I always look forward to reviews of Chromebooks like the new $999 HP Dragonfly Pro. These devices are for professional ChromeOS enthusiasts. I mean people who use Parallels, develop on Linux and maybe games, and are willing to pay top dollar for top performance and most premium hardware.
Samsung’s Galaxy Chromebook, Lenovo’s ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook, and HP’s Elite Dragonfly Chromebook were all very exciting devices to review. It had a beautiful chassis, a great screen, strong performance not often found in the Chromebook space, and a brand behind it that commanded the renown and respect. However, their battery life just wasn’t worth its high price.
Dragonfly Pro is no exception. And as I use it, I find myself wondering: When? When will we see more Chromebooks like the Flip CX5? I’m tired.
the good is outside
If evaluating the chassis alone, the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is definitely recommended. There are many great perks.
For example, there are four Thunderbolt 4 ports. that’s a good choice. I was able to connect most of the monitors and accessories I needed. However, there is no headphone jack. I believe the headphone jack is still there. People still use wired headphones.
The device also has an 8MP camera. This is actually said to be the first front-facing 8MP camera on a Chromebook. it looks fine. When I asked his colleague for his opinion on Zoom calls, he replied, “It looks like a webcam.” Still, you know, neat. Speaking of video calls, the speakers sound pretty good, with surround quality that rivals any decent external speaker.
Oh, and there’s an RGB keyboard that can auto-sync to the background wallpaper (or you can set it to whatever color you prefer). I haven’t been able to actually get this to work on the unit I received, I’m still waiting to hear back from HP on a potential fix so I’ll have to update this review once it’s worked out. If you don’t want a laptop, the day has come.
But the highlight for me is probably the screen. It’s the brightest screen I’ve ever seen on a Chromebook. HP claims it hits 1,200 nits, and cranking it all the way up certainly caused my eyes quite a bit of pain. Brings The panel also supports adaptive lighting according to the environment. (I wasn’t really aware this was happening, but maybe that’s the point.
Interestingly enough, this Chromebook (Core i5-1235U for $999, 16GB of RAM, 256GB of storage in my test unit) actually has a brighter, higher-res screen, a tech webcam, and more charm. keyboard, and better port selection. A few hundred dollars more than the Windows version of Dragonfly Pro. Until the battery dies, it looks like a much better deal on paper.
the problem lies within
I have no complaints about the 1235U’s performance. It handled everything I needed. I was typically working in about 12 Chrome tabs with 3-4 apps open. I keep encountering glitches here and there in ChromeOS. “If you’re looking to buy a Chromebook, we’ve decided that these limitations are fine.
The only time I heard fan noise was when I tried to stream a Spotify playlist beyond the aforementioned load while running an external display. The keyboard was often hot, and the middle key had an occasional “nasty” streak, but nothing caught fire.
This Chromebook has a brighter, higher-resolution screen, a tech webcam, and better port selection than the Windows version of the Dragonfly Pro.
But the biggest issue I had was battery life. 2 hours and a half. That’s how long this device lasted on average when running the above workload at medium brightness. If this were my personal device, I’m pretty sure I would need to charge it twice a day, maybe three times.
Different people’s workloads may have different battery life results, but here are two things to mention:
- I have consistently had longer lifespans than most reviewers I know.
- All this was done with the keyboard backlight turned off.
Okay, we know battery life isn’t everyone’s priority. I know some people just don’t care. But if you’ve read my reviews before, you’ll know that I have a strong, principled stance on the issue, which is why he’s planning to release OLED in 2020. I mentioned it when I reviewed his Samsung Galaxy Chromebook, and I’ll say it again here. Outside of gaming and workstations, battery life of less than 5 hours is unacceptable for a $1,000 device he said. I don’t care how flashy your webcam and speakers are or how many colors your keys can produce. Battery life, like several other features, is a quality of life issue for many.
I’m not saying don’t sell a device that won’t last half a day. But it doesn’t cost that much. $999 is his MacBook territory.
I wanted to love this device so much, I think it’s something special. It offers an eclectic mix of features not found in any other Chromebook on the market. The Elite Dragonfly Chromebook was good. This one is funky as well, but more affordable. Unfortunately, HP didn’t put a big enough tank in this chassis to take advantage of the Core i5 in combination with the bright, high-resolution screen.
I love using Chromebooks like this. But battery life is often disappointing compared to what you can get from much cheaper devices.HP, Samsung, Lenovo and others vying to fill the premium slot left by Pixelbook I hope the manufacturer can improve here. Because these are thin, light, and luxurious machines. They are not meant to live on your desk.
