New ultralight "Made in Japan" business laptop launches in Europe

Japan is a special market for laptops, as Japanese buyers have special preferences for laptop features and designs, but also brands. After all, Japanese brands like NEC and Panasonic are still going strong here, when they are basically non-existent in most other market. Of course, Panasonic is not completely non-existent: After all, its rugged line of Toughbook laptops is sold internationally, but it is clearly for a niche market. Its more mainstream business laptop series, the Panasonic Let's Note brand, which is comparable to brands like Lenovo ThinkPad or HP Elitebook, has been Japanese-exclusive for many years.

At least until now: Panasonic has announced a new entry into the European mainstream business laptop market, with the new Panasonic Let's Note FC7 laptop.

Panasonic Let's Note FC7: 14-inch mainstream Panther Lake laptop with lightweight magnesium design

The new entry is a 14-inch laptop, which is the most common size for business laptops. The Panasonic laptop FC7 uses the Intel Panther Lake platform, with the Intel Core Ultra 5 335 as the CPU of choice, which is coupled with a 512 GB SSD and 16 GB of RAM. The 14-inch screen is an IPS panel with up to 400 cd/m² brightness and a WUXGA (1,920 x 1,200) resolution, a pretty standard choice for office laptops.

While these specifications are pretty mundane, what makes the Panasonic Let's Note FC7 special is its design - and its place of manufacturing. Unlike 99 percent of all laptops, it is not made in China. Instead it is a "Made in Japan" device, from Panasonic's Kobe plant. And in terms of design, the new Panasonic laptop has several special features.

This includes a lightweight magnesium chassis, which weighs 1.039 kg and is drop-resistant according to Panasonic, but also a user replaceable, external 56 Wh battery, that can be changed after removing just two screws. Additionally, the Panasonic Let's Note is probably the most lightweight laptop on the market with a full-size RJ45 Ethernet port.

It even includes a dedicated proprietary charging port - though it certainly can be also charged via one of the two Thunderbolt 4 ports - which Panasonic says is more robust and less prone to break than a USB C charging port. And last, but certainly not least: Panasonic includes its iconic and somewhat quirky round touchpad design.