HP has overhauled its Elite Dragonfly with some vital modifications, a few of which can possible be welcome in client and enterprise circles alike, and a few of which can be… controversial. We received an opportunity to check out a prototype of the brand new Elite Dragonfly G3, which isn’t performance-ready however offers us an concept of what the brand new chassis will appear and feel like.

Put this subsequent to the assorted Elite Dragonfly fashions we’ve reviewed previously, and also you gained’t have bother telling the distinction. The principal factor you’ll discover is the show. The Dragonfly line is lastly going the way in which of the Spectre x360 and adopted the three:2 facet ratio. It’s taller than a 16:9 panel, providing you with extra room to multitask with much less scrolling, and in addition leaves additional area for a much bigger touchpad. The panel on this unit is barely 1920 x 1280, nevertheless it’s fairly candy, delivering a crisp image.

You gained’t essentially see the opposite massive change instantly, nevertheless it’s one I’m really much more enthusiastic about. HP has really made the keys bigger than they had been on the earlier Dragonfly. I already actually favored the G2’s keyboard, so I didn’t assume this may be an enormous deal for me, however this new keyboard is definitely unbelievable. I actually do discover the distinction. Not solely am I hitting method quicker typing speeds than I normally do, however I’m making nearly no errors (which is kind of uncommon for me). I’m actually not trying ahead to going again to my typical laptop computer keyboards. Whatever HP did here’s a god-send.

Of course, the insides received a bump as properly. The new G3 will include twelfth Gen processors, as much as 32GB of RAM, and as much as 2TB of storage. There’s now a USB-C port on each side, which makes charging barely much less of a trouble. And the fingerprint reader and the facility button have each been moved to the keyboard, making them each fairly handy to achieve (and, within the case of the facility button, much less vulnerable to being unintentionally pressed).

But a number of the modifications to the chassis I’m not fairly bought on but. For one, the Dragonfly G3 is now not a convertible — it’s clamshell solely. Many traces are going the way in which of the clamshell throughout producers, so I assume I’m within the minority right here, however I do take pleasure in 2-in-1 laptops, and the utility of the touchscreen is much less clear to me in a clamshell type issue.

Additionally, the colour choices are extra restricted. Previous Dragonfly items have are available actually attractive Dragonfly Blue and complex matte black shades, however this mannequin doesn’t supply that — Natural Silver and darker Slate Blue are the choices. While I haven’t gotten to see a Slate Blue chassis, the Natural Silver seems to be like laptop-cart fodder. One of my favourite issues concerning the Dragonfly previously has been its distinctive colour and end. This silver unit seems to be extra like a run-of-the-mill Elitebook than any earlier Dragonfly I’ve reviewed.

But Slate Blue could also be good, and I’m certain colour choices aren’t a very powerful factor for every kind of enterprise clients. We’ll have extra to say about this machine when it hits cabinets within the subsequent few months and when pricing is introduced.