There is not overmuch I request to accidental astir the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook that has not already been evident from the leaks, announcements, and wide hype surrounding this thing.

It’s a beauteous device. It’s fast, with enterprise-grade specs — 1 of the archetypal Chromebooks, successful fact, to enactment Intel’s vPro platform. And yet, the exceptional quality of the chassis truly lays bare, much truthful than immoderate different instrumentality I’ve tested this year, 1 of the biggest complaints I person astir the existent Chromebook space: ChromeOS. As overmuch arsenic I emotion utilizing ChromeOS, and arsenic overmuch advancement arsenic it’s made implicit the years, it’s not acceptable for the concern satellite — and it’s not acceptable for devices that, adjacent successful their cheapest form, outgo good implicit $1,000.

This is an unthinkable Chromebook

Chromebook enthusiasts person been waiting for a instrumentality similar this. They’ve been waiting for rather immoderate clip — the past lustworthy, high-end Chromebook was Google’s ain Pixelbook successful 2017. And I deliberation HP has astir apt done adjacent to everything it tin to marque an unthinkable endeavor machine.

I’ll tally you done the bully things. It’s light, astatine conscionable 2.8 pounds (just 0.1 heavier than the MacBook Air, though it’s a bully woody thicker) with a sturdy magnesium / aluminum hybrid chassis. It looks and feels conscionable similar HP’s premium Windows Dragonfly line, with an fantabulous 3:2 show (including a 1,000-nit enactment and a Sure View Reflect privateness surface option), fantastic Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers, a amazingly crisp 5MP webcam with a carnal shutter, and an optional rechargeable USI pen that magnetically attaches to the chassis.

Even the larboard enactment is good (relative to the port-starved satellite that ultraportables presently unrecorded in), including an HDMI arsenic good arsenic 2 USB-Cs and a USB-A.

The Core i5-1245U spot wrong my reappraisal portion perfectly flies. Even photograph editing successful the Lightroom app was silky creaseless and faster than it is erstwhile I usage the desktop mentation connected immoderate slower Windows laptops. Swapping betwixt tabs and apps was instantaneous. Provided that everything you request to tally plays nicely with ChromeOS, I don’t spot immoderate workload giving this instrumentality important trouble.

Battery beingness could beryllium amended but was not terrible. I averaged 7 hours of continuous usage with a premix of Chrome tabs, Android apps, and PWAs astatine mean brightness. (I had a QHD model, but I ideate you mightiness spot much from the 1920 x 1080 option.) You tin expect to consciousness immoderate continuous warmth successful the keyboard and crossed the bottommost but thing uncomfortable. The included adapter took 54 minutes to complaint the instrumentality up to 60 percent, which is rather a accelerated charging velocity arsenic Chromebooks go.

This is each good and good. I sincerely person precise fewer atrocious things to accidental astir this Chromebook connected paper. The lone existent nitpick is that the surface is simply a tad reflective, and I occasionally had to bump up the brightness erstwhile utilizing it adjacent to our bureau model (the horror). It’s a bully instrumentality that’s large amusive to use.

However...

I privation to accent that the disapproval I’m astir to marque isn’t truly HP’s fault. This isn’t 1 of those reviews wherever I’m retired to marque a wide indictment of the product’s manufacturer. Many companies are progressive successful constructing the HP Elite Dragonfly’s idiosyncratic experience, arsenic is the lawsuit with immoderate gadget you mightiness prime up — I’m conscionable present to picture that idiosyncratic experience.

Here is the champion statement of that acquisition I tin springiness you: the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is large to usage for leisure, and it’s hard to usage for work.

Now, to beryllium clear: I respect that immoderate powerfulness users conscionable privation a precise high-powered Chromebook for coding, virtualization, games, and the like. I cognize that this radical is precise excited astir this release, and I’m definite you each volition beryllium blessed with the instrumentality — it’s everything it was expected to be. But I bash deliberation you tin get akin powerfulness successful cheaper devices for overmuch little money. The wide praised Acer Chromebook Spin 714 presently offers almost the nonstop aforesaid processor that’s successful my reappraisal portion for $729, which is little than fractional the terms of my portion and implicit $400 little than the implicit cheapest Dragonfly Chromebook’s MSRP. The Dragonfly is surely much almighty than that Spin 714 — but whether it’s that much much almighty is different matter.

And for the mainstream concern idiosyncratic (historically the people assemblage for the Dragonfly enactment that this laptop is portion of), I don’t deliberation the Dragonfly Chromebook is worthy its terms tag.

Much of my enactment beingness takes spot connected Slack. I cognize this is not the lawsuit for each workplace, but it is the lawsuit for a large galore of them. ChromeOS users are required to take betwixt utilizing Slack successful their browser (and there’s a crushed astir radical don’t bash this connected Windows — the desktop app makes a batch of things easier including shortcuts, workspace swapping, launching, searching, etc.) oregon utilizing Slack successful its Android app signifier (just not great).

Here’s a smattering of complaints I person astir the existent Slack app connected Chromebooks:

There are besides wide responsiveness issues. I support having to click channels aggregate times successful bid to get them to open. Oh, and the app conscionable froze a fewer times during my investigating arsenic well.

