A lot of what makes the best laptops for Adobe Photoshop also makes the best laptops for video editing: a well-balanced combination of performance, battery life, and a bright and vivid display. Whether you're just learning the ins and outs of editing photos or can wield the lasso tool like a scalpel in the hand of a surgeon, there's no shortage of great options, whatever your skill level.

Laptops with Nvidia's RTX 50-series GPUs are now available for creators with demanding Photoshop needs, as well as all Intel's Core Ultra 200-series and AMD's Max Pro series of processors. Professional editors can benefit from the added performance of a discrete graphics card by enabling Photoshop's hardware acceleration features, which helps power through demanding tasks faster.

A high-resolution OLED display is also something to consider. You'll not only get to enjoy the rich hues and deep contrasts OLEDs are famous for, but some of them also have wide color gamut coverage — wide enough to find colors in between colors.

For beginners or anyone looking to save money, any laptop with last-gen hardware will still provide more than performance to move Photoshop edits along quickly. Even ones without a discrete graphics card. Check out our best laptop deals for the best discounts at various price points.

This page is regularly updated with our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag’s top picks for 2025.

Update Log

6/6/25: Updated intro, benchmark comparisons, recently reviewed, and FAQs; added the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a as the best workstation and the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition as the best 2-in-1.

The Quick List

Best Overall

There's little not to love about the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9. It features a gorgeous display, powerful processor, solid discrete graphics, and enough memory and storage for creators of all skill levels. It even comes with decent battery life and a comfortable, bouncy keyboard.

Rami Tabari said in our review, "I love a display with a little kick. The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i’s 16-inch, 3200 x 2000, 165Hz panel is gorgeous. It’s reasonably bright and offers a vivid wave of color."

The Yoga Pro 9i covers 105.7% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is well above the premium laptop average (91.2%). Its display is far better than similar laptops like the HP Spectre x360 16 (87.1%), Dell XPS 14 OLED (79.9%), and Apple MacBook Air (77.8%).

The Yoga Pro's powerful combination of an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card provide enough power for even the most demanding projects. The Yoga Pro 9i also lasted a respectable 9 hours and 51 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which is far more than many similarly packaged laptops.

The Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 base model costs just $1,482 for an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The fully specced $2,043 version provides an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor with an RTX 4060 GPU and a 16-inch, 3.2K, Mini-LED display. Our preferred middle-of-the-road spec costs just $1,784.

See our full Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 review.

Best under $1,000

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425) is a laptop that can do just about anything. It continuously amazes us how budget-friendly this absolute powerhouse is. With its power performance, solid graphics, and almost 16 hours of battery life, we have good reason to love the Zenbook 14 OLED as much as we do.

In my review, I note that "the display panel on the Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) looks incredible. The new trailer for Chris Pine's The Poolman showed crisp, vibrant colors, particularly in the scenes shot outdoors in LA during what appears to be a Lunar New Year celebration."

Starting at just $799, this laptop has a powerful Intel Core Ultra 5 135H processor with 8GB of DDR5 memory, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 14-inch FHD OLED panel. But if you can flex your budget just a bit more to the higher-end spec, at just $1,049, you get an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 1TB of SSD storage.

The Zenbook 14 OLED's display could be brighter and more vibrant, but with a DCI-P3 rating of 79.8%, it is comparable to most other laptops in its category, such as the Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 (77.8%) and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED UX3405M (81.7%).

But the Zenbook 14 OLED is more than its display panel. Surviving a shocking 15 hours and 52 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, it is one of the longest-lasting Intel laptops we've seen this year. Considering how budget-friendly this laptop is and how well it handles Photoshop, you can't go wrong with it.

See our full Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (Q425M) review.

Best under $1,500

The Acer Swift X 14 is a powerful, budget-friendly option for Photoshop users who need more 3D rendering capacity. The base model starts at just $1,099. The mid-range model combines a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with a workhorse Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, plus 16 GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. It retails for just $1,299. This mid-range model offers similar performance at a lower cost without sacrificing the display.

In my review, I observe that "the glossy CineCrystal OLED display on the Acer Swift X 14 looks fantastic to the human eye. The colors are bright and vivid, though the display panel does suffer from glare, especially with overhead office lighting."

However, if you'd like more memory, storage, and a more powerful GPU, our preferred Swift X 14 configuration is available for just $1,699. It includes an Nvidia RTX 4070, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage.

Acer rates the CineCrystal display on the Swift X 14 to 100% coverage on the DCI-P3 format. Our lab display test measures OLED panels a bit differently, so our testing indicated that the Swift X 14 covered 79.6% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. The Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro (81.4%) and HP Spectre x360 14 (85.8%) outperformed the Swift X 14 in our lab testing, but the Swift X 14's display looked incredible to the eye. In addition, the Swift X 14 offers a powerful Nvidia RTX 4050 to 4070 GPU, making it a better fit for more in-depth Photoshop work.

Based on the Laptop Mag battery test, the Swift X 14 with an RTX 4070 GPU can last for 7 hours and 33 minutes while surfing the web at 150 nits of brightness. While that isn't the best battery life for a laptop on this list, it's not bad for a laptop packing a discrete GPU and OLED display panel.

See our full Acer Swift X 14 review.

Best 2-in-1

Like some of the other Laptop Mag writers, I'm picky when it comes to convertible laptops — so it's a great day when a highly-rated review of one comes across my desk, and I get to give it a buying guide superlative. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is without a doubt a laptop that deserves to be on this list.

This laptop's headlining feature is the display, a 14-inch OLED that's "far superior and even more colorful than most premium laptops overall," as Laptop Mag reviews editor Rami Tabari notes in his review. Covering 149.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, it produces vivid and richly saturated, drool-worthy colors. The display averages a maximum of 421 nits of brightness, higher than you'd see on many competing OLED laptops —all major reasons why this Yoga 9i 2-in-1 is also our current pick for the best touchscreen laptop with an OLED display.

