The Best Multimedia Notebooks
Month after month Notebookcheck gets to review a huge variety of notebooks of all categories, some of which can be categorized under the all-encompassing multimedia umbrella. In order to be considered a multimedia laptop, the devices has to feature a 14-inch display, needs to be designed as an all-rounder by its manufacturer, and has to feature a dedicated GPU. Multimedia laptops are the best choice for all creative and demanding users that need to inspect and edit photos and videos. They are, however, also very well suited for occasional gaming and unsurprisingly less demanding tasks such as writing emails or word processing.
Powerful notebooks that are very well suited for enjoying current PC games can also be found on the following lists:
- The Best Budget Multimedia Notebooks (affordable all-round notebooks)
- The Best Gaming Notebooks (particularly powerful gaming laptops)
- The Best Budget Gaming Notebooks (affordable gaming laptops)
The Best Multimedia Laptops
Position | Total Rating | Date | Image | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Screen |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 93.9 % | 03/2023 | Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M2 Pro Apple M2 Pro Apple M2 Pro 19-Core GPU 32 GB Memory, 2048 GB SSD | 1.6 kg | 15.5 mm | 14.20" | 3024x1964 | glossy | |
2 | 93.7 % | 03/2023 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max Apple M2 Max Apple M2 Max 38-Core GPU 64 GB Memory, 2048 GB SSD | 2.2 kg | 16.8 mm | 16.20" | 3456x2234 | glossy | |
3 | 93.7 % | 11/2023 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Pro Apple M3 Pro 12-Core Apple M3 Pro 18-Core GPU 18 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 2.1 kg | 16.9 mm | 16.20" | 3456x2234 | glossy | |
4 | 92.8 % | 11/2023 | Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max Apple M3 Max 16-Core Apple M3 Max 40-Core GPU 64 GB Memory, 2048 GB SSD | 1.6 kg | 15.5 mm | 14.20" | 3024x1964 | glossy | |
5 | 90.4 % | 03/2024 New! | Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra Intel Core Ultra 7 155H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.8 kg | 17 mm | 16.00" | 2880x1800 | glossy | |
6 | 90.3 % | 04/2023 | Dell XPS 15 9530 RTX 4070 Intel Core i7-13700H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.9 kg | 18 mm | 15.60" | 3456x2160 | glossy | |
7 | 90.2 % | 05/2023 | Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14IRH G8 Intel Core i7-13700H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.5 kg | 15.6 mm | 14.50" | 3072x1920 | matte | |
8 | 90 % | 05/2023 | Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 Intel Core i7-13700H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 2.5 kg | 19.5 mm | 17.00" | 3840x2400 | glossy | |
9 | 90 % | 03/2024 New! | Honor MagicBook Pro 16 2024 Intel Core Ultra 7 155H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.9 kg | 17.9 mm | 16.00" | 3072x1920 | matte | |
10 | 89.6 % | 01/2024 | Framework Laptop 16 AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS AMD Radeon RX 7700S 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 2.4 kg | 20.95 mm | 16.00" | 2560x1600 | matte |
The table above contains an overview over the best multimedia notebooks reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Link: all devices in this class reviewed
1st – Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M2 Pro
After the successful debut of the M1 Pro processor, the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 is based on the M2 Pro with 12 cores. In testing, the MacBook Pro 14 2023 based on the Apple M2 Pro offers a very high system performance, although the performance has to be somewhat limited when the GPU and CPU are loaded at the same time. At the same time, the device is almost always very quiet in everyday use. The build quality is still excellent and without flaws. You can also look forward to fast Wi-Fi and a great display with accurate colors.
When you buy the Apple MacBook Pro 14, you get excellent system performance and very long battery runtimes.
The device can be purchased either directly from Apple or through authorized resellers such as Amazon.
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2nd – Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023
After the MacBook Pro 14 could already celebrate its entry into the top 10, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 now follows, but unfortunately it's not quite enough for the first place. Thus, the bigger brother only has to settle for second place. In the test, the device based on the Apple M2 Max and the Apple Max 38-core GPU could achieve very good results. Typically for Apple, the entire hardware is housed in a high-quality and stable case. The good CPU and GPU performance is accompanied by a great display with accurate color reproduction. Long battery runtimes and very quiet operation make the device suitable for everyday use.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 is even more powerful and one of the best devices for content creators.
The MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the M2 Pro, 16 GB RAM and a 512 GB SSD is available in stores for around $2,200, for instance at Amazon. Our test configuration with 64 GB RAM and a 2 TB SSD is available either from Apple's online store.
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3rd – Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Pro
After the MacBook Pro 16 with the M2 Max processor has already made it into the top 10, the Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 with the new M3 Max processor now follows. In our test device, the processor is supported by the Apple M3 Pro 18-core GPU, a powerful yet very economical graphics card. Apple has also installed a great display with accurate color reproduction and extreme brightness for HDR content. The M3 Pro SoC is particularly efficient, resulting in very long battery life. The MacBook Pro 16 can also be used at full power on battery power. A disadvantage is the extremely compact design, which offers almost no maintenance options. In addition, Apple typically only offers a one-year warranty.
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 is even more powerful and can score points with significantly increased single-core performance.
The MacBook Pro 16 with the M3 Pro is currently available from Apple directly or online shops such as Amazon.
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4th – Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max
Apple is now giving the new Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 the Apple M3 Max processor with 16 cores. There is also a very fast graphics card with the Apple M3 Max 40-core GPU. Nevertheless, it is not enough to oust the Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 with the M2 Pro and 12 cores from first place in our top 10 list. Nevertheless, Apple has managed to create the fastest 14-inch notebook to date with its overall performance. However, at over 5,000 euros, the manufacturer is also paying handsomely. The well-known advantages such as an excellent casing and a great display are a given. However, the high system performance is only available in mains operation. Typical for Apple is the extremely compact design without any maintenance options and the one-year warranty.
The Apple MacBook Pro 14 is currently the fastest 14-inch device on the market. Even Intel's Core i9 models can easily be beaten in multi-core tests.
The MacBook Pro 14 2023 is customizable on Apple's website. Alternatively, users can order a base model via Amazon, which costs around US$ 3,050.
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5th – Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra
As a competitor to Apple's MacBook Pro 16, Samsung is sending the Galaxy Book4 Ultra into the race to shine as a multimedia notebook. The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra is powered by Intel's latest processors from the Meteor Lake series. In the test, we were able to take a close look at the high-quality Samsung notebook with the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. The manufacturer also installs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 laptop GPU, which is capable of running many games smoothly. Overall, the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra impresses with a great OLED display, good system performance and long battery life. The vapor-chamber cooling was also impressive and cools the device reliably throughout and the connectivity is very modern with Thunderbolt 4 & HDMI 2.1.
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra is an all-round successful multimedia laptop. Unfortunately, Samsung skimps a little on storage.
At the time of writing, the GalaxyBook4 Ultra is listed on Samsung's webstore, prices starting at $2,399.
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6th – Dell XPS 15 9530
The Dell XPS 15 9530 managed to snag a spot in our top 10 rankings with an excellent score. A flawless overall result comes from the Intel Core i7-13700H as well as the GeForce RTX 4070 laptop GPU. The successful and very high-quality OLED panel convinced with its good colour fidelity in the test, although the brightness could have been a bit better. However, the 16:10 format is positive, which will please many users.
The Dell XPS 15 9530 is probably the first choice when it comes to deciding because of the 16:10 display. The fact that it is an OLED panel also makes the purchase decision much easier.
If you also want to use the device for gaming, you should know that the response times of the installed OLED panel are significantly lower than those of IPS panels. Furthermore, there is also no option for a 90 Hz refresh rate. However, the performance increase due to the Core i7-12700H is remarkable, even though it could not unleash its true potential in the review.
At the time of writing, the XPS 15 9530 can be ordered via Dell's webstore. Alternatively, Amazon US lists a variant of the laptop for around $1,839.
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7th – Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14IRH G8
With the Lenovo Yoga 7 14 G8, the manufacturer offers a perfectly equipped notebook for many different purposes. The Intel Core i7-13700H offers 14 cores and 20 threads. The Lenovo Yoga 7 14 offers excellent performance and great features as a multimedia device. These include Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6E and a comfortable keyboard, which also accommodates frequent typists. There is also an excellent 3K display with high color fidelity and high system performance paired with impeccable gaming performance.
The Lenovo Yoga 7 14 is a successful 14-inch multimedia notebook with a very high system performance and is definitely also suitable for gaming.
