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Even if you aren’t running a business, a business laptop is important. They’re easier to repair and upgrade than other laptops, and they’re constructed of long-lasting materials that can survive heavy use and travel. We’ve tested hundreds of business laptops over the years, and the HP EliteBook 840 G7 is the best for most users. It’s small, has a lot of connectors, has a long battery life, and comes with a wonderful, dependable keyboard and trackpad. If you don’t care about being able to upgrade or repair your laptop yourself, a great ultrabook is usually less expensive.
The EliteBook 840 G7 offers about everything we want in best business laptops: fast speed, a comfortable keyboard and touchpad, a nice-looking 14-inch 1080p screen, and all of the connections most users will need to connect all of their peripherals and external displays. Its battery life is more than adequate for a full day of school or work, yet it’s still small and light enough to fit into a bag. If you want to save money, you may update and replace the parts on the 840 G7 yourself. DIY upgrades are less expensive than purchasing a lot of extra memory or storage straight from HP. Although the EliteBook 840 G7 is more costly than an ultra-book with comparable features, you may save money in the long term on upgrades and repairs.
- Processor: quad-core Intel Core i5-10210U
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel HD 620
- Screen: 1080p IPS
- Memory: 8 GB
- Weight: 2.95 pounds
- Tested battery life: 11.2 hours
- HP ProBook 445 G7
The HP ProBook 445 G7 is approximately half the price of the EliteBook 840 G7, but its AMD Ryzen 5 processor makes it somewhat speedier for processor-intensive tasks like video editing and light gaming. It also includes a good keyboard and trackpad, as well as expandable RAM and space for two hard drives. However, it is heavier than your usual laptop, and its battery life is just adequate, as is the case with many cheap best business laptops. A fingerprint reader or a face-scanning camera aren’t included in our $700-ish suggested setup, but you can add any or both if you’re prepared to spend extra.
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Graphics: AMD Radeon
- Screen: 1080p IPS
- Memory: 8 GB
- Weight: 3.5 pounds
- battery life: 7.1 hours
The Lenovo ThinkPad L14 is your best option now that Lenovo’s T-series ThinkPad no longer offers user-upgradable memory. If you want a great keyboard and trackpad and good battery life, but you also want to spend a little less money and don’t mind something a little heavier, the Lenovo ThinkPad L14 is your best option. It is nearly half a pound heavier than the EliteBook 840 G7, despite the fact that the two laptops have equal performance, displays, and battery life. The L14, on the other hand, is easy to update and repair, comes with connections that not all business laptops provide (such as Ethernet and macros), and costs roughly a third less than the EliteBook.
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel HD 620
- Screen: 1080p IPS
- Memory: 8 GB
- Weight: 3.6 pounds
- battery life: 9.8 hours
- Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 isn’t just a good business laptop; it’s one of the best business laptops available right now, from any manufacturer and in any category. It has a larger screen with more vertical pixels than our other selections, allowing it to display more web pages and documents at the same time. It’s almost a pound lighter than the other business laptops we suggest, but it’s simple to update and repair, has a wide range of ports, and has a longer battery life than most of the other laptops we tested.
- Storage: 256 GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel Iris
- Screen: 1920×1200 IPS
- Memory: 16 GB
- Weight: 2.5 pounds
- battery life: 13 hours
While shopping for a business laptop differs from shopping for an ultra-book, the most important features to look for are similar:
For most individuals, a decent laptop should have at least 8 GB of RAM, a 256 GB or bigger SSD, and an Intel Core i5 or i7 CPU from the 10th or 11th generation, or an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 processor from the 4000- or 5000-series. Check out our pro laptop and gaming laptop guides if you require a faster CPU or a dedicated GPU for gaming, picture and video editing, or other tasks.
Because business laptops are the go-to document and spreadsheet machines, they should feature keyboard layouts and key travel that are pleasant to use for extended periods of time. It is strongly recommended that you use a backlight.
We like a battery life of approximately eight hours—enough for a full workday or a cross-country journey plus time spent waiting at the airport. External batteries are no longer included in business computers.
- Size and weight are reasonable:
Business laptops are often bigger and heavier than ultrabooks, partially due to the fact that they are intended to be more durable, and partly due to the fact that components like removable memory take up more space than non-upgradable components. However, everything we tested for this list is less than 4 pounds, and the majority of models are less than 3.5 pounds.
The best business laptops allow you to operate more efficiently while on the road. They’re lightweight and portable, with excellent keyboards and clear, easy-to-read displays that are pleasant to gaze at during lengthy periods. They also have a long battery life. If you’re looking for the best business laptop, LENOVO VS HP are both good choices. While they are still excellent laptops for office workers and business professionals on the move, recent improvements in mobile components have resulted in a flood of inexpensive ultra-portables that are long-lasting, powerful, and small enough to fit into a briefcase or look elegant on a desk.
