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MagyarThe Best Business Notebooks
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With prices mostly significantly above $1,000 business notebooks tend to offer a lot. However, business customers also tend to ask for quite a lot in return. Long-lasting and robust cases, a wide variety of safety features, top-of-the-line communication modules, and last but not least a high level of performance paired with a low level of emissions. And to make matters worse, professional users have the habit of frequently asking for extended warranties and service options.
Given the often significantly longer life cycles of business notebooks, particularly in regard to the long-term availability of spare parts, we have extended the time frame for this category to at least 12 months or more. Please consider the following top lists when making a decision as well:
- The Best Budget Office Notebooks (affordable office notebooks)
- The Best Mobile Workstations (powerful workstations for professionals)
- The Best Subnotebooks (compact and portable notebooks)
- The Best Laptop 2-in-1/Convertibles (notebooks that can also be used as tablets)
The Best Premium Business Laptops
Position | Total Rating | Date | Image | Model | Height | Weight | Size | Resolution | Screen | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 91 % | 04/2021 New! |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6-20Y0S00200 Intel Core i7-1165G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 15 mm | 1.4 kg | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | matte | |
| 2 | 91 % | 06/2021 New! |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G2 Intel Core i7-1165G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 15.39 mm | 1.2 kg | 13.30" | 2560x1600 | ||
| 3 | 91 % | 06/2021 New! |  | HP Elite Dragonfly Max Intel Core i7-1185G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 16 mm | 1.2 kg | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 4 | 91 % | 05/2021 New! |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XXS00100 Intel Core i7-1165G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 14.9 mm | 1.2 kg | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | matte | |
| 5 | 91 % | 03/2021 New! |  | HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7, i7-10810U Intel Core i7-10810U Intel UHD Graphics 620 16 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 16.5 mm | 1.4 kg | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 6 | 91 % | 08/2020 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s-20UJS00K00 AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 16.1 mm | 1.3 kg | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 7 | 90 % | 02/2021 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano-20UN002UGE Intel Core i7-1160G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 16 mm | 946 g | 13.00" | 2160x1350 | matte | |
| 8 | 90 % | 08/2020 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X13-20UGS00800 AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 4750U AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 16 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 16.9 mm | 1.3 kg | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 9 | 89 % | 07/2020 |  | Dell Latitude 7310 Intel Core i7-10610U Intel UHD Graphics 620 16 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 18.3 mm | 1.2 kg | 13.30" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 10 | 89 % | 07/2020 |  | Dell Latitude 7410 Intel Core i7-10610U Intel UHD Graphics 620 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 19.3 mm | 1.4 kg | 14.00" | 3840x2160 | matte |
The table above contains an overview over the best business laptops reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Link: all devices in this class reviewed
Editors' Comments
1st – Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6
Last year, the Carbon performed better than the Yoga. This year, it’s the other way around. The brand-new Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 combines continuity with evolution and deservedly received an excellent rating of 91 % in our review. Continuity can be found in its high-quality gray aluminum case as well as its connectivity. Evolution is represented by the larger battery, a higher performance, and options such as 5G or 32 GB of RAM. Its most important enhancement is the new matte 16:10 display, a form factor that fits a convertible such as the ThinkPad X1 Yoga 2021 very well.
On the flip side its most annoying downside is its temperature as well as a firmware problem in our review unit leading to sudden performance dropouts. The keyboard may still perform at a very high level; however we definitely preferred its predecessor’s.
The new ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6 is Lenovo’s best business convertible. Its performance is very good, its case is of extremely high quality, and its matte 16:10 panel left an excellent impression on us.
Availability is somewhat limited right now. Prices start at $1,400 for the base model, and the device can be purchased through Lenovo’s own webstore.
Pricecompare
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2nd – Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 2
To everyone’s surprise the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 2 managed to secure a top spot on our top 10 list despite the fact that it is distinctly not a member of Lenovo’s high-end ThinkPad X1 series. Nevertheless, it performed very well in our review and achieved a very good rating as a result. We particularly liked its comfortable keyboard, good connectivity, its lightweight yet robust carbon-magnesium case, and most important its 13.3-inch 16:10 display, which offered good brightness, color gamut, and a resolution of 2560 x 1600.
To our bewilderment this particular WQXGA resolution is not available for the X1 Carbon and X1 Yoga, which is unfortunate given that it offers an almost ideal compromise between resolution and energy efficiency. This display is one of the main reasons why the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 2 performed as well as it did and secured its spot high up on our top 10 list.
