Sometimes, you just want to pack up all the hardware power required for your specialized work and set up camp in a nearby coffee shop. The ambiance is better and they do have jazz music. For this to happen smoothly though, you would need the best laptops for productivity and digital media work.
Can’t have your cafe session ruined by laggy render times or Google Chrome crashes now, can you? Besides, most digital media work, be it video editing, image manipulation, graphics design, drawing, or animation requires a lot of hardware muscle.
RELATED: 5 Best Laptops for Artists Other than a MacBook
Some Considerations When Picking a Productivity Laptop
So which hardware components are actually the most important when it comes to the best laptops for productivity? In the order of significance, prioritize having the best for these components:
- CPU – More cores usually mean better workload processing, you’d want at least an i7 or Ryzen 7 for work, or anything with more than four physical cores.
- RAM – Something with 16 GB ought to be the bare minimum here, but more is always better for productivity; also, they need to be dual channel and at least DDR4
- Display – You’d want something with the best color accuracy possible; for this, OLED screens excel and higher resolutions are always better. Touchscreen might be mandatory for artists.
- GPU – Not really as important for work since it’s mostly a gaming-focused component, but some digital work, such as 3D animations, etc. might require something beefy.
- SSD – Most laptops already come with SSDs instead of traditional spinning hard disks anyway, but on the off chance that they still use an HDD and nothing else, avoid them at all costs; those things are slow.
Without further ado, let’s look at your options for the best laptops for productivity.
Asus Zenbook Pro Duo
PROS
- Dual 4K OLED screen
- Touchscreen display
- Two screens
- DDR5 RAM
- Great for gaming too
- Good HDR range
- Hinge acts as additional cooling mechanism
- Infrared camera
- Comes with palm rest, stylus pen, and laptop stand
CONS
- Expensive
- CPU/Processor: Intel Core i7-12700H
- GPU/Graphics card: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
- RAM/Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Display: 15.6” OLED 4K Touch Display
It sports quite a hefty price tag but if you want the best, then the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 is one of the hottest professional hardware available right now. Because it’s one of the few laptops in existence that sport not one, but two OLED screens.
Oh, but it doesn’t end there. Both of those OLED screens are also multi-touch capable, meaning you can use a digital pen if you want to draw or something. Every other piece of laptop component just falls in place here and complements the device in a stellar manner.
Those two screens also have 4K resolution, which is important for people who use PhotoShop a lot. As an added bonus, you can play the most beautiful video games available during your break time thanks to the RTX 3070 Ti.
There are versions with an Intel i9, but unless you’re aiming for maximum efficiency, you’re fine with sticking to this to save some money.
Asus Zenbook Pro Duo
Dell XPS 15 OLED
PROS
- 2160p OLED screen
- Multi-touch display
- RTX 3050 Ti ensures lower temperatures and quieter operation
- Beautiful minimalist design
- Adequate enough for gaming
CONS
- CPU is last-gen
- CPU/Processor: Intel 11th Generation Core i7-11800H
- GPU/Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
- RAM/Memory: 16 GB
- Storage: 1TB
- Display: 15.6″ OLED Touch-Screen
Dell doesn’t lag behind when it comes to offering some productivity laptops. One of their best offerings that somehow still fit in a good budget bracket would be the Dell XPS 15 OLED. This particular version comes with an 11th Gen CPU instead of a 12th Gen– there is a 12th Gen Intel version but it’s nearly twice the price of this one.
A bit of compromise on the processing power goes a long way here to save more than a thousand bucks. In any case, this still competes well since it has an OLED screen that has multi-touch technology.
The GPU isn’t exactly that robust though there are better options if you want something that can game heavier. Of course, the obligatory 2160p resolution is also present here to help artists.
