HP Elite Dragonfly Vs Spectre x360 13: Which One is Better?

Estimated read time 8 min read
hp elite drgonflyhp spectre x360 13
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HP Elite DragonflyHP Spectre x360 13
PROSPROS
Attractive design and looks.
Superb build quality.
Great battery life.
Gorgeous display.
Great keyboard and trackpad.
Powerful hardware.
CONSCONS
Old gen processor.
Highly glossy display.
Poor webcam quality.
Moderate battery life because of new components.

SPECIFICATIONS

DISPLAYHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Diagonal Size13.3″ diagonal, FHD, touch, IPS, anti-glare, 1000 nits, 72% NTSC, HP Sure View integrated privacy screen,
13.3″ diagonal, FHD, IPS, micro-edge, BrightView, 1000 nits, 72% NTSC, HP Sure View integrated privacy screen
13.3″ diagonal FHD IPS BrightView micro-edge WLED-backlit multitouch display,
13.3″ diagonal FHD IPS micro-edge WLED-backlit multitouch with anti-reflection and HP Sure View privacy screen,
13.3″ diagonal 4K UWVA BrightView micro-edge AMOLED multitouch display,
13.3″ diagonal 4K UWVA BrightView micro-edge AMOLED multitouch-enabled edge-to-edge glass with anti-reflection Corning Gorilla Glass NBT display
Resolution1920 x 10801920 x 1080, 3840 x 2160
LCD Backlight Technology LED-BacklitWLED or AMOLED-Backlit
Monitor FeaturesMulti-touch
PROCESSORHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
CPUIntel Core i5-8365U processor, Intel Core i7-8665U processor Intel Core i7-1065G7
Clock Speed (Turbo boost)4.1 GHz and 4.8 GHzUp to 3.90 GHz
Cache6 MB L3 Cache, 8 MB L3 Cache8 MB Cache
MEMORYHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Speed2133 MHz3200 MHz
TechnologyLPDDR3LPDDR4
Size16GB (onboard)16GB Memory Onboard
HARD DRIVEHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Storage256GB512GB, 1 TB, 2 TB + 32GB
Spindle SpeedPCIe NVMe TLC SSDPCIe NVMe M.2 SSD and Intel optane memory
AUDIO & VIDEOHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Graphic ProcessorIntel UHD Graphics 620Intel Iris Plus Graphics
SoundBang & Olufsen, 4 Premium stereo speakers, multi array world-facing microphoneBang & Olufsen, dual speakers, HP Audio Boost
Camera720p HD cameraHP TrueVision HD IR Camera with integrated dual array digital microphone
OPERATING SYSTEMHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
TypeWindows 10 Pro 64Windows 10 Home , Windows 10 Pro
CONNECTIONSHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Ports2 Thunderbolt 4 with USB4 Type-C 40Gbps signaling rate (USB Power Delivery, DisplayPort 1.4),
2 SuperSpeed USB Type-A 5Gbps signaling rate (1 charging),
1 headphone / microphone combo,
1 HDMI 1.4
2 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type-C with Thunderbolt 3 (40 Gb/s signaling rate, Power Delivery 3.0, HDMI 2.0, DisplayPort 1.4, HP Sleep and Charge),
1 USB 3.1 Gen 1 Type-A (5 Gb/s signaling rate, HP Sleep and Charge), 1 headphone / microphone combo
Memory card1 microSD media card
COMMUNICATIONSHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Wireless ProtocolIntel AX200 Wi-Fi 6 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5 Combo, vPro,
Intel XMM 7360 LTE-Advanced
Intel Wi-Fi 6 AX 201 (2×2) and Bluetooth 5 Combo (Supporting Gigabit file transfer speeds)
Wired Protocol
BATTERYHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Capacity56WHr60 WHr
Cells4-Cell 4-Cell
DIMENSIONS & WEIGHTHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
Width11.98 in12.08 in
Depth7.78 in7.66 in
Height0.63 in0.67 in
Weight2.2 lbs2.88 lbs
MISCELLANEOUSHP ELITE DRAGONFLYHP SPECTRE x360 13
ColorDragonfly blueNatural silver, Nightfall Black, Poseidon Blue
KeyboardHP Premium Collaboration Keyboard – spill-resistant, backlit keyboardFull-size island-style backlit keyboard

HP Elite Dragonfly

DESIGN

HP Elite Dragonfly

Unlike a lot of business laptops, this thing here is premium. It is made out of magnesium, it’s not plastic.

This one has a beautiful deep blue color on the exterior of the laptop. It is really stylish, elegant, fashionable, and you’re gonna look stylish carrying it. It’s got 2-in-1 style, elegant, premium, and it is so light and portable.

