Windows dominates the PC operating system market thanks to its long-time availability on a wide range of OEM (and more recently, Microsoft) hardware. This has resulted in a huge variety of software written for the platform. That doesn’t necessarily make it the ‘best’ operating system, but you’re going to need a good reason to overlook it in favor of macOS, Chrome OS, or Linux.
So, given that you’re still in the market for a Windows 10 or 11 laptop, which one should you buy? As ever, that depends on your budget and what you want to do with the laptop. Here are ZDNET’s current picks for a variety of use cases.
Laptops designed for power users and creators are always going to command premium prices because they need high-end features such as serious processing power, powerful discrete graphics, copious memory and storage, a high-quality screen and robust industrial design. Dell’s 2020 XPS 15, which featured a redesigned chassis, “set a new high bar for 15.6-inch laptops,” according to ZDNet’s review. The 2021 (9510) model retains that sturdy build quality, adding 11th-generation Intel Core processors, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics, and an OLED display option. The XPS 15 remains a top-quality high-end laptop for users who need to run demanding workloads. That entry-level price buys you a Core i5 processor with integrated UHD Graphics, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB PCIe SSD and an FHD+ (1920 x 1200) non-touch display with 500 nits maximum brightness. There are multiple configuration options, including a Core i9 processor, GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics with 4GB of dedicated video memory, 64GB of RAM, 8TB of SSD storage (2x 4TB), and a UHD+ (3840 x 2400) touch display with 500 nits maximum brightness.
Read the review: Dell XPS 15: It’s good to be king
There are plenty of other Windows laptops that can handle video editing and other creative workloads. Here are some more leading 15-inch contenders:
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme
Acer Concept D7 Ezel
Also: The best laptops for graphic design Knowledge workers spend a lot of time staring at the screen and pounding the keyboard, mostly running a mix of productivity and collaboration apps. As well as a decent screen and keyboard, knowledge workers need solid all-round performance, a spare connection for an external monitor, if required, and a good webcam/mic/speaker combo for handling video calls (this will be particularly important if the user is also working remotely). Many devices could perform these duties, but the Dell XPS 13 currently leads the field, in our opinion.Powered by 11th-generation Intel Core i3, 15 or i7 processors with integrated Intel (UHD or Iris Xe) Graphics, the 13.4-inch XPS 13 is compact and lightweight, yet durable. The minimal-bezel InfinityEdge display is available in FHD+ (non-touch/touch) or 4K+/UHD+ (touch) resolutions with 16:10 aspect ratio, while the keyboard is quiet, responsive and comfortable to type on at speed. All-day battery life should be achievable from the 52Wh battery, depending on the workload mix and screen resolution/brightness setting. It’s not cheap, especially if you add copious options (such as a Thunderbolt Dock), but it will serve you very well.Dell offers a variant of the XPS 13 with an OLED touch display featuring “3.5K” resolution (3456 x 2160 pixels, 304ppi), 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut coverage, DisplayHDR 500 and Dolby Vision certification, and 400 nits maximum brightness. Read the review: Dell XPS 13 review Here are some other highly-regarded contenders for knowledge/remote workers, in order of increasing screen size:
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (14-inch)Dell XPS 15 (15.6-inch)LG Gram 17 (17-inch)
Mobile professionals ask a lot of laptop designers: a usable and performant combination of lightweight, flexible configuration, sturdy build, connectivity, security, battery life, and design credibility. It’s a tall order to shoehorn all of that into one product, but HP gives it an exemplary go with the 13.3-inch Elite Dragonfly. We were extremely impressed with the first-generation Elite Dragonfly, and at CES 2021, HP announced the Elite Dragonfly G2 and Elite Dragonfly Max, based on Intel’s latest 11th-generation processors, which are both now available. The Elite Dragonfly G2 ticks most of the boxes for mobile pros who don’t mind paying for a premium device that can top $5,000 if you max out on the options. It has an elegant sub-1kg chassis with MIL-STD 801G robustness and a 360-degree FHD (non-touch/touch) or UHD (touch) screen. The spill-resistant, backlit keyboard has a good, firm action and is not too loud, while the glass multi-touch touchpad works smoothly, as do the integrated mouse buttons. Options include mobile broadband (4G LTE or 5G), a Wacom AES 2.0 Pen and integrated Tile tracking, and there’s an electronic privacy slider for the HD (720p) IR webcam. Video calls are well served by the combination of the webcam, 3-mic array, and 4-speaker system, and both standard (38Wh) and long-life (56Wh) batteries are available – the latter to serve the power-hungry 4K (UHD) screen. Read the review: HP Elite Dragonfly G2 review The Elite Dragonfly Max is only available with Core i7 processors and lacks the 4K screen option. It also has four rather than three mics (2 world-facing, 2 user-facing) and a 5MP IR camera with a manual rather than electronic privacy shutter. The G2 and Max both have two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 port and an HDMI port. If the Elite Dragonfly G2 doesn’t do it for you, here are four more highly regarded contenders, in order of increasing screen size:
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (13.4-inch)HP Spectre x360 14 (14-inch)Lenovo Yoga 9i (14-inch)
Many people require more compute, graphics, memory, and storage than even a power user/creator laptop provides. These demanding professionals include 3D designers, architects, engineers, scientists, video editors, VR developers, and more, and what they need is a full-blown mobile workstation. As well as Core i7/i9/Xeon or Ryzen 9 CPUs, Nvidia Quadro or Radeon Pro GPUs, at least 16GB of RAM (32GB or more preferable) and multiple terabytes of storage, workstation-class laptops need high-quality IPS or OLED screens with high resolution (4K preferable) and good colour space support (sRGB, Adobe RGB, DCI-P3). They also need certifications from ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) such as Adobe, Autodesk, Avid and others, to signify that specific configurations are optimized for mission-critical apps.The leading mobile workstation vendors are Dell, HP, and Lenovo, but your search for a suitable solution may also encompass recent entrants from the gaming market such as Gigabyte, MSI, and Razer. We’ve chosen a top-end model from a tier-1 vendor, in the shape of Lenovo’s “ultra-premium and luxury in a workstation” ThinkPad P1 Gen 3.This 15.6-inch clamshell device is a typically black-clad, robust (MIL-STD 810G) ThinkPad with the usual excellent keyboard and signature red TrackPoint. In the US, an entry-level model has an Intel Core i7-10750H processor, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, an FHD (1920 x 1080, 141.2ppi) 500 nits IPS screen and Nvidia Quadro T1000 graphics. That won’t cut the mission-critical mustard, though, so buyers may be drawn to the model with a Xeon W-10855M processor, 64GB RAM, a 1TB PCIe SSD, a 4K (3840 x 2160, 282.4ppi) 400 nits OLED touch screen and Nvidia Quadro T2000 graphics. Read the review: Lenovo ThinkPad P1 The ThinkPad P1 line has now been refreshed with a Gen 4 model. This increases the screen size to 16 inches (but drops the OLED option), runs on 11th generation Core and Xeon processors and offers wide range of Nvidia GPU options (T1200; RTX A2000, A3000, A4000, A5000; GeForce RTX 3070, 3080). If a 15.6-inch or 16-inch screen isn’t large enough for you, here’s a couple of 17.3-inch mobile workstations to consider:
Dell Precision 7740HP ZBook 17
Not everyone can afford the laptop they might like to have (students and employees of small businesses spring to mind), but that doesn’t mean you have to settle for a substandard device. The top-tier manufacturers all have “affordable” ranges, and there is any number of unashamedly budget brands, many of which offer excellent-value devices. Our choice, Acer’s AMD-powered Swift 3, is from a top-tier vendor and gets the nod thanks to its excellent combination of sub-$1,000 price and solid performance without making too many trade-offs on features, build quality or support options. (Note: Chromebooks, another rich seam of budget laptops, are covered elsewhere in this article.) Key to the Swift 3’s value proposition is AMD’s Ryzen 4000 mobile processor series, which delivers excellent price/performance compared to Intel’s equivalent chips. Not only is the CPU, 8GB or 16GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage well up to scratch, but wireless connectivity – Bluetooth 5.0 and 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6) wi-fi – is bang up to date, which is impressive in this price band. The 14-inch FHD screen is perfectly adequate, although some may find that its matte finish and moderate brightness make it somewhat lackluster. The Swift 3’s build quality is good, there’s a good selection of ports, the keyboard is backlit, and you can expect to get a full day’s (not too demanding) work done on battery power (Acer claims 11 hours). It’s not too heavy either, at 1.2kg. As noted earlier, there are a number of affordable laptops out there, and you can easily find usable Windows 10 devices for under $400 if that’s your budget limit. If you’ve got a bit more to spend, here’s one more good-value laptop:
Asus VivoBook S15
