These days, most laptops are considered Ultrabooks, (apart from the top gaming laptops). Ultimately, an Ultrabook should balance portability and performance, meaning it's reliable and powerful, but easy to take on-the-go, too. The term "ultrabook" may have been born out of Intel's marketing team to describe high-end, premium laptops, but it is not limited to just Intel-Powered Ultrabooks anymore. That is just so mid-2010s.
TL;DR – Jump to the Best Ultrabooks:
The most amazing Ultrabooks right now easily take on almost any workload with capable internals inside a thin, light frame, far surpassing what the best Chromebooks can do. From budget-friendly offerings to powerful workhorses, these are our favorite Ultrabooks based on personal experience, price, specs including RAM and storage, and aesthetics.
1. Dell XPS 16
Best Ultrabook in 2024
Pros:
- Sleek and stylish touchpad
- Great battery life
Cons:
- Configurations can get expensive
Moving into the realms of AI-powered computing, Dell’s XPS 16 ultrabook offers excellent base specifications but can be configured to be overwhelmingly powerful. The large 16.3 FHD+ display with Infinity Edge, backlit keyboard, and 1080p camera make this powerhouse a real workhorse.
Every aspect of the Dell XPS 16 has been crafted with care. From the 99.5Whr long-lasting battery to the Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7 built-in. Of course, you do pay a premium, but you’re getting a high-performance ultrabook that’s going to get you through multitasking easily. It’s also more futureproof than most ultrabooks thanks to being equipped with the latest connectivity standards.
2. ASUS Zenbook 14X OLED
Best Budget Ultrabook
Pros:
- Slim and compact design
- OLED touchscreen
Cons:
- Lower-end hardware
At just over $800, this affordable ultrabook is packed full of decent hardware. Sporting a 13th Gen Intel Core processor, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD, you can easily use this laptop for multitasking. It’s also equipped with the latest connectivity standards, like Wi-Fi 6, and also has plenty of ports to connect your external devices.
What really makes this ultrabook a statement piece, however, is its beautiful 3K OLED touchscreen, surrounded by thin and lightweight bezels. Plus, there’s a useful backlit keyboard, so you can continue working on that all-important project even when night falls.
3. Razer Blade 14
Best Ultraportable Gaming Laptop
Pros:
- Excellent gaming performance
- 240Hz display
Cons:
- Shallow keyboard
PC gaming and portability don’t usually go hand in hand. Oftentimes compromises need to be made, but with the Razer Blade 14, those are few and far between. It has managed to squeeze some insane hardware into a laptop just over four pounds and well below an inch thick. The 14-inch 240 Hz QHD+ display offers an is slightly taller than your typical screen, with a 16:10 aspect ratio that could take some getting used to. But it’s what’s on the inside that really blows us away.
That solid display is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor with an equally impressive Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. This machine is ready for whatever game you throw at it, and it’ll also handle video editing like a champ. Heck, you can even do some overclocking. Toting a 16GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage ensures it’ll speedily chug along. And, Wi-Fi 6E support lets you enjoy fast connectivity for your on-the-go battle station, or you can park this at your desk to play and connect it directly to a gaming monitor with the laptop's full-size HDMI port.
See more of the best gaming laptops to buy right now
4. Apple MacBook Pro M3 Pro (14-inch)
Best Ultralight Apple Laptop
Pros:
- 18GB memory as standard
- Quiet running
Cons:
- Not much of a jump from the M2 Pro
Want a beast of a laptop in a compact, lightweight form factor? The 14-inch Apple MacBook Pro M3 Pro keeps svelte dimensions, weighing only 3.5 pounds while delivering a hard-to-beat performance sure to impress. Its M3 Pro processor with an 11‑core CPU, 14‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine features hardware accelerated ray tracing, powerful machine learning, and extreme efficiency, making it perfect for creatives working with more graphically intensive programs. However, anyone who’s often multitasking or has heavy workloads will appreciate Apple’s M3 silicon.
You’ll enjoy the perfectly sized, ultra-crisp Liquid Retina XDR display, but should you need more screen real estate, there are three USB-C (Thunderbolt 4) ports and one HDMI port to hook up additional monitors—or other peripherals. That’s not even all the MacBook Pro’s connectivity, as there’s MagSafe charging to top up your iPhone along with an SDXC card reader and headphone jack for added convenience. Plus, when you take this laptop on the go, it’s got an impressive battery life and durable chassis.
See more of the best MacBooks to buy right now.
5. Lenovo Yoga Book 9i
Best Convertible Ultrabook
Pros:
- Dual OLED screens
- Sleek design
Cons:
- Takes some getting used to
Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i earns its name as it provides a ton of flexibility, letting you flip and fold it for use like a laptop, tablet, or stand-up display. But it sets itself apart from other 2-in-1 laptops thanks to its not one, but two 13.3-inch OLED touchscreens. You can use the displays in a multitude of ways, including different orientations, like a book or vertically stacked on top of each other. It’s even possible to have the bottom display function like a keyboard and trackpad. However, typing on glass isn’t ideal, so Lenovo throws in a Bluetooth keyboard, a mouse, and a stylus to make life easier.
Given there are two screens, you’ll need plenty of oomph on the inside to keep up. Luckily, powering this machine is a ten-core Intel Core i7-1355U processor paired with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 512 GB of SSD storage, so you’ll be good to run almost any productivity application. The integrated graphics limit this laptop’s gaming and content creation ability, so be prepared to run them at the lowest possible settings.
