Ranking: Best laptops for editing photos and videos

Compared to the Predecessor (Late 2023) with Apple M3 Max the new MacBook Pro 16 (2024) has not changed visually. Nevertheless, there are a number of technical improvements: The mini LED display has a higher SDR brightness of over 1,000 cd/m² and, for an extra charge, there is a display matting with nano texture. There is now also Thunderbolt 5 and a better 12MP camera. However, WiFi 7 is still not on board.

Inside, the new M4 Pro SoC with 14 CPU and 20 GPU cores does its job and can even beat the M3 Max, especially in terms of single-core performance. The graphics unit has become 30 to 45% faster, depending on the application.

The mini LED display has an extremely low black level and therefore achieves very high contrast values, similar to OLED panels. The subjective picture quality is almost perfect.

One small point of criticism is the constant PWM flickering at 15 KHz. Anyone who is sensitive to this will not be happy with the MacBook Pro 16. Otherwise, the panel covers almost 100% of the DCI-P3 color space as usual and is very true to color, so we can recommend the panel for photo and video editing. One drawback is certainly the expensive upgrade policy for RAM and SSD, neither of which can be upgraded by the user at a later date.

With 14 CPU and 20 GPU cores, 24 GB RAM and 512 GB small SSD, you are looking at around 2,600 euros. For 2 TB of storage, you pay a whole 500 euros extra. With M4 Max including 32-core GPU, 36 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD, the current price is 3,665 euros.

The huge Strix Scar 18 (2024) doesn't have to make any compromises when it comes to multimedia performance. The performance and the mini LED display are impressive across the board.

A disadvantage for some professional content creators is certainly the very gaming-oriented design. Media Markt / Saturn charges a whopping 4,199 euros for the configuration we tested.

In addition to the Raptor Lake refresh of the particularly powerful HX series, the current version also offers a fast GeForce RTX 4080 from Nvidia with 175W (Max-TGP). Both USB-C ports support Power Delivery with up to 140 W. The large 16:10 display has apparently not changed much from the basic specifications with 2,560 x 1,600 pixels, IPS, 240 Hz and HDR 400. Dolby Vision, G-Sync and Adaptive Sync are still supported, while the pixel response remains short. However, the AdobeRGB color space is now covered by just under 87% and DCI-P3 by around 99%.

The subjective picture impression is still excellent, as the colors are vivid, the contrast is good and there is no grainy picture despite the matte panel. However, the fans like to start up when idling and can become very loud under load.

Even in the factory settings, the color deviations are within the limits and we could not detect any color cast. After our calibration, the display quality could still be improved. The wide range of connections with four USB-A ports, two USB-C ports (including 1x Thunderbolt 4) and three video outputs for external peripherals should also be emphasized.

The Legion Pro 7 16 with an RTX 4080 is available from Lenovo for 2699 euros.

The 20 mm thin HP Omen Transcend 16 relies on a brute Intel Core i9-14900HXwhich, however, throttles more quickly after a short time. It also has a 392 cd/m² bright, reflective QHD OLED panel with 240 Hz, 97% Adobe RGB and 100% DCI-P3. The Delta-E values are < 2 ex works, so that nothing stands in the way of professional video or photo editing.

There is also a fast PCIe 4.0 SSD that does not suffer from any throttling and an RTX 4070 with 130W TGP and 8 GB VRAM. A significantly faster RTX 4080which, with 12 GB VRAM, is also fit for 8K video processing, although HP only offers the RTX 4070.

With an OLED display, the current price is €2,499, which is a far cry from cheaper options for an RTX 4070.

Lenovo's Legion 9 is the only laptop in the Legion series that is equipped with a mini LED display. As a result, the contrast value is very good, the brightness reaches almost 700 cd/m² and 97% of the display P3 color space is covered. The Delta-E value for the colors is 2.56 ex works, but could be slightly lower for professional use. Calibration achieved no further improvement.

However, we miss a function for switching off multi-zone dimming, which would be necessary for color-accurate tasks. The brute performance of the installed Core i9-13980HX on the other hand, and the RTX 4090 can also develop its full potential.

In principle, Lenovo's Legion 9 offers everything that is important for a Creator notebook: brute CPU and GPU performance as well as an accurate and high-quality display. However, it lacks the option of deactivating the 1,536 dimming zones for true-color work.

The Lenovo Legion 9i 16 (2023) is now sold out. The direct successor (see 10th place) can be configured with an RTX 4090, 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD from the manufacturer from €4,400 it is slightly cheaper with an RTX 4080 and a second M.2 slot for an additional SSD.

With the stylish Blade 16 2024 razer offers an exciting update: a 240 Hz, factory-calibrated OLED display, while the mini-LED panel from last year remains available as an option.

The OLED panel is reflective, offers a QHD resolution, a measured 420 cd/m² and rapid pixel response times, which are, however, more interesting for gaming. It also delivers a perfect black level. The Panel with mini LEDs is significantly brighter at 730 cd/m² in SDR mode and 1,100 cd/m² in HDR mode and offers a higher 4K+ resolution at 120 Hz and 240 Hz in FHD+ mode.

Both panels cover over 90 percent of the AdobeRGB color space, while the OLED display offers several color profiles: DCI-P3, Adobe RGB, Rec. 709 and sRGB. There is also the option to adjust the color mode individually and a native color mode is also included. The mini LED panel in the 2023 model still lacked the option to switch off the dimming zones in order to achieve more accurate colors, but Razer has responded to the criticism and provided the function for the current model. Color samples are also offered.

