Fujitsu unveils 1.7-pound 13-inch notebook

The business-oriented U937/P is made from a magnesium alloy. (Source: Impress)

Fujitsu has revealed two of the world's lightest 13-inch laptops at a launch event in Japan. The UH75/B1 weighs a scant 1.72 lbs while the U937/P weighs 1.87 lbs. The base units come with a small 25 Wh battery to reduce weight, but a 50 Wh battery is available, which will make the unit weigh just over 2 lbs.

by Douglas Black, 2017/01/18

Fujitsu yesterday unveiled possibly the world's lightest 13-inch notebooks: The LifeBook UH75/B1 is a consumer notebook which weighs a feather-light 1.72 lbs (777g) The business model, the U937/P, weighs 1.76 lbs (799g). In comparison, the Lenovo LaVie Z and LG Gram 13 weigh 1.87 lbs (848g) and 2.16 lbs (980g), respectively.

How did Fujitsu get these laptops so incredibly light? Part of it is the material: the consumer model is made from magnesium-lithium alloy—a material that weighs only half as much as aluminum—while the business model is standard magnesium alloy and so is a bit heavier. However, much of the weight cut is also from a small battery. To get these laptops at their lightest weight possible, you'll need to order them with a tiny 25 Wh battery. However, there is the option of a larger 50 Wh battery. Fujitsu notes that the higher-capacity model weighs just over 2 lbs (913g)—but makes up for that extra weight with an alleged 17 hours of battery life.

The LifeBooks will sport Intel Core i5-7200U CPUs, a fingerprint sensor, and a full array of ports, including HDMI, Ethernet, and USB 3.0 (2 x Type-A, 1 x Type-C). There is no word yet on whether the notebooks will be available outside of Japan.