HP Dragonfly G4 laptop review: Small updates over the already excellent Dragonfly G3
The Dragonfly G4 directly succeeds last year's Elite Dragonfly G3 by officially dropping the "Elite" moniker and replacing the 12th gen Alder Lake-U options with 13th gen Raptor Lake-U. Other than that, the external chassis remains identical year-over-year and so we recommend checking out our review on the Elite Dragonfly G3 to learn more about the physical features of the laptop.
Our review unit is a midrange configuration with the Core i7-1365U CPU and 1280p 400-nit IPS non-touch display for approximately $1700 USD. Other SKUs range from the Core i5-1335U up to 3000 x 2000 OLED starting from $1300 up to almost $2400 depending on the RAM and storage.
The Dragonfly G4 competes directly with other high-end ultrathin prosumer or business laptops like the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3, Dell Latitude 9330, Microsoft Surface series, or the Asus ZenBook S 13.
More HP reviews:
Potential Competitors in Comparison
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Best Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
91.9 % | 07/2023 | HP Dragonfly G4 i7-1365U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.1 kg | 16.3 mm | 13.50" | 1920x1280 | |
91 % | 08/2022 | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 i7-1265U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 16.3 mm | 13.50" | 1920x1280 | |
86.2 % | 05/2023 | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel i7-1370P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.3 kg | 15.85 mm | 13.50" | 2256x1504 | |
90.6 % | 06/2023 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE R5 PRO 6650U, Radeon 660M | 1.3 kg | 18.1 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | |
89 % | 11/2022 | Dell Latitude 9330 i7-1260U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs | 1.2 kg | 14.1 mm | 13.30" | 2560x1600 | |
92.3 % | 07/2022 | Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry M2, M2 8-Core GPU | 1.2 kg | 11.3 mm | 13.60" | 2560x1664 |
Case — Part Prosumer, Part Business
Communication
Webcam
HP Spectre, EliteBook, and Dragonfly laptops continue to ship with 5 MP or higher webcams for noticeably sharper images than the webcams on most other laptops where 1 MP and 2 MP sensors are still common. Both IR and a privacy shutter come standard.
The HP camera software now supports keystone correction to crop or flatten a video feed for sharing whiteboards or papers, AI-powered Auto Camera to keep your eyes focused on the camera instead of on the screen, and multi-camera support for streaming two video feeds simultaneously.
Maintenance
Unlike most other manufacturers, HP uploads very handy videos on how to service or disassemble many of their laptops including the Dragonfly G4. We recommend checking out the video below for the full teardown.
Display
The model offers six display options ranging from 1280p IPS to 2000p OLED. Touchscreen, Sure View, and 1000-nit options are also available but only for certain 1280p IPS configurations. Our test unit ships with the base 1280p 400-nit Chi Mei CMN13C0 panel which is identical to what HP offered on last year's Dragonfly G3. Thus, the year-over-year viewing experience remains identical.
|
Brightness Distribution: 90 %
Center on Battery: 408.8 cd/m²
Contrast: 1278:1 (Black: 0.32 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.02 | 0.5-29.43 Ø5, calibrated: 0.61
ΔE Greyscale 2.3 | 0.57-98 Ø5.3
70.4% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.3% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
68.4% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.2
HP Dragonfly G4 Chi Mei CMN13C0, IPS, 1920x1280, 13.50 | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 Chi Mei CMN13C0, IPS, 1920x1280, 13.50 | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel BOE CQ NE135FBM-N41, IPS, 2256x1504, 13.50 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE M133NW4J R3, IPS LED, 1920x1200, 13.30 | Dell Latitude 9330 AU Optronics B133QAA, IPS, 2560x1600, 13.30 | Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry IPS, 2560x1664, 13.60 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | -1% | 0% | 0% | 9% | 23% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 68.4 | 68 -1% | 68.9 1% | 69 1% | 77.8 14% | 98.4 44% |
