HP Elite Dragonfly Max review

Our Verdict

HP improves on the previous iteration of its Elite Dragonfly two-in-1 with a superior processor and some solid quality-of-life improvements — but the price tag is hefty.

For

Lightweight
Whisper-quiet
Impressive bombardment life
Not bad webcam

Against

Pricey
Unimpressive performance
Tin go a scrap hot under heavy loads

Tom's Guide Verdict

HP improves on the previous iteration of its Elite Dragonfly 2-in-1 with a superior processor and some solid quality-of-life improvements — simply the toll tag is hefty.

Pros

+
Lightweight
+
Whisper-quiet
+
Impressive battery life
+
Bully webcam

Cons

-
Pricey
-
Unimpressive performance
-
Can get a bit hot under heavy loads

HP Elite Dragonfly Max specs

Cost: $ii,940 (as tested)
Display: xiii.3-inch FHD IPS (1920 10 1080)
CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i7
GPU: Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics
Retentiveness: 16 GB
Storage: 512 GB
Ports: (2) USB-C, (1) USB-A, (1) Nano Sim, (1) HDMI 2.0, (1) three.5mm headphone jack
Dimensions: 11.98 10 seven.78 x 0.63 inches
Weight: 2.5 pounds

HP is no stranger to the business of ultrabooks, and that expertise is front and heart with the HP Elite Dragonfly Max. This premium ultraportable packs serious 11th gen Intel ability and over 13 hours of battery life in a svelte package that weighs only ii.5 pounds.

This HP Elite Dragonfly Max (from $2,409, $2,950 equally tested) brings a number of improvements to the diminutive 2-in-ane that will benefit anyone who needs to take intendance of business outside of the office or boardroom. Namely, an improved webcam and front-facing microphone, every bit well as a born privacy screen and 5G eSIM support that allows you to remain connected without a network or external hotspot.

This makes the HP Elite Dragonfly Max an ideal choice for someone who values mobility, discretion and versatility.

The Dragonfly Max is the pricier sibling of the Aristocracy Dragonfly G2 that was also made bachelor back in January. Both models bring some excellent quality-of-life features for business professionals, as well every bit improvements to battery life. Nevertheless, the price may bear witness a bit prohibitive for the boilerplate user. If y'all're on the fence, read on for our total HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max review.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Price and configurations

The HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max costs at to the lowest degree $ii,400
5G selection costs $440

As of this writing the HP Elite Dragonfly Max starts at $2,409 with an 11th gen Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, Intel Iris Xe graphics and 512GB of NVMe SSD storage.

The model nosotros tested will set y'all back a cool $2,950, making it i of the more expensive configurations available. This means the Dragonfly Max costs roughly $1,000 more comparable HP 2-in-1s similar the HP Spectre x360 14, and $500 more than the G2 version of the Dragonfly. Only that actress cash gets you lot a 5MP webcam and an actress mic, likewise as a beefier CPU and mobile broadband adequacy. While the usefulness of these extra benefits will become largely unnoticed by well-nigh users, they tin prove invaluable to anyone that spends an excessive amount of time in Zoom meetings or abroad from a trusted Wi-Fi network.

The HP Elite Dragonfly Max is available for purchase via HP'southward website or select third-political party retailers. There are a handful of alternating configurations bachelor for the Dragonfly Max; they offering many of the same features, but allow you to upgrade the default xvi GB of RAM to 32 GB, and replace the i7-1165G7 CPU with the more powerful i7-1185G7 instead. Of course, in that location are configurations that permit you to expand the onboard storage as well, up to a 2TB SSD, provided y'all're willing to crush out an extra $865.

If you lot need your laptop to be capable of connecting to a cellular network in the absence of Wi-Fi, exist prepared to pay a minimum of $155 for a mobile broadband card — or $440 for a 5G LTE mobile broadband card.

HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max review: Design

Svelte and easy to carry at merely ii.five pounds
Matte black cease is stylish merely picks up fingerprints hands

While it can certainly handle working from home, the Dragonfly Max is a laptop that hates being tied downwards. This laptop shines as an ultraportable platform for treatment whatever business organisation yous have to behave, no matter where it takes you. The featherweight ultrabook doesn't take up much space, but takes advantage of every foursquare inch of its diminutive footprint.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review — (Paradigm credit: Hereafter)

A big consideration in the development of the Dragonfly line of laptops is weight. Designed to follow yous everywhere without weighing you lot down, the Dragonfly Max has managed to keep its weight on par with the original HP Dragonfly at only ii.5 pounds (nearly a pound lighter than the Samsung Galaxy Volume Flex 2-in-ane) even with the considerable performance improvements.

