HP's Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is the cream of the ChromeOS crop

HP's Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is the cream of the ChromeOS crop - Chromebooks are sick of being treated like second-class citizens.

Over the past decade, ChromeOS developers have tried to evolve the operating system to feature parity with macOS and Windows. Google promotes Chromebooks as business machines, touting the simplicity and security benefits of a stripped-down operating system.

HP's new Elite Dragonfly Chromebook represents ChromeOS devices pushed to the limits, from the look to the components.

This laptop masquerades as HP's most coveted business machine, featuring up to 12th Gen Intel Core i7 CPUs with Intel vPro support. Performance and style are much higher class than most people think of Chromebooks.

But while it's good for a business user with just his simple web-centric needs, its performance doesn't match his Windows machines in the same price range.

One of the Dragonfly Chromebook's biggest claims to fame is the optional inclusion of Intel vPro. Among Chromebooks, only the ThinkPad C14 shares this option. vPro support helps you sell machines to your IT department by enabling remote management of your device.

Promising business-class performance, the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is one of the most expensive Chromebooks available, at well over $1,000 on max specs. Of course, there are still Chromebooks available for hundreds of dollars, but due to growing interest in promoting Chromebooks as fleet-ready enterprise machines, ultimate gaming devices, and ultraportables with versatile form factors. , there are already some Chromebooks in the Dragonfly Chromebook Elite. price class.

Based on what's readily available at the time of this writing, configured similarly to our review machine, here's what you get spec-wise from other expensive Chromebooks.This configuration is specific to the SKU Note that it is configured with HP.com and not with You can find a SKU similar to my review unit, but with a resolution of 1920×1280 for $1,450.

HP is particularly concerned with the stability promised by the platform, a spokesperson told reviewers at a briefing. is supposed to be used. HP also mentioned vPro's performance criteria and security benefits, specifically vPro's total memory encryption.

The 2-in-1 also supports his 4G for mobile work. 5G is expected to arrive this fall, and Dragonfly will stand out.

Google claims its read-only OS, verified startup, and blocked executables reduce the need for antivirus protection. IT staff can also approve and block apps and extensions, remotely disable or wipe devices, and perform background updates.

Dragonfly design

Like Lenovo's ThinkPad C14 Chromebook, the Dragonfly Chromebook uses HP's premium business series branding.

The Dragonfly Chromebook proves that ChromeOS devices can be as sleek, sleek and durable as laptops running other operating systems. And at this price, it could have been better.

HP has given the Dragonfly Chromebook the same deep blue luxury offered by his Windows-based Dragonfly machines. It includes a silver-trimmed hinge that allows it to bend securely into tablet mode.

HP also says this laptop is durable based on 19 of his MIL-STD 810H tests. In a briefing, an HP rep told reviewers that ChromeOS laptops are "as durable as any commercial product we make." However, the deck and keyboard are hard to bend.

Gone are the cheap, shiny plastics that make many Chromebooks feel like children's toys. Like the Dragonfly G3, the Dragonfly Chromebook features a brushed magnesium-aluminum chassis that's as finely crafted as HP's Specter Windows-based 2-in-1. The Dragonfly Chromebook isn't "pretty for a Chromebook". It's just beautiful.

The port selection isn't massive, but it's good enough.On the left side of the Chromebook you'll find HDMI 2.0, a Thunderbolt 4 port, and a microSD card reader (power and volume buttons). The right side has a 3.5 mm jack, a USB-A port (10 Gbps), another Thunderbolt 4 port, and a SIM card slot if supported.

Tactile touchpad

The magnifier/touchpad is near top not only for Chromebooks, but for 2-in-1s in general.

The touchpad is top-notch, not just on Chromebooks, but on 2-in-1s in general.

Anyone who's ever used a cheap Chromebook recognizes a plastic-like or wobbly touchpad. The touchpad on this Dragonfly feels great, with haptic tech not found on any other of his Chromebooks.

Sharon Harding

However, at first, the click feeling was dull and felt heavy, so I needed to get used to it. Even after weeks of using the Chromebook, the clicks are heavier than they should be for long-term use, but the trackpad is comparable to the premium ones found in machines like the Dell XPS. You can click anywhere on the pad.

A touchpad is worthy of such an expensive machine. It's smooth to the touch and welcomes a quick, light touch.

Bonus points are earned from optional haptic responses. For example, the touchpad produces gentle clicks when you snap a ChromeOS window, switch between virtual desks, or pull an icon from the taskbar. It's not a groundbreaking feature, but haptic feedback helps ensure that a certain action has been taken.

A slider in ChromeOS settings lets you choose how hard your touchpad clicks should be, from light to firm.

HP told reviewers that it plans to update the touchpad functionality in a future software update.

Performance

I haven't seen many Chromebooks at Ars lately, but for comparison I brought the latest HP Chromebook x2 that I tested at a good price. We also brought in a similarly priced Windows 11 machine. It has a more powerful processor, faster RAM, and more storage than the Elite Dragonfly. I also brought an iPad Pro, which is in the same price range as the review machine.

The i5-1245U Dragonfly Chromebook I tested has 8 efficiency cores (1.2–3.3GHz), 2 performance cores (1.6–4.4GHz), 12 threads, and 12MB of cache. I'm not using the latest PCIe 4.0, but I'm relying on at least a PCIe 3.0 NVMe SSD, not eMMC or anything like that.