The Razer Blade 16 (2024) has a stylish and compact unibody design and offers brute performance and a super-fast OLED display despite its 22 mm thin design.

In terms of performance, despite the Intel Core i9-14900HX and GeForce RTX 4090 and 175-watt TGP, little has changed compared to the Predecessor model has done. You still get maximum and unthrottled performance, only the SSD performance drops a little after a while and only a meagre 15 percent of the graphics performance remains in battery mode. A second M.2-2280 slot is available for an additional PCIe 4.0 SSD.

The keyboard still has a very short stroke with feedback that takes some getting used to, but the touchpad is one of the best. There are plenty of ports, including three video outputs and a fast, full-size SD card reader. There are also very good quad speakers, WiFi 7, a compact 330-watt power supply and a rather average battery life of 5.5 hours. However, if the mini LED display is enough for you, you can also easily get the 2023 model of the Razer Blade 16.

The 2024 Blade 16 currently costs a whopping 4,249 euros at Alternate in the aforementioned configuration including 32 GB RAM and 2 TB SSD.

The Razer Blade 14 (2024) also receives a rather minor update, similar to the Blade 16. Apart from the new AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS, there are hardly any changes to the overall system, while a GeForce RTX 4070 with 140-watt TGP is still used.

The matte, small 14-inch QHD display uses a fast 240 Hz and completely covers the DCI-P3 color space, while 85% of the AdobeRGB color space can be displayed. We measured a solid 466 cd/m² in terms of brightness. The grayscale and colors are pre-calibrated against the DCI-P3 color space, with Delta E 1.6 and Delta E 2.23. The pixel response times are also very fast - important for gaming on the side.

The advantage of the Blade 14 is that despite its compact dimensions including its 18 mm thin design - even if it is no lightweight at 1.87 kg - it combines powerful hardware with very good performance and also has two SO-DIMMs. However, only one M.2-2280 slot is available.

With a stylish and compact unibody chassis, fast and accurate QHD display, decent speakers and very good performance, the Razer Blade 14 (2024) is a recommendable mobile workstation for creative professionals.

 

On average, the RTX 4070 in the new Blade is 10% faster and there is now WiFi 7 as well as an integrated Ryzen AI, although this is still limited. OLED or Mini-LED are not available in the small Blade, nor is an

RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. Overall, the performance, especially of the processor, is only slightly higher than that of the predecessor, meaning that we would recommend the 2023 model can still be recommended if you can find it cheaper.

The Razer Blade (2024) cost €2,999 in the aforementioned configuration including 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD at Notebooksbilliger until recently. However, it is now sold out everywhere and last year's model is also currently unavailable.

The Legion Pro 5 from Lenovo is more budget-friendly than the Legion Pro 7 from 3rd place and also than most of the other laptops in our best list, but it still manages 10th place. It is the only laptop on our list that "only" covers the sRGB color space, which is close to Rec709, which is one of the most important for video editing. For professional photo editing, you should invest in the better display option with 100% DCI-P3 and 240 Hz.

The 165 Hz QHD display we tested, on the other hand, only offers a brightness of 366 cd/m², which is too dark outdoors in direct sunlight. The Pro 5 houses a fast Intel Core i9-14900HX and comes with a maximum of one GeForce RTX 4070 including 140-watt TGP. It is precisely because of its very good performance that the Legion Pro 5 is ahead of the thinner Legion 7i made it.

The Lenovo Legion Pro 5 has very good performance at a low price, comes with a display option suitable for Creator and is visually quite inconspicuous for a gaming laptop.

The Legion Pro 5 has plenty of ports, with 4x USB-A 3.2, 2x USB-C 3.2 and a total of three video outputs, of which the HDMI 2.1 port only supports 4K @60 Hz. An SD card reader is also missing. The weight of 2.46 kg could also be a disadvantage and the 300-watt power supply unit is also bulky. The loudspeakers also lack bass. On the other hand, the Legion laptop offers a keyboard with good feedback.

Lenovo currently charges at least €1,979 for the configuration we tested, including 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD. The brighter 240 Hz panel with 100% DCI-P3 costs just 60 euros extra. With a Core i7, however, it is only 1,599 euros.

The direct predecessor of the Legion 9 (2024) is already in 6th place in our top list. Both have the 3.2K mini LED display with a brightness of around 660 cd/m² or 1,200 cd/m² in HDR mode in common.

The display is factory calibrated against the P3 color space, but the color deviations are not optimal with an average DeltaE value of 2.68 and individual deviations of up to 6.41. We also still miss a function for switching off multi-zone dimming in HDR mode, which would be necessary for color-accurate tasks, and the new Legion 9 no longer offers various pre-calibrated color profiles.

Other existing disadvantages are the hard-to-access RAM and the throttled SSD, while there are also brief drops in GPU performance, reduced single-core performance and an undersized and suboptimally set cooling system. The raw performance of the installed Core i9-14900HX and the GeForce RTX 4090, on the other hand, is hard to beat.

Lenovo's Legion 9 basically offers top performance and fairly accurate colors - but the software problems currently make it unrecommendable and leave us hoping for future BIOS and firmware updates.

Equipped with an RTX 4090, 64 GB RAM and 2 TB SSD, you can currently configure the Lenovo Legion 9 for €4,859 directly from Lenovo. it is 800 euros cheaper with an RTX 4080, 32 GB RAM and 1 TB SSD.