When it comes to performance, this laptop takes a leisurely approach to finishing demanding tasks. Compared to the other laptops on this list, it was the slowest to convert a 4K video file to 1080p. Photoshop users may experience some lag when batch-processing dozens of images with numerous layers or working with filters and brush tools.

But if you're not a graphic designer or photographer who uses a lot of advanced features in Photoshop, the Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has a lot of other things going for it: a stellar and responsive keyboard; speakers that can actually handle a baseline; nearly 13 hours of battery life; and it weighs just under 3 pounds. (Other 2-in-1s are much more brick-like.) Also, I would feel comfortable putting it on my bare lap. At its hottest point, this laptop didn't reach 88.3 degrees, well below our 95-degree comfort threshold.

See our full Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition review.

Best MacBook

For Apple users and design enthusiasts, the 2024 MacBook Pro 16-inch with M4 Pro CPU reigns supreme for photo editing. While pricey (starting at $2,499), it offers powerful performance and a seamless experience within the Apple ecosystem. Opting for a 1TB SSD and 32GB RAM configuration delivers ample storage and smooth Photoshop performance, making it a compelling choice for creative professionals though upgrading the memory and storage capacity can get pricey.

Reviewer Sean Riley observes, "The 16-inch MacBook Pro M4 Pro is more laptop than most people need, but that likely won't stop you from wanting one, and after a week with it, I can't blame you."

With any configuration of the M4 chip, you’ll get a brilliant 14-core Apple M4 Pro CPU, a 20-core Apple GPU with a 16-core Neural Engine, and a gorgeous 16.2-inch 3456 x 2234 Liquid Retina XDR display. Our lab benchmarking rated the 16-inch Liquid Retina panel as covering 81.4% of the DCI-P3 color gamut, which is high for laptops on this list. The MacBook Pro also scored well on the brightness test, with an average of 565 nits, much brighter than the category average of 391.

The 16-inch MacBook Pro (2024) is a smart choice for Photoshop because of its beautiful, bright display and powerfully smooth internal specs. However, there’s another crucial spec to consider: battery life. MacBooks are known for having excellent battery life, which is a fantastic feature for those wanting to use Photoshop on the go. The 16-inch MacBook Pro lasted an amazing 20 hours and 46 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, significantly longer than its workstation laptop competitors.

See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro review.

Best Workstation

At CES 2025, we were so blown away by the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a that we gave it our best laptop award — and after reviewing it, we're still blown away by it. At 0.71-inches thick and weighing 3.4 pounds, it could easily be mistaken for a productivity laptop. However, with the driving force of an AMD Ryzen AI Max+ Pro 395 chip, it's anything but.

The great news for Windows users is that it comes "very close to eclipsing the MacBook Pro" in terms of portability and raw CPU power, as Laptop Mag staff writer Madeline Ricchiuto candidly mentions in her review. In some of our real-world testing, it's evenly matched; the ZBook converted a 4K video to 1080p 4 seconds faster than the MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro in our Handbrake transcoding test.

It's OLED display comes in an extremely close second to the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, covering 139% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. (Many OLED laptop displays don't break 100%!) Its max brightness in on par with other competitors, maxing out at an average 368 nits — but if you're searching for the perfect shade of Pantone-like purple, this could be the workstation you've been looking for.

Being as powerful as they are, Windows workstations usually come with a battery life caveat, and with a run time of 6 hours and 46 minutes, this ZBook is no exception. To be fair, that's typical for a workstation, but it's a key area where this laptop doesn't eclipse the MacBook Pro, as well as other creator-focused laptops like the Asus ProArt PX13.

Ultimately, the ZBook's price tag is where most potential buyers could draw the line. The model we reviewed costs an enormous $4,049, but the base configuration starts at a substantial $2,599. If you're not loyal to a specific operating system, that amount of money can get you a MacBook Pro M4 Pro with better battery life — but it's hard to ignore that the HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a is a marvelous laptop for any creative work.

See our full HP ZBook Ultra 14 G1a review.

Benchmark Comparisons

Recent reviews

We review more than 100 laptops annually, and while some simply don't have what it takes to make our buying guides, others are still strong options that came up short for one reason or another. Here are some of our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make the cut for "Best laptops for Photoshop" but could still be solid machines for your photo editing needs.

How to choose a laptop for Photoshop

CPU: You want a high-performance processor like an Intel Core Ultra 7 or 9, an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9, or an Apple M4 chipset to handle complex filters, large photo files, and multiple project layers.

GPU: For heavy-duty tasks like intricate filters, 3D effects, or AI generation, you may want to consider a laptop with a discrete graphics card like an Nvidia RTX or AMD Radeon RX card.

RAM: You need at least 16GB of memory, but depending on your budget, Photoshop users will certainly benefit from 32 or 64GB of RAM. I'd stress the latter in particular isn't something you need to consider unless money is no object or you are doing this professionally and every second counts.

Storage: 512 GB is the minimum I'd consider if I'm doing a lot of photo work, though splurging for 1TB or more is a good idea. Unlike the CPU, GPU, and RAM, you can always turn to external storage, so if your budget requires you to save somewhere, this is the place to do it. However, I'd still stress that you want 512GB at a minimum to handle at least one project at a time without turning to an external drive.

Display: You want to be picky about the display since photo editing is a visual medium. You'll want a crisp, high-resolution panel in the QHD to 4K range with accurate color reproduction. For the best combination of brightness and vibrancy, we recommend opting for an IPS, OLED, or Apple Liquid Retina XDR display to ensure a high level of color fidelity.

If you're looking to set up a full photo studio workstation and didn't select a laptop with the best display, you could also upgrade with one of our picks for the best monitors or best portable monitors for on-the-go editing.

FAQs

Q: What minimum specs do I need for Photoshop?