Read more: The best budget laptops Laptops must often brave the elements, which can include bright sunshine, rain, a dust storm, baking heat, serious vibration, and drops from a variety of heights onto different surfaces. No wonder that “rugged” laptops come in many shades – extreme or fully rugged, semi or business rugged, for example. Two main classifications are used to assess the ruggedness of laptops and other equipment: the US military’s MIL-STD 810 series (commonly 810G, or the latest 810H); and the IP or Ingress Protection code. There are numerous MIL-STD 810 tests, and most laptops will only undergo a subset, so check the specs carefully to see which they are. The IP code reports two numbers, the first concerning resistance to solids (5 denotes ‘dust protected’, for example, while 6 means a device is ‘dust tight’) and the second to liquids (1 = ‘dripping water’, 9K = ‘powerful high-temperature water jets’). Our choice in this tough-laptop category, Dell’s 14-inch Latitude 5420 Rugged Business Laptop, isn’t the most bulletproof portable computer on the market by any means, but it offers a good mix of price, performance, features and robustness for business users. Like all rugged laptops, the Latitude 5420 is bulkier and heavier than mainstream devices, thanks to extra protection for the screen and keyboard sections. Still, it weighs a reasonable (for its class) 2.22kg with one battery and no (optional) handle. You can specify a second hot-swappable 51Wh battery to ensure greater longevity in the field. The 14-inch FHD screen comes in touch, non-touch and outdoor-readable versions, and there’s plenty of configurable wired and wireless connectivity, including Ethernet and (optional) 4G LTE broadband. If you need a portable computer that can take a few knocks, this is an excellent choice that’s already available with Windows 11. Read the review: Dell Latitude 5420 Rugged review Dell has the widest range of rugged laptops among the top-tier laptop-makers, but there are a number of specialist vendors, including Getac, Xplore, DT Research and Panasonic. The latter’s Toughbooks are probably the best-known specialist brand. Here are some notable examples:
Panasonic Toughbook G2 (10.1-inch)Panasonic Toughbook 33 (12-inch) Panasonic Toughbook 55 HD (14-inch)
Read more: The best rugged laptops We’ve chosen HP’s Elite Folio, a 13.5-inch 2-in-1 device, because it shows how Windows laptops are developing in response to Apple’s Arm-based M1 MacBooks. The Elite Folio runs Windows on Arm on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2 5G platform, which includes both 4G LTE and 5G modems, along with Wi-Fi 6. The message is that this ultraportable (1.3kg) 2-in-1 is “always on, always connected,” with claimed battery life of up to 24.5 hours of “local video playback.” With optional Sure View privacy for the touch screen, an Elite Slim Active Pen (with on-device storage and charging), a well-specified audio-video subsystem and fanless operation, this is a sought-after laptop for the well-heeled mobile professional. The Elite Folio’s Arm-based processor certainly delivers on battery life (ZDNet’s review recorded battery life of around 15 hours with mixed-use workloads), but there is a trade-off in that Windows 10 on Arm (WoA) can currently only run 32-bit Windows apps. Intel x64 emulation is coming to WoA, however, and is available now via the Windows Insider Program. ARM64-native apps are appearing too, and include Microsoft’s Teams and Edge, and Adobe’s Photoshop and Lightroom. Read the review: HP Elite Folio review There are plenty of other innovative laptop form factors out there that might catch the eye of the early adopter. Here’s a selection:
Microsoft Surface Laptop StudioAsus ZenBook Duo 14Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga
Microsoft’s Surface devices made their debut in 2012 with a 10.6-inch tablet sporting an optional attachable keyboard, running the ill-fated Windows RT on an ARM-based Nvidia Tegra SoC. Since then, the brand has established itself as a design and technology showcase for the Windows platform, evolving into a profitable business for Microsoft and picking up a hard core of devotees. Today Microsoft offers numerous Surface laptops of various descriptions, most of them in consumer and business guises. Laptop users seeking a Surface device for mainstream productivity tasks are probably best directed to the Surface Laptop 4, which comes in 13.5-inch or 15-inch sizes, powered by either 11th-generation Intel Core processors with Iris Xe graphics or AMD Ryzen 4000-series processors with Radeon graphics. With an elegant aluminum chassis available in a range of colors and finishes, both Surface Laptop 4 models look sleek and have 201ppi PixelSense touch screens with 3:2 aspect ratios. Read more: The best Surface PC: Every Surface device is Windows 11-ready The main disappointment for ZDNet’s reviewers with the Surface Laptop 3 was battery life. Microsoft claimed up to 11.5 hours of “typical usage,” but our tests came in at more like 6 hours. Microsoft clearly aimed to address this with the Surface Laptop 4, claiming up to 19h and 17h respectively for the 13.5-inch AMD- and Intel-based models. For the 15-inch model, Microsoft claims up to 17.5h (AMD) and 16.5h (Intel). In our