6. HP Envy x360
Another Lightweight Convertible Laptop
Pros:
- Decent for business use
- Durable design
Cons:
- Low graphics performance
If you like the sound of a convertible laptop like the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i but want something cheaper with one less display, check out the HP Envy x360. This machine weighs slightly over 3 pounds and is only 0.77 inches thick, but it still totes an all-metal chassis that acts as an added layer of protection from an accidental drop. Even when you’ve got the laptop flipped to tablet mode to do a bit of drawing or in tent mode for giving a presentation, you’ll have peace of mind that this device is durable enough to take on whatever you throw at it.
The HP Envy x360 has several configurations, but our favorite offers an Intel Core i5-1335U CPU with an integrated GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD. Those internals should be more than enough to get through most workloads and not break a sweat. They also help power the 14-inch IPS display with a Full HD resolution and an intuitive touch screen offering thin bezels, making the most of all the laptop’s available space.
7. Microsoft Surface Pro 9
Most Stylish Ultrabook
Pros:
- Brilliant performance
- Incredible battery life
Cons:
- Basic accessories not included
This stylish 2-in-1 ultrabook boasts an edge-to-edge PixelSense touchscreen, allowing you to use the Surface Slim Pen 2 to navigate easily and make notes. And with up to 15.5 hours of battery life, you can use it all day without charging it up. You can choose from 4 colors, allowing you to customize the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 to your liking.
At under $1,000, the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is not only stylish but also affordable. It’s incredibly lightweight, convenient, and perfect for basic tasks. But, you can always configure the specifications to make it more powerful, depending on your needs.
8. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3
The Thinnest and Lightest Ultrabook
Pros:
- Incredibly thin and lightweight
- Excellent processor and RAM
Cons:
- Not suitable for gaming
When it comes to a thin and light Ultrabook that still packs a powerful punch, not much compares to the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3. The laptop’s compact form factor is slightly over half an inch thick and weighs just over 2 pounds, but under the hood, it squeezes in an Intel Core i7-1340P processor and impressive 16GB RAM. You’ll be a multitasking maven with those internals. However, there are only Integrated Iris Xe graphics, so you’ll have limited image rendering when gaming or video editing.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano delivers a stunning, colorful 13-inch, 2K display. You can easily view the screen from just about anywhere thanks to the IPS panel’s anti-glare coating and 450 nit brightness, which comes in handy since the laptop is super portable for use outside. Speaking of portability, it has a great battery life to make working on the go as simple as possible, while two Thunderbolt 4 ports and Wi-Fi 6E support mean you’re in for some speedy connections.
9. Surface Laptop Studio 2
Best Ultrabook for Creatives
Pros:
- Good graphics
- Configurable options
Cons:
- Can easily get very expensive
Creating on a laptop takes a bit more than just processor muscle and a pretty display. Microsoft has figured that out and improved upon it with the Surface Laptop Studio 2. This laptop certainly hits the performance levels you’ll want, and we particularly love this model, which pairs an Intel Core i7-13700H GPU with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050. That gives the device enough graphical power to edit videos and photos, making it a content creator's dream. Add in 16GB memory and 512GB of SSD storage—there are configurations to bump up those specs—and you’ll be a multitasking maven with quick loads and saves.
Microsoft’s screen and flexible design will fully convince you this is the creative tool you want. The 14.4-inch display has a sharp resolution of 2,400 x 1,600 and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. There’s even HDR 400 support for more accurate colors and contrast, and the screen can hit a wild 650 nits of brightness. The clarity and motion precision will be extra helpful when using the advanced stylus, while the display portion of the laptop shifts forward and tilts back, letting you get it closer and write or draw on it at a more natural angle.
Upcoming Ultrabooks
At CES 2024, Lenovo announced its new lineup of ultrabooks, including the new ThinkBook Plus Gen 5 Hybrid. This will offer a hybrid solution for those looking for a 2-in-1 laptop with a twist. In fact, it’s going to house a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 in each half, as well as an Intel Core Ultra 7 chip in the base.
For multi-screen versatility, the ASUS Zenbook Duo (2024) UX8406 is one to look out for. Despite its incredibly thin bezels, the DUO is equipped with dual 14-inch OLED displays, ultimately making it equivalent to a 20-inch monitor.
How To Pick the Best Ultrabook
Choosing the best ultrabook shouldn’t be done on a whim. It’s not a minor investment, so you shouldn’t rush when making your decision. Before looking at ultrabooks, you’ll want to set your maximum budget - this means you won’t exceed what you can afford, allowing you to configure the right ultrabook to suit you.
Once you have a budget in mind, you can start to find the right ultrabook. If you’re on a lower budget, you may need to sacrifice more powerful specs. Rather than looking at ultrabooks with 16GB of DDR5 RAM, for example, you could drop down to 8GB of DDR5 or even DDR4 RAM to save a bit of money.
Similarly, if you’re not fussed about using your ultrabook to play AAA games, integrated graphics like Intel Iris XE Graphics or Intel Arc Graphics will be suitable. Rather than splashing out on an Nvidia RTX GPU, you can spend your money elsewhere on other components and features.
However, if you do have the budget to go big, then you’ll want to choose an ultrabook that’s likely more futureproof. With the latest generation of hardware, your ultrabook will last longer and won’t have to be upgraded as often. A 13th Gen i5 or i7 CPU with RTX 4060 GPU is a great place to start.
FAQs
What Is an Ultrabook Laptop?
The term ultrabook originated and was coined by Intel as a notebook or laptop that’s thin, lightweight, and with high-end specs.
Is a MacBook an Ultrabook?
While a MacBook isn’t technically an ultrabook, because it’s made by Apple, it could be considered a type of ultrabook. MacBooks are powerful yet lightweight laptops running on Apple’s macOS.
Are Ultrabooks Any Good?
Yes! Ultrabooks are powerful yet lightweight laptops. They often have high-end specs, making them suitable for everyday use, or even multitasking.
