The 49G incorporated many of the most powerful interface and mathematics tools available on the HP 48 series into the firmware of the new 49G, including the ability to easily decompile and compile both SysRPL and Saturn assembly code on the unit.

In addition, it had a hard sliding case as opposed to the soft pouches supplied with the HP 48 series.

This calculator featured an entirely new processor architecture, USB (Mini-B) and IrDA (IrCOMM) infrared communication, memory expansion via an SD (SDSC/MMC) card, and a slightly larger screen, as well as other improvements over the previous model.

The most apparent change is a revised color scheme, returning the unit to a more traditional HP calculator appearance.

Using black plastic for the entire body, white, orange and yellow are used for function shift keys.

[15] The form and size of the calculator shell is identical to the 49g+ series, but four AAA batteries are used as opposed to three in previous models.

In addition to all the features of the 49g+, the 50g also includes the full equation library found in the HP 48G series (also available for the 49g+ with firmware 2.06 and above), as well as the periodic table library originally available as a plug-in card for the 48S series, as of firmware 2.15/[6] 2.16[11][12] (the latest, as of 2015), and has a 3.3 V TTL-level asynchronous serial port in addition to IrDA and USB Mini-B ports of the 49g+.

The HP 49/50 series of calculators support both algebraic and a stack-based programming language named RPL, a combination of Reverse Polish Notation (RPN) and Lisp.

The highest level language is User RPL, consisting of sequences of built-in postfix operations, optionally including loops and conditionals.

Every User RPL command checks the stack for its particular arguments and returns an error if they are incorrect or not present.

System RPL programs can be created without the use of PC software (although it is available), thanks to the calculator's built-in compiler, MASD.

Previous versions of HPGCC supported the other ARM-based calculator models (the 48gII, and the hp 39g+/HP 39gs/HP 40gs), but this was removed due to lack of interest and compatibility issues.

Formally, HPGCC is a cross-compiler; it compiles code for the ARM-based HP calculators, but runs on a PC rather than the target system.

Besides implementing most of ANSI C, there are device-specific libraries that allow access to things like the calculator's RPN stack, memory and piezoelectric buzzer.

The GCC compiler itself is the property of the Free Software Foundation, and they state that its use does not impose any particular licensing restrictions on any of its output.

[22] In 2012, Hewlett-Packard released an emulator named HP 50g Virtual Calculator (version 3.1.29/3.1.30 with firmware 2.16 and support for the StreamSmart 410) for Windows.

[23][12] The 49/50 series allows the user to update the firmware to gain enhanced features or bug fixes.