HP unveils new Elite Dragonfly convertibles at virtual CES

If you thought CES was going to be a break from the relentless talk of coronavirus spikes, then you were always likely to be disappointed. Not only is the event all virtual this year, but the pandemic can’t help but cast a shadow over the way product uses are framed.

Take HP’s line of laptops and convertibles which arrive with the pitch of turning the home office into a “creative studio” to match our lockdown laced times.

“With half of the global workforce still working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, new use cases for the PC are emerging for both consumers and employees remaining at home,” the company said, introducing its line of products.

Leading the way is the HP Elite Dragonfly G2 – a follow up to the excellent original that we reviewed back in April. This, HP says, is the world’s “lightest business convertible” with a starting weight of less than 1kg.

More importantly for power users, HP seems to have fixed the slightly dated innards, and the new model comes with 11th-generation Intel Core processors with new integrated graphics. It’ll be available in 5G or 4G LTE flavours, apparently uses AI toting Bang Olufsen audio to improve the audio for whatever you’re doing, and has Tile built in, meaning you can locate it using the Tile app as long as it has some battery left over.

There’s also the HP Elite Dragonfly Max, which is pitched as a better option for those constantly in and out of virtual meetings, given it has a 5-megapixel webcam up from the 1.2-megapixel number on the G2, alongside four wide-array microphones for improved audio. Privacy enthusiasts will appreciate that the webcam can be blocked on both models via a dedicated shutter key on the keyboard.

READ NEXT: Samsung announces a new line of Neo QLED 4K and 8K TVs for CES 2021

Both the G2 and Max can be configured with 11th-generation Intel processors (i5 and i7 available for both, with an entry-level i3 option on the G2), up to 32GB RAM and to a maximum of 2TB of M.2 SSD storage. Confusingly for a more expensive option, the Max is limited to an HD screen, while you can upgrade to 4K on the G2 should you really want to make those Zoom meetings pop.

The HP Dragonfly G2 should be out in February, starting from £1,699, while the Dragonfly Max will follow in March with prices beginning at £1,899. Expect those prices to go much higher if you fully max out the configuration options…