With this new generation, the HP Elite Dragonfly leaves the X360 design behind opting to become a traditional clamshell form. Still as elegant as ever, with the signature blue colour getting a facelift, becoming slate blue, and introducing the option of natural silver. It is still ultralight, not forgetting the original tagline, “lighter than air” with the units starting sub 1kg, and a tiny 1.5 cm width, targeting anyone on-the-go, continue to say goodbye to lugging something bulky between meetings.
HP deserves a special mention for their green credentials here. Once again, pushing the envelope on sustainable tech and placing focus on sustainably sourced materials, including ocean-bound plastic and recycled aluminium, all wrapped in 100% recycled and recyclable packaging. Battery highlights include faster charging, longer lasting, and more efficiently managed. It recognises user behaviour and charges accordingly, which means when it spends most of the time plugged in, it is smart enough to know it doesn’t need to charge all the way. All these measures speak to efficiency especially in regard to energy, time and money, which is welcomed by whoever pays the utilities bills.
For anyone not fond of endless scrolling when working on longer documents, there’s some good news. Aspect ratio is one of the biggest changes in this new generation of HP’s flagship laptop, changing from a 13.2” diagonal to 3:2 ratio that provides the user with 13.5” diagonal. True mobile users, and those working from home without a separate monitor, will especially benefit from the extra screen real estate. The screen itself has a better blue light filter, giving truer colour while protecting from eye strain and long-term eye damage (it’s more important than you might think).
This changed aspect ratio also helps the less nimble-fingered typists, matched by a more generous backlit keyboard and a larger touchpad. It was already one of the most comfortable keyboards around, with spill-resistant design to prevent catastrophe when your morning coffee goes astray. Not a bad idea for workers juggling working from home with childcare duties. Following that theme, HP also tests how many times each machine can be safely sanitised, and while this was primarily a pandemic-related initiative, and hygiene habits that have stuck around, you can be assured that regular wiping and device sanitisation won’t have any adverse effects on external components. With the HP easy clean application, you can lock down your display, keyboard and touchpad for 2 minutes while the unit is being sanitised.
Looking inside, the processor has been upgraded to the 12th generation Intel i5, which is faster and more economical, as well as prioritising tasks according to what the user needs most. This gives a smoother performance with key apps. The difference is perhaps most noticeable with collaboration tools such as Microsoft Teams, which demand a significant amount of juice. The collaboration experience also gets better thanks to an AI-driven, 5-megapixel camera that is sharper than the previous model, and automatically adjusts for poor lighting or overexposure. With improved voice pickup, be not afraid to move away from your desk and take that much need stretch in your next meeting as the microphone does a great job catching your voice even when not directly in front of your computer. Be assured your voice is being prioritised above background noise so as to not annoy to those listening in – In fact, one of our colleagues reported that when her partner started mowing outside the window during a Teams call, nobody else heard it at all.
Other new features include next-gen 5G connectivity options, integrated optional Tile tech that allows peace of mind on locating missing tech, and automatic hands-free logging in and out – it even detects if the user walks away from the desk and prevents unauthorised use.
No matter how robust and reliable the device, we all know that user who has knocked their device off a table, or accidently dropped it while juggling a morning coffee. With that in mind, it is worth knowing that services, and serviceability, have been a focus for HP, responding to the unique challenges for hybrid workers. They have made it easier to swap out components in minutes, so that there is a far faster turnaround time. Data#3 also offers on-site service options, tapping into the enormous number of HP technicians to make sure that help is never far away. To save the time and cost of taking in-house resources away from core tasks to deal with device management, and to sidestep the worst of global shortages, Device as a Service (DaaS) from Data#3 is the stress-free choice.
Topping the earlier generations of HP Elite Dragonfly laptops was never going to be easy but the latest addition somehow pulls off the near-impossible. For a mobile and hybrid workforce especially, HP has set the bar high. The HP Elite Dragonfly G3 is like Hulk is to the Avengers – hard to beat as the dependable hero in any team.
Want a closer look at HP Elite Dragonfly G3, or any member of the HP device fleet, or interested to find out how Data#3’s flexible approach to provisioning, servicing and supporting device fleets in a seamless end-to-end experience, with a predictable monthly cost could benefit you?
