Laptops are some of the most important tools people use today. Whether you’re a student submitting homework, at work typing away at documents, spreadsheets or presentations, or you’re just someone who wants to access resources online and connect with family and friends, you want a notebook with the components and features you’ll need to get the job done. That means a great screen, a comfortable keyboard, and long battery life (nice design doesn’t hurt, either!). If you’re looking for a powerful laptop that easily fits in your bag and doesn’t break your back, you’re looking for what some call an “ultrabook.”
The “ultrabook” moniker was originally coined by Intel in 2012 and used to refer to a set of premium, super-thin laptops that met the chipmaker’s predefined standards. Much of this occurred as the PC world was first catching up to the original MacBook Air. However, just as many people refer to tissues as Kleenexes or web searching as Googling, the term ultrabook commonly refers to any premium ultraportable laptop, whether it carries Intel’s seal of approval or not.
Of course, there’s always new tech coming down the pipe. Intel’s most recent chips are its Intel Core Ultra chips and 14th Gen Core HX processors. The former are in productivity and gaming machines, while the latter are for high-performance gaming.
AMD’s first 8000-series “Hawk Point” processors are in devices like the Asus Zephyrus G14, and we saw the first Strix Point machines at Computex. On Macs, Apple’s top chips are the M3 series. The standard M3, M3 Pro, and M3 Max can be found in the MacBook Pro and MacBook Air lineup. The recently announced M4 is only in iPads, for now. And with Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite and Plus series chips pushing Windows on Arm, the laptop wars are heating up with competitive devices that don’t run on x86 chips and prioritize battery life.
Best Ultrabooks and Premium Laptops You Can Buy Today
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Apple’s MacBook Air line has long been a popular go-to for entry-level Mac users, and now Apple has two sizes — 13-inch and 15-inch — on the same upgrade schedule. The two systems use most of the same components, differing primarily on display size and speakers. They’re both excellent, portable, and powerful. And now that they come standard with 16GB of RAM, they’re an even better value.
Both laptops have bright displays, use Apple’s squared design, and lasted over 15 hours on our battery test. Each has the same set of ports and sues MagSafe, a magnetic power connector. They also both have a notch in the display to house the 1080p webcam.
Outside of the displays, the big difference is audio. The 15-inch laptop has six speakers and force-cancelling woofers, while the 13-inch laptop has just four speakers.
The fanless design is totally silent, but it also means the M3 chip isn’t actively cooled. That means yes, the chip will throttle for intense work like video editing and rendering. (In our testing, we found the 13-inch laptop throttled faster possibly because the 15-inch Air has more surface area to cool the chip). But for most tasks, like email, documents, and spreadsheets, you shouldn’t have any worries.
Read: MacBook Air (M3) review
Look, I can try to sell you on the ThinkPad T14s’s bright screen. I could try to tell you that ThinkPads are known for their great keyboards, or that you might appreciate the TrackPoint so that you don’t have to take your fingers off the home row while you move the mouse.
Alternatively, I could point out that it lasted 21 hours on our battery test. You read that right. That’s the longest we’ve seen.
Much of that is likely due to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processor’s efficiency, though the 1920 x 1200 IPS panel probably helped (high-res OLED touch screens often require more power). The Snapdragon X Elite also offered solid performance.
At just under $1,700 as tested, it’s on the pricey side. But if you demand Windows and battery life is your top priority, the ThinkPad truly impresses.
Read: Lenovo ThinkPad T14s (Gen 6, Snapdragon) review
We can argue about how much the AI PC is really any sort of revolution, but there are still some strong ultraportables coming out. The HP OmniBook Ultra puts the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 in a sleek chassis with strong productivity performance.
HP is offering up decent battery life here, running for 12 hours and 52 minutes on our battery test. That’s not the best, but all things considered including the high-resolution display, it’s not bad. It’s also nice to see Thunderbolt 4 ports on an AMD system, which is exceedingly rare.
The experience is knocked down a bit by a significant amount of bloatware, but if you’re looking for a strong AMD laptop, the HP OmniBook Ultra is a strong competitor if you don’t mind doing some uninstalling.
Read: HP OmniBook Ultra review
If you want something a step up from the MacBook Air, the 14-inch MacBook Pro should fill the needs of most people, putting the powerful M4 processor under air cooling. The base MacBook Pro has an extra Thunderbolt port on the right side, allowing for more peripherals and flexible charging.
For those willing to spend an extra $150, there’s a nano-texture display option that is completely worth it if you ever use your laptop outside. The matte display looks excellent, and was great on desks near windows.
For those who need more power than M4, the 14-inch Mac goes up to an M4 Pro, which we tested in a high-end 16-inch MacBook Pro that also featured 48GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. Our 14-incher lasted 18 hours and 31 minutes on a charge, while the 16-incher went an even longer 21:01.