Dell XPS 15 OLED
Microsoft 14 Multi-Touch Surface Laptop Studio
PROS
- Impressive hinge/stand
- Customizable hardware options
- Adequate enough for gaming
- Stylish, minimalist design
- Touchscreen display
- 2400 x 1600 resolution
- Light and compact
- Dolby Atmos speakers
CONS
- Expensive
- CPU is last-gen
- CPU/Processor: Intel Core i7-11370H (11th Gen)
- GPU/Graphics card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
- RAM/Memory: 32 GB
- Storage: 1 TB M.2 NVMe PCIe
- Display: 14.4″ 2400 x 1600 PixelSense Flow 10-point touchscreen 120Hz
Microsoft charges quite a big sum for its Surface Book devices, but seeing this is two devices in one, the price is somewhat justified. Because this particular Microsoft Surface Book is not just adequately powerful, but it’s also compact.
You can carry it around in your bag as if it were a large notebook. The good part about this deal is that you can also customize the components. If you don’t care much about gaming, then you can opt to remove the RTX 3050 Ti for a significant price cut.
Other components are also customizable. One crowning feature that seals the deal for the Surface Book as a convertible laptop is its hinge which doubles as a stand. This allows for flexible setups with minimal need for peripherals; the transformation from laptop to tablet is quite seamless.
Microsoft 14 Multi-Touch Surface Laptop Studio
Lenovo 16" IdeaPad Flex 5
PROS
- Light and thin
- Touchscreen display
- Flexible hinge
- Full keyboard
- Affordable
CONS
- Storage could be better
- Not for gaming
- CPU is weaker than it sounds
- Aspect ratio is too square, not widescreen
- CPU/Processor: Intel Core i7-1255U (12th Gen)
- GPU/Graphics card: Intel Iris Xe (Integrated)
- RAM/Memory: 16 GB
- Storage: 512 GB M.2 NVMe PCIe
- Display: 16″ 1920 x 1200 IPS Touchscreen
Whoever said convertible or 2-in-1 laptops can’t be for budget-concerned professionals? Lenovo begs to differ with its IdeaPad Flex 5 2-in1 laptop. Thanks to the flexible hinge, you can transform this 16-inch machine into an oversized tablet.
That’s great for artists who want to draw digitally. Moreover, the laptop’s thin size and light weight help make this transformation a breeze.
It doesn’t have the best resolution or aspect ratio, however, nor an adequate GPU for gaming or graphics-heavy work, but at this price, you can’t really ask for more in a 2-in-1 laptop.
Lenovo 16" IdeaPad Flex 5
HP Spectre x360 (2022)
PROS
- Sleek design
- 3072 x 1920 resolution
- 360-degree hinge
- Good battery life
- 16-inch tablet
- i7 12th Gen processor at this price point
CONS
- Weak integrated GPU
- Weird resolution might cause problems for some applications
- CPU/Processor: Intel 14-Core i7-12700H
- GPU/Graphics card: Intel Iris Xe (Integrated)
- RAM/Memory: 16 GB
- Storage: 1TB PCle SSD
- Display: 16″ 3K+ (3072 x 1920) 2-in-1 Touchscreen
Convertible touchscreen laptops with a high resolution can be difficult to find, but HP managed it with the HP Spectre x360 (2022 version). They equipped this workhorse with a 12th Gen Intel i7 processor which is quite impressive given the price point.
The resolution is a bit odd at 3072 x 1920 which is somewhere between 1440p and 4K but any pixel above 1080p will help for professionals. Of course, the panel is also multi-touch and has a beautiful edge-to-edge glass display for that seamless tablet transition.
The only downside is that it was never meant to have a good GPU so activities and work prospects are limited.
HP Spectre x360 (2022)
Frequently Asked Questions
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Is touchscreen necessary for a productivity laptop?
That depends on your work, but usually, they're more useful for most professional work compared to traditional laptops. -
Can work laptops run games?
Most of the time, work laptops aren't equipped with good GPUs, so they're not the best devices for gaming. They can handle some light games; a few of them also come equipped with high-end GPUs.