Notebookcheck's Top 10 Ultrabooks

With the EliteBook Folio G1 V1C37EA (see review), HP has created a slim, passively cooled business subnotebook, which is great for productive work. Hence, the EliteBook Folio G1 can achieve the rare "Very Good" rating. The tester praised its keyboard, its display with strong colors, and system performance after two weeks of productive use. The latter might be surprising, since passively cooled Core m CPUs used to throttle more or less heavily up to now, which means that the clock rate of the SoC falls significantly during prolonged load. Although this is also true for the EliteBook Folio G1, it is only during prolonged load and not during short load peaks. It is fun to work with the Full HD panel. While it is not extraordinarily bright, it delivers a contrast of just over 1.000:1.

The HP EliteBook Folio G1 is a very good device, but you should be aware of its limitations. If you are looking for an extremely mobile device and do not want to give up silent operation and a great keyboard, there is no reason why you should not get this notebook.

Not everybody will like the high price. Furthermore, the device that is priced at  about 1500 Euros (~$1678) has also some disadvantages: The connectivity is very limited and there is not even an adapter to USB-A included. The hinge is not stiff enough and the ClickPad has some problems with inputs (tapping). While competitors such as the new Dell Latitude 12 E7270 are significantly heavier, they feature a standard 15-watt chip and definitely more interfaces. If these aspects and the maintenance are important for productivity, you should consider the Latitude 12 E7270, the EliteBook 1030 G1 or the ThinkPad X260. Unfortunately, only configurations of the Dell priced 1400 Euros (~$1566) and over offer QHD+ resolution.

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon G4 2016 (see review) occupies a higher position than the T460s in Lenovo's business lineup, which is no longer in the ranking. The buyer probably gets the lightest notebook of its category (just under 1.2 kg/~2.6 lb) for a steep entry level price of over 1500 Euros (~$1710) but has to accept a few compromises: While the Carbon impresses with many features, users cannot even upgrade the RAM themselves. Moreover, some customers might wish for a fully-fledged SD card reader and a native LAN port (adapter required). Because of these limitations, the slightly less crisp keyboard and slightly teetering display hinges, we would rather recommend the sibling from the T series.

Nevertheless, the X1 Carbon is certainly attractive and performs well to very well in almost all aspects. In terms of battery life, touchpad, and display, it is slightly better than the T460s. Unlike the predecessor, the WQHD version is not available with touchscreen.

In the EliteBook 1030 G1-X2F03EA (see review), HP uses a fanless approach and convinces the tester with the best system performance. Furthermore, the input devices are excellent and the IPS display is bright with beautiful colors. This sounds as if it would be a thoroughly well-made work device - and that is what it actually is. However, we did not like the slightly short battery life of 5 to 6 hours and the limited maintenance that much. The upcoming Full HD sibling might reach better battery runtimes. The test model uses QHD+ resolution, which usually requires more energy.

The notebook is among the best devices in terms of quality and can particularly convince with its build quality, the keyboard, and the display. The application performance is also pretty good, despite the mentioned limitations, since HP has managed a good compromise between performance and heat development thanks to clever TDP and temperature limits.

The high price of 1500 to 2000 Euros (~$1710 to ~$2237) is steep. However, comparable competitors such as the ThinkPad X260 or the Latitude 12 are not really cheap either. The latter offers better expandability and a DisplayPort, which is only available in the 1030 G1 via dock. The Acer TravelMate X3 X349-M-7261 (84%, not in the top list) is cheaper. The 14-incher, priced at just under 1050 Euros (~$1175) features Type-C-USB and a 512 GB SSD.

Dell's XPS 13 9360 QHD+ i7 (see review)Dell XPS 13 9360 QHD+ i7-7500U Notebook Review is the Kaby Lake update of the 9350 from late 2015. The XPS 13-9350 2016 (see review) already ranked very high in the subnotebook and Ultrabook charts. Look and connectivity have remained unchanged. In addition, the excellent panel, which optionally supports touch input in 2017, has also remained the same. The metal case with a flawless build quality and Infinity Edge display with a slim profile are still impressive.

The bright display is available as anti-glare 1080p variant and as Touch QHD+ (4K) with glare surface. Good colors (89% sRGB @QHD+) and an extremely high contrast of 1500:1 delight the eye. The performance is higher than what is to be expected from a very slim subnotebook nowadays. The system does not throttle under high load (stress test) and the NVMe PCIe SSD copies even faster than SSDs do.

The FHD+-i5 variant of the XPS 13 is represented in our top list. We also had the i7 version with QHD under review. Both variants have a Type-C USB-3.0 port with Thunderbolt and an NVMe SSD in common.

Buyers willing to pay a bit more for the Kaby Lake XPS 13 will find slightly faster performance and better battery life. Otherwise, the outgoing Skylake XPS 13 will give an almost identical experience for less.