The overall design doesn't depict too much attention but remains elegant, both in terms of its aesthetics and engineering science. The Dragonfly Max is currently just bachelor in matte blackness, making it both a powerful statement as an accompaniment and ultraportable. The matte black cease is definitely fashionable, but information technology doesn't do much to resist fingerprints. It was difficult to handle the laptop or type for extended periods without leaving behind a visible wealth of forensic evidence.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Ports

Well-rounded port pick enough for most use cases
USB-A port for older USB accessories

The HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max doesn't have a ton of actress ports, but it has enough connectivity options that y'all should be able to get things done without obsessing over what to plug in where.

A pair of USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports ways you tin remain docked with a hub while charging a device at the same time. There's a unmarried USB-A port for flash drives or a wireless adapter.

The Dragonfly Max as well sports a 3.5mm audio jack, in case you've forgotten to accuse your headphones, and an HDMI 2.0 port for presenting or hooking up to an external monitor.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Display

1080p thirteen-inch touchscreen is bright with vibrant colors
HP SureView privacy screen is handy

The Dragonfly Max makes the near of its express screen real estate with a clean slim-bezel design, but the resolution of the 13.3-inch touchscreen is restricted to FHD.

The Dragonfly Max's IPS panel offers superb color reproduction. When put to the test with our colorimeter, the Dragonfly Max produced 115.3% of the sRGB color gamut. For comparison, the Dell XPS 13 with OLED produced 117.3% and the MacBook Air with M1 managed to hit 114.three%. This makes the Dragonfly Max brandish a vivid choice for streaming content and providing a rich prototype, merely it probably won't be the first option for photo editing or graphic pattern.

The screen managed to maintain an average of 706.6 nits of brightness in our testing, which feels a bit excessive when compared to the panels on the ThinkPad X1 Yoga (402 nits), or the Dell XPS xiii (516 nits). Cranking upwards the effulgence to maximum, I was only able to wait at my screen for short periods earlier I felt like I was placing undue stress on my eyes. The utility of this wasn't articulate to me until I took the laptop outside, at which point I appreciated the fact that the screen is clearly legible, even under direct sunlight.

The brandish likewise includes HP's Eye Ease filter, which helps keep blue light to a minimum, and while most bluish calorie-free filters have the unwanted effect of giving your screen a brown-ish tint, I didn't discover any discernable tint on the Dragonfly Max — in fact, I only noticed the filter was on after checking to see that it was enabled.

One very cool feature that might go overlooked is the HP SureView integrated privacy screen. At the press of a button, the screen dims and becomes invisible when viewing at a 45-degree bending. While hardly this laptop's most exciting feature, it'due south certain to exist a welcome improver for anyone that values discretion.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Audio

Speakers deliver great sound quality
No tinniness or distortion, even at max book

Once again HP has brought in the audio experts at Blindside & Olufsen to mankind out the design for their ultraportable speakers. It would be easy to dismiss this as a pedigree in proper noun simply, simply after some thorough testing, I tin clinch yous that the speakers on the Dragonfly Max deliver.

Cranking up the volume on laptop speakers typically makes things audio tinny like they're rattling around in the chassis. But I experienced no distortion with the speakers, even while listening to my embarrassing pop-punk playlist at max volume.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Webcam

5MP webcam delivers high-quality video
Extra set of mics assistance y'all sound your best during video calls

HP has too upped the game in regards to its microphone and webcam, and the Dragonfly Max offers improvements here that you won't notice on whatsoever of HP'due south comparable laptops or fifty-fifty Apple tree'southward vaunted new M1 MacBook.

Namely, an extra pair of microphones that provide infrequent clarity even with multiple presenters, and a high-resolution 5MP webcam which definitely gives the Dragonfly Max bragging rights as one of the best laptops for the work-from-dwelling era.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Keyboard, touchpad, and touchscreen

Touchscreen works well only Wacom stylus sold separately
Smashing touchpad feels clicky, in a good way

The HP Elite Dragonfly Max touchscreen works well in emulating a tablet experience with precision simply unfortunately isn't uniform with other HP smartpens, and instead requires a dedicated Wacom stylus that'southward sold separately from the base model.

I experimented with two divide pens that were packaged with other HP ultrabooks and found them incompatible. This feels like a curious oversight at best, and forced obsolescence at worst, peculiarly when you lot consider that the stylus will set you dorsum roughly $70.

The Elite Dragonfly Max keyboard is dense only not crowded. It is restricted to a tenkeyless format due to the laptop'south diminutive size, but I never felt as though I would trip over my own hands while typing and never establish myself hitting one key when I meant to press another. A welcome add-on to the keyboard is a number pad that's laid over the right side of the keyboard and enabled with a dedicated num lock key.