sRGB Coverage | 98.3 | 98.3 0% | 97.5 -1% | 98.4 0% | 99.9 2% | 99.9 2% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 70.4 | 69.9 -1% | 71.1 1% | 70.3 0% | 77.5 10% | 87.6 24% |
Response Times | -8% | -10% | 10% | -50% | 27% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 48.8 ? | 50.8 ? -4% | 54.9 ? -13% | 44.2 ? 9% | 67.6 ? -39% | 32.9 ? 33% |
Response Time Black / White * | 31.3 ? | 35.2 ? -12% | 33.5 ? -7% | 28.1 ? 10% | 50.4 ? -61% | 24.9 ? 20% |
PWM Frequency | ||||||
Screen | -7% | -36% | 0% | -12% | 11% | |
Brightness middle | 408.8 | 387.2 -5% | 503 23% | 348 -15% | 542.3 33% | 526 29% |
Brightness | 399 | 360 -10% | 472 18% | 321 -20% | 516 29% | 486 22% |
Brightness Distribution | 90 | 80 -11% | 87 -3% | 85 -6% | 85 -6% | 87 -3% |
Black Level * | 0.32 | 0.26 19% | 0.36 -13% | 0.34 -6% | 0.38 -19% | 0.38 -19% |
Contrast | 1278 | 1489 17% | 1397 9% | 1024 -20% | 1427 12% | 1384 8% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.02 | 2.36 -17% | 3.38 -67% | 1.3 36% | 3.18 -57% | 1.3 36% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 3.84 | 4.79 -25% | 7.08 -84% | 2.5 35% | 6.05 -58% | 2.7 30% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 0.61 | 0.63 -3% | 1.21 -98% | 1 -64% | 0.67 -10% | 0.7 -15% |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.3 | 3 -30% | 4.8 -109% | 0.9 61% | 3.1 -35% | 2 13% |
Gamma | 2.2 100% | 2.17 101% | 2.13 103% | 2.16 102% | 2.08 106% | 2.25 98% |
CCT | 6203 105% | 6137 106% | 6235 104% | 6431 101% | 6140 106% | 6858 95% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -5% /
-6% | -15% /
-25% | 3% /
2% | -18% /
-13% | 20% /
16% |
* ... smaller is better
The display comes well-calibrated out of the box even though HP doesn't advertise factory calibration. Calibrating the panel with an X-Rite colorimeter ourselves would improve average grayscale and color deltaE values even further from 2.3 and 2.02 to just 1.1 and 0.61, respectively. Users can download and apply our calibrated ICM profile above.
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
31.3 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 16.3 ms rise | |
↘ 15 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 83 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (21.5 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
48.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 22.9 ms rise | |
↘ 25.9 ms fall | ||
The screen shows slow response rates in our tests and will be unsatisfactory for gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.2 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 82 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is worse than the average of all tested devices (33.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 17900 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 3846000) Hz was measured. |
The super-glossy overlay and its subsequent glare hinders outdoor visibility. Thankfully, HP continues to be one of the only major makers to offer 1000-nit panel options to be up to 2x brighter than most other business subnotebooks.
Performance
Testing Conditions
We set our unit to Performance mode via HP Power Manager prior to running the benchmarks below. The Power Manager software is new to the series this year and it conveniently states that its power profile settings override the default Windows power profiles as shown by the screenshot below.
Processor
Raw multi-thread performance is up to 20 percent faster than the 12th gen Core i7-1265U in last year's Dragonfly G3. Once Turbo Boost settles down, however, the performance advantage between the i7-1365U and i7-1265U becomes smaller at just 10 percent as shown by our CineBench R15 xT loop test results below. The new CPU is generally considered a minor refresh or rebrand of last year's Alder Lake-U options.
Overall performance is slower than on most other laptops equipped with the same Core i7-1365U processor by about 15 percent. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 15, which ships with the cheaper Core i5-1335U, is able to consistently outperform our Core i7 Dragonfly G4 unit in multi-threaded workloads. HP has a habit of of running CPUs on its Dragonfly series a bit slower than the competition.
It's too bad that the series does not offer any Core-P options as the Core i7-1370P would have boosted multi-thread performance significantly by up to 75 percent based on our time with the Framework 13.5.
