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日本HP Elite Dragonfly G3 review – change of form, but not in heart
Design and construction
As we said, the HP Elite Dragonfly G3 features an all-new design. It is made out of an aluminum-magnesium alloy, which offers fantastic rigidity both to the lid and to the base of the device.
Arguably more impressive is the weight of the machine. It stops the scales at 990 grams, while the profile sits at about 16.4mm. The laptop is extremely well-balanced and feels super premium. Its matte surface is a deadly enemy to smudges and fingerprints.
As is the case with other EliteBooks, the rounded edges of the lid and the base make it harder to open the laptop with a single hand. Other than that, the hinges are really smooth and open at 180°. Here, HP has implemented a lifted base mechanism, through two small rubber feet on the bottom of the lid. Unfortunately, the angle needed for the mechanism to work is too big to make an impact in adequate conditions.
On the bright side, the touchscreen display is covered by glass protection. The display has very slim bezels around it, with the top one housing the 5MP Web camera, the IR face recognition scanner, as well as the proximity and ambient light sensors.
By the way, the Elite Dragonfly G3 features an Auto lock and Awake function, thanks to the proximity and the IR scanners. Through the appropriate app, you can personalize some aspects of the detection, including time and distance. The cool thing about it is that the app shows you data from the proximity sensor in real-time.
Moving to the base we see a keyboard with large key caps, great spacing between them, and a backlight. The privacy shutter of the camera is operated via a shortcut next to the power button, while the fingerprint reader is placed beside the Arrow keys. Despite its thin profile, the keys feature long travel and clicky feedback, which is amazing for typing.
We are also pleasantly surprised by the touchpad. It has a large area, a smooth surface, and accurate tracking.
Next, let’s take a look at the bottom panel. It houses the speaker cutouts and the ventilation grill. Naturally, the hot air is being exhausted through a vent in between the base and the lid.
Ports
On the left side, there is an HDMI 2.0b connector, a SIM card tray, and a Thunderbolt 4 connector. Then, on the right, you get an Audio jack, a USB Type-A 3.2 (Gen. 1) jaw-style port, another Thunderbolt 4 connector, and a security lock slot.