A: Lower than you might think! As of October 2024, the minimum system requirements for Adobe Photoshop running on Windows 11 are: an Intel or AMD processor with AVX2 and SSE 4.2 or higher support, or a WinARM processor; 8GB of RAM; 256GB total SSD storage space; and a graphics card that's newer than 7 years with at least 1.5GB of video RAM, and supports DirectX 12; and a 1080p monitor.

All that applies if you have a Mac, except the graphics card, but you'll want to make sure you have macOS v12 or higher.

If you a faster laptop to run Photoshop, we recommend at least: an Intel 13th-gen Core i7 processor or newer, an AMD Ryzen 7 7000 series or newer, or Apple Silicon M2 or newer; at least 16GB of RAM; 512GB or more of total SSD storage space (PCIe Gen 4 or newer); an Nvidia RTX 2050 or newer graphics card with at least 4GB of VRAM; and a 1080p display or higher.

Mac users should be running macOS Sonoma or newer.

Q: Is a laptop that's good for Photoshop also good for video editing?

A: Most laptops that are good for Photoshop will also work for video editing, but you'll also want to be aware of the audio quality of a laptop when choosing a video editing machine. So not all the laptops on this list will be ideal for editing video or audio files.

Video editing can often demand more RAM and GPU resources than photo editing, so you may want to opt for a laptop with a discrete GPU if video editing is going to be a large part of your workflow.

Q: Why don't we recommend a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite laptop for Photoshop?

A: On the hardware-side, a Snapdragon X Elite laptop is an excellent machine for running editing programs like Photoshop — but few native Windows on Arm versions of Adobe programs exist overall.

Currently, only Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Photoshop Lightroom can run natively on Snapdragon X Elite laptops. This might not be an issue if you only use Photoshop, but if you also use Adobe Premiere Pro, InDesign, or Illustrator, those can only run via emulation.

It's a similar concept to running a virtual version of Windows 95 on a Windows 11 PC, but the computer will use more resources running both the emulator and program at the same time, which could slow down various editing tasks. If you don't have enough available RAM or video RAM, the entire program could crash.

How We Test Laptops for Photoshop

Every laptop we test undergoes countless lab tests before a review goes live. We look at how a laptop performs in terms of CPU and GPU-intensive tasks, battery life, speakers, heat management, and display. While each laptop on this list has gone through every test we could run on it; there are a few specific test results we paid close attention to when choosing the best laptops for Photoshop.

When you work with Photoshop, it’s important that the colors you’re working with will translate to other screens when your file is shared. To detect a laptop’s display brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut, we use a Klein K-10A colorimeter, Klein ChromaSurf, and DisplayCal to calculate a laptop's average brightness and color gamut volume. We also pay attention to each laptop’s Delta-E score, showing how accurate a display’s colors are.

Additionally, performance is important in a laptop running Adobe Photoshop. The Geekbench CPU benchmark tests a laptop’s overall performance. To test a laptop’s GPU, the 3DMark benchmarks determine how well a laptop can run graphic-intensive applications. Discrete graphics are ideal when selecting a laptop for Photoshop, but not essential, so you might forgo a discrete GPU for a more budget-friendly laptop.

Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over a hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

The 13-inch laptop is a wonder of modern design.

It's often so light you'll barely notice it in your bag while still delivering plenty of performance. Students breeze through campus with these lightweight wonders, while pros tuck them into briefcases for on-the-go productivity (or just conquering emails from the couch). You'll love the convenience and portability they bring, making them the perfect companion for busy, on-the-move individuals.

But just because they're small doesn't mean you should underestimate their bite. These aren't the underpowered thin and light laptops of yesteryear; 13-inch laptops are available to handle almost any workload. They make for the best travel-friendly laptops available, with a sturdy chassis, enchanting display, and long battery life. So ditch the bulk and embrace the possibilities — 13-inch laptops are where extreme portability meets powerhouse.

If you want the thinnest and lightest laptop possible while still offering enough power to handle most tasks easily, a 13-inch laptop is the answer.

If you need a laptop today, these are the best 13-inch laptops based on our extensive testing and reviews.

The Quick List

Best 13-inch laptops in 2024

Best 13-inch overall laptop

Apple's MacBook Air M3 is staggering, asserting itself as one of the best overall laptops. If you need a 13-inch, most people would not go wrong with it, as its excellent performance and miraculously long battery life are impossible to deny.

The MacBook Air M3 towers above the premium laptop's average performance with its Geekbench 6 overall multi-core score of 12,087. Its SSD speeds are also hyper-fast, hitting an average of 3,031 megabytes per second in our file transfer test. Plain and simple, there are very few scenarios in which you can go wrong with the MacBook Air M3.

On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits, The MacBook Air M3 lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes. No, you didn't misread that. Its battery life goes above and beyond reason, and it is one of the longest-lasting laptops you can buy today.

It's also impressive that this is a whole hour longer in longevity when compared to the M2 MacBook, meaning there's no better time to invest in the latest model. MacBooks are also famous for their great-feeling keyboards, and if you want a springy and quiet one to keep your fingers happy while typing the day away, look no further.

Otherwise, its 13.6-inch, 2560 x 1664 Liquid Retina display is crisp enough to perform in-depth work. Its 77.8 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut is solid, but what sets it apart is an average brightness of 476 nits. The brightness is enough to handle even the sunniest days, as there's nothing worse than intense glare, making it impossible to see what's happening on-screen.

See our full MacBook Air M3 review.

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Best 13-inch business laptop

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is the perfect business laptop for those who need a quality ultraportable. Its total weight of 2.2 pounds is as light as a feather, and if you need something truly capable with solid performance and a bright display, look no further.

Our configuration costs $1,599, and Lenovo built it with an Intel Core i7-1360P processor, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage space, and a 13.3-inch 2K IPS touchscreen. While it's important to remember that it's using a last-generation processor, its Geekbench 5.5 multi-core performance of 9,268 is good enough to handle a heavy workload.

