Google has been making high-end Chromebooks for nearly a decade now, courting again to the $1,300 Chromebook Pixel in 2013. At the time, many individuals noticed it as a stupendous however unusual system. In the years that adopted, each Google and its {hardware} companions have made premium Chromebooks an increasing number of commonplace. Though, a still-unconfirmed report earlier this yr suggests Google is giving up on making laptop computer {hardware}, at the very least for now. The firm hasn’t stated something of the type but, however the actuality is that Google hasn’t made a brand new Chromebook for the reason that Pixelbook Go in late 2019.
Of course, that hasn’t stopped different producers from making Chromebooks with attractive screens, nice industrial design and highly effective {hardware}. But HP’s Elite Dragonfly Chromebook, launched earlier this yr, could be the nicest I’ve utilized in a very long time. It additionally has a jaw-dropping worth level, beginning at properly over $1,000. Much like the unique Chromebook Pixel, HP’s newest is a pleasure to make use of that could be very laborious to advocate due to that worth.
HP
HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook
75SCOREEngadget75Critics – Not but scoredN/AUsers – Not but scoredN/A
Pros
Outstanding show Great keyboard and trackpad Powerful {hardware} ChromeOS continues to get higher
Cons
Battery life is sweet however not nice Screen solely refreshes at 60Hz Wildly expensiveiThis content material will not be obtainable as a consequence of your privateness preferences. Update your settings right here, then reload the web page to see it.
Design
Before we speak in regards to the bummer that’s the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook’s value, let’s go over the great things. The Dragonfly is analogous in stature to a MacBook Air, weighing in at about 2.8 kilos and measuring solely .65 inches thick. Combined with a reasonably spacious 13.5-inch touchscreen show with a 3:2 facet ratio, the Dragonfly is comfy to work on and simple to journey with.
Gallery: HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook evaluation picture | 8 Photos
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Gallery: HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook evaluation picture | 8 Photos
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Design-wise, it’s a spartan affair, with a darkish grey end and only some silver accents to be discovered. But on condition that HP is primarily focusing on this pc at enterprise customers, it is smart that they went with a basic look right here. There’s a good number of ports, regardless of the Dragonfly’s relatively slim profile: it has two USB-C / Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB-A connection, a headphone jack, HDMI and a microSD slot. That’s so much higher than you’ll get on a typical ultraportable.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Screen and keyboard
There’s a handful of issues that make the Dragonfly actually stand out. For starters, it has a superb show, with a 3:2 facet ratio that gives much more vertical viewing house than your normal 16:9 display screen. The configuration I’m testing has a 2,256 x 1,504 decision, good for about 200 pixels per inch. Sure, there are extra pixel-dense shows on the market, however this one seems to be gorgeous, with sharp textual content and pictures and mainly no seen pixels. It’s the nicest display screen on a Chromebook I’ve seen in a very long time. The solely minor knock is its unremarkable 60Hz refresh charge, however that shouldn’t be a serious problem for most individuals. Still, HP spared mainly no expense on all the things else, so it will have been good to have.
Despite the refresh charge, the Dragonfly’s show is nice past simply the facet ratio. It’s shiny and has good distinction with out issues being too over-exaggerated. It’s additionally relatively reflective, which makes it not supreme if there’s a lightweight shining on the show, however the display screen is shiny sufficient that it ought to be usable in all however the harshest of sunshine.
The keyboard and trackpad are additionally glorious. The keys are agency, however not too agency, and have loads of journey for a comparatively skinny laptop computer. The trackpad, in the meantime, is giant and responsive. Nothing fairly matches as much as the trackpad on a MacBook for me, however this one feels fairly shut. HP says it’s a haptic trackpad, with personalized vibrations for some particular actions like pinning home windows in break up display screen or switching between digital desks, however I can’t say I observed a lot of something there.
Nathan Ingraham / Engadget
Good specs (for a Chromebook)
Finally, the Dragonfly principally has cutting-edge spec choices; the mannequin I examined has a Twelfth-generation Intel Core i5 processor, built-in LTE, 256GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. LTE isn’t precisely cutting-edge anymore, and 8GB of RAM is a bit stingy on a pc this expensive. But except for these quibbles, that is loads of horsepower for mainly something you wish to do in ChromeOS; I by no means skilled any stutters when switching apps or enjoying again music and video. Despite the high-resolution display screen and highly effective processor, battery life is strong if not spectacular. I bought between six and eight hours of regular utilization, which concerned quite a lot of Chrome tabs, Spotify, Todoist, Slack, Google Keep, Trello and the occasional Android app right here and there. It managed to play again a film for 8 hours and 50 minutes in our battery drain check. If battery is your foremost concern, the mannequin with a Core i3 processor or the lower-resolution display screen will possible final even longer.
It additionally does a high-quality job operating the handful of Android apps I examined it with. In the final yr or so, you’ve been in a position to run downloaded apps in pill, telephone or resizable home windows, and for probably the most half I used to be in a position to get Todoist, Spotify and Lightroom all working properly in resizable home windows. Even Instagram lastly works correctly, though now that the web site now lets you create posts, it’s not likely crucial any extra. Putting that apart, efficiency throughout mainly all of the Android apps and video games I attempted was strong. But given what number of apps are within the Play Store, there’s nonetheless an excellent probability of operating throughout some that don’t work properly.
While Chromebooks aren’t identified for gaming, the Dragonfly simply dealt with some cloud-based play through NVIDIA’s GeForce Now and Xbox Cloud Gaming – not a shock given the highly effective (for a Chromebook, at the very least) {hardware}. At this level, ChromeOS has fairly strong sport controller help, and it clearly works with exterior keyboards and mice. So supplied the titles you need can be found, that is in all probability one of the simplest ways to play video games on a Chromebook at this level. That stated, this {hardware} ought to greater than meet the reduce for putting in Steam, as soon as Google and Valve begin rolling that out past its present restricted alpha part.