When using the keyboard with the 10fastfingers typing test, I scored 47 words per minute at 95% accuracy, which is marginally ameliorate than the 43 wpm I scored when using my full-size mechanical keyboard.

Anyone that'due south used the keyboard on an HP laptop in the by won't find whatever surprises here, with its slightly clicky, chiclet-way keys. It may not deviate from tradition, merely the backlit keyboard remains a solid example of how to accommodate a tenkeyless layout on a relatively small laptop.

The 2.6 x 4.3-inch multi-signal touchpad is polish and responsive, it also provides enough space to quickly navigate without a mouse, while being small enough to not get in the way. The touchpad likewise feels more clicky, in a skilful style. I've used trackpads on a variety of older HP ultrabooks and this 1 offers some of the punchiest haptic feedback of the lot without feeling heavy. This may not feel similar a meaning improvement unless you take strong feelings about trackpads, but it's definitely a welcome change.

HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max review: Performance

Good CPU functioning should zip through daily tasks
Sluggish file transfer rates and video editing performance

Many of the improvements to the Dragonfly Max are under the hood. Unfortunately, they don't do much to gear up this laptop apart from its peers. The biggest change is in the CPU, which has been upgraded to an 11th gen Intel Core i7-1185G7 which was able to hit 4,928 in our Geekbench five.4 multicore benchmark. That's a respectable score that places it squarely between the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (4,829) and Dell XPS 13 (five,420).

Our configuration of the Dragonfly Max included a 512 GB SSD which managed to duplicate 25GB of files at a speed of merely over 558.v MBps. This makes information technology one of the slower ultrabooks we've tested, dragging backside the Microsoft Surface Laptop iv (562 MBps) and the Dell XPS thirteen (742 MBps).

The Elite Dragonfly Max didn't fare much ameliorate in our Handbrake video editing test, which tasks the laptop with transcoding a 4K video down to 1080p. The HP Elite Dragonfly Max pulled it off in 19:44, placing it behind similarly-sized laptops like the Surface Laptop 4 (17:01) and XPS 13 (18:12).

While there isn't a dedicated graphics card, HP has nevertheless shown the GPU some love, this fourth dimension opting for an Intel Iris Xe intel integrated GPU. That isn't quite enough power to handle any serious gaming, but less demanding or graphically-intensive games should all the same be quite playable. The Dragonfly Max managed to hit effectually 18.4 frames per 2d in our Civilization 6: Gathering Storm benchmark., which is better than the Dell XPS thirteen (fourteen.four fps) but worse than the Samsung Galaxy Volume Pro 360 2-in-1 (26.9 fps).

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Battery life

Great thirteen.5-hour bombardment life

A considerable comeback with this twelvemonth'south model of the Dragonfly is the battery life, information technology took our battery exam a little over thirteen.5 hours of web surfing at 150 nits of effulgence to fully drain the battery, making the Dragonfly Max i of the longest-lived ultrabooks we've tested.

Information technology's neck and neck with the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 (13.v hours) and quite a flake improve than the OLED-equipped Dell XPS 13 (eight hours) and Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 (10:46).

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Heat

Laptop bottom hit uncomfortable 102 degrees in tests
Even so, it does remain quiet

The Dragonfly Max is a laptop that certainly lives upwardly to its name. During our thermal load test, the rear underside of the chassis got upward to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, while the residuum of the laptop remained significantly cooler, with the touchpad warming upwards to just over 77 degrees. This isn't dangerously high, just certainly above boilerplate when stacked against other ultrabooks similar the Samsung Galaxy Book Flex, which topped out at 92 degrees.

The laptop definitely exceeds our 95 caste comfort standard, but information technology never got hot enough to experience uncomfortable on my lap. Nevertheless, what really impressed me was how quiet the Max was under load. Fifty-fifty with multiple applications running simultaneously, it was barely audible -- to the bespeak I had to double-check that the fans were actually running.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max review: Verdict

The HP Aristocracy Dragonfly Max is a pleasance to work on, but all the while, I had to enquire myself: Who is this for? The simply answers I could muster were either a jet-setting business professional or a secret agent. Unfortunately, I am neither of those things and would gladly trade some of the exclusive features of the Dragonfly Max for a few hundred dollars off the price tag.

While I could definitely see this versatile mobile platform being useful for professionals in discretionary fields, like nurses or social workers, the price indicate makes the Dragonfly Max seem inaccessible except to those for whom money is no object. If you're looking for a similarly-equipped 2-in-i that's about a chiliad bucks cheaper, consider the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro 360 — information technology doesn't offer quite as much storage or equally many business-minded features, but it does have a gorgeous AMOLED display and a much more reasonable price tag.

Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/hp-elite-dragonfly-max-review

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