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MagyarThe Best Notebooks for Photo and Video Editing
One of the most common usage scenarios for notebooks is the storing, viewing, sorting and editing of pictures as well as videos. A laptop for this purpose should have a very high-quality display to represent your collections as accurately as possible and obviously provide the necessary performance to ensure a productive workflow. For this reason, we only list those laptops with the highest score in our test criteria display and application performance (weighted score) here. You can also use the following top lists for further research:
The Best Laptops for Photo and Video Editing
Position | rated. Total Rating | Rating | Date | Image | Model | Screen | Weight | Resolution | Surface | Contrast | DeltaE Color | AdobeRGB (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 95.5 % | 88 % | 05/2021 |  | Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD Intel Core i9-11980HK NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 17.30" | 2.8 kg | 3840x2160 | matte | 1479:1 | 1.23 | 99 % |
| 2 | 93.7 % | 91.1 % | 12/2020 |  | Apple MacBook Pro 13 Late 2020 M1 Entry (8 / 256 GB) Apple M1 Apple M1 8-Core GPU 8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD | 13.30" | 1.4 kg | 2560x1600 | glossy | 1759:1 | 1.3 | 88.3 % |
| 3 | 94.1 % | 88.1 % | 06/2021 |  | Lenovo Legion 7 16ACHg6 AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 16.00" | 2.5 kg | 2560x1600 | matte | 1287:1 | 1.45 | 73 % |
| 4 | 93.3 % | 90.6 % | 03/2021 |  | HP ZBook Studio G7 Intel Core i9-10885H NVIDIA Quadro RTX 3000 Max-Q 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 15.60" | 2 kg | 3840x2160 | matte | 2066:1 | 1.4 | 77.3 % |
| 5 | 93.1 % | 85.3 % | 06/2021 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad P15s Gen2-20W6000GGE Intel Core i7-1165G7 NVIDIA T500 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 15.60" | 1.9 kg | 3840x2160 | matte | 1776:1 | 0.9 | 84.5 % |
| 6 | 93 % | 89.1 % | 06/2021 |  | Schenker Vision 14 Intel Core i7-1165G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 14.00" | 1 kg | 2880x1800 | matte | 1345:1 | 2.8 | 76.4 % |
| 7 | 92.7 % | 86.6 % | 02/2021 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad T15p-20TN0006GE Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Mobile 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 15.60" | 2.2 kg | 3840x2160 | matte | 1859:1 | 1.2 | 85.3 % |
| 8 | 92.6 % | 85.1 % | 01/2021 |  | Schenker XMG Neo 17 (Early 2021, RTX 3070, 5800H) AMD Ryzen 7 5800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Laptop GPU 16 GB Memory, 500 GB SSD | 17.30" | 2.5 kg | 2560x1440 | matte | 1108:1 | 2.55 | 72 % |
| 9 | 92.4 % | 88.9 % | 07/2021 |  | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021) Intel Core i7-11800H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 15.60" | 2 kg | 1920x1080 | 1140:1 | 2.17 | ||
| 10 | 92.3 % | 86.6 % | 05/2021 |  | Asus Strix Scar 17 G733QSA-XS99 AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 2048 GB SSD | 17.30" | 2.8 kg | 1920x1080 | 1321:1 | 1.87 | 65.6 % |
The table above contains an overview over the best notebooks 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
Editor's Comments
In October of 2020 we attempted a major criterion update for this list. From now on, the ranking is based primarily on the average rating in the display and application performance categories. You can display the individual ratings used for this average ranking by hovering your mouse pointer over the weighted rating cell.
1st – Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR
Equipped with an Intel Core i9-11980HK and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Gigabyte’s Aero 17 HDR YD offers a great system and gaming performance. Its good 4K HDR display renders this unit particularly interesting for creators, especially since it runs comparatively quietly apart from gaming.
The Aero 17 HDR YD is a powerful RTX-3080-based laptop for gamers and creators with a great 4K HDR display.
Thunderbolt 4 with support for modern peripherals is supported as expected, and one particularly good characteristic of this display is that it does not use PWM for brightness regulation.
Granted, the device is anything but cheap and not all SKUs are currently available either. One of the few available SKUs sells for $2,500 on Amazon.
Top 10 Laptops
Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks
under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1,000 USD/Euros, for University Students, Best Displays
Top 10 Smartphones
Smartphones, Phablets, ≤6-inch, Camera Smartphones
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2nd - Apple MacBook Pro 13 2020 M1
Apple migrated its smaller MacBook Pro 13 2020 M1 with its own in-house M1 SoC as well. The 13M1 offers more performance and a longer battery life than its Intel-powered predecessors while satying cooler and quieter at the same time.
However, you might want to also consider the cheaper MacBook Air M1. It may not offer the same level of peak performance due to its passive cooling and it may come with a slightly dimmer display, a slightly shorter battery life, and no Touch Bar, but it can be several hundred dollars cheaper as well. And it remains a great tool for video and photo editing.