Currently, interested users can purchase the Yoga 7 14IRH G8 via Amazon for around $890.
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8th - Dell XPS 17 9730
The Dell XPS 17 9730 offers a current Raptor-Lake H CPU, as well as a gaming-grade GPU and an excellent display. The 4K touch display performs excellently in the test and can even cover the AdobeRGB color space by 100%. The 16:10 format, which is becoming more and more popular lately, should also be emphasized. The equipment also includes 32 GB RAM and a 1024 GB SSD. Nevertheless, a second SSD can still be accommodated in the device. Dell only relies on USB TypeC for the external interfaces. However, the latest standard Thunderbolt 4 is supported, so the device is well prepared for the future.
The Dell XPS 17 9730 convinces with an excellent display and is thus best suited for image editing.
The Asus Zenbook Pro 15 OLED is a high-quality all-round notebook with a high-quality OLED touch display. In terms of connectivity, however, the device lacks USB-C docking options.
In the US, some variants of Dell XPS 17 9730 with a Core i9-13900H and RTX 4080 are currently available on Amazon, with prices starting at $5,200. Otherwise, users can order directly the device via Dell's online store.
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9th – Honor MagicBook Pro 16
The Honor MagicBook Pro 16 makes it into our top 10 list and is equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H. The solid all-rounder offers an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 laptop GPU for 3D applications. The 16-inch display offers high brightness and 165 Hz with fast response times, which means the device can also be used as a gaming laptop. The performance of the components can be accessed well and without major limitations. Long battery life and good speakers are also among the strengths of the Honor MagicBook Pro 16.
The Honor MagicBook Pro 16 is a high-quality all-round notebook and underpins this with good features.
The new Honor MagicBook Pro 16 2024 is expected to be available worldwide from the second quarter. We are not yet able to provide an RRP.
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10th – Framework Laptop 16
With the Framework Laptop 16, the manufacturer is pursuing a very special approach, as this is a modular notebook. The device can be configured as desired on the website and we took a closer look at the 16-inch model with AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS and an AMD Radeon RX 7700S in the test. The test device also offered 32 GB DDR5 RAM and was equipped with a 1 TB SSD. The Framework Laptop 16 is priced in the high-end range.
The Framework Laptop 16 is heavier than comparable devices, which is due to its modularity. This makes the device very easy to upgrade.
The Framework Laptop 16 16 can be pre-ordered on Framework's official online store.
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Recent Multimedia Awards
Comparison Best Multimedia Laptops
Test Results
Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M2 Pro | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M2 Max | Apple MacBook Pro 16 2023 M3 Pro | Apple MacBook Pro 14 2023 M3 Max | Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra | Dell XPS 15 9530 RTX 4070 | Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14IRH G8 | Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | Honor MagicBook Pro 16 2024 | Framework Laptop 16 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | ||||||||||
Display P3 Coverage | 99.2 | 99 | 99.2 | 98.6 | 99.8 | 98.7 | 95.2 | 98.8 | 97.7 | |
sRGB Coverage | 100 | 99.9 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 99.7 | |||