We were pretty disappointed by its longevity, though. In the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits, its subpar 8 hours and 28 minutes of battery life is enough to sustain an entire workday. Still, depending on how demanding your workflow is, you might need an outlet nearby. This is also worse than the original's 12 hours of battery life and is significantly below the 9-hour and 45-minute ultraportable average.

The laptop can also get bright enough to survive blinding sunlight, with an average brightness of 483 nits. That's even higher than the MacBook Air M3, which hits 476 nits. However, its color depth leaves much to be desired, coming in at a 70.9 percent coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut.

We also wish it had more ports, but considering it's a thin and lightweight laptop, it's typical for these products to have a small selection. At the very least, its two Thunderbolt 4 ports will allow for the best laptop docking stations to be attached. You also get an audio jack, so there's that.

See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 review

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Best 13-inch 2-in-1 Laptop

Counting the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i as a 13-inch laptop might be cheating, as it features two 13.3-inch 2,800 x 1,800-pixel displays, but this adds to the diversity of its use cases. How does it work, you ask? Pop the lid open and use it as a standard laptop, but detach its Bluetooth keyboard and get to work when you want to use two screens at once. You can even use an included external mouse and Lenovo Digital Pen.

It is absolutely worth considering its price, though, as you'll be paying $1,999 for this beast. Beyond just its incredible foundation, its 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1355U is solid, with a Geekbench 5.5 score of 7,765. While this is slightly below our 7,767 premium laptop average, it's not drastic enough of a drop for us to avoid recommending the product.

The dual OLED displays are also a glorious sight, covering 136.5 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut on the top display and 136.7 percent on the bottom display. This isn't a surprise, as they're identical panels, and it pulls ahead of competitors like the MacBook Air M3 (77.8 percent) without issue.

It also sports battery life within our recommended range, lasting 9 hours and 18 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over wifi at 150 nits. While that's not quite as impressive as the MacBook Air M3's 15 hours, it's still great for a 2-in-1 laptop.

The brightness could be better, though. It is 335 nits on the top display and 344 nits on the bottom display, which is lower than the 392 nits average for this category.

See our full Lenovo Yoga Book 9i review.

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How to choose the best 13-inch laptop

Do your intensive daily workloads require more RAM than the average Joe? Are you a video editor who needs extra storage? Are you a gamer who wants a powerful GPU? Sorting through the best laptops to fit your lifestyle is a tricky business.

Budget: What you get for your money

You can find decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500. However, better mainstream laptops usually cost more than $700 and premium Ultrabooks can run over $1,000. The best gaming laptops can cost $2.000 and up, but you can play the latest titles at decent frame rates on gaming laptops under $1,000.

Design: 2-in-1 or clamshell?

More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like the idea of using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption, or just standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. However, you can often get better features or a lower price by going with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.

Battery Life: 9+ hours for portability

Battery life matters unless you plan to use your laptop only on your desk. Even in the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table without being chained to the nearest outlet. We recommend getting a laptop that lasted over 9 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test for the best portability. The longest-lasting laptops endure anywhere between 10 and 15 hours.

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How we test the best 13-inch laptops

Over the course of a year, we review over 150 laptops covering every price point and use case. Whether you’re looking for a productivity workhorse, a badass gaming system, or a multimedia machine to kick back and watch a movie or two, we can help you find your ideal match.

In order to make our list, the system needs to score at least 4 out of 5 stars on our reviews and deliver on the things shoppers care about most. In our evaluations, we focus on design and comfort, display quality, the keyboard and touchpad, performance, battery life, and especially value.

Our expert reviewers also use each product to see how it looks, feels, and performs in everyday situations. Because we see so many different notebooks, we can compare each to its direct competitors and give you an idea of how it stacks up to the average laptop in its price band.

When we bring a laptop into our laboratory, our goal is to see how it would work if you brought it into your home or office. While we use a number of industry standard benchmarks such as Geekbench and 3DMark, we focus heavily on real-world tests that we have developed in-house.

To test endurance, the Laptop Mag Battery test surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until the system runs out of juice. To judge pure processing power, we use a giant spreadsheet macro that matches 65,000 names with their addresses, a video transcoder that converts a 4K video to 1080p, and the Geekbench 5 synthetic test. We measure graphics prowess with both 3DMark Ice Storm / Fire Strike and a series of games including Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, Metro: Exodus, Grand Theft Auto V and Red Dead Redemption just to name a few.

We use a colorimeter to measure screen brightness and color gamut while other instruments help us determine a laptop's key travel and ambient heat. See this page on how we test laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

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Why Trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.

We are 100 percent independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.

One of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.

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Lenovo back to school savings slash up to 72% off sitewide. One ongoing standout deal is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 for $1,215. via coupons, "BYOTHINK2023" and "BUYMORELENOVO" at checkout. When not on sale, this notebook would set you back a smooth $2,319, so that's $1,104 in savings. Students save an additional 10% with ID.me which knocks up to 50% off. Among today's best back to school laptop deals, this sets a new price low for the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11.

Looking for a laptop under $1,000? Lenovo offers the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 for $983 ($756 off) via coupons, "THINKAUG" and "BUYMORELENOVO".

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 business laptop is great for college students and educators. Configurations start with a 14-inch (1920 x 1200) 400-nit display, 13th Gen Intel Core i5-1335U 10-core CPU, 16GB of RAM, Intel Iris Xe graphics, and 256GB SSD. 

Lenovo lets you build your own ThinkPad with customizations up to a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 vPro chip, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to a 2TB SSD. Choose from 14-inch non-touch anti-glare displays up to (2880 x 1800) with 400 nits of brightness. Or, you can go for the 1920 x 1200-pixel 500-nit anti-glare touch display if you prefer an interactive screen. For video conferencing, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 equips you with up to a 1080p IR hybrid webcam with privacy shutter.

