High-end laptops have tough jobs. Not only do they have to look different, but they also have to offer high-end specs in a (hopefully) sleek, compact body. Beauty and wisdom, as they say. While HP has always been committed to providing quality products to the average consumer, its latest offering is the ultra-high-end HP Dragonfly G4.As a business laptop I find this to be a great laptop for anyone who owns a laptop money for it. Read on to find out why.
exhibit
When I took the laptop out of the bag, the laptop’s lid was adorned with an elegant, minimalist logo. This laptop weighs less than 1kg, making commuting with the device much easier for me as an aging millennial. The HP Dragonfly G4 features a 13.5-inch touchscreen with a rather unique 3:2 aspect ratio. This is great news if your job (like mine) involves a lot of reading, editing, and writing. Or even analyzing large amounts of documents and Excel worksheets day after day. The touchscreen display is smooth and there’s a faint trace when your finger slides across the screen. Despite frequently using the touchscreen for navigation, I noticed a surprising lack of fingerprints on the display. However, the laptop body does retain my imprint.
productivity
Using the HP Dragonfly G4 for a series of online briefings and meetings proved to be a wise decision! I’ve never looked so good on a 5-MP webcam! There’s a “natural tone” on the software level, but my skin tone isn’t whitewashed. The webcam also does a good job of balancing multiple light sources in the room without overexposing the footage.
HP also claims that this is the “first business laptop to support two cameras simultaneously,” meaning users can set up a separate webcam and use it in addition to the on-device webcam and have it focus For you, the presenter, and for the demonstration (which can also be a physical product!). The automatic camera selection feature also uses face tracking to automatically switch between the two cameras based on which camera you’re facing at a given moment. Common features like background blur and “Be right back” let you notify other participants when you need to step away for a while.
The premium Bang & Olufsen is equipped with four stereo speakers, sure to meet your needs! The sound is very balanced and there is no distortion even at very high volumes. The chiclet keyboard is also very premium. It’s spill-resistant and offers two levels of backlight intensity. Despite its compact size, the key travel is satisfying and typing is accurate, thanks to a roomy layout. There’s a buttonless, seamless touchpad that’s very easy to swipe with, except for a few times when it was a little extra responsive and minimized my browser window (usually done with a three-finger swipe) when all I was doing was scrolling down a web page (Swipe with two fingers).
Technical specifications
HP Dragonfly G4 has 13th New generation Intel Core U-series processors with Intel Iris Xe (integrated). It comes with Windows 11 Pro pre-installed and has 16 GB RAM and 512 GB storage. Performance-wise, there were no slowdowns or lags at all. When it comes to connectivity, the HP Dragonfly G4 pretty much covers all the bases. The left side has an HDMI 2.1, a nano-SIM card reader, and a USB Type-C Thunderbolt 4 port (which I use as a charging port). The right side has a 3.5mm jack, USB-A, another Thunderbolt port, and a NanoLock slot.
The device is powered by a 68 Wh battery, which can last almost an entire workday. With a lot of web browsing, some media playback, and a one-hour Zoom meeting, the laptop can last between 6 and 8 hours on a single charge. There is a 65W USB Type-C adapter, which takes over an hour to fully charge the laptop.
judgment
Among high-end ultraportable laptops, the HP Dragonfly G4 is at the top of the tier. In nearly two weeks of use, I’m hard-pressed to find fault with it. One obvious obstacle is price—which can be prohibitively high. However, if the high price isn’t an issue, the sleek form factor, great display, great battery life, and amazing webcam should be enough to convince you to buy it.
Snapshot
price – Starting from Rs 2,20,000
advantage – Light weight, unique aspect ratio, long battery life, great webcam
shortcoming – Expensive, touchpad is a bit too sensitive at times