16:10 is the new trend. Besides the X1 Yoga Gen 6 the ThinkPad X13 Yoga Gen 2 is yet another Lenovo ThinkPad convertible that achieved a very good rating in our review.
Prices start at $1,300, and all SKUs are available for next business day shipping according to Lenovo. The device can be purchased among others through Lenovo’s own webstore.
Pricecompare
3rd – HP Elite Dragonfly Max
Last year’s HP Elite Dragonfly surprised us with its unusual dark blue case, not necessarily with its color but mostly its low weight. The HP Elite Dragonfly Max is successor to the Elite Dragonfly in a “maximum” SKU thereof. It includes all Elite Dragonfly G2 features and adds a better webcam, HP SureView, and a new black case.
In addition to features such as 5G, a very quiet fan, a good keyboard, and a great webcam the HP Elite Dragonfly Max achieved a very good rating in our review. Its largest downside is the SureView display that impedes tablet mode usability due to its narrow viewing angles.
The recipe is very simple. Take the Spectre x360 13, put it in a nice professional suite and tie, and voila: the HP Elite Dragonfly Max. The device offers SureView and low noise emissions at the cost of crisp image quality and performance when compared to many other 13.3-inch notebooks with Intel’s 11 gen. processors.
Considering that it is a direct competitor to Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Yoga its high price is not surprising at all. Prices start at $2,300, and the device is currently only available through HP’s own website.
Pricecompare
4th – Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 9 is very closely related to the X1 Yoga G6. However, as the more traditional laptop it lacks the latter’s convertibleness, such as the 360-degree display hinge or the integrated stylus. In return, it is significantly lighter and clad in traditional ThinkPad black. These details aside is it almost identical to the X1 Yoga G6, including the 16:10 display and the worse keyboard.
Please note that the X1 Carbon 2021 with FHD display achieved a better score in our review mainly due to its significantly longer battery life.
Apart from the worse keyboard the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9 is a great successor and worthy member of Lenovo’s flagship series.
Prices are comparable to its very closely related sibling and start at around $1,400. The device is available through Lenovo’s own webstore where a configurator is available to build your own custom device. Select SKUs are also available through the usual retail channels, such as Amazon.
Pricecompare
5th – HP Elitebook x360 1040 G7
The EliteBook 1000-series is HP’s equivalent to Dell’s Latitude 9000-series or Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1-series. The HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7 is the larger device with a 14-inch display and based on its name a convertible with a 360 degree hinge, just like the X1 Yoga. As is typical for a business laptop it features a good keyboard and good connectivity. One benefit it has over Lenovo’s ThinkPad-series is its extremely bright 1,000 nits LCD.
In return it is missing a microSD card slot, its fan is whiney and high-pitched, and the display is slow. Nevertheless, the HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7 managed to achieve a very good rating in our review.
The HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7 is a convertible with a reat design and great features held back by an aging UHD Graphics GPU.
The device is fairly expensive, in part due to poor availability. Retail prices for unavailable SKUs start at around $1,800 while one available SKUs is listed on Amazon for over $2,000.
Pricecompare
6th – Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 1
Intel is no longer the performance king of the hill thanks to AMD’s Ryzen 4000, and it is thus only logical for an AMD Ryzen 4000-based laptop to storm to the top of this business notebook top 10 list as well. Lenovo’s Renoir-based Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 1 is leaps and bounds ahead of the more expensive ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 while offering the same level of quality as its more expensive sibling. In some areas the T14s even manages to outshine the X1, such as for example with its better keyboard thanks to longer key travel.
Other benefits include the robust case, the decent battery life, good connectivity, and last but not least the excellent matte low power display, all of which help to make the ThinkPad T14s AMD am excellent mobile business laptop. Unfortunately, there are a few drawbacks as well, such as the lack of Thunderbolt 3 and 4K display as well as the hard to reach microSD port. Nevertheless it remains one of the best business laptops of 2020.
Pricecompare
7th – Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 1
The only new entry this quarter is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 1, Lenovo’s first foray into the world of 13-inch laptops since the original ThinkPad X1 back in 2011. The X1 Nano is even more portable, which means as small, compact, and lightweight as possible. A first for the X1-series is the 16:10 display resulting in a display that is just as wide as that of a 16:9 14-inch laptop. It is powered by a Tiger Lake UP4 CPU and is thus about as fast as the older ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 8 in regard to CPU performance.