In our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 review, we liked its lightweight design, fast SSD, and great battery life. Following real-world and performance tests, we gave it a solid rating of 4 out of 5-stars. Logins are fast and secure thanks to Windows Hello face recognition and the laptop's integrated fingerprint reader.

Built tough to military specifications, ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 can withstand heavy everyday use. So whether you need a reliable laptop for school, home office or business, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11is highly recommended. 

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is massively discounted in today's Lenovo laptop sale. Lenovo continues to knock up to 75% off select laptops from the Lenovo ThinkPad, Yoga, IdeaPad, and Legion family of machines. Stack extra savings when you use coupon code, "BUYMOREOFFER" at checkout.

During the sale, you can get yourself the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 for $1,215 . Apply coupon codes, "BYOTHINK2023" and "BUYMOREOFFER" at checkout to reflect this deal price in your cart. It normally costs $2,319, so that's a massive $1,104 in savings. It's the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11's lowest price ever and one of the best laptop deals of the summer. 

Looking for a flexible 2-in-1 laptop instead? You can get the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 for $959 ($2690 off) via codes, "THINKPADCLEARANCE202" and "BUYMOREOFFER".

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 business laptop is great for college students and work professionals alike. It features a 14-inch (1920 x 1200) 400-nit display, 13th Gen Intel Core i5-1335U 10-core CPU, 16GB of RAM, Intel Iris Xe graphics, and 256GB SSD. If you require more oomph and storage, you may customize it up to a 13th Gen i7 chip, up to 32GB of RAM, and up to a 2TB SSD. 

In our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 review, we liked its lightweight design, fast SSD, and great battery life. Following real-world and performance tests, we gave it a solid rating of 4 out of 5-stars. 

Powered by Windows 11 Home 64 to start, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 equips you with a 1080p IR hybrid webcam with privacy shutter. Logins are fast and secure thanks to Windows Hello face recognition and the laptop's integrated fingerprint reader.

Built to military specs, ThinkPad X1 Carbon laptops are rugged and can take a beating. Lenovo engineers its ThinkPad family of machines to withstand everyday wear and tear of heavy use and travel. 

If you're looking for a reliable and secure laptop for school, home office or business, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is a wise choice. 

Looking for the best cheap laptop deals — all under $1,000 — for Prime Day 2023? You've come to the right place!

As your laptop expert, I'm here to tell you about all the best budget-friendly laptops you can get for prime day. I'm extremely picky and I'm very judicious about which laptops I recommend (and Laptop Mag reviewed them all), so here are the laptops under $1,000 that will keep buyer's remorse at bay:

• Asus Zenbook 14 Q409ZA - $750, $669 @ Amazon
• Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 - $1,800, $932 @ Amazon
• Acer Swift Go 14 - $849, $779 @ Amazon

1. Why I recommend the Asus Zenbook 14 Q409ZA as the best Prime Day laptop deal

This laptop has an MSRP of $750, but it's now $669 for Prime Day (whether you have Prime or not). I have repeatedly shouted from the mountains that the Asus Zenbook 14 is the best cheap laptop you can get for less than $1,000. Why? It's packed with the following:

• A touchpad that instantly launches the Calculator app and doubles as a digital numpad
• A striking, 2880 x 1800-pixel OLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate
• Nearly 11 hours of battery life, according to your in-house testing (a typical laptop only lasts 10 hours on a single charge)
• A satisfying mix of both modern and legacy ports
• A beautiful design inspired by Japanese kintsugi art style
• Lightweight and portable

Check out my full review of the Asus Zenbook 14.

2. Why I recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16 as the best Prime Day laptop deal

As a laptop reviewer, I can't figure out why everyone is gushing about the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon nor the Dell XPS 15. They're good business laptops, but are they the best? Not at all.

The best business laptop is the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16. And it's only $932 for Prime Day (down from $1,800). Let me breakdown why I recommend it as the best Prime Day laptop deal:

• It delivers a whopping 15-hour battery runtime (the average laptop lasts 10 hours)
• It outpaced all competitors in processor performance, according to our in-house testing
• It beat all of its rivals in graphics performance, according to our in-house testing
• It has military-tested durability, which means you can get away with dropping it a couple of times

Read my full review of the Lenovo ThinkPad Z16.

3. Why I recommend the Acer Swift Go 14 as the best Prime Day laptop deal

When the Acer Swift Go 14 came through to Laptop Mag's lab, were were blown away by its amazing performance scores, incredible performance, and stunning display. It runs so well, we called it a "MacBook Air killer." And it's only $779 for Prime Day (down from $850).

Here's why the Swift Go 14 is the best cheap laptop you can get on Prime Day:

• One of the most vivid displays of all time
• A satisfying, tactile keyboard
• Performance scores that blows competitors out of the water
• An eye-catching, silver aluminum design
• A portable, slim design
• A nice variety of ports 

Check out our full review of the Acer Swift Go 14.

Prime Day is here and we're seeing great deals on some of the best laptops, but if you're looking for a real steal, you need to look at those percentages and see which deals are actually giving you the most bang for your buck.

If you're looking to get your money's worth on Prime Day, here are 5 great laptops that are over $1,000 off that I would buy.

5 laptops that are over $1000 off for Prime Day

In our Asus Zenbook Pro 16X OLED (UX7602Z) review, we compliment the device for its solid content creator-centric specs, a stunning 16-inch display and awesome sound.

Looking at our MacBook Pro 14 review, we made it clear that this MacBook offers portability, power, endurance with plenty of ports, but at a high price point. With this deal, it makes it that much more valuable albeit dated.

In my Razer Blade 17 review, I loved that the Razer packed strong performance, great speakers, and decently long battery life. However, its dim display and egregiously expensive price point gives us pause. But like the MacBook, this deal can make up for that price con.

