Need a featherweight laptop that lasts all day on a battery charge? Thin, light, and power-efficient, these ultraportables are our top performers in testing.
The evolution of laptops has always been driven by the push for thinner, lighter, and more power-efficient designs, and whatever the year, these demands coalesce into the perfect expressions of leading-edge laptop design: ultraportables.
What exactly defines this category? In general, ultraportables weigh three pounds or less, have screens that are 14 inches or smaller, and contain enough battery life to survive a workday unplugged. These systems are now among the fastest laptops ever, are well suited to travel, and come with a variety of features and display resolutions wide enough to fit anyone’s needs. You may have seen laptops of this breed referred to over the years as «ultrabooks» or «streambooks,» but those were primarily attempts to attach some branding to the same basic template of «ultralight laptop.»
The design always comes back to the same foundational elements: thin, light, and long-running. Here are our top ultraportable laptop picks for 2024, with buying advice below.Why We Picked It
The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (Q420) combines portability and style to become our favorite consumer ultraportable. The slim laptop’s snappy 13th Gen Core i7 CPU ensures fast performance for general productivity tasks, and the vibrant 120Hz OLED touch screen provides an immersive display experience. Battery life and port selection only enhance the already premium design, but what really sold us on the system was the price. For under $1,000, it’s the best ultraportable for the money.Who It’s For
If you want a hassle-free ultraportable that looks stylish and premium, but without the premium price, consider the Zenbook 14X OLED (Q420). From the speedy performance to the beautiful OLED display, this laptop wowed us with premium features at an affordable price.Why We Picked It
The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 is our favorite 2-in-1 ultraportable, thanks to 13th Gen Intel processing and a sophisticated all-metal design. The design is superb and light at just 3.09 pounds, the OLED display is impressive, and the overall performance is excellent, making it far and away the top 2-in-1 ultraportable to recommend right now.Who It’s For
For those who have the cash for a high-end ultraportable 2-in-1, the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 scores points with premium design, top-end features, and 14-hour battery life. Throw in the OLED display and included pen for note taking and drawing, and it’s one of the best productivity machines you can get.Why We Picked It
The thinnest it’s ever been, but more powerful than ever before, the M3-powered Apple MacBook Air 13-inch is a productivity powerhouse in a sleek ultraportable design. The new hardware adds performance and longer battery life to an already stunningly slim design, which is all the more impressive for its sturdy, all-metal chassis. With dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and expanded support for external monitors, this versatile laptop works just as well at a desktop as it does on the go, but with a featherweight design that lasts all day and can be carried with ease.Who It’s For
The 13-inch MacBook Air with M3 is the lowest rung on a ladder of increasingly powerful Mac laptops, but it is the most powerful version yet of Apple’s premier ultraportable, delivering excellent everyday performance for working from home or doing projects for school without requiring the price step-up into the MacBook Pros. If you want a speedy, portable machine that lets you work all day or easily carry it from one place to another, there’s no beating the Apple MacBook Air. (And if you want a larger screen, the 15-inch MacBook Air is also an Editors’ Choice winner.)Why We Picked It
The Acer Swift Go 14 is a surprising laptop, with a 2.9-pound carry weight, an impressive 16:10-aspect-ratio OLED display, and a sharp 1440p webcam. Pair all that with a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of memory, and you’ll get plenty of productive pep from this smart little laptop. We’ll overlook minor complaints about the keyboard, since the Swift Go ticks all the right boxes for a capable ultraportable for a starting price under $800. That makes it our pick for college and university students.Who It’s For
You don’t want to be weighed down when running across campus, so students seeking a potent but affordable ultraportable will want to check out the Acer Swift Go 14. Packed with snappy performance, a premium display, and a useful array of ports, it’s a winning choice for lecture hall and dorm room alike.Why We Picked It
