The best business laptops for 2021

Choose the best

laptop

for work is serious business. After all, you need something durable, safe, powerful, lightweight, and capable of lasting through a long day's work, and you have countless options. We've picked the 10 best business laptops that can get the job done, but it's essential to carefully browse even this smallest subset of machines. Not all laptops are the way you or your employees work, or what you do.

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These work-focused PCs have the same basic components as consumer laptops, but business PC makers include features to meet specific business needs, such as biometrics (fingerprint readers and recognition facial); rugged chassis and keyboards

MIL-SPEC tested

; Intel-vPro certified network and power management; and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) support for secure access. Those last two are ticking features a business laptop buyer might look for in a machine park, but everyone needs more physical security and durability.

You'll also find choices for professional versions of

Windows

and less bloatware than mainstream PCs. With so many thin black and silver laptops on the market, business machines tend to look the same, but the key differences that matter most to business users tend to be below the surface, inside the chassis. .

The line between

the tablets

and laptops are also fading into the world of business machines. The two used to be separated by operating systems, but now there are several enterprise-grade tablets that run real versions of Windows. Some of these tablets even come with detachable physical keyboards.

But make no mistake, in business, conventional clamshell laptops still rule, and picking the right one can determine whether you're running a successful business or one that suffers from too much downtime. Let's go over the essential features of a business laptop, the components you'll need and, equally important, how to tell the difference between a business laptop and a consumer laptop.

Assess muscle processing and memory

< p>Today, processors with four or more cores are widely available to handle both everyday email checking and more demanding business applications. Many business laptops use Intel's latest 11th Gen "Tiger Lake" processors, although models with the 10th Gen "Ice Lake" and "Comet Lake" chips are still widely available and still capable enough for many tasks. Really demanding workflows will need 6-core units like the latest high-end Core i7 and Core i9 processors. You can even find eight-core Core i9 chips, previously limited to desktop computers, in some larger workstation-grade machines aimed at designers, engineers and serious data users. AMD-based laptops, using the Ryzen Pro series of processors, remain rare but have started to seep into some mainstream business laptop lines, such as Lenovo's ThinkPad.

At the other end of the spectrum is energy savings. processors such as Intel's Core Y-series (laptops gradually disappearing from the market) and Pentium and Celeron chips in tablets and

ultraportable laptops

. These ultra-low power processors are often marketed with higher performance chips; look for the "Y" in the chip name (if it's a Core chip) to tell the difference. Really, however, the Core Y, Celeron and Pentium processors can prove a little underpowered for day-to-day productivity work if you tend to multitask, with many programs open at once.

Business laptops use Intel's Core i3. i5 and i7 U-Series processors, and these will end in a "U" or (in newer examples) a "G3", "G4", or "G7", indicating the relative strength of the graphics chip . Getting into laptop processor specifics can get you pretty deep in the weeds, but for a good overview that doesn't overwhelm you, check out

our guide to choosing a laptop processor

which corresponds to what you do.

A few business laptops you'll see will sport Intel Xeon processors, or the option for them. Those are

mobile workstations

, and they're designed to run specialized software in areas like financial modeling, engineering, and graphic design that require the ultimate in power and consistency. grinding reliability. They are generally more expensive and have much shorter battery life than traditional business laptops powered by Intel's Core processors. Choose one of these only if you need to run a specialized application that requires that type of specific processor support. Otherwise, an Intel Core i7 or Core i9 will offer similar performance, and generally lower prices and better battery life.

Also, definitely look for no less than 4GB of RAM if you're buying a PC for a rank-and-file worker, but go for 8GB or 16GB if possible. (Graphic designers and spreadsheet ninjas should aim for 16GB as their absolute minimum.) The right amount of memory lets you keep more programs, windows, and browser tabs open at once, as well as perform multimedia processes (such as photo editing) faster.

Go Solid State, If You Can: Storage Solutions

With companies using videos, multimedia PowerPoint slides, and multi-megapixel photos in virtual and in-person staff meetings, opting for a spacious drive is a good idea. If you opt for a traditional platter, a 1TB hard drive is a good balance between economy and space.

That said, we're big fans of solid-state boot drives. Although more expensive and leaner in their storage capacities,

solid state drives

(SSD) have no rotating parts and are therefore better suited for taking a lick on the road. Systems with SSDs also boot and launch applications faster. If you travel or move around a lot with your laptop and don't need the maximum storage capacity, an SSD is the right choice. SSDs tend to be more expensive than HDDs, which means you'll likely be considering 256GB or 512GB capacities to maximize your budget.

Optical discs have all but disappeared from business laptops. If you need to recover older files or recordings stored on CDs or DVDs, an external drive can help; it's a smarter move than buying a bulky laptop with an optical drive if you know you're not quite done shuffling discs yet.