Now, you should be comparing this to the ThinkPad Yoga and this is a much smaller footprint, it’s much lighter.

HP Spectre x360 13

The Spectre x360 is made from anodized aluminum and it is very rigid. The screen assembly has a little bit of flex when you twist it but it’s very minimal. The top case has zero flex but the keyboard itself has a little bit of give if you press hard in the center of the keyboard.

The hinge is excellent, it’s actually one of the best hinges that I’ve seen so far. The tension is perfect, it’s a one-hand open but stiff enough to not move at all.

When you tap on it and with very little screen wobble. To achieve all three of those things simultaneously is something you rarely see outside with the most expensive laptop.

The keyboard uses a 65% layout with an extra column on the right. The key travel feels just a little bit short but it’s very tactile and it was very easy to get used to. Within about 10 minutes of typing, I was able to get up to my usual 105 words per minute with good accuracy.

The power button is on the rear left corner and the rationale was that it’s positioned so you can easily access it on both laptop and tablet form.

The trackpad uses a smooth frosted glass surface with accurate tracking and acceleration curve, something I didn’t really expect considering its price.

DISPLAY

HP Elite Dragonfly

The display we have is the full HD display. It also has the sure view, it is a really awesome display. It has pretty much 100% sRGB and it does say that it can go to a 1000 nits, now that’s because of the sure view. It is a really like a thousand to blow your eyeballs out but it’s plenty bright enough.

The Sure view stops people looking from the side but also it does affect viewing angles for you. So, you really got to have it in the sweet spot set to the right position to get the best viewing experience. It’s a touch because it is a 2-in-1 and has a Pen support, etc.

The keyboard and trackpad on this is really good. I wasn’t expecting the keyboard to be this good and it’s one of the better keyboards I’ve used in this period of time. The trackpad is really good too, it’s nice and smooth. It’s got a nice click to it, nice feeling, and actually a nice sound.

HP Spectre x360 13

You have three options with this; there’s a 1080p screen, a 1080p with a privacy filter, and a 4K AMOLED without a privacy filter. The XPS 13 does not have that OLED option. The unit that I’m reviewing is the 1080p privacy filter display and this thing measures extremely well. It’s brighter than the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

This thing has the highest contrast ratio by far of any laptop that I’ve reviewed which is particularly impressive for an IPS panel. Color gamut and color accuracy are both good, perfect for most content creators but not quite professional level like if you want to work with HDR footage, you would need to go beyond the sRGB color gamut.

On paper, it looks amazing but under no circumstances do I recommend the privacy filter. Enabling the privacy shutter looks identical to simply lowering the brightness all the way down like it doesn’t decrease your viewing angles at all, you can still see what’s on your screen even at sharp viewing angles.

The viewing angles are so bad that even with your eyes roughly a foot and a half away from the screen, there is a slight vignette effect.

I mean is the bottom of the screen gets a little bit brighter and then a little bit darker as the screen vibrates back and forth and that tiny shift in brightness is what’s actually noticeable and annoying to me. The key takeaway from all of this is that viewing angles are especially important with touchscreen laptops.

HP Spectre x360 13

BATTERY

HP Elite Dragonfly

This one here I have which has the 38 watt hour battery which comes in at point 0.99 of a kilo which is around 2.2 pounds. I’ve got good battery life with this like 38 watt hour battery.

I wasn’t expecting much, I was still able to get around six hours of battery life. You can get the bigger battery of 56 watt hour as well and that will give you around ten hours.

HP Spectre x360 13

There’s a 61 watt hour battery inside that should get you around ten hours of light use. The charger that they include ends in a USB-C plug,

I would have liked to have seen one of the Thunderbolt 3 ports move to the left side of the laptop so I can charge from either side. It has really solid battery life.

HP Spectre x360 13

WHICH TO BUY?

The Elite Dragonfly is premium and got everything, the only thing you can complain about is maybe the speakers aren’t the best and also it is pricey but for business that’s like a non-issue. For $900, I think the Spectre x360 is an excellent value particularly for students who are looking to take advantage of the included pen.

For a 2-in-1 device, you take into consideration the excellent screen assuming you don’t pay the extra $80 for the privacy filter, the excellent keyboard and trackpad, and battery life along with the included pen. It’s a fantastic device and they priced it very well.

If you want better performance in the 2-in-1 compact laptop, then HP Spectre x360 will be better as it is comparatively cheaper. Then if you want a good display and compact laptop rather than great performance, the HP Elite Dragonfly will be better. Its performance is also good enough for a business laptop.

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