HP ProDesk 4 G1i AI Review

The ProDesk 4 G1i shines with its 90th-percentile port selection and a CPU that ranks in the 79th percentile, so office multitasking is a breeze. Storage and graphics are weak points—the 512GB SSD sits at the 40th percentile and integrated graphics are strictly average. Shop carefully: prices range from $773 to over $1,700, and only the low end makes sense.

The port selection on this thing is what grabs you first—eight USB-A, a USB-C, DisplayPort, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, and Wi-Fi 6E push it into the 90th percentile of all desktops in our database. That's a lot of connectivity for a small form factor machine. But the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 inside lands at the 79th percentile for CPU performance, which is plenty for the spreadsheets, video calls, and light multitasking it's built for. The integrated graphics and a 512GB NVMe SSD that sits in the 40th percentile, though, tell you this isn't a machine for gaming or crunching large media files.

The 16GB of DDR5-5600 is about average for this class, and you get Windows 11 Pro out of the box. With a 280W power supply, an empty M.2 2280 slot, and a 3.5" SATA bay, there's room to grow, but the lack of a dedicated GPU slot keeps it anchored to business and home office duties. At 4.5kg, it's heavy for an SFF, but it's meant to sit quietly under a desk, not travel.

CPU-wise, the Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core chip that handles everyday business apps without breaking a sweat. In our tests, its 79th percentile ranking puts it ahead of about four out of five business desktops, which is solid. The integrated Intel Graphics, however, score in the 46th percentile, so they're strictly average—fine for video playback and basic photo viewing, but you won't be doing any 3D rendering or modern gaming. The 512GB NVMe SSD lands in the 40th percentile, meaning load times are okay but you'll fill it up fast if you hoard files. On the connectivity side, this is where the ProDesk flexes: with a DisplayPort, USB-C, eight USB-A, HDMI 2.1, and Wi-Fi 6E, it hits the 90th percentile, so you can plug in every peripheral you own without a hub.

Pricing is all over the place. We've seen this config listed between $773 and $1,784 across different vendors, a $1,011 spread. At the low end, it's a fair deal for a reliable office PC with solid connectivity and a recent Intel Core Ultra chip. But as you climb toward $1,800, you're dangerously close to more powerful systems with discrete graphics and larger SSDs. If you can snag it around $800, it's a reasonable, no-frills workstation. Just don't pay a premium for the AI branding—that 13 TOPS NPU is handy for background blur in video calls, but it won't rewrite your workflow.

Stacked against the competition, the ProDesk 4 G1i faces an identity crisis. The Lenovo Legion Tower 5i and ASUS ROG G700 obliterate it in gaming and GPU tasks, but they're bigger, pricier, and built for a different purpose. The Dell XPS EBT2250 is a more direct rival, though we found its port selection and CPU performance lagging behind the HP. The real disruptor is the Apple Mac mini M4. In our database, the M4 chip crushes the Core Ultra 5 235 in both CPU and GPU benchmarks, and it does so in a smaller, lighter package—though you're locked into macOS and get far fewer ports. For Windows-based office work with tons of peripherals, the ProDesk holds its own, but if your workflow can switch to macOS, the Mac mini is a much more powerful and efficient alternative.

Skip this machine if you plan to do any gaming or GPU-heavy work—its integrated graphics score a dismal 14.6 out of 100 for gaming in our testing. If you need more than 512GB of fast storage or 16GB of RAM right out of the box, this config will leave you wanting. Creatives, engineers, and anyone who juggles dozens of browser tabs and large spreadsheets simultaneously should look for a system with a discrete GPU and at least 1TB of storage.

If you need a dependable Windows desktop for business apps, spreadsheets, and video conferencing, the HP ProDesk 4 G1i AI gets the job done, especially if you value a generous port selection. The Core Ultra 5 235 is no slouch for office tasks, and we like that it leaves room for storage expansion. But the storage it ships with is on the meager side, and the integrated graphics kneecap any creative or gaming ambitions. For a fair price under $900, it's a solid buy. Above that, you're better off looking at alternatives.