Today, I’ll be reviewing the newly released HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook. Full disclosure, I’ve never actually spent any time with this laptop, and I don’t have one now. That’s why I had to use a picture of an actual dragonfly to go with this article.
Yes, readers, you’ve had it too good here lately, with generally relatable content. Time for “one for me,” as I’m about to unload a whole bunch more words about Chromebooks. However, this Dragonfly Chromebook comes with some drama, which I think can be enjoyable for a broader audience, so I hope you read on.
Chromebooks Have Some Emotional Baggage
So, what’s the drama? To understand, you need to know about some baggage Chromebooks have, due to their origin. When they first came on the market - over a decade ago - they truly had limitations. You couldn’t do things that most people do with a laptop; for example, print documents, or save photos.
Over the years, Chromebooks evolved - a ton - but the perception of them being cheap, weak laptops stuck around. I’ve argued on this blog (here, and here), aggressively, that Chromebooks are the best laptops now; but I’m in the minority with that opinion.
Given this reputation for cheapness, Chromebooks aren’t taken very seriously, and some consumers are unfamiliar and apprehensive. That’s why manufacturers save their best hardware and efforts for PCs. On the occasion that a manufacturer breaks ranks and does release a full, luxury, all-the-bells-and-whistles Chromebook, there are consequences. Expensive Chromebooks are inevitably met with skepticism.
On the one hand, they receive a cacophony of scoffing and mockery from the ignorant masses of Mac and PC users. And on the other side, less expensive Chromebooks already work so well to begin with, that a lot of Chrome OS fans don’t see the point of paying 3 or 4 times more. They don’t have any complaints with their less luxurious, yet perfectly functional Chromebooks, and are put off by higher prices. So “premium” Chromebooks can get attacked from all sides.
Such was the case last week: HP released their carefully hyped “Dragonfly Pro” laptops, one of which happens to be a Chromebook, and is listed for $999. The Dragonfly Pro laptop is a “premium” device, meant to have specs and build construction that match that of a Macbook or a Microsoft Surface, and so it’s notable that HP decided to give a nod of respect, and release a Chrome OS version of this machine.
The $999 Curse
Something about that $999 price tag tag on a Chromebook has a tendency to trigger people.
Google themselves released a $999 Chromebook in 2017, called the Pixelbook. It was met with much derision, but in retrospect, has a reputation for being one of the best all-around laptops ever made on any platform. It’s a common sentiment now - years later - that the critics were wrong, and the Google Pixelbook was a very special piece of hardware, and worth the price.
Next, in 2020 Samsung took a shot at the $999 Chromebook, with the first Galaxy Chromebook. The Galaxy was a real disaster; it was so poorly thought through that it couldn’t power itself; the whole thing would overheat and the battery would die after a couple hours. And that was only the beginning of problems with the Galaxy Chromebook. It would go on to reverse all progress the Pixelbook had made as an ambassador of high-end Chromebooks.
Everyone was so scarred by the Galaxy experience, that it’s taken until now, 2023, for somebody to once more try to build the $999 Chromebook. HP has taken pains to get it right. First of all, there was apparently a great deal of hand-holding between HP and Google’s engineers, to make sure this would not be a Samsung-esque atrocity.
Then HP hyped it. They showed it off at CES in Las Vegas in January. Next they held a “reviewers workshop” in New York, to wine, dine, impress, and indoctrinate reviewers (but not me - rude!). Last, they gave all reviewers a review copy of the laptop (again, not me), with the stipulation that there was to be no review released until March 16th. Which brings us here.
Yes, the long awaited, much anticipated, HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook officially went on sale last week… and immediately, there was drama.
Chromebook Reviewer Fight!
The best part of any of this, was that my guys at Chrome Unboxed were thrilled with their Dragonfly Pro, crowning it the King of Chromebooks, and posting a thoroughly gushy review. I just like to see them happy.
Chrome Unboxed founder Robby Payne described it as “as close to the perfect device that we’ve ever reviewed.”
However, as soon as I read into the comments, I discovered an army of outrage, accusing this review of being an irresponsible, biased infommercial. It’s always normal for there to be backlash to an expensive Chromebook, but the commenters here insisted that Robby was glossing over and intentionally neglecting to discuss a deeply-flawed battery.