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 follows in the footsteps of some of the best laptops ever made, and while it doesn’t quite blow those past versions away, it’s still the best business ultraportable on the market. With an elegant carbon-fiber-infused ultralight design, this slim machine pairs a top-notch keyboard with a sharp, vivid OLED display, and a robust collection of ports. The price is higher than we’d like, but it’s hard to deny that this is still an Editors’ Choice-award-winning business laptop for a reason.Who It’s For
If you’re a professional who needs a Windows laptop that’s just as useful on a cross-country flight as on your desk, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is as effective as a lightweight productivity laptop gets. From the immensely portable design to the ultra-comfortable keyboard, it’s our favorite business laptop, especially for users forever on the go.Why We Picked It
While the ThinkPad still rules the roost, HP’s Dragonfly G4 is a close second, combining a sleek and super-light 2.2-pound design with nearly 20 hours of battery life. HP also included a sharp 3:2 aspect ratio display, a full array of ports, a high-quality 5-megapixel webcam, and an optional mobile broadband radio. This all comes together to make a powerful companion for work—whether that’s from home, in the office, or traveling business class. The Dragonfly G4 is a top-tier business ultraportable with some of the best features and specs in its class.Who It’s For
Built for business, the HP Dragonfly G4 is an ultraportable with both the features and power to do the job, making it an ideal second choice for most professionals. With enough battery life for a cross-country flight and then some—not to mention broad connectivity options, a beautiful document-friendly display, and a lightweight design—this laptop is a smart choice for pros who travel frequently for work.Why We Picked It
A ticked-up, pricier configuration versus the Q420 ZenBook 14X OLED model up top, the UX3404 is a near-ideal OLED ultraportable. With a brilliant screen, a 13th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, and even an entry-level discrete GPU squeezed into its 0.66-inch-thick frame, it’s an attractive blend of portable power and compact design. The snappy Intel Core i9 processor and Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU offer enough power for creative professionals, but the real treat is the 120Hz OLED display, a brilliant and sharp-looking panel with 2,880-by-1,800-pixel resolution. Add in the wide selection of ports, the roughly 12-hour battery life, and the affordability of Asus’ less costly configurations in the family, and it’s our favorite OLED-screen ultraportable laptop if you’re not budget-strapped.Who It’s For
For creative professionals and shoppers who want power and a beautiful OLED display, the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (UX3404) is the laptop you’re looking for. The peppy processor and GPU, paired with the panel, make it a perfect ultraportable for working with video, graphic design, and any other visual creative work.Why We Picked It
The best big-screen ultraportable we’ve reviewed, the LG Gram Pro 17 boasts an expansive 17-inch display (with a 16:10 aspect ratio), speedy performance, and lengthy battery life. Despite being slightly heavier than its predecessor due to the addition of a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics chip, it remains an amazingly portable (3.2-pound) desktop replacement that can handle light gaming and content creation. Though its flimsy feel and steep price keep it from top honors, it remains a pleasant surprise in the having-it-all department for its combination of light weight and a large display.Who It’s For
If you want ultraportable weight but the display size of a desktop-replacement laptop, nothing beats the LG Gram Pro 17. It gives you more screen without (much) more weight, and adds a gaming-class GPU to the mix for added power, all in an easy-to-carry design.Why We Picked It
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 scores a spot on this list with its lightweight portability and MIL-STD 810H durability. Made for weight savings, the business-focused design features ultralight magnesium and carbon fiber and weighs barely more than 2 pounds. Despite this, it still includes a satisfying keyboard, a sharp-looking display that’s well-suited to productivity, and workplace-friendly features like security and IT-compatible management tools, including optional 4G LTE mobile broadband. That’s why we picked it as the best ultraportable for extreme weight savings.Who It’s For
This machine is built for business travelers and professionals on the go, with extreme portability for productivity anywhere. Whether you want one of the lightest laptops for the office or the airport, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is the business ultraportable to get.Why We Picked It
Our favorite ultraportable Chromebook is also a budget leader: the affordable Lenovo Flex 3 Chromebook.
