Hybrid Work Hardware: HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook
Avi Greengart, Lead Analyst
Who Needs A Premium Chromebook?
Arguably, the most impressive thing about HP’s Dragonfly Pro Chromebook is that HP has a clear target buyer in mind. Outside of education and specific enterprise use cases, it has been difficult to define a specific user for ChromeOS in general and certainly for premium Chromebooks. With the new $999 Dragonfly Pro, HP chose to focus on hybrid work freelancers who need a premium device for coding, web-based design, or collaborative office work. The goal was to build the best all-around laptop for working docked to monitors and peripherals while at a desk and also be usable anywhere on the go. Spoiler: it didn’t quite succeed, but it came close, and with some changes to the hardware, branding, and distribution, HP could get all the way there.
One key issue with ChromeOS as a platform is that it isn’t inherently optimized for high end hardware or productivity. HP worked directly with Google to improve key software/hardware experiences like video conferencing and mobile device integration, and, indeed, these elements are solid. The 8 MP webcam is clear, and, in some respects, outperforms webcams on most of HP’s premium Windows laptops. Google has been pushing its “better together” messaging, and it was easy to quickly grab photos from my phone, get access to a mobile hotspot, and Fast Pair with headphones. Other highlights are the brightest, high-resolution touchscreen display ever on a Chromebook, an included year of 24/7 Pro Live tech support, and simple pricing (it’s $999. There is no other option).
HP also included an RGB keyboard because …reasons. I suspect that the initial idea was to promote a single laptop for both work and Stadia cloud gaming, but it was too far along in development when Google shut the service down. Still, the backlighting is excellent no matter what color you choose, and you can personalize the key colors to match your desktop background in HP’s Personalization Hub. You can also have the keyboard RGB change as an indicator when you switch users or desktops. This is entirely unnecessary, but it can be set to regular white backlighting if you aren’t into customization. The keyboard itself is fine; I would have preferred a bit more travel along with a dedicated delete key (not usually found on Chromebooks, but alt-backspace requires unnatural finger position). I had no issues with the fairly large trackpad, and a fingerprint reader is located next to the power button.
While the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook does not have the most powerful processor you can put in a laptop, HP’s optimizations and the Intel i5 evo produced better benchmark results than any other Chromebook I had on hand. It easily beat the high-value Acer Spin 513 running MediaTek’s Kompanio and HP’s more-expensive-at-launch Elite 1030 Enterprise Chromebook with an older Intel Core i7 vPro. HP's claims about performance appear justified, and if you're looking for a Chromebook for coding or Figma, this is about as good as you're going to get. My document-and-web ChromeOS workflow has never exceeded what Acer’s much less expensive MediaTek Kompanio offers, but it is nice to know that the Dragonfly Pro has power to spare.
The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook weighs 3.3 lbs, in a case of 70% recycled metal, 20% recycled plastic. There are four USB-C Thunderbolt ports, WiFi 6E, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, 256 GB PCIe NVMe SSD on the motherboard that’s not user upgradeable, but it’s a Chromebook, so most storage is going to be online in any event. HP gave the Dragonfly Pro four B&O-branded speakers – two facing up, two down – that sound rich and full with music up to about 80% of volume. Instrument separation and bass isn't the best, but for a laptop, this is quite good and can certainly suffice in hotel rooms or for voice/video conferencing. The Dragonfly Pro ships with a 96W GaN charger that supplies more power than this laptop needs, but it’s relatively compact and provides quick charging of 50% in 30 minutes.
Problems and Challenges
Where the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook hardware falls down is battery life. HP specs it as 11.5 hours, but I could not replicate this on either review unit I had over the past two months. With the display turned down and a mixed load of web for office productivity, social media, and YouTube, I got between 5 – 6 hours unplugged. However, when I ran Android apps for video, that plummeted. After 1.5 hours of browser work, I downloaded Disney+ from the Google Play store and watched The Incredibles II. I got an 8% battery warning before the end credits rolled – less than four hours from a full battery. The 1200 nit display on the Dragonfly Pro suggests that it’s ideal for working outdoors, but you’ll need to plug in to get a full day’s work done even if you use a fraction of the display’s brightness, and I would avoid Android apps. (The Verge saw similar battery life issues in their review.)
The Dragonfly Pro’s bright display suggests that HP is aiming at people who might work at an outdoor café or while watching their child’s soccer game. In outdoor scenarios, you will also need to ensure connectivity, and the Dragonfly Pro Chromebook does not have embedded cellular at launch. Web apps deal with lost connectivity differently, but few offer the seamless offline experience that matches Windows or MacOS.
There is also an open question whether ChromeOS is the best tool for most hybrid work scenarios. ChromeOS is essentially a browser window that takes over your PC, which gives the OS unique pros and cons. Setup and troubleshooting are minimized and management is easily centralized, making it ideal for education and some enterprise use cases. With services like Xbox Cloud Gaming, you can even make a case that ChromeOS is a game platform, provided you have constant connectivity. However, there are many native Windows, MacOS, and iPadOS applications that have no web-based analogs. Google has tried to expand the app catalog by adding the Google Play Store and support for Android apps, but mobile apps are still typically limited compared to their desktop equivalents. Use cases that rely on devices with OS drivers, like some scanners, just won’t work. There are also scenarios where freelance workers may need a specific Windows or Mac app for a client job; at $999, a MacBook Air lacks the ultra-bright display, tech support, or 8 MP camera but offers better performance and real-world battery life with additional flexibility.
Is Dragonfly an Enterprise Brand or Not?
HP's engineers are still hamstrung by branding and distribution questions: The “Pro” branding is questionable. There’s only a single configuration, which is typically used for consumer products where the customer is trading off customization for simplicity. One of the key value propositions here is 24x7 support with extra hand-holding; that doesn’t sound like something a "Pro" would necessarily want to be included in the asking price, either. Perhaps “Pro” merely means, ‘better than a typical Chromebook?’ (Apple seemingly changes its mind on what “Pro” means on a product-by-product basis, too.)
The bigger problem is the Dragonfly branding. What does Dragonfly mean, and why was it used for this product? Dragonfly has been HP’s high-end, design-centric enterprise brand. Why would you use an enterprise brand to target freelancers? Why is the Dragonfly brand, which competes with other premium design-oriented laptops from Microsoft and Apple, an enterprise brand in the first place? The issue isn’t one solely of categorization and semantics: since Dragonfly is an enterprise brand, HP sells it primarily available through enterprise channels -- which is not where individuals, entrepreneurs, and especially freelancers shop!
The Dragonfly Pro Chromebook gets most of the way towards justifying premium Chromebooks for hybrid work, but is ultimately let down by poor battery life and questionable branding/distribution decisions that suggest that all of HP isn’t quite on the same page.
To discuss the implications of this report on your business, product, or investment strategies, contact Techsponential at avi@techsponential.com.