
There's also a 17.3-inch Envy build that HP says can act as a desktop replacement, 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 allowing speedy wireless image sharing, face matching technology, and Duet, a tool which lets users hook up a secondary device to extend your workspace, for example when drawing or modelling.
The company has also launched two new mobile workstations, the HP ZBook Studio G9 and the HP ZBook Power G9, aimed primarily at creatives and artists, but just as useful across a range of industries.
The former offers processors options up to an Intel Core i9 vPro CPU, with options for either an NVIDIA RTX A5500 or a GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, and up to 64GB RAM and 4TB storage to help with handling image or video-heavy workloads.
At a more affordable price point, the ZBook Power G9 (pictured below) offers a 15.6-inch display, up to Intel Core i9 vPro processor, 64GB RAM and 8TB storage, alongside a 720p HD webcam and multiple USB and Thunderbolt connection ports.
Also new is the Z2 mini G9 workstation, which looks to replace a traditional PC tower for creatives and small businesses. Packing a serious amount of power and connectivity into a compact 8.3 x 8.6 x 2.7-inch build that should fit anywhere around the home or office, HP says it has even been used in some datacentres for a cheaper storage and server alternative.
The mini workstation can support up to eight displays, and features USB, DP, HDMI, VGA and Thunderbolt port options that can be customized to your liking, all secured by HP Wolf Pro Security.
Finally, video calls have become a part of everyday working life for many of us, and HP wants to make the experience a bit 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 attendee list to adjusting volume and lighting levels. The Control can be twinned with the company's See 4K AI-Camera (pictured above), a standalone (and standing) device that is able to automatically adjust its lighting and framing levels to make sure you get a crystal-clear view.
Working with both Microsoft Teams and Zoom, the Control and Control Plus are again built to fit into any office space, and can even be quickly disconnected if you need to move into another location for an impromptu meeting.
So with hybrid working here to stay, it seems some companies are at last getting around to making sure that we will all have the kit we need to get our work done effectively.
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