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 88.5 | 88.5 | 98.4 | 87.6 | 100 | 89.1 | 87 | |||
Response Times | ||||||||||
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 35.2 ? | 80.5 ? | 80.8 ? | 0.54 ? | 1.68 ? | 31.5 ? | 42.9 ? | 6.3 ? | 14.6 ? | |
Response Time Black / White * | 26.4 ? | 47.2 ? | 78.8 ? | 0.69 ? | 1.94 ? | 15.8 ? | 31.3 ? | 5.6 ? | 11.3 ? | |
PWM Frequency | 14880 ? | 14880 ? | 14878 ? | 240 ? | 239 | |||||
Screen | ||||||||||
Brightness middle | 500 | 504 | 610 | 390 | 389.5 | 441 | 457.4 | 551 | 504.8 | |
Brightness | 489 | 487 | 600 | 393 | 392 | 453 | 430 | 524 | 490 | |
Brightness Distribution | 94 | 94 | 96 | 98 | 98 | 92 | 85 | 91 | 84 | |
Black Level * | 0.02 | 0.001 | 0.34 | 0.31 | 0.52 | 0.41 | ||||
Contrast | 25000 | 504000 | 1297 | 1475 | 1060 | 1231 | ||||
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 1.2 | 1.5 | 1.7 | 1.4 | 4.95 | 0.6 | 3.16 | 1.7 | 1.23 | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 2.6 | 3.3 | 2.3 | 2.7 | 8.65 | 1.3 | 5.8 | 4.1 | 3.74 | |
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 1.7 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 | 2 | 0.8 | 4.2 | 2.4 | 2 | |
Gamma | 2.24 98% | 2.25 98% | 2.22 99% | 2.27 97% | 2.27 97% | 2.2 100% | 2.17 101% | 2.2 100% | 2.22 99% | |
CCT | 6791 96% | 6882 94% | 6874 95% | 6431 101% | 6265 104% | 6597 99% | 6987 93% | 6842 95% | 6670 97% | |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.53 | 0.6 | 1 | 1.1 | ||||||
Noise | ||||||||||
off / environment * | 23.9 | 23.9 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 24.2 | 23.1 | 22.9 | 22.7 | 24 | 23.8 |
Idle Minimum * | 23.9 | 23.9 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 24.2 | 23.1 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 24 | 23.9 |
Idle Average * | 23.9 | 23.9 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 24.2 | 23.1 | 22.9 | 22.8 | 24 | 23.9 |
Idle Maximum * | 23.9 | 23.9 | 24.4 | 24.8 | 24.2 | 24.2 | 36.8 | 22.8 | 27.2 | 23.9 |
Load Average * | 26 | 36.6 | 26.9 | 25.8 | 37.9 | 27.1 | 43.7 | 38.9 | 29 | 28.5 |
Load Maximum * | 43.2 | 43.2 | 50.4 | 43.4 | 41.7 | 44.6 | 46.2 | 50.2 | 45 | 53.7 |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 35.1 | 25.1 | 43.4 | 41.7 | 40.1 | 46.2 | 47.4 | 42.1 | 51.9 | |
Heat | ||||||||||
Maximum Upper Side * | 46.9 | 44.2 | 38.1 | 45.9 | 38.5 | 45.6 | 41.6 | 43.2 | 39.7 | 42.4 |
Maximum Bottom * | 41.7 | 42.9 | 37 | 42.1 | 41.2 | 42 | 55.7 | 31.8 | 42.9 | 40.8 |
Idle Upper Side * | 21.4 | 22.4 | 24.2 | 23.4 | 23.5 | 34.4 | 25.9 | 32.8 | 23.7 | 31.4 |
Idle Bottom * | 21.4 | 22.3 | 24.6 | 23.8 | 24.1 | 33.2 | 28 | 29.8 | 23.5 | 27.8 |
Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
WiFi v1.3 | 807 | 887 | 1204 | 911 | 656 | 481 | 595 | 600 | 734 | 548 |
Load | 70 | 66 | 83 | 73 | 78 | 89 | 49 | 67 | 58 | 92 |
Reader / Idle | 688 | 1147 | 890 | |||||||
Power Consumption | ||||||||||
Idle Minimum * | 2.4 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 2.6 | 4.8 | 20 | 7.6 | 15 | 5.2 | 9.5 |
Idle Average * | 11.3 | 16.5 | 16.5 | 11.8 | 7.5 | 20.7 | 13.3 | 23.6 | 14.4 | 17 |
Idle Maximum * | 11.5 | 16.8 | 16.7 | 12.2 | 7.9 | 22.4 | 13.7 | 24.3 | 15.4 | 17.2 |
Load Average * | 59.6 | 113 | 60.4 | 99.9 | 79.3 | 77.1 | 88.2 | 80 | 105.4 | 96.2 |
Witcher 3 ultra * | 55.9 | 92 | 52.1 | 92.5 | 79.2 | 95.4 | 94.2 | 113.7 | 107.6 | 171.9 |
Load Maximum * | 100 | 145 | 102.9 | 101.7 | 125 | 133.4 | 143 | 135.4 | 195.2 | 175.7 |
* ... smaller is better
Benchmarks
3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value) | |
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Ultra | |
Dell XPS 15 9530 RTX 4070 | |
Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 14IRH G8 | |
Dell XPS 17 9730 RTX 4070 | |
Honor MagicBook Pro 16 2024 | |
Framework Laptop 16 |