Using a combination of Ctrl, Alt and Shift with the programmable button, you can create up to four different shortcuts. HP also threw in a nifty programmable key in the shortcut row at the top, which you can set to launch your favorite apps, files or websites. The layout is well spaced, and since this is a 14-inch machine there’s also room on the right for an additional column of keys including Home, Page Down, Page Up and End. The buttons are satisfyingly deep and offer clicky feedback that reminds me of mechanical keys.
I’ve loved HP’s EliteBook keyboards for some time now, and the 1040 doesn’t disappoint. By skipping out on the filter, the EliteBook 1040 instantly improved its viewing angles. It’s still clearer than HP’s other laptops with built-in privacy filters, though. I do wish the display were brighter, though - it was sometimes hard to see in sunlight. I also played videos of Costa Rica in 4K and they looked rich and detailed, while Christmas jazz music was bright and well-rounded. I enjoyed watching Engadget’s docuseries Superhumans and the speakers flanking the keyboard were loud and clear. The EliteBook’s 1,920 x 1,080 screen is crisp and colorful. That said, having one on either side would have been a bit more convenient. There’s also a pair of Thunderbolt-friendly USB-C ports, which you can use to charge the device on the right edge. Possibly because it’s meant for business users, the EliteBook 1040 comes with a conservative (which is to say generous) port selection, including two USB-A connections, an HDMI socket, a microSD card reader and a headphone jack. It’s a bit superfluous since you don’t have to press the key for the laptop to read your fingerprint. Unlike Samsung’s Galaxy Book Flex 13, which also has a fingerprint scanner on the keyboard, HP’s reader takes the form of a button that you can actually push down on.
Meanwhile, next to the spacebar sits a fingerprint sensor. You can use a dedicated keyboard shortcut to trigger a physical shutter to keep prying eyes from spying through your webcam. The 14-inch display is surrounded by thin bezels on the right and left, though the top and bottom borders are wider to accommodate a Windows Hello-capable IR webcam (and, uh, HP’s logo).
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