HP Elite Dragonfly Review (1 kg Premium Ultrabook)

A review of the HP Elite Dragonfly 1 kg Premium Ultrabook
There’s an ultrabook category carved out by the iconic Apple MacBook Air and more recently from the likes of the brilliant Dell XPS 13. Laptops that have ultra thin bezels, lightweight, slim, look good and have a fantastic battery life. HP has added to this mix with the 13.3 inch Elite Dragonfly, a business/consumer crossover ultraportable. Can it compete with the established competition?
0:00 Introduction
0:31 Design
1:41 Display
2:35 Pen
2:59 Connectivity
3:35 Keyboard & Touchpad
4:06 Audio & Webcam
4:35 Performance
5:20 Graphics
5:32 Battery Life
5:56 Security
6:34 3 Pros and Cons
6:38 Exquisite Design
6:49 Good Port Selection For Size
7:00 Flexible Touchscreen Design
7:14 No 5G Card
7:28 Older 8th Gen CPUs
7:45 No Dedicated GPU Option
8:04 Competition
8:27 Summary
9:25 Outro
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HP Elite Dragonfly G1
UK SKU: 8MK81EA
£2,411 + VAT (£2,893.20p)
UK SKU: 8MK86EA#ABU
£1659 + VAT (£1990.85p)
HP Elite Dragonfly with 13.3" 4K HDR BrightView Touchscreen Convertible Laptop with i7-8565U, 16GB, 512GB SSD
Competition to the HP Elite Dragonfly
LG Gram 14 Ultra 999g
Apple MacBook Air 1.25kg
Dell XPS 13 (2020) 1.20kg
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 7th Gen 1.09kg
HUAWEI MateBook X Pro 1.33kg

[@marksanders2784]

Thanks for the great reviews you do. I see you had AutoCAD on the desktop, I'm looking for a lightweight laptop like this that can handle AutoCAD and Revit. Would you recommend it for this?

[@Dovecomputers]

Hi and thanks for your comments. I would wait for the new HP ZBook Firefly 14 (Or 15") as this is better suited to AutoCAD and Revit. The Dragonfly is more general business orientated due to the lack of a GPU option. ETA for the Firefly is August 2020. Alternatively, look at the ZBook 15u or ZBook Studio G7.

[@marksanders2784]

@@Dovecomputers thanks I really appreciate the advice! I'll have a look at the Firefly when it comes out. Thanks again your reviews are my favourite 👍

[@brainactivity737]

You mentioned that the Dragonfly gets a bit warm when it's on your lap. Would you say that in general, it's not going to be as warm as using a laptop that is made out of metal (e.g. XPS, Spectre)? I have an LG gram and I found it to be very comfortable on my lap because of the magnetism material it's built from. I'm curious if the HP Dragonfly will feel something similar to it.

[@Dovecomputers]

Absolutely. You can feel the difference between the magnesium Dragonfly against say an EliteBook or ZBook aluminium chassis. Plus magnesium alloy is less thermally conductive than aluminium.

[@brainactivity737]

@@Dovecomputers Many thanks for your prompt reply. Based on your answer this laptop will definitely be on my radar. I'm so glad that you confirmed that this won't be an issue! One more thing, do you think it's worth waiting for the next generation with intel's 10th processors? Or is the current model good as it is? Thanks.

[@Dovecomputers]

@@brainactivity737 No problem, loved the Dragonfly but it has now older CPUs and DDR3 memory. I would wait for the Dragonfly G2 to come out anytime soon. Having tested the 10th Gen i7-10510U on a recent review of the HP 470 G7, it easily beats the 8th Gen i7 CPUs. Both performance and battery life. Plus if are are thinking of the Sure View model, the new Gen4 panel is coming out on the G2. *Hoping to get my hands on the G2 as soon as it is out plus the ZBook Firefly workstation variant. 👍

[@brainactivity737]

@@Dovecomputers Great stuff and thanks very much. Have a good one!

[@ngocha5354]

I think this Elite Dragonfly uses HP Sure View Reflect (i.e. Gen 4) instead of Sure View Gen 3, which explains the improvement. In the upcoming 455 G7 we are still stuck with Sure View Gen 3 :'(

[@Dovecomputers]

The Elite Dragonfly G1 uses Gen3 Sure View. (On the UK review model) It is upgraded to Sure View Gen4 on the G2 when it comes out. The 445 and 455 G7 is just a CPU upgrade from the G6 models, so like you said it is still Gen3 Sure View. 👍

[@ngocha5354]

@@Dovecomputers So the Sure View screen on 455 G7 will be identical to the one on Dragonfly G1 in this video? That would be sweet cuz I'm considering buying 455 G7 with minimum specs and upgrade it, and wondering if I should get the Sure View for $200 extra.

[@Abdulrahman622]

Great review! .. I'm still not sure whether I should get this or the HP Spectre. However, let's see.

[@Dovecomputers]

Or....the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon?

[@wolfgonzalez8446]

I think the HP Spectre is consumer class, while the dragonfly is Business class more focusted on build quality, managebility and servicability.

[@Abdulrahman622]

Update: I ended up getting the HP Spectre and was disappointed by it heating up a lot (I guess due to the slim design and the aluminum body). as well as some weird battery issue (100 would stay for 10 minutes, then suddenly drop down to 93, and would decrease every minute or so) was not impressed much. My version came with just the sleeve and the laptop and charger. I donno if I have a faulty machine, or it's just the way it's supposed to be, either way I'm a bit disappointed overall.

[@wolfgonzalez8446]

@S B I would go for the dragonfly with the better screen option then.

[@wolfgonzalez8446]

This summer HP will release the G2 version of the dragonfly

[@jiaantipolo6182]

Hey! Can you play games on this?

[@Dovecomputers]

The Intel UHD 620 GPU is designed for casual gaming only. Most modern games will not play on it.

[@GGLD888]

still think the port selection sux

[@ekrem8847]

he s reviewing on the phone