HP EliteBoard G1a: keyboard-first mini PC for hot-desking

HP launched the EliteBoard G1a, a keyboard-first mini PC designed for use with external monitors and portable hot‑desking workflows. The device was an honoree at CES 2026 and is available in limited channels ahead of a wider release.

The EliteBoard places a near‑full‑size keyboard on a sloping chassis with the compute hardware housed beneath. HP ships the unit in a felt sleeve and includes a USB‑C charger, a second threaded USB‑C cable, an HDMI dongle and a basic pre‑paired mouse. The mouse can connect via two Bluetooth channels or with a hidden USB‑C RF receiver.

HP offers the EliteBoard in multiple AMD Ryzen AI configurations: Ryzen AI 5 Pro 330, 340 and 350, and a Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350. Memory options are 16GB, 24GB or 32GB of DDR5 RAM. Storage choices are 256GB or 512GB SSD. The review configuration used a six‑core Ryzen AI 5 Pro 340 with 32GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD, integrated Radeon 840M graphics and an NPU rated up to 50 TOPS. The device ships with Windows 11 Pro.

The chassis measures 358.1 x 118.7 x 17.9 mm and weighs 670 g. Onboard connectivity includes two USB‑C ports-one at 40 Gbps and one USB‑C 3.2 Gen 2-both supporting DisplayPort 1.4. HP provides a removable dongle for HDMI and a few additional ports; the unit does not include native HDMI, USB‑A, an SD card reader or a 3.5mm jack. Wireless features are Wi‑Fi 7 and Bluetooth 6.0. A security lock slot is present on the left side.

Performance testing of the review unit produced a Geekbench 6 single‑core score of 2,739 and a multi‑core score of 11,095. GPU performance registered an OpenCL score of 12,859. External display testing sustained 4K at 120Hz and reached 240Hz at 2,560 x 1,440. SSD read performance measured about 5,797 MB/s and write performance about 5,962 MB/s.

Battery capacity is 32 Wh. In a looped 4K video playback test at 30Hz and 400 nits with airplane mode enabled, the device ran for 7 hours and 53 minutes. HP describes the battery as a reserve for short periods away from a powered monitor rather than for extended standalone use.

The keyboard uses low‑profile silicon dome switches with roughly 2 mm of travel. Typing is springy and quiet; several smaller keys exhibit modest wobble and the compact layout includes nonstandard key sizes, such as a half‑sized Enter and Page Up/Page Down above the arrow keys. The built‑in speakers produce thin, muffled audio at higher volumes.

Security and manageability features include a fingerprint scanner integrated into the power button and HP’s Wolf Pro Security suite. The bottom panel is serviceable, offering access to two DDR5 SODIMM slots, a removable M.2 WLAN module and an M.2 2280 SSD slot for upgrades.

HP has indicated limited early availability through selected channels. One listed configuration, a wired Ryzen AI 7 Pro 350 with 32GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD, appeared priced at about $2,269; pricing will vary by configuration and channel.

The EliteBoard omits a built‑in screen and some legacy ports in favor of a compact keyboard housing the PC hardware, targeting users who connect to external displays and peripherals.