Cinebench R15 Multi Loop
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R23: Multi Core | Single Core
Cinebench R20: CPU (Multi Core) | CPU (Single Core)
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 | 7z b 4 -mmt1
Geekbench 5.5: Multi-Core | Single-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
* ... smaller is better
AIDA64: FP32 Ray-Trace | FPU Julia | CPU SHA3 | CPU Queen | FPU SinJulia | FPU Mandel | CPU AES | CPU ZLib | FP64 Ray-Trace | CPU PhotoWorxx
Performance Rating | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / FP32 Ray-Trace | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (6720 - 8270, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / FPU Julia | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (33777 - 41487, n=4) | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / CPU SHA3 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (1754 - 2216, n=4) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / CPU Queen | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (67557 - 69991, n=4) | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 |
AIDA64 / FPU SinJulia | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (4589 - 5145, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 |
AIDA64 / FPU Mandel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (16808 - 20668, n=4) | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / CPU AES | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (34968 - 41413, n=4) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / CPU ZLib | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (519 - 650, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / FP64 Ray-Trace | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (3513 - 4367, n=4) | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
AIDA64 / CPU PhotoWorxx | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (37846 - 43780, n=4) | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
System Performance
PCMark scores are consistently higher than on last year's model while being just shy of the Framework 13.5 and its faster Core-P CPU. Results are comparable to the Dell Latitude 9440 2-in-1 which comes with the same Core i7-1365U CPU.
CrossMark: Overall | Productivity | Creativity | Responsiveness
PCMark 10 / Score | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (5690 - 5980, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
PCMark 10 / Essentials | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (10635 - 11827, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
PCMark 10 / Productivity | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (7206 - 7708, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 |
PCMark 10 / Digital Content Creation | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (6392 - 6735, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 |
CrossMark / Overall | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (1605 - 1675, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
CrossMark / Productivity | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (1582 - 1650, n=4) | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
CrossMark / Creativity | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (1713 - 1797, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
CrossMark / Responsiveness | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (1373 - 1427, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry |
PCMark 10 Score | 5690 points | |
Help |
AIDA64 / Memory Copy | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (57654 - 69736, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel |
AIDA64 / Memory Read | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (49203 - 54068, n=4) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
AIDA64 / Memory Write | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (70434 - 85570, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel |
AIDA64 / Memory Latency | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Average Intel Core i7-1365U (90.2 - 102.2, n=4) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel |
* ... smaller is better
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows just minor DPC issues when opening multiple browser tabs of our homepage. 4K video playback at 60 FPS is otherwise perfect with no dropped frames.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
HP is sticking with the Micron 3400 NVMe SSD for the second year in a row in contrast to the Dell XPS 13 series which can include SSDs from Samsung, Micron, or Western Digital.
Drive Performance Rating - Percent | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
HP Elite Dragonfly G3 | |
Dell Latitude 9330 |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
Graphics performance is slightly faster than on last year's Dragonfly G3 due mostly to the slightly faster CPU. For a more significant boost, buyers will have to look elsewhere for the AMD Radeon 680M or 780M such as on the Asus Zenbook S 13 or Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14.
Running the system on Balanced mode instead of Performance mode can hinder CPU and GPU performance by up to 12 percent and 6 percent, respectively, as shown by the 3DMark 11 comparison table below.