The Elite Dragonfly Chromebook doesn't just look like a Windows machine. In terms of single-core performance in Geekbench 5, it was nearly on par with Swift 5 and performed similarly to Apple's fast tablets. It's clearly a step above the mid-priced HP Chromebooks in our comparison group.

In multi-core performance, the difference between HP's Chromebooks and Windows machines (which you can get cheaper than Dragonfly) or Apple's best tablets is more pronounced. However, Dragonfly continues to outpace traditional Chromebooks. 8 hours and 45 minutes while running Google Meet.

ChromeOS relies mostly on browser-based software, and its SSD is very slow, especially when compared to the likes of the Acer Swift 5. However, our review unit showed a range of sequential read and random read speeds ranging from 845 to 1,600 Mbps. It shows a range of 15-39 Mbps. We don't have CDPT values ​​for the Chromebook x2 or any other comparison device (since this is a new benchmark in our suite), but expect a performance drop from PCIe-NVMe to eMMC storage.

Screen

Optin for a 1,000-nit or anti-glare version of the 2-in-1 might alleviate this frustration, but my review unit has to deal with the lower resolution of 1920×1280 vs. 2566×1504. — and a higher price..

I recorded 351 nits on the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook using the Calibrite ColorChecker Display colorimeter. That's brighter than his Chromebook competitors claim, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad C14 Chromebook (250 nits), but HP's machine's screen is also highly reflective. This made it difficult to use in very bright environments or to watch dark scenes in movies.

If you prefer a taller screen, you'll appreciate the Dragonfly Chromebook's 3:2 aspect ratio. That's higher than the 16:10 ratio found in many of the ultralight Windows laptops we reviewed recently. 3:2 is good for web browsing and work productivity, which are the laptop's main purposes, but when viewing content like movies, it adds a very thick (reflective) letterbox.

Colors on the 2566×1504 IPS touchscreen seemed accurate enough, but not particularly vibrant. According to HP, the display configuration I reviewed covers 100% of sRGB and 72% of NTSC. Dell's Latitude Chromebook 7410 Enterprise also claims 100% of his sRGB, while his Lenovo's ThinkPad C14 Chromebook, which has the same CPU as Dragonfly, claims just 45% of NTSC. Combined with its 250-nit brightness claim, Lenovo's display is at a spec disadvantage over the Dragonfly

Keyboard, stylus, webcam, and audio

Chromebooks have keyboards with very flat keys, but each button feels like a separate key with good spacing and a fair amount of key travel. I had no problem typing on the keyboard for long periods of time, even if I wanted a more comfortable plate and a little more texture on the keycaps.

I don't care about the back key on the top row (in addition to the backspace key on the second row), but keys like "refresh", "capture", "mute mic", "lock computer" , working days.

Note that the keyboard has a backlight that can be easily turned off. However, I had to memorize the Alt + screen brightness button combination to adjust that brightness level (I never did).

You can also get a laptop with a USI stylus that attaches and charges magnetically and strongly to the right side of the machine. The magnetic connection has proven to be strong, but nothing beats the convenience of storing a pen in your garage.

The Elite Dragonfly Chromebook's camera looked as sharp as any other laptop webcam I've used recently. Color accuracy is impressive regardless of lighting conditions. Of course, using the camera away from windows or with no lights turned on the image quality. However, I did look rougher and the hair and areas around me were darker, but the colors in the image weren't too far off from the real thing.

The camera's 5 MP resolution is sharper than the 720p camera on the Dell Latitude 7410 Chromebook Enterprise, the 1080 camera on the Lenovo ThinkPad C14 Chromebook, and the 1 MP webcam on Samsung's Galaxy Chromebook (which also has a questionable 8 MP camera on the deck). for taking pictures facing the world when the computer is in the tent).

We also appreciate the physical webcam shutter on the Dragonfly Chromebook. This can be controlled with a physical slider, but the black and white striped cover can be a little confusing.

I have a pair of his speakers on the north side of the keyboard, and another he has on each corner of the laptop rim (4 speakers total). Bang & Olufsen tuned the quartet, packed a punch into a small machine and filled a living room with plenty of volume. There's minimal bass, but the audio doesn't sound as dingy as from a similarly thin machine.There's no out-of-the-box equalizer.

The laptop's microphone uses AI-based noise reduction, which works even when the user isn't in front of the device, HP said. Hardware integration is also envisioned to lessen the burden of noise-cancelling on battery life.

An encouraging, costly move forward to Chromebooks

HP has proven that Chromebooks are durable enough for the portable life of a 2-in-1 PC in a hybrid work world, and attractive enough to be a desirable everyday computing device for working adults. For a Chromebook to be taken more seriously, it needs to come in a serious package, and the Dragonfly Chromebook does just that.

Productivity performance doesn't quite match the ultra-lightweight Windows 11 machine, but among Chromebooks, this has a better quality of life than similarly spec'd devices like Lenovo's ThinkPad C14 Chromebook. It is a top class machine.

A power user may still use a Windows or Mac machine for business or personal use, even if they need performance, the Dragonfly Chromebook is he one of the best Chromebooks available.

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• current price ≠ productivity performance