HP Dragonfly G3 gets almost everything right except for CPU performance

The Dragonfly G3 is now shipping to replace last year's Dragonfly Max or Dragonfly G2. As detailed in our review, the G3 brings significant changes to the series including the jump to 12th gen Intel processors and a larger 3:2 13.5-inch screen size instead of the aging 16:9 13.3-inch form factor. One aspect, however, sticks out like a sore thumb on an otherwise excellent business subnotebook.

The Core i7-1265U processor in the Dragonfly G3 underperforms by wide margins when compared to the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 or Latitude 13 7330 which ship with the exact same CPU option. Multi-thread performance can be up to 50 percent faster on the Latitude convertible even after accounting for any throttling. While some performance differences are not unexpected between models, the delta is quite significant especially for shoppers who want the full benefits of the Core i7 CPU.

A closer look at the board power draw levels in real-time shows why the i7-1265U underperforms in the HP. When initiating Prime95, the CPU in the Latitude 9430 2-in-1 would boost to 48 W before stabilizing at 24 W compared to 54 W and 20 W in the Dragonfly G3. The initial 54 W boost doesn't last as long as the 48 W boost in the Dell and the trailing 20 W draw leads to slower clock rates than the higher 24 W draw of the Dell.

If maximizing CPU performance is of utmost importance, then you might want to consider the Dell over the HP.