And in our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 review, we wrote that the Gen 11 has many great aspects, including a compact form factor, featherweight heft and decent speakers, but its other highly praised features are arguably overhyped.

Finally, in our HP ZBook Fury 16 G9 review, we found that the G9 is a thick stunner with more than enough power to handle any and all workflows while delivering a gorgeous display and excellent audio.

All these products have one thing in common -- they're expensive as hell. But for Prime Day, that changes. Well, a little bit. Don't overspend, but it is better.

Everyone's favorite business laptop, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, is 40% off on Lenovo's official website as Prime Day deal mayhem takes over Amazon.

However, there's a catch.

Before you can slash a whopping $1,328 off the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, you'll have to use a special coupon code: THINKJULY. You can insert the code after adding the ThinkPad X1 Carbon to your cart and progressing with the transaction @ Lenovo.

Looking for more discounts? Check out our Prime Day laptop deals page as well as our best cheap Prime Day laptop deals page.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon series is considered one of the best business laptops on the market by many, and it's now 40% off at Lenovo's official website. Using the coupon code ThinkJuly, you can slash $1,328 off the latest model of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 11)

When we reviewed the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, we were impressed with its shockingly lightweight form factor, its ultra-fast SSD, incredible speakers, and 14-hour battery life. 

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon in this deal comes with the following specs:

• 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1365U vPro CPU
• Intel Iris Xe graphics
• 16GB of RAM
• 1TB SSD
• 14-inch, 1920 x 1200-pixel touch display
• Windows 11 Pro

Like all ThinkPad laptops, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen has military-tested durability. This means that you can drop it as many times as you want (within reason), and it will still continue to function. This ThinkPad X1 Carbon also has great variety of ports: 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1 x HDMI port, Nano SIM slot, and a headset jack.

Sift through our Prime Day 2023 hub for more savings beyond this incredible Lenovo deal.

Update July 13 at 5:23 p.m. ET: This popular deal is still available among other after Prime Day deals.

Amazon isn't the only one dishing out deep discounts for Prime Day 2023, and Lenovo is pulling out all the stops for their Black Friday in July sale. 

Right now, you can pick up the 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 on sale for $1,937 on the company's website, which'll save you $1,291 off the original price. Good gravy! Thanks to a speedy 13th Gen Core i7 CPU and zippy Intel Iris Xe graphics under the hood, it's one of the best laptops deals we've seen of late. 

Not quite what you're looking for? We'll be rounding up the best Prime Day laptop deals all week! Stay tuned.

If you're on the prowl for a powerful laptop that's portable enough to toss in your backpack, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 might be among the best business laptops you'll find on the market today, and it's 40% off right now. The laptop in this deal is configured with a 14-inch WUXGA (1920 x 1200) 400 nit anti-glare touch screen, 13th Gen Intel Core i7-1365U vPro CPU, 32GB of RAM, Integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, and a 512GB SSD.

In our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 review, the laptop earned a high rating of 4 out of 5-stars. We were impressed by its sleek, lightweight design, bright, vivid display and incredible keyboard. We also loved the surprisingly strong speakers and solid 12th Gen Intel performance, and we expect even better benchmark scores from the 13th Gen version of this CPU.  

Like all ThinkPad laptops, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen is rugged built to military specs. This means it can withstand daily wear and tear of heavy use. For a 14-inch laptop, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 has plenty of ports and slots, too. You can count on 2 x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ports, 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, 1 x HDMI port, Nano SIM slot, and headphone/mic combo.

For even more epic summer savings, browse our Prime Day 2023 hub for the best deals on must-have tech. 

 The HP Dragonfly G4, the fourth-generation entry of the beloved Dragonfly line, is diving into 2023 with its crosshairs set on one rival: the new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11.

Lenovo has convinced the masses that the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is one of the best business laptops you can get. However, if you read my review, you’ll see that I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid. The Lenovo laptop’s long list of imperfections leave enough room for HP to swoop in and snatch the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s crown. But the question is, did it manage to do it with its new-gen G4 model?

Stick around to find out whether the Dragonfly G4 earned a spot on our best HP laptops and best business laptops pages.

HP Dragonfly G4 price and configuration options

The review unit I have has an MSRP of $2,279 and you can purchase it at HP’s official website (check to see if it’s on sale — it usually is!). It comes with an Intel Core i7-1365U CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and a 13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280-pixel touchscreen display.

The cheapest configuration is $1,769. It keeps the 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD storage, and 13.5-inch, 1280p screen, but your processor gets downgraded to an Intel Core i5-1335U.

HP Dragonfly G4 design

The Dragonfly G4 continues the traditional design language of its forefathers, sporting a futuristic, lustrous HP insignia on the lid. The Slate Blue hue that wraps around the HP notebook is rich, urbane and slick — it’s the type of color you’d see on any well-dressed, dapper young professional. 

The G4 is a sustainability queen. The lid, as well as the palm rest and underside, is made of 90% recycled magnesium. (Interestingly, the keycaps consist of recycled plastic from DVDs.)

After opening the lid, I wished that the top cover featured a lip to make it easier to lift, but it’s a negligible, miniscule shortcoming. On the deck, you’ll see more of that lustrous detail subtly framing the large touchpad. The contrast on the keys is easy on the eyes, thanks to the white letters and symbols stamped onto the Slate Blue keys.

Above the function keys, you’ll find an up-firing speaker that runs the length of the keyboard (we’ll discuss how well they sound later). The 13.5-inch display is wrapped in thin bezels, save for the top frame that houses the 5MP webcam and two microphones.

The Dragonfly G4 is a 2.2-pound notebook with dimensions of 11.7 x 8.67 x 0.64 inches. The HP laptop is lighter, but thicker than its rivals: the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (2.48 pounds, 12.4 x 8.8 x 0.6 inches) and the Acer Swift Go 14 (2.87 pounds, 12.3 x 8.6 x 0.59 inches).

