Review HP Elite Dragonfly (2020): Premium recycling version

Last year, the HP Elite Dragonfly was probably the best business laptop on the market. This year's Elite Dragonfly model has the same design as last year's version, but this is nothing to complain because this is already a great design.

The new version of the device feels similar to last year's laptop. It's still one of the most beautiful and luxurious business laptops on the market. This is the most eye-catching design that HP has ever launched.

HP has changed four things on the Elite Dragonfly 2020. First, this laptop has 5G support, although this feature will not be released until mid 2020. Second, it has a built-in Tile tracker, launched in in the middle of last May. Third, it has a new security screen that is part of HP's latest Sure View Reflect technology. Fourth, almost all the hardware of the machine is made from recycled materials.

Design and finish

The new Dragonfly is thin, light, beautiful and almost perfect. The standard configuration version will cost $ 1,500, but here we refer to a fairly high value model of $ 2,179 (about 53 million). This special model is not currently available on the HP website, but the configuration includes the Tile key, Core i7, vPro and the Sure View Reflect screen will certainly cost from $ 2,100 to about $ 2,700, depending on RAM, capacity and other features of the device. The new features are quite expensive and actually not necessary for most users. If you are a businessman and often have to move, this is probably the laptop for you. If not, the EliteBook product line at a lower price should be enough to use.

HP has mentioned the use of recycled materials on Elite Dragonfly throughout the year. This is the first ultrabook model from marine plastic (plastic waste is collected from the sea, or from elsewhere to the sea). The manufacturer says that last year's laptop version used 50% of PCR (and 5% of marine plastic) in the speaker and 35% of PCR plastic in the bezel.

Most of the hardware in the device is made from recycled materials

From then on, HP became more and more ambitious with its goals. At CES 2020, which company reported more than 80% of its hardware on Dragonfly and 90% of its chassis were made from recycled materials. And HP does not just apply this to the Dragonfly product line, Elite and Elite Pro models will soon be designed on these materials.

However, recycled materials do not make the case look less luxurious at all. Very few laptops feel light and very solid like Dragonfly (HP does not answer any questions regarding the weight and size of the machine, but it falls in at about 1.1kg).

The keyboard does not have the phenomenon of sinking, curving and the display is almost the same. The case is also well finished, the magnesium coating feels smooth, the edges and corners are rounded, making the device look more flexible. People often worry about fingerprints being printed on darker products, but testing shows that the wrist rest and the keyboard do not see fingerprints clearly after a few days of use. The touchpad almost sinks in with the chassis, you can only see it clearly under high light intensity.

The trackpad and keyboard are well done

HP has also changed the plastic coating on the keyboard (50% of recycled plastic from DVDs) and the screen frame (35% of recycled plastic). The keys feel a bit fragile, but overall they are still good, the bezel looks no different than the old versions.

This new Dragonfly model is a beautiful laptop, and now it has even more durability.

Display screen and connection port

The second major change is about the new screen using HP's Sure View Reflect technology, which maximizes user privacy. Reflect is the fourth generation of Sure View, this technology was first launched on the EliteBook 1050 G3 model in 2016. Dragonfly still has old screen versions including: 1W low-power display, Sure View generation 3 and HDR 400 screen resolution of 3840 x 2160. Reflect is just an added option.

Two Thunderbolt 3 ports on Dragonfly

The Dragonfly 2020 laptop has a dual-screen mode, which can be activated by pressing the F2 key. There are two modes, Sharing Mode will increase the screen brightness to 700 nits and have a wide viewing angle, Privacy Mode will make people unable to see your screen.

When using Privacy Mode at 50% brightness, it is difficult to see anything on the screen if sitting perpendicular to the device. If you use Privacy Mode outside, it will be difficult for prying people to peek at your work.

Although fingerprints do not stick much on the case, but stick on the screen a lot (this is a laptop with touch screen). Even wiping them away is difficult. A lot of users turn to HP's Active Pen to avoid having to touch too much with the screen.

Battery life

What is the battery life on the device if the device possesses such trendy screen functions? Fortunately, it is not only better than the same products, but also much better than the laptop products launched in late 2019. The ultrabook has been tested (in default Better Battery mode and bright screen 50 %) through a working day with 8-12 Chrome tabs, running Slack, Spotify and Youtube, occasionally calling videos via Zoom, the usage time for Sharing Mode and Privacy Mode are equal. Dragonfly lasts 11 hours and 38 minutes on a single charge, the most impressive battery life on a laptop. If you travel a lot and use your laptop often, it's hard to get past Dragonfly.

Integrating Tile key

Dragonfly's innovative new feature is that it has the Tile key integrated. Tile Key (not yet very popular on the market) is a small Bluetooth device that you can attach in keys, bags, wallets or other small items. If you accidentally drop an object that has been connected to a Tile, you can find its location via the Tile app on your phone. This is the first laptop with a Tile key, which helps you find the device if it is lost or stolen.

This is the first laptop with integrated Tile key

Hardware and performance

Dragonfly's keyboard has a perfect key travel and makes less noise. The glass-covered trackpad is very responsive, has a smooth surface and does not make much noise. The connection ports on the machine include 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 3 ports, 1 HDMI port, a 3.5mm headphone jack on the right, 1 USB-A port, a Kensington lock port and 1 SIM slot on the left. Windows Hello works perfectly on devices, webcams are equipped with separate shutter, very convenient. The four speakers on the device provide the best audio system ever found on Windows laptops. The device does not heat up when running heavy tasks, the fan does not sound too loud.

The typing experience on Dragonfly's keyboard is awesome

The new Dragonfly model features an 8th Generation vPro Core i7-8665U processor, just like last year's version. The eighth-generation chip is still a bit of a disadvantage when compared to the Ice Lake chip for better creative work, thanks to Intel's new Iris Plus graphics. However, the processor on Dragonfly 2020 is still easy to handle daily tasks, including heavy tasks.

Weaknesses of Elite Dragonfly 2020

The disadvantages of the previous version have not been overcome. The power button is still in an unwieldy position, on the left. Users often accidentally press when holding the device while moving. The screen still has a 16: 9 aspect ratio, which is quite cramped, resulting in reduced productivity. A true business laptop should have a 16:10 or even better aspect ratio, 3: 2.

Those are only minor drawbacks when compared to the nearly full performance it brings. This is the only laptop on the market today that features a Tile key, a vPro processing system, and a privacy screen.

summary

However, Dragonfly is a premium product. It's great, but most people don't necessarily need it. If you don't need advanced features, a lower-end device might be enough for you. And if you don't need a more modern processor than vPro, then you should consider Lenovo's Thinkpad.