Notebooks capable of transforming into tablets have been a staple of the business world for years, but HP’s Dragonfly Folio G3 brings a unique twist to the classic 2-in-1 productivity PC. Designed with business professionals in mind, it offers a stylish leather-trimmed look, security-enhanced (and IT-compliant) features, and a fresh take on the pull-forward design that feels more robust than any implementation we’ve seen so far. Solid performance and an all-day battery round out this impressive package, but you’ll need deep pockets and a love for long-hand to justify its high price.
The HP Dragonfly Folio G3 has a lot to offer but comes at too high of a price.
The HP Dragonfly Folio G3 has a lot to offer but comes at too high of a price.
The HP Dragonfly Folio G3 is available in two standard configurations, but for those willing to pay (a lot) more, you can configure your own with a wide array of options. The price hike for DIY customization is exorbitant, so it’s best avoided unless your employer is covering this upgrade.
The Folio G3 starts at $2,379 and comes with an Intel Core i7-1255U vPro (U meaning it has a low power draw and vPro meaning it has extra business security measures) processor and 16GB of non-upgradeable memory. It includes a fast 512GB NVMe SSD and a bright 13.5-inch, 10-point IPS touchscreen. It also comes with a stylus to use in tablet mode. The higher-end version bumps the price up to $2,749 and is identical except for its slightly faster Intel Core i7-1265U vPro processor. The performance difference between the two models is very slight, so most users can safely choose the cheaper model without fear.
If you do feel the need to customize, the price immediately jumps to $3,373. That upcharge, with no other changes, nets you the weakest processor and least storage. To configure a model identical to the more affordable pre-configured option, the price is an eye-watering $3,672—a nearly $1,300 upsell for the same specs. If you want to increase your storage to a full terabyte, you can add another $235, and roughly the same if you need 32GB of memory for creative applications like Blender or Adobe Premiere Pro. The only upgrade that doesn’t feel priced for enterprise is the display, which can be upgraded to 1000-nit peak brightness and a privacy screen that blacks out the display when viewed from the sides (keeping it safe from prying eyes) for only $95 more.
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The important thing to note about any of these configurations is that they’re designed with business compliance and IT serviceability in mind. Each system uses Intel vPro processors, which include enhanced data protection and remote management tools. These systems are all serviceable without the need to return them to HP, so your IT department can handle repairs in-house.
The HP Dragonfly Folio G3 is a shapeshifter. In notebook form, it blends in with any other ultrabook, plus a few extra points for style. Its 13.5-inch screen is easy to carry into any in-person meeting without being obtrusive, but unlike most laptops, its lid is wrapped in a faux leather sleeve that attaches just below the hinge. Closed and on a desk, you can still tell it’s a laptop, but it easily passes for a folio when carried through a hall.
Clearly, it’s a laptop designed to be carried throughout your whole day, and that inspiration is visible throughout its design. It’s the definition of thin and light. Measuring only 0.7 inches thick and weighing 3.09 pounds, it’s easy to slide into a bag and doesn’t feel like a burden to carry by hand. Rather than feeling bulky when pulled into tablet mode, the ergonomics of the G3 make it feel surprisingly natural to use as a writing surface for note-taking.
The hallmark feature of the Dragonfly Folio series is its pull-forward screen, and it’s easily my favorite design innovation in this category. Rather than using the more common fold backward design or a detachable design that uses a magnetic keyboard, the screen on this convertible is held on a large metal hinge that extends halfway up its back. Pulling it forward detaches the screen from its base, but the leather wrap keeps it locked to the hinge. You can then either rest the screen just above the mouse pad or turn the computer into a full-on tablet. Transitioning into tablet mode feels just as stable and robust as tilting the screen normally, and that’s a good thing, because the hinge is one of the best we’ve seen on a productivity laptop.
The folio wrap also makes the laptop much nicer to hold in tablet mode. The soft faux leather covers the plastic and metal of the hinge, and makes for a naturally comfortable grip when taking notes standing up. It’s also grippier and makes the laptop feel less slippery in the hand.