Power Profile | Graphics Score | Physics Score | Combined Score |
Balanced Mode | 6061 (-6%) | 10145 (-12%) | 4879 (-16%) |
Performance Mode | 6440 | 11465 | 5780 |
3DMark 11 Performance | 6809 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 4735 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 1768 points | |
Help |
* ... smaller is better
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands | |
1280x720 Lowest Preset (DX12) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (35.9 - 59.8, n=24) | |
1920x1080 Low Preset (DX12) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (22.3 - 33.1, n=24) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
1920x1080 Medium Preset (DX12) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (17 - 28.2, n=23) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
1920x1080 High Preset (DX12) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (10.6 - 18.1, n=22) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
1920x1080 Badass Preset (DX12) | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (8.4 - 14.3, n=19) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 |
F1 22 | |
1280x720 Ultra Low Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (58.2 - 93.4, n=45) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
1920x1080 Low Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (33.3 - 55.1, n=50) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
1920x1080 Medium Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (28 - 49.6, n=50) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
1920x1080 High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (21.7 - 35.5, n=50) | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE | |
1920x1080 Ultra High Preset AA:T AF:16x | |
Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel | |
HP Dragonfly G4 | |
Average Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs (16.1 - 27.1, n=43) | |
Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE |
Witcher 3 FPS Chart
low | med. | high | ultra | |
GTA V (2015) | 99.8 | 84.1 | 23.4 | 10.1 |
The Witcher 3 (2015) | 78.9 | 54.2 | 31 | 14.7 |
Dota 2 Reborn (2015) | 101.4 | 76.3 | 60.2 | 53.3 |
Final Fantasy XV Benchmark (2018) | 40.9 | 23.2 | 16.4 | |
X-Plane 11.11 (2018) | 37.6 | 31.8 | 29.1 | |
Strange Brigade (2018) | 88.8 | 38.4 | 30.4 | 24.7 |
Cyberpunk 2077 1.6 (2022) | 19.7 | 16.3 | 12.7 | 9.3 |
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands (2022) | 25.9 | 21.2 | 14.1 | 11.1 |
F1 22 (2022) | 43.6 | 39.4 | 27.4 | 22.2 |
Emissions
System Noise
HP Dragonfly laptops are generally quieter than most competing models at the cost of slower-than-average CPU clock rates. We're able to measure a maximum of just 35 dB(A) compared to over 40 dB(A) on the Latitude 9330. Even then, the 35 dB(A) maximum is only a short burst before it falls and stabilizes at around 33 dB(A) when running demanding loads.
Noise Level
Idle |
| 23.5 / 23.5 / 26.8 dB(A) |
Load |
| 27.2 / 35 dB(A) |
| ||
30 dB silent 40 dB(A) audible 50 dB(A) loud |
||
min: , med: , max: Earthworks M23R, Arta (15 cm distance) environment noise: 23.3 dB(A) |
HP Dragonfly G4 Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1365U, Micron 3400 MTFDKBA512TFH 512GB | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1265U, Micron 3400 MTFDKBA512TFH 512GB | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1370P, WD PC SN740 SDDPNQD-1T00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE Radeon 660M, R5 PRO 6650U, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ | Dell Latitude 9330 Iris Xe G7 96EUs, i7-1260U | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Noise | 4% | -20% | 0% | -8% | |
off / environment * | 23.3 | 22.8 2% | 23.2 -0% | 23.1 1% | 23 1% |
Idle Minimum * | 23.5 | 23.2 1% | 23.2 1% | 23.1 2% | 23 2% |
Idle Average * | 23.5 | 23.2 1% | 23.2 1% | 23.1 2% | 23.1 2% |
Idle Maximum * | 26.8 | 23.2 13% | 23.2 13% | 23.1 14% | 23.1 14% |
Load Average * | 27.2 | 25.1 8% | 45.3 -67% | 27 1% | 37.1 -36% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 32.7 | 32 2% | 47.9 -46% | 38.7 -18% | 40.6 -24% |
Load Maximum * | 35 | 35.2 -1% | 49.2 -41% | 35.5 -1% | 40.5 -16% |
* ... smaller is better
Temperature
Surface temperatures can reach just over 40 C when under heavy loads compared to 45 C on the faster XPS 13 Plus or even 50 C on the Latitude 13 9330. Hot spots are toward the rear side of the chassis away from the palm rests and clickpad.
(+) The maximum temperature on the upper side is 38.6 °C / 101 F, compared to the average of 35.9 °C / 97 F, ranging from 21.4 to 59 °C for the class Subnotebook.
(±) The bottom heats up to a maximum of 40.4 °C / 105 F, compared to the average of 39.4 °C / 103 F
(+) In idle usage, the average temperature for the upper side is 26.5 °C / 80 F, compared to the device average of 30.7 °C / 87 F.
(+) The palmrests and touchpad are cooler than skin temperature with a maximum of 27 °C / 80.6 F and are therefore cool to the touch.
(±) The average temperature of the palmrest area of similar devices was 28.3 °C / 82.9 F (+1.3 °C / 2.3 F).
