The Best Business Laptops
Which business laptop is best?
Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon (8th Gen) remains our favorite business laptop for three years running thanks to its lightweight design, fast performance and good display options.
One option among the top competitors to the X1 Carbon is the HP Elite Dragonfly, a gorgeous 2-in-1 laptop with long battery life, an awesome keyboard and fast performance. Unfortunately, it hasn't been updated with new CPUs and it's even more expensive than the X1 Carbon.
On the macOS side of things, the new 13-inch MacBook Pro with M1 is an excellent option for power users who run massive simulations or transfer large files. The new M1 processor is a speed demon but also efficient enough to give the MacBook Pro an absurd 16 hours and 32 minutes of battery life.
If you're an artist or designer who wants to use a stylus, we recommend the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 or the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga, which is essentially a convertible version of the X1 Carbon.
True power users who need to crunch big data should opt for a workstation, like the excellent HP ZBook Studio x360 G5.
For those on a budget, like small-business owners, the HP Pro C640 Chrome Enterprise is a straightforward, easy-to-use laptop or, if you need to run Windows 10, consider the ThinkPad X13 or HP EliteBook 840 G7.
After considering dozens of models and testing seven in 2020, we think the Lenovo ThinkPad T490 is the best business laptop for people who need one.
It has an outstanding keyboard, trackpad, and port selection, it’s reasonably easy to upgrade and fix, and its battery life will get you through a workday.
But if you don’t care about being able to upgrade or fix your laptop yourself, a good ultrabook will usually be cheaper, lighter, and smaller.
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