There are, however, a few downsides as well, particularly connectivity and keyboard. With just two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports the X1 Nano is very limited for a business notebook, and the keyboard’s key travel is just 1.35 mm (yet another first for a ThinkPad) making for a completely different typing experience. Despite these flaws the ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 1 scored an impressive 90 % from the get-go, and was thus able to secure a place high up ont his top list.
Pricecompare
8th – Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 1
Yet another AMD Ryzen 4000-based ThinkPad that made our business top 10 list: the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Gen 1. Its list of pros and cons is mostly identical to the AMD-based ThinkPad T14s’s, compared to which the display, keyboard, and case are slightly smaller, and the battery life is slightly shorter. In addition, the ThinkPad X13 performed slightly worse than the T14s. In return, unlike the T14s it offers an easily replaceable keyboard.
Pricecompare
9th – Dell Latitude 7310
The Latitude 7310 is the professional cousin of Dell’s popular XPS 13. Instead of an eye-catching metal display lid it features a more refined and unobtrusive professional design with a dark-gray carbon-fiber-based display lid. Unlike the XPS 13 the Latitude 7310 comes with various ports, built-in LTE, and other business features. In addition, it is lightweight, quiet, and it offers a long battery life. It is optionally available with aluminum case.
Drawbacks include the soldered RAM as well as its Intel CPU’s disappointing performance. The fact that Dell does not offer an AMD option is a major showstopper as well.
Pricecompare
10th – Dell Latitude 7410
To everyone’s surprise Dell decided to redesign its premium Latitude 700 series once again this year. With its robust aluminum case the Dell Latitude 7410 is supposed to compete against Lenovo’s ThinkPad T14s and X1 Carbon. And while it fails to outshine its competitors in every aspect it does offer a few benefits, such as for example the large touchpad, integrated WWAN, and a very long battery life.
In return, it ended up being comparatively large and heavy, its RAM is soldered onto the motherboard, and it lacks a trackpoint. And last but not least there is no AMD Ryzen 4000 option, which is the main reason why it failed to keep up with the ThinkPad T14s.
Pricecompare
Test Results
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga G6-20Y0S00200 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 Yoga G2 | HP Elite Dragonfly Max | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XXS00100 | HP EliteBook x360 1040 G7, i7-10810U | Lenovo ThinkPad T14s-20UJS00K00 | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano-20UN002UGE | Lenovo ThinkPad X13-20UGS00800 | Dell Latitude 7310 | Dell Latitude 7410 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 69.79 | 68.26 | 76.08 | 66.13 | 66.82 | 70.43 | 64.84 | 71.78 | 71.78 | |
| sRGB Coverage | 97.12 | 99.05 | 99.88 | 95.52 | 97.89 | 99.92 | 95.61 | 99.3 | 99.3 | |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 72.19 | 70.33 | 77.71 | 68.08 | 68.96 | 71.98 | 65.67 | 72.37 | 72.37 | |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 49.2 (22.8, 26.4) | 52 (22, 30) | 44.8 (20.4, 24.4) | 62.4 (28, 34.4) | 52.4 (26.8, 25.6) | 32.4 (16.4, 16) | 46.8 (22, 24.8) | 56.8 (29.2, 27.6) | 40.8 (22.4, 18.4) | 39.2 (20.4, 18.8) |
