11. LENOVO THINKPAD X1 NANO
THE BEST LAPTOP FOR BUSINESS TRAVEL
In many ways, the ThinkPad X1 Nano is a standard ThinkPad. It has a sturdy chassis, discrete clickers, a physical privacy shutter, a red TrackPoint in the center of the keyboard, and numerous business-specific security and management features.
The Nano, on the other hand, is unique in that it is Lenovo’s lightest ThinkPad to date. It’s also one of the lightest laptops available, weighing only 1.99 pounds. You’re not sacrificing performance to get that incredible weight: the Nano handled our rigorous testing workloads with no fan noise or noticeable heat. This is the laptop for you if you want a dependable business laptop that will feel like nothing in your briefcase.
12. LENOVO CHROMEBOOK DUET
THE BEST LAPTOP FOR STUDENTS
Lenovo’s Chromebook Duet is an excellent convertible laptop for children or anyone looking for a dependable secondary driver for browsing and gaming. It’s a well-designed, well-made 10-inch device with a detachable keyboard and kickstand.
The Duet is designed for use around the house and on the go, weighing only 2.03 pounds and providing more than 11 hours of battery life. Its MediaTek processor isn’t designed to handle heavy loads, but it’s fine for browsing in a couple tabs, watching Netflix, or playing Android games — it’s even capable of photo editing. The Duet also includes a new “tablet mode” for Chrome OS, which includes an Android-inspired gesture navigation system and a unique Chrome layout designed specifically for tablet use.
The Chromebook Duet is an absolute steal for its low price, and it is the Chromebook to purchase if you are on a tight budget.
13. RAZER BOOK 13
A STYLISH, POWERFUL PRODUCTIVITY LAPTOP
Razer is best known for its gaming laptops, but with its new Razer Book 13, the company is making a big splash in the business and productivity space. The Book 13 is a portable workstation with a gorgeous and sturdy aluminum build that measures 0.6 inches thick and weighs 3.09 pounds. It has a good port selection, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, HDMI 2.0, and a microSD slot, and it’s one of the few non-gaming laptops with a per-key RGB keyboard.
This laptop is even more impressive on the inside. On our Premiere Pro media export test, its powerful chip outperformed any other Windows laptop of its size. And, while the Book 13 isn’t a gaming laptop, it has some of the best gaming performance I’ve seen from integrated graphics — it can even run Shadow of the Tomb Raider at over 30 frames per second. While the Razer Book 13’s high price makes it unsuitable for everyone, it’s still an excellent laptop in every way, combining a high-quality chassis with powerful productivity performance.
14. LENOVO YOGA 9I
THE BEST MULTIMEDIA LAPTOP
Most thin and light laptops have one major flaw: thin, tinny audio. The Lenovo Yoga 9i is not one of them. This 14-inch convertible has a rotating soundbar in its hinge, so the speakers face outwards regardless of how it’s positioned. Whether you use the 9i as a tablet, tent, or clamshell, you can expect clear, booming sound.
There’s plenty more to enjoy. You get a great 1080p touch display as well as a built-in stylus for simple artwork and note-taking. The 11th-Gen processors provide adequate performance as well as all-day battery life. The audio quality, screen, and convertible form factor all add up to an unrivaled multimedia entertainment machine.
15. RAZER BLADE 17
A GREAT CHOICE FOR GAMERS
The Razer Blade 17 is a surprisingly cool and quiet gaming rig for its size and power. It combines Intel’s 12th-generation Core processors with Nvidia’s RTX 3000 series graphics cards. The display on our model was QHD 240Hz. At 0.78 inches thick, it’s quite portable for such a powerful gaming laptop. And because it only requires one charging brick, you can transport it in a backpack or briefcase without sacrificing power.
There are other things to enjoy as well. It has an RGB keyboard, which adds a splash of color to the Pro’s design without being too distracting for the workplace. Even outside of the gaming laptop realm, we believe it has one of the best keyboard and trackpack combinations available. While the Blade Pro 17 is not inexpensive, it is the laptop to get if you want the best of the best.
