HP has reinvented its unique leather-bound laptop concept in the form of the Elite Folio, a laptop unveiled in advance of this week’s CES that targets business users and other professionals eyeing a device equally suited to working from home or from the road.
The Elite Folio’s unique features include a hinge that lets you pull the screen forward to magnetically attach it to the upper edge of the keyboard, forming an easel of sorts. You can also bring the screen even further forward to lay it flat and transform the laptop into a tablet. HP tested this “pull-forward” laptop concept a few years ago with the Spectre Folio, a device aimed at early adopters that will remain on the market. In addition to the unique foldable screen, the Spectre Folio and the Elite Folio have leather integrated with the exterior of their chassis.
A Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 processor will power the Elite Folio. The first generation of this chip design has been met with limited success because of software compatibility issues and occasionally sluggish software. It does promise long battery life and 5G connectivity, however, features that are important to many business people.
The Snapdragon processor requires no cooling fan, enabling the Elite Folio to avoid distracting noise while on video conference calls. Its 720p webcam is fairly standard as laptop cameras go, missing out on the superior resolution and quality of 1080p cameras that have started to show up on some PCs and Macs during the work-from-home era. However, the Elite Folio’s camera does have a 5MP sensor, up from the 1.2MP that are common on webcams.
HP plans to begin selling the Elite Folio next month; pricing was not announced.
New Elite Dragonfly Laptops and Wireless Earbuds
Updates to the Elite Dragonfly, HP’s flagship business laptop, will also be arriving this year. They include the Elite Dragonfly G2, which brings Intel’s 11th Generation processors and optional 5G connectivity to the popular 2-in-1 convertible laptop. The Elite Dragonfly G2 weighs less than 2.5 pounds, making it one of the lightest laptops with a 13-inch screen.
HP also plans to introduce the Elite Dragonfly Max, which adds a 5MP webcam and a new black color scheme to the Dragonfly lineup—the Dragonfly G2 is available only in a dark blue color. The Dragonfly Max and Dragonfly G2 will be available later this month.
Rounding out HP’s 2021 business laptop lineup are a refreshed EliteBook 840 and EliteBook x360 1000-series models, as well as a new Elite x2 detachable tablet whose keyboard can be fully removed for added portability. For consumers, there’s an updated Envy 14, with a 16:10 screen and optional Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti, which will go on sale this month starting at $1,000.
Meanwhile, the company also announced new monitors at CES, including a model with USB-C inputs. And HP is getting in on the true wireless earbuds phenomenon, unveiling a pair with adjustable noise cancellation and the ability to seamlessly switch its connection from a PC to an iOS or Android device.