review of the 13.5-inch AMD-powered model, we saw around 14 hours of life under mixed-use workloads. That’s below the 19h claim, but it’s impressive nonetheless. Read the review: Surface Laptop 4 (13.5-inch, AMD) review Prices for the 13.5-inch Surface Laptop 4 start at $999.99 with an AMD Ryzen 5 4680U processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage, rising to $2,299.99 with an Intel Core i7-1185G7, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The 15-inch model starts at $1,299.99 with a Ryzen 7 4980U, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, rising to $2,399.99 with a Core i7-1185G7, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. The Surface Pro is a tablet with an attachable Type Cover keyboard (not included in the base price) that transforms it into a laptop of sorts. It’s not a laptop you can use comfortably – or at all – on your lap, thanks to the kickstand that keeps the screen section upright, but it’s light and flexible and an excellent choice if you do a lot of touchscreen tasks – sketching, handwritten note-taking and annotation, for example – as well as mainstream knowledge work. Note that, as with the Type Cover, the Surface Pen is another extra-cost option. There are two variants of the 12.3-inch Surface Pro: the consumer-focused Surface Pro 7, which is based on 10th-generation Intel Core processors, and the business-oriented Surface Pro 7+, which runs on the latest 11th-generation Core CPUs and also offers LTE mobile broadband. We’re looking at the latter here. The Surface Pro 7+ starts with a Wi-Fi-only version with a Core i3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. A Core i5 configuration with 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD, Wi-Fi, and LTE is also available, while the top-end model boasts a Core i7, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. The Surface Pro 7+ has a slightly bigger battery than its consumer stablemate, resulting in claimed battery life of 15 hours with Wi-Fi only and 13.5h with Wi-Fi and LTE. Another key differentiator is security and manageability: the Pro 7+ has a removable SSD, Windows Autopilot support, and comes with key security features turned on by default. Read more: Surface Pro 7+ for Business: Here’s what makes it different Microsoft has recently released the Surface Pro 8, with upgrades including a 13-inch display, better battery life (up to 16h claimed), an improved Type Cover keyboard, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports, and a slimmer stylus with haptic feedback and wireless charging. The original raison d’etre of the Surface brand was for Microsoft to showcase new form factors and technologies that its OEM partners could use as inspiration for their designs. That has certainly worked with the Surface Pro-style “tablet-first” 2-in-1, and you’ll find plenty of variations on the theme from the likes of Lenovo, HP, Dell and others. Many laptop users would like a large screen – for more expansive knowledge work (multiple document windows, large spreadsheets), video viewing, or gaming, for example – but are wary of the weight of a typical 17-inch device. If you fall into that category, the LG Gram 17 may be the laptop for you. It weighs an astonishing 1.35kg (although the model with discrete Nvidia graphics comes in at 1.95kg). Moreover, despite its slim, lightweight magnesium alloy chassis, the LG Gram 17 is robust to MIL-STD 810G standard. The screen is a 17-inch IPS panel with a 16:10 resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels (177.6ppi). Variants are available with support for 99% of the DCI-P3 color gamut or, for less demanding use cases, 96% of sRGB. The large-footprint chassis provides plenty of room for the backlit keyboard, a separate number pad, and a large 16:10 touchpad. On LG’s US website, all available models bar one run on Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7-1165G7, from a configuration with discrete Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650Ti graphics with 4GB of dedicated video memory to one with 16GB of RAM and 2TB (2x 1TB) of SSD storage. Read the review: LG Gram 17 (2021) review Once you have a long list of potential candidates, your budget will likely trim it down at the top end, while your cautionary instincts should kick in at the bottom end (if something appears too good to be true, it probably is). However, armed with a well-researched shortlist, you should have a good chance of ending up with a laptop that will satisfy your requirements. If screen real estate with smaller laptops is a problem, you can always attach an external monitor, and there are plenty of hybrid 2-in-1 devices that straddle the divide between laptop and tablet. All of the Windows devices listed here qualify for Windows 11, so if you buy one with Windows 10 installed you’ll be able to upgrade to version 11 in due course if you wish. If you don’t, note that Windows 10 support ends on October 14, 2025, after which there will be no more security patches or feature updates.
