HP EliteBook 855 G8 review

A 2021 EliteBook with maxed-out RAM, premium-priced without a GPU

The HP EliteBook 855 G8 (2021) pairs an AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U with 64 GB of RAM and lands at $417, comfortably above the business-class median of about $297. Its one genuine strength is memory (64 GB, 60% above the median, "pro" level); the honest constraint is integrated-only graphics, which at this price makes the config feel specialist rather than balanced.

64 GB of RAM and a solid Ryzen 5 PRO

The 5650U is a capable 6-core Zen 3 processor that handles office multitasking and developer workloads comfortably, and 64 GB of RAM at a "pro" level is genuine headroom for memory-bound workflows. Build quality on the EliteBook 855 line is also a strength for a work machine.

Graphics are the ceiling at this price

The weak spot by level is graphics performance (integrated only), which at $417 feels like a real constraint — most buyers at this price would expect some GPU headroom for creative work or light gaming. The strong memory and CPU are wasted on anyone who needs GPU power, so the value proposition depends on the workload.

Depreciation typical of a 2021 model

From a base near $1300, the laptop has depreciated to $417 at roughly 9.5% per year, with a projected value around $342 in two years — a typical curve for a recent AMD business model.

Pricier and cheaper HP siblings bracket it

Pricier options include the HP ProBook 455 G9 ($468) and HP ProBook 450 G9 ($455); cheaper alternatives include the HP EliteBook 835 G8 ($392) and HP EliteBook 840 Aero G8 ($371), which offer similar AMD business-class hardware for somewhat less.

Bottom line

The EliteBook 855 G8 is a premium-priced pick best suited to a memory- and CPU-bound office or developer workflow where GPU power is irrelevant. Buyers who need any graphics headroom should look at a dGPU-equipped sibling or a cheaper AMD alternative — at this price, the iGPU-only config is hard to justify outside the narrow specialist case.