I’m not the lone 1 who wishes determination were a amended non-browser enactment for this programme — the Google Play Store is afloat of radical complaining astir the bugginess of the Slack Android app. And I cognize these each dependable similar tiny problems, but if you’re idiosyncratic who uses Slack each time (and again, galore radical do), they’re capable to person you reaching the extremity of your enactment precise quickly.

While I bash judge Slack is the programme that needs the astir contiguous fixing earlier I tin urge immoderate Chromebook arsenic a superior endeavor device, I had each kinds of issues with different apps that I utilized passim my workday arsenic well. Discord, for example, is different programme that can be utilized successful Chrome but has a importantly faster and much feature-rich desktop mentation disposable for Windows. This is not truthful connected ChromeOS — the Discord Android app conscionable straight-up does not enactment connected the Dragonfly. I could not click connected thing — I was stuck successful immoderate transmission happened to beryllium unfastened erstwhile I opened the app. Even erstwhile I scrolled wrong that channel, the app crashed frequently. And portion Discord is not a business-critical app the mode that Slack tin be, it’s inactive cardinal to galore people’s enactment and societal lives. (I instrumentality briefings connected it from clip to time, and Verge staff usage it arsenic a backup erstwhile Slack goes down.)

I cannot archer you however galore random bugs I ran into successful different Android apps that I tried to use. Messenger takes a bully 3 to 4 seconds to load caller messages and online statuses aft I unfastened it, sometimes conscionable opened to a blank achromatic screen, and occasionally froze and required a restart. (Though it is nary longer crashing the full Chromebook, which has been an contented in the past.) I tried to tally Geekbench connected this instrumentality respective times but could ne'er implicit a tally earlier the app crashed. The Zoom Android app crashed a fig of times during calls. (There is simply a Zoom PWA successful the app store, but it is precise casual to accidentally unfastened the Android app instead.) And crossed the board, determination were dilatory footwear times, dilatory load times, and instances erstwhile I had to click things a clump of times to get them to open.

Again, ChromeOS and the Dragonfly itself are some lightning accelerated these days, but the apps — adjacent immoderate of the astir fashionable ones concern users mightiness request — are not astir arsenic bully arsenic their Windows desktop equivalents. And past determination are inactive programs immoderate concern users unrecorded successful that are lone accessible successful their web equivalents connected ChromeOS, including Microsoft Office (whose web programs are missing a fig of features the desktop programs have).

Now, arsenic I’m definite radical are getting acceptable to constituent retired successful the comments, determination are ways astir these limitations. There’s Parallels Desktop, which allows you to footwear Windows successful a virtual instrumentality connected Chromebooks (and the Dragonfly comes with a year-long escaped proceedings if you person the Chrome Enterprise upgrade). That’s great, but erstwhile the escaped play is up, concern customers volition request to wage $69.99 per user, per year to support it. That’s not nothing. And you tin besides tally Linux, of course, but we’re talking astir companies perchance deploying large fleets of units to time-pressed workers — it’s realistic to presume that ChromeOS is what galore radical volition beryllium utilizing connected this device.

To repeat, I americium a ChromeOS fan. I emotion the velocity and information it offers. I deliberation the authorities of non-browser bundle offerings is simply a good tradeoff to marque for a leisure instrumentality you’ll beryllium utilizing for fun. I person much occupation endorsing that erstwhile we’re talking astir a instrumentality that livelihoods volition beryllium on.

And that’s earlier we get into the price. The cheapest prebuilt Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is $1,149, with prices ranging up to $1,799. Customizable units are past a full different happening — the cheapest 1 I tin presently configure is $1,961 (and won’t vessel until March of adjacent year, according to HP’s site).

It gets analyzable with the portion I have, which includes a vPro Core i5, 8GB of memory, LTE, and 256GB of retention with the stylus included. This configuration is not really disposable for acquisition arsenic a prebuilt, but a comparable exemplary with 128GB of retention is currently listed for $1,579.99. I volition enactment for implicit accuracy that technically the lone mode to get this circumstantial portion is arsenic a configurable, and that volition outgo a minimum of $2,408. Either way, we are good into MacBook pricing territory here, and that means you truly shouldn’t person truthful galore apps disposable that are afloat of glitches. (It’s not an apples-to-apples examination for each kinds of reasons but, conscionable for kicks, an M2 MacBook Air with akin specs would beryllium $1,219.)

Now, we have seen Core i3 versions of this instrumentality dip good beneath $1,000 astatine definite times. That pricing would alteration the crippled present if you tin find it, but that’s not the listed terms of immoderate units arsenic of this writing.

This is simply a beauteous device. HP has done what it tin present — it made the astir beauteous Chromebook I’ve ever used.

But the desktop bundle that ChromeOS tin connection isn’t worthy of this quality — oregon this price. Again, I cognize immoderate of my issues are nitpicky, but this is bundle that concern users usage each time and are being asked to wage precise precocious prices to use. And I fishy that Google, having just canceled its adjacent high-end Pixelbook product, whitethorn beryllium coming to the aforesaid conclusion.

I cognize fixes are coming. PWAs are connected their way. Linux is becoming much accessible. Android apps connected ChromeOS person travel a long, agelong mode since I archetypal started reviewing them, and I’m definite they volition travel further still. This is simply a large and amusive operating strategy to use. But it’s not acceptable for the C-suite conscionable yet.