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HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023) Laptop test

We put the HP Dragonfly Pro (2023) through our rigorous DXOMARK Laptop test suite to measure its performance both at sound, camera and display.

In this review, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.

Overview

Key specifications include (as given by the manufacturer):

  • Physical specs : 12.39 x 8.78 x 0.72 in 3.42 lbs
  • Display : 14”, 1920×1200, IPS, 400nits, 100% sRGB, Touch
  • Audio : Quad Speakers, audio by Banf&Olufsen wide-range microphone array (1 front-facing individual, 1 world-facing conference mode)
  • Webcam : 5 Mpx camera

Scoring

Use-case and feature subscores included in the calculations of the global score

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)
HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)
66
camera
56

93

36

54

56

76

64

83

114
display
56

84

16

95

76

84

129
audio
124

149

125

133

149

153

Pros

  • Accurate face exposure in simple scenes, keeping faces visible
  • Intelligble voices through good noise reduction in capture, creating a good SNR, good midrange frequency response and sharp envelope
  • Spatial was well handled, with wide stereo (even if it could be even wider) and easily localizable sound sources

Cons

  • In video call, faces appear underexposed in challenging conditions,
  • Lack of details in low-light conditions and limited dynamic range
  • Limited depth of field in video calls, making objects and faces closer than 50 cm to the screen to be out of focus
  • Low maximum brightness
  • Higher reflectance level than other devices of its class

The HP Dragonfly’s overall performance was unimpressive. While its video call use case results were average, thanks to good audio performance in calls, its camera performance was poor.

Test summary

About DXOMARK Laptop tests: For scoring and analysis in our laptop reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests and undertake more than 20 hours of perceptual evaluations under controlled lab conditions and real-life scenarios.
(For more details about the  Laptop protocol, click here.)
The following section gathers key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyses performed in DXOMARK laboratories. Detailed performance evaluations under the form of reports are available upon request. Do not hesitate to contact us.

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023) overall & use-cases scores

Video Call

116

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

144

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M2 Pro, 2023)
About DXOMARK Laptop tests

DXOMARK's Video call use case is a score that evaluates how a device handles video calls and videoconferencing in multiple conditions. This score focuses on the camera performance and the capture and playback rendering of voices. Read more about how we test the use cases of Video call score here.

The HP device’s camera handled face exposure well in unproblematic lighting conditions, but faces were underexposed in high dynamic range scenes such as backlighting. Detail was acceptable in well-lit scenes, but depth of field was limited, with objects and faces closer than 50 cm (~20 inches) out of focus. Limited dynamic range caused clipping of highlights and blocking of dark tones, and color rendering was inaccurate overall.

A good SNR, sharp envelope, and midrange frequency response meant that audio capture of voices was intelligible in most situations. Voice sources on the side were also nicely attenuated; however, some gating as well as some midrange distortion may impair the intelligibility of the main voice. The laptop also handled duplex situations nicely, but struggled to handle extraneous noises.

Camera

66

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

135

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M3 Pro, 2023)

The following chart presents the camera subscores for the video call use case:

Camera scores comparison
Camera texture acutance on Deadleaves with illuminance levels
This graph shows the evolution of texture acutance with the level of lux measured on a Deadleaves chart.

The following graphs show the objective measurements performed in our camera labs:

Camera visual noise evolution with illuminance levels
This graph shows the evolution of spatial visual noise with the level of lux. Spatial visual noise is measured on the visual noise chart in the video noise setup. DXOMARK visual noise measurement is derived from ISO15739 standard.
Target exposure on face with illuminance levels
These measurements take place on a setup combining realistic mannequins and a backlit panel simulating high dynamic range conditions. This graph shows the evolution of lightness measured on the forehead of the realistic mannequin with the level of lux, for multiple lighting conditions. The lightness is measured in L*. Delta EV specifies the difference of luminance in stops between the face and the light panel simulating HDR conditions.
Target exposure on face with illuminance levels in HDR conditions
These measurements take place on a setup combining realistic mannequins and a backlit panel simulating high dynamic range conditions. This graph shows the evolution of lightness measured on the forehead of the realistic mannequin with the level of lux, for multiple lighting conditions. The lightness is measured in L*. Delta EV specifies the difference of luminance in stops between the face and the light panel simulating HDR conditions.
Target exposure on face with illuminance levels in HDR conditions
These measurements take place on a setup combining realistic mannequins and a backlit panel simulating high dynamic range conditions. This graph shows the evolution of lightness measured on the forehead of the realistic mannequin with the level of lux, for multiple lighting conditions. The lightness is measured in L*. Delta EV specifies the difference of luminance in stops between the face and the light panel simulating HDR conditions.