HP Dragonfly G4 ports

The HP Dragonfly G4 has a sweet mélange of modern and legacy ports. On the left side, you’ll find an HDMI 2.1 port, a nano SIM slot, and a Thunderbolt 4 port. The right side features another Thunderbolt 4 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a drop-jaw USB Type-A port, and a Kensington lock slot.

Need to squeeze out some more I/O ports to suit your workflow? Check out our best USB Type-C hubs page. 

HP Dragonfly G4 display

The HP Dragonfly G4 comes with a 13.5-inch, 1920 x 1280-pixel touchscreen. Like its predecessor, it sports that 3:2 aspect ratio, allowing you to take advantage of more vertical screen real estate while reading long-form articles and content-heavy websites. However, it’s not as useful for watching YouTube, Netlfix and other streaming sites (they work best with 16:9 displays). Black letterboxing will flank your videos to fill out the excess space, but this isn’t something that bothers me personally.

I watched the Five Nights at Freddy’s trailer on YouTube. I was particularly taken aback by a scene with Matthew Lillard sitting in an office. As he held a phone to his ear, I was surprised that I could spot subtle, barely perceptible features on his face, from his faint forehead wrinkles to the ultra-tiny papules near his salt-and-pepper beard.

No, it’s not one of the most vivid displays I’ve seen, but it’s not designed to be. Its color rendering is just right. It’s not washed out, but it’s not oversaturated, either. This is proven by the bright-red eviction notice that appeared on the door of Josh Hutcherson’s character — it’s striking enough to catch your eye, but it manages to not be garishly vivid.

Now, let’s take a look at the actual display test results to see if they match my anecdotal experience.

According to our colorimeter, the Dragonfly G4 covered 80.2% of the DCI-P3 color gamut (the same exact figure we got for the G3 last year). This is better than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (69.8%), but slips behind the average premium laptop (93.7%) and the spectacular Acer Swift Go 14 (175.7%).

The Dragonfly G4 is elite when it comes to color accuracy. With a Delta-E score of 0.14 (closer to 0 is better), the HP laptop demolished all rivals in its path, including the average premium laptop (0.22), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (0.22), and the highly inaccurate Swift Go 14 (0.32).

HP says that the Dragonfly G4 can output 400 nits of brightness, and according to our testing, its luminance gets pretty close to that — 391 nits to be exact. This is slightly dimmer than the average premium laptop (394 nits) and the Swift Go 14 (395 nits), but beats the ThinkPad X1 Carbon 11 (327 nits).

HP Dragonfly G4 audio

The Dragonfly G4 is packed with four Bang & Olufsen-tuned speakers: two are top-firing while another two are bottom-firing. I launched the Hot Hits USA playlist on Spotify, which played “Mojabi Ghost” by Tainy and Bad Bunny.

The futuristic-sounding song, thanks to the funky synthesizers, sounded rich and full on the G4’s audio system. The drums were punchy and driving, but never overpowered Bad Bunny’s smooth, vibey vocals. As a cherry on top, these speakers can get super loud at max volume — you could host a small party with this laptop if you wanted to.

I opened the HP Audio Control app to see if it could sound better (even though it sounds totally fine). There are four presets: Auto, Music, Movie and Voice. My favorite, of course, is Music, providing a perfect balance between the vocals, baseline, and funky synthesizers. 

HP Dragonfly G4 keyboard and touchpad

Cue the wedding bells! I’m a keyboard snob, and man, I love the Dragonfly G4’s keyboard so much I could marry it. HP has always been masterful at delivering satisfying keyboard experiences (I adore the keyboard on the HP Envy 13, for example), and this 13.5-inch notebook proves that its expertise hasn’t wavered.

The island-style keyboard has a white backlight that delivers three levels of brightness, and you’ll find a fingerprint reader between the ALT key and the left arrow. (This is something I appreciate because I’m not a big fan of the current trend of OEMs integrating fingerprint sensors into power buttons).

On the 10FastFingers.com typing test, I reached an 89 word-per-minute average, which aligns with my typical typing speed. It’s tactile, delivers great travel, and super clicky — it’s as if the keys intuitively know when I’m about to touch them and immediately launch me onto the next letter in nanoseconds. 

The Dragonfly G4’s 4.7 x 3.1-inch touchpad is spacious and, on top of that, it has a smooth-as-silk texture that’s damn-near addicting. At the same time, it’s not too slick that it feels like you need to exert a lot of effort to move the cursor — it has the perfect balance of friction and gloss. Plus, Windows 11 gestures, including three-finger tabbing and two-finger scrolling, worked like a charm.

HP Dragonfly G4 performance

Under the hood, the Dragonfly G4 sports an Intel Core i7-1365U vPro CPU and 16GB of RAM. I tried to overwhelm RAM-hungry Google Chrome with 50 tabs, three of which were playing YouTube videos simultaneously, but the HP laptop, if it were personified, giggled and said, “That’s all you’ve got?” I experienced zero slowdowns nor lag.

On the Geekbench 6 overall performance benchmark, Dragonfly G4 achieved a multi-core score of 7,408. Unfortunately, this lags behind the average premium laptop (7,877) and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (8,979), which shares the same processor as the HP laptop. The unstoppable Acer Swift Go 14, packed with an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, delivered a jaw-dropping score of 11,815. (Interestingly, the Go 14 is cheaper than the G4 and the X1 Carbon, but blows its pricier competitors out of the water with its H-series chip, however, the battery life section reveals that this power comes with a price.)

The Dragonfly G4 took 12 minutes and 41 seconds to transcode a 4K video to 1080p, which is slower than the average premium laptop (8 minutes and 33 seconds). It’s also more sluggish than the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (9 minutes and 5 seconds) and the Swift Go 14 (5 minutes and 35 seconds).