Either way, you get great speakers and strong performance, and you won’t get less than 16GB of RAM. Just be sure you get the specs you need when you buy it, because there aren’t any upgrades.
Read: MacBook Pro (14-inch, M4) review
It’s easy to impress us with a great screen or fast performance, and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED delivers both. But where it really shows off is its price. You get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, 32GB of RAM and 1TB of storage for $1,299 as of this writing. Many other companies would charge you hundreds of dollars more.
Beyond those specs, you get a light laptop at just 2.82 pounds (1.28 kg) that feels pretty sturdy, though the “ponder blue” metal body is a bit of a fingerprint magnet.
We found that Asus’ laptop offered fast, bursty performance, hitting a single-core score of 1,809 and a multi-core score of 10,962 on Geekbench 5. But when we stress tested the laptop with Cinebench, we found that the chip throttled in continuous testing. So the laptop is fine for bursts of speed, but not for long-term heavy workloads.
The keyboard is a bit mushy for our liking, but otherwise, you’re getting pretty high level specs for that $1,299 price tag. Other laptop companies should take note on the pricing.
Read: Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405M) review
There are plenty of reasons why the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a classic. It’s thin design and strong build quality are beloved by ThinkPad diehards. The latest model, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), offers long battery life and great speakers.
Perhaps most critically, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon offers an excellent keyboard. Lenovo’s reputation was built on great typing experiences, so this is crucial. For those who love Lenovo’s TrackPoint, it’s still here, allowing you to move the mouse without ever taking your fingers away from the home row on the keyboard.
The latest version comes with Intel’s 13th Gen Core processors. We reviewed it with a Core i7-1355U, 16GB of RAM and a 512GB PCIe Gen 4 SSD.
The one real issue we had is that the base screen could benefit from being a bit brighter. Those who want the most vivid experience can opt for an OLED panel, but at a higher price.
When shopping for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11), keep an eye out for Lenovo’s frequent sales, as there’s often a deal available.
Read: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11) Review
Microsoft may push the Surface Pro as a do-it-all AI machine, but the truth is it’s just a really nice, portable, slim PC that lasts a long time on a battery and includes a beautiful OLED display. It’s definitively one of the best Surfaces to date.
The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite processors offer enough performance to keep up with x86 competitors, making this one of the first Arm-based Surfaces that doesn’t feel like it’s lacking. Add on more Arm-compatible apps than ever, including the Chrome browser, and there’s far less to miss from previous Intel models. That’s not to say it’s perfect — there are still some gaming issues, as well as drivers for specialized peripherals that may need to be rebuilt for the new platform.
The 45 TOPS NPU powers some of Windows 11’s Copilot+ features, like Cocreator, Live Captions, and Windows Studio effects. None of these are showstoppers, but they’re cool tricks.’
If you want a premium tablet running Windows 11, the Surface Pro is one of the only premium games in town. And that means paying a premium for a separate keyboard. But for those who love this form factor, the Surface Pro remains the best option out there.
Read: Microsoft Surface Pro review
- Get a good keyboard: Whether you’re using an ultrabook to browse the web, send emails, code, write, or do other productivity work, the keyboard is one of your primary ways of interacting with your computer. Get something with responsive keys that aren’t mushy. Low-travel is ok if the keys have the right feel to them, but the last thing you want to do is “bottom out” while typing. Ideally, you can try out a store model before buying.
- Consider what you need in a screen: At a minimum, your laptop should have a 1920 x 1080 screen. Some laptops offer 4K options, though it’s sometimes harder to see the difference at 13-inches or below. While 4K may be more detailed, 1080p screens give you much longer battery life. OLED screens are becoming far more common on laptops, with deep blacks and bright colors, but often at the cost of battery life. Many laptop screens still use a 16:9 aspect ratio, but consider 16:10 or 3:2 if you want a taller screen that shows more of your work at a time. 16:10 has become increasingly popular over the last several years, while 3:2 is more rare.
- Some laptops can be upgraded: While CPUs and GPUs are almost always soldered down, some laptops let you replace the RAM and storage, so you can buy cheaper now and add more memory and a bigger hard drive or SSD down the road. But the thinnest laptops may not have that option, so buy with the future in mind. Some, like the Framework Laptop 13, are designed around being easily upgradeable.
- Battery life is important: Aim for something that lasts for 8 hours or longer on a charge (gaming is an exception) at a bare minimum. For productivity, many laptops easily surpass this number, so 10 hours would be even better. But be wary of manufacturer claims, which don’t always use strenuous tests. Some laptops are starting to add fast charging, which is a nice bonus that tops you off more quickly.
Finding Discounts on the Best Ultrabooks
Whether you’re shopping for one of the best ultrabooks or a laptop didn’t quite make our list, you may find savings by checking out our lists of the latest Dell coupon codes, HP coupon codes, Lenovo coupon codes, Best Buy promo codes or Newegg promo codes.
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