The keyboard and mouse are traditional and don’t offer many surprises, but they work well. The keyboard is compact but includes a full function row that’s complete with secondary functions and media controls. The narrowness of the F-row leaves a bit more space for your palms around the touchpad. The touchpad is large and responsive, measuring 5.1 x 3.1 inches. It uses embedded clicks rather than physical buttons, but it’s large enough to avoid misclicks most of the time.
The stylus on this machine is well done and intuitive to use. The G3 keeps its pen secure with a magnetic tab on its right side that also charges it when it’s not in use. Despite my fears of it being knocked loose, the Folio’s strong magnets held it in place well. I still would have preferred a slide in option to trade that easy accessibility for a few more ports, though.
For connectivity, the G3 offers the usual WiFi and Bluetooth options (Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.2), but if you opt for the custom model, you can add a Nano SIM card for mobile internet. You’ll need an adapter for wired ethernet, but these days that’s much less of a concern and isn’t unusual on thin and light notebooks.
But even by those standards, the Dragonfly Folio G3’s port count is anemic. In total, there are two USB Type-C ports and an audio combo jack. That’s it, and one of those ports is required for the charger if you run low on battery. A docking station is virtually a requirement with this PC.
Rounding out the design, HP has outfitted it with a 53 watt hour battery. Paired with medium brightness, it’s able to survive a full eight-hour workday with a couple of hours to spare. Given the G3’s ultra-portable design, it would have been nice to see HP outfit it with a small GaN charger, but the power supply is relatively small and I didn’t find I needed it much anyway. Still, investing in a GaN charger would be my first move, just in case.
The display itself is excellent. It uses a 16:10 aspect ratio, which is a bit taller than a traditional widescreen laptop, and allows you to evenly split the screen space into portions for viewing documents. It’s also good for writing, as the screen size isn’t far removed from that of a normal piece of paper. The bezels are incredibly thin at 4mm on either side, and content looks great, whether you’re editing spreadsheets or binging Netflix.
The unit I tested used HP’s 400-nit Brightview panel. It’s colorful and vibrant and can be used in direct sunlight at maximum brightness, though only registered 379 nits of brightness on our colorimeter. Glare can be an issue with its glossy screen, and fingerprints were a constant struggle. They’re inevitable as you grab the screen to pull it forward and were distracting enough that I took to carrying a cleaning cloth with me at all times. The screen is available in an etched, anti-glare surface, but only when selected through the Build to Order service (with its astronomical prices).
The screen looks good but falls behind the OLED options you can find for less money. Blacks on this screen aren’t as deep as on the Asus Zenbook 14X and, even though it looks good, it also isn’t as colorful. Creators will also want to invest in a colorimeter to calibrate it too, since HP makes no promises about its accuracy out of the box.
Using a colorimeter, it covered 100% of sRGB, 80% DCI-P3, and 74% of the AdobeRGB color spaces, so this isn’t going to cover a wide enough gamut for professional graphics work. To the naked eye, there aren’t any glaring deficiencies in color accuracy, but proper calibration makes a noticeable difference. Viewing angles, on the other hand, are very good, so you can easily share your screen with friends and colleagues.
In the workplace, I found that the screen actually looked quite a bit better than those on most of my colleague’s machines. Colors popped more on the Dragonfly’s screen and the brightness was a clear step up from the other enterprise notebooks we had on hand. This will, of course, vary from office to office, and OLED would have been nice, but the screen is still pleasant to look at and enjoyable to use.
Virtual meetings have become a reality for many of us, and the Dragonfly comes equipped to make the most of remote collaboration. There’s an 8MP camera centered above the display that does an impressive job of gathering light and retaining detail so you look crisp and clear. It’s also compatible with Windows Hello for biometric login, though a fingerprint reader is conspicuously absent on this laptop. It’s flanked by two microphones that dynamically adjust their pickup levels to make sure you can still be heard as you move about a room.
HP has also included a number of other software features to enhance the webcam’s capabilities. The camera, for example, can track your face and will automatically Source: Gizmodo