On the file transfer test, the Dragonfly G4’s 512GB SSD took 37 seconds to copy 25GB of data, which translates to a rate of 735.7 megabytes per second (MBps). Sadly, this is slower than the average premium laptop (1,306.2 MBps), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s 512 SSD (1,703.8 MBps), and the Swift Go 14’s 512GB SSD (1,481.1 MBps).

HP Dragonfly G4 graphics and gaming

The HP Dragonfly G4, like its rivals, is outfitted with integrated graphics (Intel Iris Xe). No, it’s not ideal for gaming, but let’s see how well it can handle casual titles like Sid Meier’s Civilization VI: Gathering Storm. On this test (Medium, 1080p), it produced 25 frames per second. This failed to surpass the average premium laptop’s 50-fps average, but to be fair, laptops with discrete GPUs skew this figure. The HP managed to outdo the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (19 fps), but not the Go 14 (27 fps).

On the 3DMark Time Spy benchmark, which tests for DirectX 12 prowess, the Dragonfly G4 delivered a measly score of 1,590, which is worse than the average premium laptop (3,176), the ThinkPad X1 Carbon (1,684) and the Swift Go 14 (2,025).

HP Dragonfly G4 battery life

Compared to the G3, it looks like the Dragonfly G4 took a two-hour hit in battery life. The last generation lasted a glorious 14 hours and 20 minutes. The current generation, however, according to the Laptop Mag battery life test (which involves surfing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness), has a runtime of 12 hours and 44 minutes.

Don’t get me wrong. Considering that the average premium laptop lasts 10 hours and 39 minutes, this is still great — the G4’s U-series chip is showing off its marvelous power efficiency here. Conversely, the Acer Swift Go 14, packed with a more power-hungry chip, can only last a measly 8 hours and 5 minutes. However, the Dragonfly G4 couldn’t beat the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s 14-hour runtime (13 hours and 45 minutes).

HP Dragonfly G4 webcam

HP gets it. This OEM appears to be one of the few laptop manufacturers that is aware of users’ need for decent video conferencing equipment. I mean, hello, most of us either work remotely or do the whole hybrid thing, so why not pack the laptop with a good webcam?

HP’s Dragonfly Pro Chromebook, for example, has one of the best laptop webcams I’ve ever seen with a dazzling 8MP webcam. The last-gen Dragonfly had a great shooter, too, and the current-gen model,, is no different.

The G4’s 5MP webcam picked up on the tiny, barely there freckles on my cheeks that often get lost on other less-sharp webcams. Color rendering is great, too, accurately recreating the burgundy and rich-red hues emanating from my curtains and pillows.

But is it as great as an external webcam? Not really. Be sure to peruse our best webcams page to snag something even better for video calls.

HP Dragonfly G4 heat

HP could have done a better job at finding a way to dissipate heat that keeps hot air away from your fingers. While diving into intensive workflows, I felt some warm air blowing from the upper-right quadrant of the keyboard. It’s not a dealbreaker — just a nuisance.

We streamed a 15-minute, 1080p video on the HP notebook, and the touchpad and keyboard climbed to 81 and 91 degrees Fahrenheit, respectively, which is below our 95-degree comfort threshold. The underside couldn’t keep its cool, however, climbing to 100 degrees. 

HP Dragonfly G4 software and warranty

 The Dragonfly G4 runs on Windows 11 Pro and comes with a slew of HP-branded apps, including HP Easy Clean (lets you temporarily disable your keyboard so you can clean it), HP Power Manager (offers info regarding your battery status, temperature and capacity), and HP Support Systems (runs system diagnostics and provides guided troubleshooting). 

You won’t find the G4 fattened with bloatware, fortunately. You’ll find your standard fare of Microsoft apps, including Solitaire Collection, Weather, Phone Link, Paint, Sticky Notes, and more.

The HP Dragonfly G4 comes with a one-year limited warranty. See how HP performed on our Tech Support Showdown and Best and Worst Laptop Brands ranking. 

Bottom line

 The Dragonfly G4 gets the following right: 

• Excellent keyboard
• Nearly 13 hours on a charge
• Great webcam
• Compact and portable
• Decent speakers
• Good display

The Dragonfly G4 is ideal for both worker bees and students, particularly those who frequently commute and hate the thought of being shackled to an outlet for hours on end. 

However, the HP laptop struggled to outpace its rivals when it comes to performance. In other words, there are cheaper laptops (e.g., the Acer Swift Go 14) that offer better performance, but you may have to compromise battery runtime.

Overall, the G4 is still an excellent 13.5-inch laptop for on-the-go professionals and pupils who don’t necessarily need a powerhouse, but will thrive with a clicky, tactile keyboard, a sweet 5MP shooter for videoconferencing, and a great display and speakers for late-night entertainment. 

Amazon Prime Day 2023 is almost over, but there are still hundreds of deals available, including many that don't require shelling out hundreds of dollars.

We've gathered up 11 of our favorite Prime Day deals under $50 to try to help you score some of the last great savings without breaking the bank. One popular Prime Day deal laptop owners are snapping up is the BoYata Laptop Stand for just $25. This nifty accessory typically costs $45 so that's $20 off and brings the BoYata Laptop Stand to its lowest price yet. 

This top-rated multi-angle stand is stylish, durable, and practical. It has a ventilated design to prevent your laptop from overheating. It supports laptops up to 17 inches and is a must-have accessory for laptops like the MacBook Air and Pro, HP Envy 13, Dell XPS 15, and Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, just to name a few. 

Another wildly popular  Prime Day deal is the Fire Stick TV 4K Max for just $24 (55% off). It plugs directly into your laptop via your TV's HDMI port. The included Alexa-enabled remote makes navigating your streaming services easy with voice commands or stick to the traditional intuitive buttons on board.

These are just a couple of the deals for you to snag in the waning hours of Prime Day, but here are 11 of the best Prime Day deals under $50.

Best Prime Day deals under $50