Dynabook Portege Z40L-N is one of the lightest 14-inch laptops available with some hidden drawbacks

Lightweight laptops are always more convenient when traveling or on-the-move. 14-inch models in particular strike a good balance between screen size and portability with most models coming in around 1.2 kg to 1.3 kg like the Lenovo ThinkPad X9 14 or Dell Pro 14 Premium, respectively. The Dynabook Portege Z40L-N, however, is notable for being much lighter than most other 14-inch laptops at just 961 g while offering similar Core Ultra 7 processor options.

The reduced weight is certainly noticeable, but users should be aware that it comes with a moderate performance deficit. Our comparison charts below show the Portege Z40L-N coming in last when compared to other 14-inch laptops with the same Core Ultra 7 258V processor by just over 20 percent on average. The smaller cooling solution is mostly to blame; when running Prime95, for example, the CPU would stabilize at just 2.2 GHz and a toasty 82 C compared to 3.4 GHz and just 73 C on the Lenovo Yoga Slim 9 14 Gen 10.

Additional details and benchmarks can be found on our review on the Portege Z40L-N. Users who demand every ounce of performance from their 14-inch subnotebooks may therefore still want to consider heavier models like the aforementioned Dell or Lenovo instead of superlight options like the Dynabook.