HP Dragonfly G4 Intel Core i7-1365U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 Intel Core i7-1265U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel Intel Core i7-1370P, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U, AMD Radeon 660M | Dell Latitude 9330 Intel Core i7-1260U, Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs | Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry Apple M2, Apple M2 8-Core GPU | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Heat | 1% | 3% | -8% | -3% | 2% | |
Maximum Upper Side * | 38.6 | 39 -1% | 38.2 1% | 38.1 1% | 40.6 -5% | 44.5 -15% |
Maximum Bottom * | 40.4 | 42.2 -4% | 41.4 -2% | 40.1 1% | 50.2 -24% | 44.4 -10% |
Idle Upper Side * | 28.2 | 26.8 5% | 25.8 9% | 33.6 -19% | 25 11% | 23.9 15% |
Idle Bottom * | 29 | 28.2 3% | 27.6 5% | 33.4 -15% | 27.6 5% | 23.6 19% |
* ... smaller is better
Stress Test
When running Prime95 to stress the CPU, clock rates and board power draw would spike to 3.7 GHz and 51 W, respectively, while also reaching a core temperature of 100 C. Such a temperature is not ideal for the longevity of the processor and so clock rates and board power draw would quickly fall to just 2.3 GHz and 20 W in order to maintain a more reasonable core temperature of 76 C.
GPU clock rate and temperature when running Witcher 3 to represent consistent high load would stabilize at 1200 MHz and 69 C, respectively, which is similar to what we recorded on the recent Dell Latitude 7440.
Running on battery power reduces CPU performance slightly. A 3DMark 11 test on batteries would return Physics and Graphics scores of 10619 and 5959 points, respectively, compared to 11465 and 5780 points when on mains.
CPU Clock (GHz) | GPU Clock (MHz) | Average CPU Temperature (°C) | |
System Idle | -- | -- | 56 |
Prime95 Stress | 2.3 | -- | 76 |
Prime95 + FurMark Stress | 1.6 | 698 | 69 |
Witcher 3 Stress | ~2.2 | 1197 | 69 |
Speakers
HP Dragonfly G4 audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.4 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(±) | reduced bass - on average 8.4% lower than median
(±) | linearity of bass is average (11.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 2.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (4.8% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 3.2% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (4.6% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (9.1% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 2% of all tested devices in this class were better, 1% similar, 97% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 19%, worst was 53%
Compared to all devices tested
» 2% of all tested devices were better, 1% similar, 97% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Apple MacBook Pro 16 2021 M1 Pro audio analysis
(+) | speakers can play relatively loud (84.7 dB)
Bass 100 - 315 Hz
(+) | good bass - only 3.8% away from median
(+) | bass is linear (5.2% delta to prev. frequency)
Mids 400 - 2000 Hz
(+) | balanced mids - only 1.3% away from median
(+) | mids are linear (2.1% delta to prev. frequency)
Highs 2 - 16 kHz
(+) | balanced highs - only 1.9% away from median
(+) | highs are linear (2.7% delta to prev. frequency)
Overall 100 - 16.000 Hz
(+) | overall sound is linear (4.6% difference to median)
Compared to same class
» 0% of all tested devices in this class were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 5%, average was 18%, worst was 45%
Compared to all devices tested
» 0% of all tested devices were better, 0% similar, 100% worse
» The best had a delta of 4%, average was 25%, worst was 134%
Energy Management
Power Consumption
Overall power consumption is almost like-for-like against the Dragonfly G3 which is to be expected since both models share the same display, SSD, chassis, and even PL2 and PL1 targets according to our stress test results above. Performance-per-watt is therefore about the same if not just slightly better when jumping from the Core i7-1265U to the Core i7-1365U. Laptops with the competing Radeon 680M such as the Acer Swift Edge SFE16 would consume more power under load but are able to offer much faster GPU performance to compensate.
We're able to measure a temporary maximum draw of 67 W from the small (~9.8 x 5.3 x 2 cm) 65 W USB-C AC adapter.
