Notebookcheck's Top 10 Convertible Laptops

The https://www.notebookcheck.com/Test-HP-Spectre-x360-13-i7-8550U-FHD-SSD-Laptop.280294.0.htmlHP Spectre x360 is a well-made convertible that almost made it to the very top. Case and build quality are state of the art, and the high-contrast display with its near 100% sRGB coverage is a pleasure to look at.

And let us not forget the comfortable keyboard and touchpad, USB 3.0 Type-A and Thunderbolt ports, and a microSD card reader.

The Spectre’s performance does not justify the HP Spectre’s high price. Build quality and its unique design, on the other hand, surely do.

Performance was just mediocre at best due to massive power throttling despite low overall TDP limits. This might make a difference when reading and writing emails or using the web, but power users with demands for long periods of sustained load will most certainly suffer.

Another problem was the comparatively dark, yet shockingly reflective display - a combination that made working with the device harder than we were hoping for.

We have also had the UHD SKU in review. The Spectre x360 13-ae000 (i7-8550U, 4K UHD) offers a significantly shorter battery life (7:04 hours instead of 8:47 hours) and its i7 CPU is already severely limited by the temperature-induced throttling during regular sustained load.

Equipped with a 256 GB SSD, the Spectre x360 13 can be had for around $1,500. A more affordable and better equipped alternative would be Acer’s 13-inch Acer Spin 5 (i7-8550U, FHD, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD). Performance-wise these two were comparable, although we have to add that the Acer lacks a Thunderbolt port. More power and less throttling are available in the Lenovo Yoga 920-13IKB (i7-8550U, FHD) Convertible ReviewLenovo Yoga 920 (not to be found in this top 10 list).

The Dell Latitude 7390 (here in review) is a premium convertible, which is primarily designed for business users. It combines very good performance figures with the versatility of a convertible. Our test model of the Dell was equipped with the Intel Core i7-8650U, which is currently the fastest ULV-chip from Intel. We were not fully convinced by the performance though, because it is not faster than the Core i7-8550U in multi-core applications.

The Latitude 7390 2-in-1 is a robust and well-designed notebook with very good input devices and a good system performance in general. However, there are some drawbacks, and the price is high as well. A look at the competition is therefore not a bad idea.

You cannot really make any mistakes with the Dell latitude 7390 if you are looking for a convertible. We still want to mention the very glossy screen since it will affect the outdoor usability quite significantly. Still, the Latitude 7390 performed well in our review. The design is always a matter of taste, but we liked it, and the convertible also collects points for the sturdy base unit and very good input devices.

The ZenBook Flip S UX370 is an attractive and powerful 13-inch convertible by Asus. With just 14 % its Core i5-7200U exhibited minor throttling in our Cinebench R15 multi-thread benchmark loop, and was much better than the Surface Pro 2017 (i5) in this respect (33%).

The Dell XPS 15 9575 (here in review) is supposed to expand the regular XPS 15 9560 with the advantages of a convertible. This was a success, because both the quality and the stability are on the familiar high level. Our test model is based on the Intel Core i5-8305G with the discrete AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL/870 graphics card. The combination is convincing and the performance of the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL/870 is sitting between the GeForce GTX 1050 and GeForce GTX 1050 Ti.

This means our test sample of the Dell XPS 15 9575 is powerful enough for all modern titles, which expands the usage scenarios of the convertible even further.

Dell's new convertible introduces many new features, and almost all of them can convince us. The Kaby Lake-G usually competes with a GTX 1050 as well as a Core i7-7700HQ, but stays cooler compared to the XPS 15 9560. However, the Maglev keyboard leaves mixed impressions and the Toshiba NVMe-SSD is slower than Samsung's PM961. You should also carry a USB-C adapter; a cleaning cloth for the dark surfaces does not hurt, either.

The XPS 15 9575 is not a cheap devices, and you definitely pay a premium for the convertible features compared to conventional multimedia laptops.

With its unique wrist watch hinges, Lenovo’s consumer flagship Yoga 920-13IKB is sort of the staple of this top 10 list, but its hinges also set it apart from all of its competitors. Its internal hardware - U-series quad-core CPU, PCIe SSD, and Thunderbolt port - is at eye level with modern Ultrabooks or Subnotebooks, although it offers the added benefits of a touchscreen and tablet mode to boot. Even stylus support with up to 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity is included.

Thanks to its high performance, its decent battery life, and its compelling input devices the Lenovo Yoga 920 is a true convertible all-rounder.

The Yoga’s FHD display is okay by and large. However, we should add that its competitors offer higher contrast ratios and higher color accuracies. Where it remains unrivaled is its connectivity: two Thunderbolt 3 ports, one of which can be used for charging, and a single USB Type-A port are otherwise unheard of in this particular category. Too bad Lenovo did forego the card reader entirely.

Positioned as a more affordable alternative to the Yoga 920 flagship we find Lenovo’s Yoga 720. Available in Silver and Gray it features a more conventional 360 degree hinge in a very slim well-made metal case. Consequently, at just 10 mm (~0.4 in) it is one of the slimmest convertibles available today. Like its bigger brother, the Yoga 920, the Yoga 720 also features a fairly decent FHD display with its unique set of disadvantages, chief among which is the comparatively low PWM frequency that could cause headaches and eye strain for some users.

Lenovo’s Yoga 720-13IKB is an attractive convertible with decent hardware and input devices.

In our review, the Yoga 720 surprised us with its low temperatures, its low system noise, and its battery life of up to 8 hours in our real-world tests. At the same time its i7 CPU offered performance aplenty.

The ThinkPad L380 Yoga is an affordable ticket to the world of business-class convertibles. Depending on the hardware, it can be had for as little as $1,000. It looks almost identical to its other ThinkPad brethren, save for the silver model, but is noticeably less rigid and robust. Fortunately, its input devices are as exceptional as expected, and the L380 is very well suited for day to day word processing.

Despite its attractive price the ThinkPad L380 Yoga is a well-made gateway into the world of business convertibles.

Particular attention has been paid to the L380’s emissions. It remains very cool and almost completely quiet most of the time. Nevertheless, it offers high levels of performance thanks to its U-series quad-core CPU and its fast PCIe SSD. RAM can even be upgraded to 32 GB if necessary. Unfortunately, the L380 is also limited to just 12 months of warranty by default, and the display panel utilized PWM at a very low frequency for brightness regulation. Its Wi-Fi performance was also rather poor by and large.