Evaluate graphics: integrated or dedicated

Most business PCs come with integrated graphics chips, which are a lightweight graphics acceleration solution that is part of the main processor. These integrated GPUs are generally fine for business laptops, as you won't be playing 3D games on a work-grade computer. (Right?) Most professionals who need discrete graphics will use them for specialized tasks such as GPU acceleration in Photoshop, creating high-definition video in

Adobe Premiere Pro

or 3D graphics visualization in architectural drawings and CAD software. Mobile workstation-class laptops usually come with some kind of discrete graphics, either for their 3D capabilities or to drive multiple monitors.

When evaluating graphics solutions, it's easy to tell what level of business laptop you are. look again. The integrated graphics silicon is usually dubbed "Intel HD Graphics", "Intel UHD Graphics", "Iris Plus" or "Iris Xe" and indicates a mainstream commercial machine. (Iris Xe indicates the newest silicon inside; Radeon Graphics is what you get in the rare AMD Ryzen Pro-based pro machines.) Unlike embedded solutions, the more common

dedicated< /p>

Graphics chips in laptops, as a whole, come from Nvidia's GeForce line, but they're not common in desktop machines. GeForce GTX or RTX chips tend to be reserved for consumer or high-end gaming systems, although some professional machines will include one of Nvidia's lower quality GeForce MX chips to give the graphics a little boost. A high-end workstation will tend to use dedicated graphics chips from Nvidia's Quadro line or AMD's Radeon Pro line.

As for the display panel, LCDs with a resolution of 1366 x 768 pixels are still available if you're trying to save money on your laptop, but steer clear of them. Your eyes will thank you for choosing at least a 1920 x 1080 pixel display that uses In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology. This combination will ensure that you have enough space to display many columns of numbers in Excel or arrange several windows on the screen at once, and that your colleagues can see them from any angle while grouping around. from your office.

For graphic or scientific work, a 3K or 4K display offers even more real estate, as well as sharper text and more detailed visuals. While these are still fairly rare devices on business laptops, they do at least appear as options in some standalone models and are worth the money if your work uses the extra pixels. Just be aware that, all things being equal, a high resolution screen will drain battery life faster than a low resolution screen of the same core technology.

Stay connected: wired and wireless options

These days, a strong load of wireless connectivity is essential in any business machine. Offices, airports, and customer sites require wireless connectivity to access real-time messaging, email clients, and cloud services. Today, few businessmen work entirely locally.

Every laptop these days has some flavor of Wi-Fi built in. It should give you decent throughput, but you need to find an unprotected hotspot or network to surf the web. . Look for dual-band Wi-Fi (2.4 GHz and 5 GHz) for the best flexibility for your IT organization. The most common type these days, 802.11ax (Wi-Fi 6), works primarily on 5 GHz networks, but it will work with 2.4 GHz networks as a fallback. Offices in high density buildings may wish to use the less populated 5 GHz bands, as 2.4 GHz channels tend to be more congested. Some budget business laptops still feature older 802.11ac Wi-Fi; these may offer less reliable connections but are still adequate for most small to medium sized businesses.

Don't neglect good ol' Ethernet entirely: you'll still need it for crowded conferences where the Wi-Fi is saturated. So if your laptop is too thin to fit an Ethernet jack, a USB to Ethernet adapter is a worthwhile investment. (One may be provided in the box.)

These difficulties explain, in part, why some business laptops have optional built-in mobile broadband wireless modems. They work in tandem with available cellular networks to bring broadband speeds to your laptop wherever a cellular signal is available. You can configure many business laptops with one of these built-in modems for a nominal fee; this option is one of the main distinguishing features of business laptops.

Mobile data plans

to use with the laptop, on the other hand, are not cheap. Depending on whether or not you have an existing plan, rates can reach $60 to $80 per month. A 4G LTE or 5G wireless connection will give you transfer speeds that rival a Wi-Fi connection, and they're available from the best cellular networks with the most coverage, including AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon.

Mobile hotspots

Best Dell Laptop 2017 for College/Students/Business (TOP 10) https://t.co/qmQjvLGO4K @Dell #Dellexperience #Laptop… https://t.co/31mKdOHxOC

— Jay Bokhiria Thu Jun 29 11:03:24 +0000 2017

and smartphone tethering are also available in case you don't want to buy internal modems for all your employees; they are a quick fix if you only need mobile internet part-time.

Keep Running: Assessing Battery Life

A big battery can be your best friend on a long flight or a long drive. Business laptops usually come with multiple battery options. Some business-class laptops have two or three different battery types (four-, six-, and nine-cell options). More cells means longer battery life, all things being equal. The “equal” is the tricky part; that's not always the case with laptops that use 4K displays or other power-hungry components. A large battery adds weight, but being able to run it unplugged from dawn to dusk is worth the weight gain.