The source of the battery-life concerns seems to have originated with a review from Monica Chin, of The Verge, claiming a mere 2.5 hours of average battery life - alarmingly low:
Shots fired, by The Verge. Mac and PC users danced with glee. It was overwhelming, trying to fight for Chromebooks’ good honor on The Verge’s Twitter post.
After the dust settled, Chrome Unboxed addressed the battery, via YouTube comment. In short, they found that the battery was fine. Not excellent, but under normal use, it would run 7-10 hours. Listening to the Chrome Unboxed podcast for more context, my take-away was that Robby was diplomatic, but reading between the lines, he may or may not have alleged that some people were being sensationalists about the battery, for clicks.
Over on the Verge’s story comment section, Team Chromebook went to work:
Things sort of escalated, with Chrome Unboxed becoming a bit of a talking point, and The Verge getting defensive:
In short, the typically peaceful world of Chromebook reviews has gotten just a little bit spicy.
The Verdict
So my opinion? Well, on the one hand, I wasn’t invited to the HP reviewers summit in New York, and I took that personally. Also, I generally don’t care for HP as a brand. I think they’re tacky, and I’ll mention more on that later. I’m not entirely rooting for the Dragonfly Pro.
On the other hand, I’m a big fan of Chrome Unboxed. After MKBHD, that’s the reviewer group I’m most interested in. I’d enjoy an episode of “How I Built This” about these guys, because I watched the company grow. I watched review videos in 2014 from Robby Payne, to help choose my first Chromebook. Back then, he was basically just filming at night in his garage or something, after the kids were down, reviewing Chromebooks that he probably later had to return to Best Buy. That’s how it started, and then I watched the channel grow, to the point where he could quit his job and start a full-time Chrome reviewing media company, with a studio office and everything.
That’s a cool story!
So I’ve got a soft spot for Chrome Unboxed, and defer to their judgement.
Now, I will say it is apparent that Robby and crew are a bit swept off their feet by HP’s reviewer charming campaign. Kool Aid may have been consumed. Robby is clearly very excited. No where is this more evident than in this section of the review:
“My wife and I actually binged the last 4 episodes of Netflix’s Dead to Me in bed on an anniversary getaway, and the experience was wildly immersive. With this screen and that audio, watching content on this device isn’t just a passable experience: it is actually preferable. It is freaking awesome.”
My guy brought this thing along on an anniversary getaway. Robby is perfectly comfortable to return from an anniversary trip and tell the world about the immersive experience he had with a Chromebook there. And you know what, that’s the sort of dedication to craft that I appreciate in a tech review!
The Verge article, in contrast, is too snarky, for my tastes, from start to finish. And then Monica writes about glitches that supposedly all Chromebook users must accept:
“I continue to run into glitches here and there with ChromeOS — for example, the Spotify and Messenger Android apps were freezing all over the place, very slow to update, wouldn’t close, and wouldn’t resize — but I assume that if you’re considering buying a Chromebook, you’ve decided that you’re fine with those limitations.”
I’m writing on an aging Chromebook with an AUE date coming up in two months, and I’m not familiar with such “limitations.” It’s bizarre how she implies these issues are commonplace on Chrome OS. And why is she using the Android app for Spotify? That’s just spectacularly odd. I often run Spotify all day, from the browser, and it’s great. No crashes. Android apps are typically a fallback, in case there’s something you can’t do in the browser (the way God intended!). The crashiness of a given app could be the fault of the app developer, not the Chromebook.
This part leads me to dismiss her review entirely. I’m not sure what to make of it; did HP mail a lemon to The Verge? Is the reviewer an eccentric sola Android app fundamentalist? Or just a bit of a cynic, looking for a sensational angle?
Bottom line, I prefer my tech reviewers to lean more toward a silly enthusiasm for tech, rather than jaded cynicism. It’s important to be honest with criticisms in a review, but I find it grating if you’re out there hunting for things to complain about, and taking no joy in the good stuff.
Is the battery great? No, but at this point I highly doubt that it is fair to say 2.5 hours was normal and not some anomaly. From all I’ve read, I tend to think the battery life is somewhere around 6.5 hours, give or take an hour or two depending on how hard you’re pushing it (and whether you’re stubbornly running Android app versions of things which the browser runs better). The battery life is likely notably mediocre, but not a headline, all things considered.
