HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook Unboxing: What’s in the box?

If there ever was a good Chromebook to get really excited about in 2022, it would be this, the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook. Ordinarily, you would expect a laptop of this stature to come preloaded with Windows 11. And it does in the form of the Elite Dragonfly G3. But it also comes with Chrome OS, and that makes it interesting in a whole new way.

Typically, Chromebooks are seen as budget and mid-tier laptops, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But outside of Google’s Pixelbook line, there haven’t been many Chromebooks in the upper echelons that have a real wow factor about them. So the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook is a bit of an outlier. But in a year without a new Pixelbook, this just might be the one Chromebook that you pay attention to. Essentially, this is the same high-end laptop as the Windows version, and that’s a very good thing. It even comes with a pen.

What’s inside the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook box?

HP has a pretty wide configuration list for the Elite Dragonfly Chromebook. Ours is somewhere in the middle, with the Intel Core i5-1245U, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB NVMe SSD. Here’s everything that comes in the box.

• HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook
• HP Digital Pen
• AC Adapter
• 45W USB-C charger

Including the pen is a nice touch, especially given the asking price, but also the somewhat enterprise focus of the Elite Dragonfly. There’s no built-in pen garage; instead, it charges by snapping to the side of the laptop. You know, the same way the Apple Pencil charges on the iPad. The standard charger is only 45W, but for a mere $3, you can upgrade to the 65W version (and you should). Interestingly, HP’s standard configurations can actually be made cheaper by changing the display, lowering the storage, or removing the pen. It’s nice to see it go both ways.

This is possibly the most desirable Chromebook you can get right now, blending HP’s signature premium convertible design with the latest Intel CPUs, a selection of excellent displays, fast storage and features people actually want on a laptop. Fingerprint scanner? Check. Webcam cover? You got it. It even meets the criteria to install Steam. But the elephant in the room, for consumers at least, is the price. This is an expensive Chromebook. Nevertheless, this could be the best Chromebook we see this year.