Ranking: Best all-round laptops reviewed by Notebookcheck

The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024) delivers outstanding performance with the M4 Pro chip, excelling in tasks like video rendering and 3D design. It boasts a premium build, over 21 hours of battery life, and enhanced camera features. The performance boost over previous models is noticeable, but the lack of repairability and upgradability remains a drawback, especially given its high price. Still, it’s a top-tier option for demanding users.

The Apple MacBook Pro 14 (2025) with the new M5 chip marks a further step in Apple's development of professional laptops. The device offers significantly increased performance with high energy efficiency. The M5 processor ensures noticeably faster computing and graphics processes, which is particularly beneficial for creative applications, software development or data-intensive tasks. Despite the technical innovations, the elegant aluminum housing remains virtually unchanged, as does the brilliant mini LED display with precise color reproduction and high brightness. The cooling system works quietly, while the battery life is impressive even under load. Thunderbolt ports, HDMI and SD card slot continue to offer a high level of connectivity. All in all, the MacBook Pro 14 (2025) M5 combines professional performance, high-quality workmanship and excellent mobility to create one of the most versatile laptops in its class.

The 16-inch Yoga Pro 9i combines high performance with an elegant design to please creative professionals. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU and the RTX 5070 laptop GPU ensure powerful performance for rendering, video editing and 3D applications. The 16-inch OLED display with 3,200 × 2,000 pixels, 120 Hz and 1,600 nits delivers brilliant colors and sharp image. Up to 64 GB of LPDDR5X RAM and fast SSDs ensure smooth workflow. With Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1 and Wi-Fi 7, the system is well-connected. Its aluminum housing looks robust and modern, yet at around 1.9 kg it remains mobile. Battery life is solid, but limited when high load is involved.

The 2025 ProArt P16 is aimed specifically at creative professionals who require maximum performance on the go. At its core is a powerful AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 with integrated AI NPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090 laptop GPU with 24 GB of GDDR7 graphics memory. Combined, they create a workstation on the go. Its 16-inch OLED display impresses with 3,840 × 2,400 pixels, 120-Hz frame rate, touch function and almost 100% DCI-P3 color space coverage as well as a peak brightness of up to 1,600 nits. This makes the machine ideal for image and video editing, especially considering the up to 64-GB LPDDR5X RAM, 4 TB NVMe SSD and modern interfaces such as USB4, HDMI 2.1 and Wi-Fi 7 + Bluetooth 5.4. Despite allowing for high performance, the housing is relatively slim and, at approximately 1.9 kg, can definitely be described as portable. Cooling is powerful enough to enable consistently reliable performance even with demanding video editing or 3D rendering tasks.

The Yoga Pro 9 16IAH G10 impresses as an all-round successful multimedia notebook. The test unit combines an Intel Core Ultra 7 255H with Nvidia's RTX 5060 laptop GPU for very solid graphics performance and computing power given the size. The system is Advanced Optimus-enabled. A real head-turner, its 16-inch OLED touch display with a resolution of around 2.8K delivers 120 Hz and a maximum brightness of up to 1,100 cd/m² with HDR content. In benchmarks, the system is often above the average for its class, for example in Geekbench and 3DMark tests. Its cooling is comparatively quiet, while power consumption and temperatures are no cause for concern. Battery life is still good, although it does not quite reach the class average.

The education edition of the Yoga Pro 9 is available from Campuspoint.de for 1,939 euros. Lenovo's online store asks for 2,209 euros.

The ThinkBook 16 G7+ AMD is a powerful and stylish laptop designed for performance-hungry users and creative professionals. Equipped with the latest AMD Ryzen Strix Point series APUs, a 16-inch display, and modern features, it delivers performance, productivity, and comfort packed into a slim chassis with excellent build quality. Connectivity options are modern and useful (USB-C, HDMI 2.1, SD card reader, Wi-Fi 7), and its 1080p IR-enabled webcam has a privacy shutter. Further security features include a fingerprint sensor in the power button and TPM 2.0 [the latter comes standard on all 2025 laptops, though].

The mid-2024 Evo 14 is a lightweight 14-inch notebook powered by the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS, delivering strong performance despite lacking a dedicated GPU. The latter's integrated Radeon 780M provides solid graphics grunt, making light gaming possible. The test unit featured 32 GB of RAM, a 1-TB SSD, and a high-resolution 14-inch 16:10 display. Its premium aluminum case, extensive connectivity options, and good keyboard further enhance its appeal, as does impressive battery life.

The Zenbook S16 is a slim and lightweight multimedia notebook powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. This new APU brings a CPU performance boost and a slightly stronger AMD Radeon 890M iGPU. Asus equips the system with 32 GB of LPDDR5x RAM, which is not user-expandable. The 16-inch OLED display delivers vibrant colors, although PWM is a bit of an issue here. The Zenbook performed well in our testing, rightfully securing a spot in this list. It stands out with excellent system performance, a solid selection of ports, comfortable keyboard, and long battery life. The main drawback to keep in mind is the non-upgradable RAM.

The mid-2024 XMG Evo 15 from Schenker is a solid and powerful multimedia notebook. It features an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H with its improved Intel Arc 8-Core iGPU, which provides significantly better graphics performance. The product boasts a high-quality aluminum build that is both lightweight and durable. Its 16:10 IPS panel with a 240 Hz refresh rate and no PWM is a standout feature. Overall, the Schenker XMG Evo 15 offers excellent system performance and is well-equipped for the future with its modern connectivity options.

The InfinityBook Pro 14 is an ultra-mobile Linux machine that combines performance, mobility and elegance. With its low weight, robust magnesium casing and a height of just under 16 mm, it is ideal for flexible use on the move. The 14-inch display with narrow bezels offers razor-sharp imageution and ensures productive work, whether in the office, on the move or in the home office. Modern AMD technology is at work inside, providing sufficient computing power even for more demanding tasks. Close integration with Linux is characteristic of Tuxedo; the product offers a very good hardware basis for that.