Those who are looking for a perfect work device with high versatility should consider the Dell Latitude 12 E7270, the EliteBook 1030 G1 or the ThinkPad X260 (see review). The X260 starts from about 1300 Euros (~$1454; HD panel).

The Dell Latitude 13 7370 (see review) is a fanless 13-incher. Unlike the MacBook 12, not only can the Latitude 13 shine in terms of mobility and emissions, but also brings considerable features. Among others, the test model came with a Full HD display with IPS technology, 8 GB of RAM and a fast PCIe SSD. However, Dell charges a high price. The base model with Core m5-6Y57 costs a steep 2200 Euros (~$2469).

The competition in this Top 10 is the 12-inch ThinkPad X260, which is offered with matte non-touch display and a glossy touchscreen. The x260 tends to be cheaper, although it delivers a higher performance with the 15-watt SoC. However, only Core m5 variants of the Latitude 13 are fanless. The almost frameless display resembles the quality of the excellent XPS 13 2016. This is unfortunately also true for the disadvantages.

Dell has basically incorporated a very good panel with high brightness potential, which, however, is not always available due to automatic brightness and contrast control.

The Latitude 13 7370 impresses with flawless build quality, excellent stability, and crisp input devices. The performance of the Core m platform is appropriately scaled: The 13-incher copes just as well with short load peaks as competitors with active cooling. The clock rates first fall noticeably during permanent load, which should only seldom occur during everyday office use.

Fujitsu's LifeBook U747 (see review) is a classic 14-inch business laptop with high connectivity. The IPS panel is also optionally offered as a touch screen.

It offers a superb screen, good battery life, and a keyboard that allows comfortable typing. The casing is stable, well-built, and its design matches well to the business claim.

Unfortunately Fujitsu has blundered with the touchpad. It works imprecisely and the buttons appear cheap and clattery. In addition, the speakers are suboptimal and the web cam is poor. Nevertheless, the LifeBook can beat the ThinkPad T470, the EliteBook 840 G4 and the Latitude 7470.

Fujitsu competes with the ThinkPad. The T-LifeBooks have always been classic devices in the business world. Can the LifeBook T937 (see review) with its turn/tilt hinge hold its own in the world of Yoga laptops? In the past, Dell and Lenovo had such models in their line-up, but most of them are discontinued.

Apart from too dark a display and poor benchmark results, there are lots of positive things that can be said: solid build quality, good battery runtimes, many interfaces and input devices and finally excellent accessories.

The LifeBook T937 is suitable for tradition-conscious buyers, who are willing to spend 2500 Euros (~$2800). This is a lot of money for a versatility which can also be had with a Yoga hinge and often even significantly cheaper. Each type of convertible has its own fans. Hence this single hinge solution may also survive.

The Lenovo ThinkPad 13 (see review) is a handy 13-inch laptop for those who consider 12.5-inch too small and 14-inch too big. In this case, the ThinkPad models of the T and X series are out of the question, and the ThinkPad 13 can be considered. It offers ThinkPad strengths for a relatively low price.

While the notebook makes some compromises (such as the lack of a keyboard backlight), it offers an excellent package at an affordable price.

Excellent input devices are mandatory. The same is true for decent connectivity, long battery life and quiet system noise. Thunderbolt 3 is still missing.

Dell's Latitude 5289 (see review) is a handy, fully-fledged 12.5-inch laptop with 360 degree tablet option.

The biggest advantage of today's test unit: its battery runtime. Thanks to its low energy consumption and a very large battery, the Latitude is the best device in this area.

Not much can go wrong in everyday work life thanks to a robust case, practice-relevant connectivity, bright display and comfortable keyboard. However, there are also disadvantages:

The cooling fan does not run very often, but Dell has not managed to get rid of the bothersome coil whine. The keyboard is good; the touchpad, however, is not impressive; especially compared with the competitors from HP and Lenovo, the touchpad Dell has selected is not great.

Buyers should carefully consider whether they want to buy the Latitude 5289, since there are even two good alternatives with the ThinkPad Yoga 370 and the EliteBook x360. While the base price of the Latitude 5289 appears reasonable (4 GB RAM on-board), it can quickly become expensive with higher-end options.

HP's EliteBook Folio 1020 G1 (see review) is no longer a spring chicken, since it was launched in early 2015. Nevertheless, it is still sold with its Core M-5Y51, which at least indicates good success. The 12.5-inch laptop does not have a fan. Hence, it works completely silently. The performance of the Core m is only mediocre. Together with the SSD, it is sufficient for undemanding tasks.

Overall, HP's EliteBook Folio 1020 is a small, well-conceived and high-quality companion. However, there is no question that the contenders mostly score better in terms of screen and performance. It is up to the buyer to decide whether a price of 2250 Euros (~$2428) is justified.

Disadvantages include the outdated performance of the Intel Core M-5Y51; especially from a present-day perspective. However, its current price of 950 Euros (~$1063) with 512 GB SSD makes the system still interesting. The 250 GB configuration cost 2200 Euros in 2015.