Most ultraportable laptops have non-removable, sealed batteries in the chassis. Laptops with removable batteries still exist, but they're increasingly rare, limited mostly to rugged tablets and laptops designed for extreme conditions.

If you think you'll need more battery life than a single charge can provide, look for an external battery rather than limiting yourself to a model with a replaceable internal battery. Combined with the internal battery, these external solutions can help deliver 19-24 hours of battery life. Just be aware that these extra-long-life batteries can weigh your system down by an extra pound or more.

The appeal of 2-in-1 tablets

Price and portability are arguably the main reasons a business might consider a Windows tablet for work. Some tablets sell for less than $500 and can easily fit into a corporate environment. While specialty (read: expensive) tablets have been a fixture in vertical markets, such as healthcare, for years, the ubiquity of Apple's iPad means people are used to carrying around a computer that doesn't doesn't have a physical keyboard or uses a basic one.

Look for a

windows 10 tablet

whether you need to run in-house or third-party apps originally created for PCs. True business tablets running Windows 10 are still evolving, but most business users expect their work computers to behave the same as their personal tablets. Apple fans will have to settle for using the iPad or iPad Pro for business, as there is no tablet-optimized version of macOS.

Most Windows tablets are designed for surfing the web and running Office applications. , and perform other very light computing tasks, but they are also compatible with the range of security applications, VPN and email clients, and countless hardware devices such as printers, scanners and

network-attached storage (NAS) devices

. We wouldn't run an entire business on a tablet, but one can be a nice unit to take to an offsite meeting or used as a portable alternative to your large 6-pound screen from a workstation. Microsoft (the Surface range) and Lenovo are the main players in this market for professional Windows tablets.

Chromebooks for Business: Simple and Affordable

As the cloud becomes ubiquitous in our computing lives at work and at home,

Chromebooks

are more viable options than ever for business laptops. These laptops are limited to using Google's Chrome OS, which started out as an improved version of the popular web browser. Android apps from the Google Play Store (such as the Microsoft Office suite or Adobe Photoshop Lightroom) extend the capabilities of Chromebooks, but they often lack features found on Windows versions of the same programs. Businesses that run their core apps on the Google suite, however, may find Chromebooks useful in certain circumstances, such as messaging and communication stations.

If web collaboration is key to your workflow, a Chromebook might suffice, and because Chromebooks don't need powerful hardware to run most web applications, they typically cost significantly less than other laptops. professionals. Some Chromebooks designed for work have more powerful processors and more memory. Our general conclusion, however, is that in most circumstances they tend to work better as props than main machines in most businesses.

Mobile workhorses: our best bets

Take the time to consider the nature of your particular job. That should point you towards the ideal business laptop. Paying a little more for more power or abilities now will save you headaches later. The added value of a longer warranty (some business laptops come with three years), expert technical support, and a sturdier frame (reinforced with carbon fiber or magnesium alloy) are some of the benefits. extras you can get with a business laptop.< /p>

If your work is graphics-intensive, you'll want to opt for a laptop with discrete graphics. When choosing a processor, you'll need to strike the right balance between power for your applications and energy efficiency, and when choosing a battery, you'll need to choose between capacity and weight. When determining the best features for your needs, you can focus only on laptops that have them built in. And that's where our in-depth reviews come in.

Our favorite business laptops are featured below. We often update the list to include the newest products, and due to the large number of laptops we review each year, not all top-rated products will do. For more information, also see our

global laptop picks

, and if money is tight, our roundup of the best

budget laptops

< p> is worth reading.

If you are looking to fully kit out your workspace, also check out our reviews of the

best business monitors

, as well as our

ergonomic keyboards

and

printers

favourites.

Or buy

Companies, frequent travelers

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 7 (2019)

To have

Best for business owners and lucky entrepreneurs

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 (2020)

To see

Multimedia content creators

Apple 16-inch MacBook Pro

See it

business travelers

Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1

see it

Best for large companies p>

Dell Latitude 7420

To see

Dell Precision 7540

To see

Best for executives, frequent travelers< /p>

HP Elite Dragonfly

see it

Best for budget-conscious business travelers

Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga

To see

Scientists, media content creators

Lenovo ThinkPad P53

To see

Frequent and executives who travel light

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano

To see

Business users on the go

Microsoft Surface Pro 7+ for Business

To have

Companies, frequent travelers

Asus ExpertBook B9450

To have

Ultra-3D rendering and intense data analysis

Dell Precision 7550

see it

Best for cash-strapped ultraportable connoisseurs

Lenovo ThinkPad X13 (AMD)

To see