My Own, Second-hand Review:
So, on to my review. As I mentioned, I’ve never seen or touched this laptop, so take it for what it is worth. Nonetheless, I’ve read three or four reviews, and watched a lot of videos, and so I, like Willem Dafoe, can say I am somewhat of an expert myself.
My verdict is that it’s worth $999, as much as any laptop can be. I personally don’t use $1K hardware like this; I’ve never owned a $1K phone or computer. Also, I use my Chromebook primarily docked to another monitor, mouse, keyboard, and speakers. I rarely (maybe 10% of the time) rely on the laptop’s native hardware to interact with it, and so the primary value proposition of the Dragonfly Pro’s keyboard, screen, haptic trackpad, and all-round high quality assembly, is not something I would take advantage of, often enough to justify the premium.
But if you need to work full time on your laptop, then I think it is worth the investment to pay extra for the parts of the machine you physically interact with. It’s your eyes and fingers that will benefit from the screen, the keyboard, and the trackpad. And that’s what HP nailed. You’ll enjoy staring at that beautiful screen all day, and the keyboard and trackpad will give you satisfaction and save you frustration over the years.
I do think Chrome Unboxed got a little carried away assessing just how wonderful this is. I think the Dragonfly Pro has some unfortunate, unforced errors. There are some very stupid and tacky features, advertised with much relish. For example, every review of this touts the one year of HP Concierge service that comes free with it. That’s just silly. I’ll never, ever use that, and would certainly never ask for it, much less pay. Even tackier is the “RGB keyboard”. Know what that means? It means your keyboard can light up in different colors. Again, who wants this? A three year old? Yay, pretty colors! Maybe I’m bitter because I’m somewhat color blind.
Another knock is the screen size. This monitor’s specs seem great, but it should have a 3:2 aspect ratio. And also a higher refresh rate. Ditch the HP Concierge service and amazing technicolor dream keyboard, and make this display as great as it is bright.
I’ve also read that the advertised fingerprint scanner is designed to only bring the laptop back from sleep mode - not to actually boot up the laptop. So it doesn’t save me much time at all, and might as well not be there. Which is sad.
Those aren’t deal-breakers. Neither is the mediocre battery life. A 6-10 hour range, along with the 30 minute fast-charging, is totally acceptable to me. This is definitely a value. You’d pay more than $999 for a PC version of this - I know this, for a fact. That’s because there is a Dragonfly Pro PC version, and it starts at $1,399. Which brings me to my final point.
A Major Concern
I’ve left out one big problem with all of this: the Chromebook was sold out within hours of going on sale. Neither Chrome Unboxed or The Verge have addressed this, but, it’s kind of a big deal
Could it be that be that HP vastly underestimated demand? Maybe, but now it’s my turn to be the cynic. I think the Chromebook iteration could be margin loser for HP. Meaning, they lose money for each one of these they produce. As high of a price as $999 is for a Chromebook, the PC counterpart starts at $1,399, and it shares a lot of the same components and overhead costs.
HP has plenty of the PC version still in stock as I type this. Coincidence?
Robby and Chrome Unboxed have talked about how the Dragonfly Pro will be a Chrome OS brand ambassador, for people to see on the shelf at Best Buy. But my hot-take bold prediction is that this will be produced in such low numbers that it will hardly stay on the virtual shelf at HP, much less in actual brick and mortar store displays at Best Buy, Target, or anywhere.
So this whole kurfuffle between Chrome Unboxed and The Verge, as much as I enjoy drama, may be all for naught. Sad trombone.
Summary:
Pros:
Good screen
Excellent keyboard
Excellent trackpad
Good processor
^ Those are the four most important features of a laptop, and it’s good-to-excellent
Excellent camera
Excellent speakers
Excellent ports
Fun reviewer drama
Cons:
Insulting features such as HP Support hotline and RGB keyboard
Aspect ratio optimized for watching widescreen movies - not optimized for work
Fingerprint scanner is virtually useless
It is $999, more than the price of at least 5 very good Lego sets
I have doubts as to whether the Chromebook will ever actually be readily available for sale to the general public