I suppose it's not surprising that a laptop by Porsche Design is quietly beautiful, marrying form with function in a way that feels incredibly natural. While it may not be the most powerful laptop or the one with the longest battery life, the Porsche Design Book One boasts several design elements that are worth lusting over.
The stainless steel hinges on the Book One are some of the coolest I've seen on a 2-in-1. They're shaped like elongated gears and emphasize the way the 2-in-1 turns as it flips around. It rivals Lenovo's Watchband hinge as the coolest accent on a feature that people usually overlook.
The Book One's stylus is rounded, except for one flat edge. This isn't a design flaw. That edge makes it possible for the pen to sit flush against the side of the tablet with a magnet when you're not using it. It's also where you'll find two programmable buttons, and it's easier to find them when you know exactly what side of the stylus they're one.
A small indent on the center of the keyboard base makes it super simple to open the device with one hand when it's closed in laptop mode. A few other notebooks, like Apple's MacBook Pro, offer something similar.
Many premium laptops opt for a new design, so we're not exactly giving Porsche Design points for originality here. The company describes this design as "sandblasted" and "polished," but to me, what was most important was just how durable the machine felt. I wouldn't want to drop it, but the whole thing felt like a cohesive unit.
Easily the most exciting part of the design is that the Book One can flip backwards like a convertible and detach from the keyboard for use as a tablet. No other laptop has achieved this feat yet. To make this possible, Porsche Design put all of the computing parts in the tablet, and that led to the 2-in-1's biggest flaw: The thing is top-heavy and can wobble on your lap. So this gift is also a curse.
The Book One's display is stunning. The 3200 x 1800 display covers 135 percent of the sRGB color gamut and averaged 450 nits of brightness. Anything you watch on this display is going to look good, which makes it perfect for multimedia.
MORE: Porsche Design Book One Review
Credit: Laptop Mag