Off / Standby | 0.42 / 0.62 Watt |
Idle | 4.1 / 7.5 / 8.2 Watt |
Load |
35.5 / 66.5 Watt |
HP Dragonfly G4 i7-1365U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, Micron 3400 MTFDKBA512TFH 512GB, IPS, 1920x1280, 13.50 | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 i7-1265U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, Micron 3400 MTFDKBA512TFH 512GB, IPS, 1920x1280, 13.50 | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel i7-1370P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, WD PC SN740 SDDPNQD-1T00, IPS, 2256x1504, 13.50 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE R5 PRO 6650U, Radeon 660M, Samsung PM9A1 MZVL2512HCJQ, IPS LED, 1920x1200, 13.30 | Dell Latitude 9330 i7-1260U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, , IPS, 2560x1600, 13.30 | Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry M2, M2 8-Core GPU, Apple SSD AP0256Z, IPS, 2560x1664, 13.60 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Power Consumption | 5% | -13% | 18% | 2% | 20% | |
Idle Minimum * | 4.1 | 3.4 17% | 2.9 29% | 3.2 22% | 4.7 -15% | 1.87 54% |
Idle Average * | 7.5 | 5.6 25% | 6.3 16% | 5.2 31% | 8.2 -9% | 9.2 -23% |
Idle Maximum * | 8.2 | 8.4 -2% | 9.9 -21% | 6.1 26% | 8.4 -2% | 9.3 -13% |
Load Average * | 35.5 | 40.8 -15% | 56.2 -58% | 33.6 5% | 36.8 -4% | 28.5 20% |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 37.5 | 35.5 5% | 56.6 -51% | 39.3 -5% | 30.4 19% | 27.4 27% |
Load Maximum * | 66.5 | 68.4 -3% | 60.8 9% | 49.1 26% | 49.9 25% | 31 53% |
* ... smaller is better
Power Consumption Witcher 3 / Stresstest
Power Consumption external Monitor
Battery Life
Battery capacity remains the same as on the Dragonfly G3 at 68 Wh. WLAN runtime, however, is longer for the newer model for a total of almost 16 hours before automatic shutdown. This is several hours longer than on most other Windows laptops and it's comparable to the MacBook Air M2.
Charging from empty to full capacity takes about 90 minutes.
HP Dragonfly G4 i7-1365U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 68 Wh | HP Elite Dragonfly G3 i7-1265U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 68 Wh | Framework Laptop 13.5 13th Gen Intel i7-1370P, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 61 Wh | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G3 21CM002UGE R5 PRO 6650U, Radeon 660M, 54.7 Wh | Dell Latitude 9330 i7-1260U, Iris Xe G7 96EUs, 50 Wh | Apple MacBook Air M2 Entry M2, M2 8-Core GPU, 52.6 Wh | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Battery Runtime | -9% | -45% | -38% | -44% | -15% | |
Reader / Idle | 2550 | 2268 -11% | 923 -64% | |||
WiFi v1.3 | 954 | 706 -26% | 527 -45% | 751 -21% | 564 -41% | 910 -5% |
Load | 192 | 209 9% | 88 -54% | 140 -27% | 144 -25% | |
H.264 | 989 |
Pros
Cons
Verdict — Only A Tiny Boost From 13th Gen Intel
Much like our findings for the 2023 Dell XPS 13 Plus, the 2023 Dragonfly G4 is only a minor update over last year's Elite Dragonfly G3. So minor, in fact, that most users are unlikely to notice the small bump in performance between the 12th gen CPUs of the Dragonfly G3 to the 13th gen options of the Dragonfly G4. Other aspects of the model like the display options haven't changed while the new Power Manager software isn't much of a game changer.
The Dragonfly G4 is a minor update to the already excellent Dragonfly G3. If the new CPU isn't attractive, however, then the Dragonfly G3 can offer essentially the same experience.
The small updates this year aren't unexpected since the Dragonfly G3 was already a complete redesign and it's barely a year old. We praised the Dragonfly G3 for its functionality, features, and looks and the Dragonfly G4 only reinforces these strengths. Interested buyers may therefore want to consider the less expensive 2022 Dragonfly G3 since the 2023 Dragonfly G4 doesn't bring much more to the table. For a bigger boost in performance, users may want to consider the Framework 13.5 or Asus Zenbook S 13 each offering CPU options beyond the Core-U series.
Price and Availability
HP is now shipping the Dragonfly G4 starting at $1300 USD for the base Core i5 and 1280p configuration up to $2400 when fully configured.
HP Dragonfly G4
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07/18/2023 v7
Allen Ngo
Transparency
The present review sample was made available to the author as a loan by the manufacturer or a shop for the purposes of review. The lender had no influence on this review, nor did the manufacturer receive a copy of this review before publication. There was no obligation to publish this review.