Audio

139

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

144

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M2 Pro, 2023)

The following chart presents the capture subscores for the video call use case:

Audio capture scores comparison

The following graphs show the frequency response, distortion and directivity in capture, recorded in our semi-anechoic room:

Audio capture frequency response
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency captured by the laptop when recording an objective test signal at 1 meter in an anechoic environment.
Audio capture Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise
This graph shows the Total Harmonic Distortion and Noise over the hearable frequency range. It represents the distortion and noise of the device capturing our test signal.
Audio capture directivity
Directivity graph of the laptop microphone(s) when capturing test signals using the camera app. It represents the acoustic energy (in dB) over the angle of incidence of the sound source (normalized to the angle 0°, in front of the device).

Music & Video

117

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

154

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M3 Pro, 2023)
About DXOMARK Laptop tests

DXOMARK's Video and Music use case score evaluates the capability of a device to reproduce multimedia usages such as videos, movies and music playback in indoor conditions. This score focuses on the display performance and audio-playback rendering. Read more about how we test this use case here.

Display readability was subpar. While minimum brightness was acceptable at 10 nits, the maximum brightness, measured at 350 nits, was lower than advertised, and reflectance was higher than other laptops tested to date. SDR performance was good, however, with faithful color rendition and good color gamut.

Audio playback was decent, with wide stereo and good localization, but it lacked bass and high end extensions, rendering voice-focused content well, but adversely affecting music and movies. The lack of bass precision and punch also affected the overall dynamics. Further, there was excessive compression and pumping at loud volumes.

Display

114

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

156

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M3 Pro, 2023)

The following chart presents the display subscores for the multimedia use case:

Display scores comparison

The following graphs show the objective measurements performed in our display lab:

Display gamut coverage for video contents
Laptop
Video gamut SDR
Laptop
Video gamut HDR
The primary colors are measured both in HDR10 and SDR. The extracted color gamut shows the extent of the color area that the device can render. To respect the artistic intent, the measured gamut should match the master color space of each video.
Display reflectance measurement (SCI)
Measurements above show the reflection of the device within the visible spectrum range (400 nm to 700 nm). It includes both diffuse and specular reflection.
Display reflectance profile
Display brightness uniformity
0.963
cd/m²
1.135
cd/m²
1.194
cd/m²
1.053
cd/m²
1.088
cd/m²
0.996
cd/m²
0.986
cd/m²
1.034
cd/m²
0.996
cd/m²
Laptop Distribution of brightness (min)
330.9
cd/m²
362.8
cd/m²
406.9
cd/m²
368.6
cd/m²
366.3
cd/m²
354.8
cd/m²
361.8
cd/m²
362.4
cd/m²
352.9
cd/m²
Laptop Distribution of brightness (max)
This illustration shows the brightness measured on nine zones of the display for minimum brightness (left) and maximum brightness (right) for SDR content.
Display SDR EOTF measurement
This graph represents the rendering of contrast (gray levels) for SDR video content, measured in the dark. We expect to be close to the 2.2 or 2.4 gamma references.
Display peak brightness for video contents

Display white point
Laptop
This graph represents the color temperature of white content, compared with the reference (Daylight illuminant D65) measured in the dark on video at minimum and maximum brightness.

Audio

120

HP Dragonfly Pro (2023)

152

Apple MacBook Pro 14" (M2 Pro, 2023)

The following chart presents the playback for the multimedia use case:

Audio playback scores comparison

The following graphs show the frequency response, distortion and directivity in multimedia playback, recorded in our semi-anechoic room:

Audio playback frequency response
A 1/12 octave frequency response graph, which measures the volume of each frequency emitted by the laptop when playing a pure-sine wave in an anechoic environment.
Audio playback Total Harmonic Distortion + Noise

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