Notebookcheck's Top 10 Premium Office/Business Laptops

You will definitely get to the ThinkPad X1 Carbon if you are looking for an extremely mobile laptop. It just weights 1.1 kg and easily fits in every bag thanks to a construction height of just 1.6 cm. There are some small design changes, but the case is basically identical to last year's model.

There are some internal changes: You get a new mechanical docking connector at the left side consisting of two USB-C ports and a proprietary network connector. Intel's modern quad-core ULV processors are obviously available as well, and the performance utilization is decent considering the slim base unit. However, this also resulted in high surface temperatures under load.

The WQHD HDR panel is another highlight. It is extremely bright and covers a wide range of colors, but there are also drawbacks. The panel is extremely glossy, and the actual HDR functionality is not supported yet. The fan is also a bit annoying and often starts spinning, even under light workloads.

We have also reviewed a less expensive SKU of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon with the 1080p touchscreen. This model managed an even better score of 92 %, so the X1 Carbon climbs up a couple of spots in the ranking.

HP uses a completely revised chassis including Intel's new quad-core ULV-CPUs for the 5. generation (G5) of its EliteBooks. We are almost completely convinced by the design of the 14-inch 840 G5 (here in review) thanks to the metal case. The matte IPS screen is also very bright, but it suffers from a strong blue cast ex-works, so you should calibrate it.

Compared to Lenovo, HP implements a lower limit for the consumption of the new processor. It is still sufficient for a noticeable performance advantage over the old dual-cores, but there is still a lot of potential left. The temperature development is not a problem in return though. However, HP should try to improve the battery runtime and we cannot understand the decision to waive a card reader.

The update of the EliteBook 850 G5 manages to improve its position by three spots since we also reviewed the EliteBook 840 G5 in another configuration. This high priced SKU was, among others, shipped with the extremely bright HP SureView panel and managed an overall rating of 91%, so the EliteBook is on par with our current leader ThinkPad T480s.

After last year's ThinkPad T470s revealed some flaws, Lenovo once again managed to secure the top spot in the business ranking with the new T480s generation. The chassis is new, but neither the design, nor the dimensions really changed that much. Only a look at the internal layout reveals the new arrangement of components and the more powerful cooling solution, which ensures a very decent performance utilization of the new quad-core ULV processor.

We already reviewed two models from the new generation; both of them with WQHD screens. Some T480s SKUs are also available with the GeForce MX150, even though it is the slower version of the GPU (we reported). If you prefer the full performance of the MX150, you should have a look at the less expensive ThinkPad T480.

Lenovo already fixed some of the early performance issues via BIOS updates and both SKUs are very similar except for the additional GPU performance. Both models managed an overall rating of 91% in their respective reviews (T480s i5 & T480s i7 Nvidia), so we list them together on P1. It is probably the most balanced 14-inch business laptop right now thanks to the compact chassis, decent performance, and good port selection.

Dell's high-end Latitude 7x90-series secures two spots in the current ranking of premium business laptops. Similar to the smaller Latitude 7390, Dell also uses a familiar chassis for the larger sibling Latitude 7490. It is still very convincing thanks to the comfortable soft-touch surfaces, high stability, and the comfortable keyboard. The touchpad is much more precise compared to the previous model thanks to Microsoft's Precision driver and the CPU performance of the new quad-core processor is much higher. There are more positive aspects like the quiet operation, many ports, long battery runtimes, and the easy maintenance.

Just like any notebook we review, the Latitude 7490 is not without its flaws. The heat development could be lower, for example, the speakers are surprisingly worse than before and the overall performance of the CPU/GPU combination is a bit throttled. The maximum display resolution is unfortunately limited to 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD); the competition from Lenovo and HP offers better display options. Overall, the Latitude 7490 still gets a rating of 90 % and deserves the spot in the Top 10 ranking.

One Dell is gone, another one enters the ranking: The Dell Latitude 7390 takes the place of its predecessor Dell Latitude 13 7380 in the Top 10 of business laptops. The biggest improvement is the CPU performance thanks to Intel's new Kaby Lake-Refresh processors.

Dell did not change anything else about the laptop compared to last year's model, but that was not necessary: The Dell Latitude 7390 is still the business edition of the Dell XPS 13. Thunderbolt 3 is a new feature, which is a nice addition. The Latitude has many positive aspects, including the sturdy magnesium chassis, the good display, the comfortable keyboard, and the excellent battery runtime. There are not many cons; we criticized the reliability of the fingerprint scanner and the surface temperatures, and the i7 upgrade does not make much sense, either.

The ThinkPad T480 still represents the entry into Lenovo's T-series and can convince in many important areas. this includes the bright and matte IPS screen, excellent input devices, many security features, and long battery runtimes. The performance utilization is also very good and the GeForce MX150 is – contrary to the slimmer T480s – not the slower version of the GPU.

The chassis is unchanged, but the lid of our test model turned out to be a weak spot and the backlight bleeding was worse under pressure. There are also some smaller problems, but they are not really important for a business device.

The old TravelMate P648 held a good spot in our ranking for quite a while. Acer now also ships its business laptop with current Kaby Lake processor from Intel. Acer once again delivers a very solid device overall, which does not reveal any major drawbacks. Thanks to the good port selection including Thunderbolt 3, long battery runtimes, and good input devices, the Acer is a good alternatives for the familiar models from Dell, HP, and Lenovo.

The Lenovo ThinkPad A485 gets a similar rating to the AMD counterpart from HP. It almost missed the ranking entirely, because the short battery runtime initially resulted in a rating of 88 %. A BIOS update improved the battery runtime and the CPU performance on battery power, so it was enough for a spot in the ranking.

The ThinkPad A485 uses the familiar chassis from the ThinkPad T480, which means it shares common advantages like the Power Bridge battery system or the good port selection in combination with AMD's Ryzen processors. The Intel SKU is still superior in some respects like the battery runtime. It might still be an interesting device for some users thanks to the better price-performance ratio compare to the ThinkPad T480. You must know one thing though when you get the A485: The display is below average. HP's EliteBook 745 G5 is much better in this respect.

The HP EliteBook 745 G5 is AMD's counterpart for the HP EliteBook 840 G5 – instead of Intel's efficient U-series processors, it is equipped with current Ryzen CPUs from AMD. It shares many advantages with the EliteBook 840 G5 like the high-quality chassis as well as the bright screen.

All in all, however, it is not quite enough for the same score, which is mostly due to shorter battery runtimes of the EliteBook 745 G5. The processor and the graphics unit cannot utilize their full potential, either, so the Intel model EliteBook 840 G5 is probably the better choice for many customers.

The 15.6-inch model from the ThinkPad T-series is also listed in our ranking, even though the score of 89% continues the trend that larger models are often not quite as good as their smaller counterparts. However, this does not mean the ThinkPad T580 is a bad office device, quite the contrary. The sturdy chassis is one of the positive features, just like the comfortable ThinkPad input devices, the above-average CPU performance, and the flexible PowerBridge battery design with its replaceable battery.

The UHD panel is just mediocre, and we did not like the high temperatures under load, the coil whining, as well as the disappointing battery runtimes considering the battery capacity. The very good overall score of the ThinkPad T580 shows the good performance in all the other sections, despite the mentioned cons.