Why are ultrabooks popular

But even with that feature disabled in the software, the screen still looked terrible and gave me an eyestrain headache. The X1 Carbon offers more port options than the competition, too. In addition to two USB 3. It also has a fingerprint reader on the power button for quick logins. These otherwise great ultrabooks had at least one flaw that separated them from our top picks. Its inch IPS display has a tall, aspect ratio like that of the XPS 13, and it has a slightly higher resolution.

But if your priority is an even lighter ultrabook with a satisfying keyboard, the X1 Nano is a good option. But the Razer Book 13 is just about as compact as our top picks, its precision trackpad is reliable, its But the Yoga 9i is pricier than the Spectre x 13, and the more compact, lighter HP model is easier to flip around and use as a tablet. HP Spectre x Bulkier, but still an excellent laptop The HP Spectre x 14 14t-ea is another excellent ultrabook, very similar in design, quality, and battery life to our runner-up , the inch Spectre x The Spectre x 14 has a taller, aspect-ratio screen, which is nice for web browsing but makes the laptop bulkier than its counterpart.

The Aero is a good alternative if the Yoga 7i is out of stock or its price has risen. This Swift 3 is compact and weighs exactly the same as the Dell XPS 13, and its battery lasted about But unlike almost every other laptop in its price range, the Swift 3 meets our performance, battery life, and weight requirements and has no dealbreaking flaws. The Dell XPS 13 was our previous top pick, but Dell has discontinued it and replaced it with the model, which offers 11th-gen processors.

The giant bezel that surrounds the The Intel-processor model that we tested also had about an hour less battery life than our top pick. The newer model has a few hours more battery life.

Its speakers were also subpar in our testing. We like the taller-aspect-ratio screen of the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 , but this laptop is typically more expensive than the HP Spectre x 13, and its maglev keyboard is unpleasant to type on. Compared with its successor, the Yoga 7i, the C has a couple of hours less battery life, and its lid lacks a lip, so it requires two hands to open.

Although PCIe is newer and designed to support faster speeds—and is found in most modern ultrabooks—most people would never notice a difference in performance between the two. Older versions of the XPS 13 put the webcam below the screen, so anyone you chatted with would be looking straight up your nose.

Kimber Streams is a senior staff writer and has been covering laptops, gaming gear, keyboards, storage, and more for Wirecutter since How we picked Compact and light.

An ultrabook should be as thin and light as possible—we look for models under 3 pounds. A great ultrabook should last at least a full day of work or classes away from an outlet. Our pick. Dell XPS 13 The best ultrabook The latest XPS 13 is thin and light, and it offers long battery life, a great keyboard, a reliable trackpad, and a spacious screen. Also great. We tested the Spectre x with a 10th-gen processor, not the 11th-gen processor we now recommend.

We expect the battery life to be slightly better on the newer model. Budget pick. During the first days of the show, it has become clear that even the biggest laptop manufacturers are going to get into the Ultrabook game. The Lenovo Tu Ultrabook is a throwback to the IBM business laptops that once dominated the market, with blocky retro styling and even that trademark rubber nipple pointer right in the middle of the keyboard. The flamboyantly glossy HP Spectre will be the world's largest laptop manufacturer's first foray into Ultrabook territory, though it won't be formally announced or priced until tomorrow.

In fact, the category is so compelling to manufacturers—these are premium products with premium prices—that Vizio, known almost exclusively for its budget HDTVs, is releasing its own Ultrabook, a smoothly styled machine with a monochrome finish.

Intel showed off a couple of concept Ultrabooks as well: The Nikisi concept is an Ultrabook style laptop with a wide, transparent touchpad.

When the laptop is closed, the touchpad—yes, on the bottom of the laptop—becomes a small touchscreen interface. The laptop is tiny, but packs a punch with Intel's Tiger Lake processors and adds some extra screen real estate with a tall, display many laptops have a screen. We also like the XPS 13's keyboard, with a snappy press and slightly larger keycaps than previous designs.

The screen is bright, and we shouldn't take its thin bezels for granted, as Dell continues to lead on that front. Admittedly, the XPS 13 is short on ports, opting for a pair of Thunderbolt 4 ports for booth charging and accessories.

Its performance, portability and long battery life are likely to make up for that for those on the go. Read: Dell XPS 13 review.

While some people may still want the power, large display and port selection of the inch MacBook Pro , Apple has proved with the inch version that its own home-grown M1 chip is capable of the needs of plenty of people. This is Apple's first step in breaking away from Intel, and it is extremely impressive. The inch MacBook Pro runs cool and quiet, while the chip is faster than its competition in most cases. It's also efficient and ran for more than 16 and a half hours on our battery test.

Many apps run natively on the Arm processor and those that don't use Apple's Rosetta 2 software for emulation. Even then, users will barely know that emulation is being used at all. Everything just works. The big difference between the Pro and the Air, which also uses M1, is that the Pro has a fan.

Those who aren't doing intensive work may be able to save a bit and get a very similar machine by going with the Air, and they will get function keys instead of the MacBook Pro's Touch Bar. We haven't gotten to test those yet, but we've seen impressive benchmarks. Those laptops also have improved speakers, keyboards and mini LED displays. If you're looking for a good mid-size screen, it's worth a look. The custom AMD processor proved powerful in our benchmarks, and was optimized to bring about more than 12 hours of battery life on our test.

While it's based on Zen 2 cores, the processor has some tricks from the more recent series that helped it impress. This design has been in use in some form for a while now, and the port selection seems meager, but if you like the magnetic Surface Connector, you'll be glad to know it's still here.

Microsoft's display is great for work as it shows more of your text, webpage, or vertical space on a spreadsheet. What this laptop lacks its slow SSD speeds it absolutely makes up with a display and comfortable keyboard that make it a joy to use. And yes, it has a massive RGB light bar. The But unlike many of the other laptops on this list, the Raider is not thin.

In fact, it's quite large, but you need that for all of the power inside and for the If you want something smaller, the GE66 Raider, our former pick for this spot, which we reviewed last year, has also been updated to more recent parts.

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon has everything you need for work. The Carbon finally features a display, allowing for more vertical space to show your work, whether it be writing emails or working in spreadsheets. For businesses with older peripherals, that's a selection that will work with what you have now and allow you to future proof.

San Francisco journalist Bill Snyder covers business and technology. He writes regularly for CIO. Here are the latest Insider stories. More Insider Sign Out. Sign In Register. Sign Out Sign In Register.