Whether you're jotting down notes, sketching a masterpiece, or just quickly zooming in on a photo, touch screens add a lot of versatility to your average laptop. Thanks to technological advances, laptop touch screens have gone through vast improvements in accuracy and speed -- as well as battery efficiency. (Bonus tip: Traditional laptops with touch screens are great, but if you really want the full benefits of touch support, buy a 2-in-1 laptop. ) Check out our list below.
The best touch screen laptops
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The best touch screen laptop of 2020 has arrived. Your jaw will drop to the floor when you first see the HP Spectre x360 13's gem-cut edges and faceted corners. This sleek Ultrabook sports a vivid 13.3-inch, 1080p display with slim bezels that folds back for tablet use.
Drawing felt responsive using the included HP Active stylus, so artists should have no problems crafting their masterpieces on this sleek machine. Along with its display, the Spectre x360 offers all-day battery life and a fantastic keyboard. If you want a larger canvas to work with, check out the 15-inch version.
The new XPS 13 2-in-1 is the best convertible laptop around. It’s ridiculously sleek, it boasts strong performance (thanks to its 10th Gen Intel Core processor) and it has a gorgeous 16:10 display. On top of having a sequential hinge, it also features a variable torque that allows the lid to be opened without the machine wobbling or moving. Combine that with its 0.3~0.5-inch thin chassis, and the XPS 13 2-in-1 is king.
Microsoft's Surface Pro 6 is the best detachable yet, and its bright, colorful 12.3-inch, 2736 x 1824-pixel display is a big reason why. Whether you're binging Netflix shows or touching up photographs, the Surface Pro 6's touch screen panel will reward your eyes with saturated, lucid images. And because it's a detachable, the Surface Pro 6 is an awesome travel companion if you want to take your work on the go. Not to mention, the kickstand on the back lets you tilt the display and use it like a drafting table.
Furthermore, Microsoft addressed the biggest problems we had with last year's Surface Pro. Not only does the new model stretch out the battery life, but its new quad-core CPUs offer massive improvements to performance. And while the Surface Pro 6 has a familiar design, it avoids looking stale thanks to a slick new black color variant.
Google's Pixelbook Go is a great example of what laptops running Chrome OS can offer. Yes, its starting price is a tad high, but you get a slim, premium chassis, a bright and vivid display and outstanding battery life. And unlike the hoards of sluggish Chromebooks out there, the Pixelbook Go can go toe-to-toe with Windows 10 laptops when it comes to performance.
That being said, it's not a perfect machine; the speakers are weak and the keyboard is shallow. Also, if you want a 2-in-1 laptop, you might be better off with Google's Pixelbook or the Asus Chromebook Flip C434.
With the Yoga C940, Lenovo took a proven formula and refined it. Subtle design improvements, longer battery life, and refreshed 10th Gen Intel processors make the Yoga C940 a worthy successor to last year's excellent Yoga C930.
As you'd expect from a Yoga-series laptop, the C940 has a premium, ultra-portable chassis and a unique hinge that doubles as a soundbar speaker. As a 2-in-1, that hinge can rotate 360-degrees to convert the Yoga C940 into a proper tablet. When it comes to viewing content, the Yoga C940's 1080p and 4K displays are crisp, vibrant and bright -- just beware, the UHD display drains the battery.
For all the basics it gets right, my favorite things about the Yoga C940 are its extra features. Those include a webcam cover (no more need to buy tape), a slot for the included stylus and a fingerprint sensor.
The Surface Go is the best touch-screen device for content creators on a budget, bar none. In fact, you could even argue that it's the best secondary travel laptop on the market, thanks to its super-lightweight chassis. But the real highlight is the Surface Go's outstanding 10-inch, 1800 x 1200 display, which is brighter, more colorful and more detailed than most displays we find on premium laptops.
Realistically, the Pentium Gold 4415Y CPU inside the Surface Go won't provide enough power to run Photoshop, but it'll do the trick for streaming content or even light photo and video editing.
What to look for in a touch screen laptop
- Screen Resolution: If possible, get a display with a 1920 x 1080 (aka 1080p, or Full HD) or higher resolution.
- CPU: An Intel Core i5 provides good mainstream performance. Some budget systems will come with Core i3, Celeron or Pentium CPUs, which are good for basic tasks, but not heavy multitasking. Get a Core i7 or Core i9 (serial number ends in HQ or HK) for gaming or high-end productivity tasks such as video editing and 3D modeling.
- RAM: 8GB is ideal for most users, but power users will want 12 or 16GB. 4GB is acceptable for budget systems. Secondary laptops and Chromebooks may have less.
- Storage: Unless you're a gamer or a power user, 256GB of internal storage is probably enough. If possible, get an SSD (solid-state drive) rather than a hard drive, because it's going to make your computer a lot faster.
- Graphics Chip: Gamers and creative professionals need to do some research and figure out which discrete GPU from Nvidia or AMD is good enough to run their favorite software. Everyone else will be happy with the built-in Intel HD Graphics that come with many CPUs.