| Response Time Black / White * | 22 (7.6, 14.4) | 32 (20, 12) | 32 (18.8, 13.2) | 34.8 (16.4, 18.4) | 32 (17.2, 14.8) | 15.2 (6.8, 8.4) | 28 (13.2, 14.8) | 30 (16.8, 13.2) | 28.8 (14.8, 14) | 22.4 (12.4, 10) |
| PWM Frequency | 26040 (50) | |||||||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 417 | 460 | 777.5 | 396 | 406.7 | 404 | 460 | 331 | 332.7 | 388.6 |
| Brightness | 404 | 423 | 727 | 397 | 382 | 371 | 434 | 315 | 329 | 365 |
| Brightness Distribution | 93 | 85 | 75 | 90 | 88 | 88 | 92 | 90 | 89 | 82 |
| Black Level * | 0.22 | 0.33 | 0.44 | 0.23 | 0.28 | 0.34 | 0.27 | 0.21 | 0.25 | 0.35 |
| Contrast | 1895 | 1394 | 1767 | 1722 | 1453 | 1188 | 1704 | 1576 | 1331 | 1110 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 2.8 | 1 | 1.62 | 3.7 | 3.74 | 1.4 | 1.1 | 6.1 | 2.15 | 4.04 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 4.7 | 1.5 | 5.26 | 7.6 | 5.92 | 3.2 | 4.5 | 10 | 3.89 | 9.2 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated * | 1.6 | 0.8 | 1.32 | 1.7 | 2.18 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.2 | 1.09 | 1.25 |
| Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 3.7 | 1.2 | 1.6 | 5.2 | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.6 | 6.3 | 2.5 | 6.4 |
| Gamma | 2.08 106% | 2.26 97% | 2.2 100% | 2.11 104% | 2.19 100% | 2.13 103% | 2.2 100% | 2.77 79% | 2.3 96% | 2.3 96% |
| CCT | 6545 99% | 6652 98% | 6538 99% | 6252 104% | 6781 96% | 6480 100% | 6475 100% | 6938 94% | 6347 102% | 6957 93% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 65.9 | 64.4 | 72.3 | 70.4 | 61.6 | 63 | 65.7 | 60.7 | 64.1 | 66.4 |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 96.6 | 99.12 | 94.8 | 99.9 | 95.1 | 97.9 | 99.9 | 95.4 | 99.4 | 99.4 |
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 24.2 | 24 | 24.9 | 25.2 | 29.2 | 24.9 | 29.1 | 29 | 28.1 | |
| Idle Minimum * | 24.2 | 24 | 24.9 | 25.2 | 29.2 | 24.9 | 29.1 | 29 | 28.1 | |
| Idle Average * | 24.2 | 24 | 24.9 | 25.2 | 29.2 | 26.3 | 29.1 | 29 | 28.1 | |
| Idle Maximum * | 29.9 | 24 | 24.9 | 25.2 | 29.6 | 31.8 | 29.1 | 29 | 28.1 | |
| Load Average * | 33.7 | 32.72 | 29.7 | 30 | 30.2 | 34.3 | 31.1 | 30.1 | 30 | |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 33.7 | 31.3 | 32.3 | 34.3 | ||||||
| Load Maximum * | 36.7 | 33.88 | 31.3 | 38.1 | 32.3 | 37.5 | 31.8 | 41.3 | 39.3 | |
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 44.1 | 47.2 | 39.4 | 36.6 | 44.7 | 42.2 | 44.8 | 45.2 | 44.6 | |
| Maximum Bottom * | 47.3 | 51.5 | 50 | 46.2 | 44.6 | 47.5 | 42.1 | 52.8 | 48.4 | |
| Idle Upper Side * | 25.5 | 30 | 31.6 | 25.8 | 25.6 | 24.3 | 24.1 | 28.2 | 28.8 | |
| Idle Bottom * | 26.6 | 30.5 | 33.4 | 29.8 | 25.6 | 25.3 | 25.1 | 31.6 | 29.8 | |
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| Reader / Idle | 1723 | 3768 | 2246 | 1879 | ||||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 717 | 555 | 659 | 700 | 1128 | 612 | 596 | 522 | 758 | 661 |
| Load | 119 | 118 | 174 | 334 | 127 | 98 | 92 | 106 | 172 | |
| Power Consumption | ||||||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 3.3 | 3.61 | 2.9 | 3 | 1.6 | 5.7 | 3.3 | 6 | 2.7 | 3.7 |
| Idle Average * | 5.8 | 6.78 | 9.9 | 5.2 | 4.5 | 8.9 | 5.7 | 8.9 | 4.4 | 6.2 |
| Idle Maximum * | 9.6 | 7.45 | 10.4 | 5.9 | 5.2 | 11 | 9.1 | 11.3 | 4.8 | 7 |
| Load Average * | 47.2 | 48.85 | 37.1 | 42.8 | 41.7 | 38.2 | 29.6 | 34.2 | 33.4 | 43.2 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 35.6 | 28.7 | 31.5 | 27.7 | ||||||
| Load Maximum * | 65.3 | 66.51 | 58.8 | 65.7 | 70.8 | 40.2 | 55.1 | 37.2 | 69.7 | 68.6 |
* ... smaller is better