That said we expect this argument to falter once Apple equips its MacBook Pro 13 with a more powerful M1X processor.
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3rd – Lenovo Legion 7 16ACH
The Lenovo Legion 7 may only be yet another gaming notebook but it has its perks. For example, its rather uncommon 16-inch display offering more screen real estate than traditional 15.6-inch notebooks in a package that is noticeably smaller and lighter than a hefty 17.3-inch device. It also comes with 3 years of on-site warranty in select countries, a display running at up to 165 Hz, and decent battery life as long as you do not require too much graphics oomph. Downsides include a lack of Thunderbolt connectivity as well as the non-existent card reader.
A relatively subtly designed gaming notebook with plenty of power and great display.
The device is currently not yet available in North America.
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4th – HP ZBook Studio G7
The HP ZBook Studio G7 is a portable workstation equipped with Nividia’s Raytracing-capable RTX-series GPUs. It features a high-quality premium case and is optionally also available with a non-Quadro-class GPU for additional consumer features.
The optional 4K display is very well calibrated but fails to cover AdobeRGB in its entirety. WWAN support is also suspiciously missing.
On the flip side, its benefits include good input devices and four great speakers. The lightweight workstation left a very positive impression overall, and the ZBook Studio G7 is a great choice for users in need of a powerful workstation with plenty of graphics oomph.
Prices start at around $2,000, and the device is available through the usual retail channels, such as for example Amazon.
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5th – Lenovo ThinkPad P15s Gen 2
Lenovo’s second generation ThinkPad P15s continues to offer a very well-built plastic case with a magnesium core as well as the typical ThinkPad keyboard with 1.8 mm of key travel. However, the main reason why it made this particular top list is its great matte 4K UHD display.
We were able to not only confirm Lenovo’s claims of 600 nits but found its display to be even brighter than that.
Its display is very similar to its predecessor’s but offers better color accuracy, such as for example a DeltaE value of 0.9 instead of 2.3. The P15s Gen 2 also offers an ISV-certified GPU.
The P15s Gen 2 can be purchased through Lenovo’s own webstore where a configurator is available. Prices start at $2,200.
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6th – Schenker Vision 14
Our review unit, the Schenker Vision 14 with 3K display, scored an impressive 92 % in the display category. While the FHD SKU is supposed to offer a brightness of 330 nits our 2880 x 1880 unit managed 387 nits with a contrast ratio of 1300:1.
In addition to its maximum brightness of 387 nits the Schenker’s 3K display also offers 99 % sRGB coverage, unlike the FHD SKU.
The Vision 14 offers plenty of connectivity, with two USB-A and two USB-C ports on each side, TB4, HDMI, and a full-sized SD card reader slot. Is it the perfect Ultrabook? Unfortunately, no, due to its poor battery life of just 5-6 hours in our Wi-Fi test.
Schenker devices are not sold in North America.
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7th – Lenovo ThinkPad T15p
If you are in the market for a great 4K LCD the Lenovo ThinkPad T15p might be just the right choice for you. It offers a high level of brightness for outdoor use, accurate colors, and an almost complete sRGB color space coverage. It also offers plenty of performance for mobile photo and video editing, mobile internet connectivity, and a robust and sturdy case.
Other benefits include the full-sized SD card reader and its overall decent connectivity. As expected of a ThinkPad its input devices are extremely good.
On the flip side we find poor battery life of less than an hour at full load, high case temperatures, and loud fans.
The ThinkPad T15p is anything but affordable, and there are plenty of devices with longer battery life and lower case temperatures in its price class.
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8th – Schenker XMG Neo 17
Nvidia’s latest GPU generation has to be taken with a grain of salt as numerous possible TDP configurations can result in very different performance levels despite a seeming identical product name. Fortunately, the Schenker XMG Neo 17 features a 140 W TDP configuration (including Dynamic Boost) for plenty of performance, and its RTX 3070 is faster than some RTX 3080 laptops.
But, as always with great power and performance come great noise emissions in 3D. The device also lacks a Thunderbolt port further impeding connectivity. In return, the display is great to look at and offers low response times and a good representation of colors. While it does not offer full 4K resolution it still runs at an acceptable 1440p.
We did not like the webcam. If you intend to use this device regularly for video calls you may want to consider a dedicated external webcam.
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9th – Razer Blade 15 Advanced Model
Razer is usually found in our gaming top lists. However, this year’s mid-year Blade 15 Advanced Model with Core i7-11800H managed to make this particular top list as well thanks to its TL156VDXP02-0 IPS panel with a DeltaE value of just 1.05. Other benefits of this 15.6-inch FHD panel are its maximum brightness of 340 nits as well as its even brightness distribution. The panel is identical to the early 2021 model.
The ultra-thin gaming laptop with its 360 Hz display can be used for both, Call of Duty followed by some serious photo and video editing.
Its downsides include higher temperatures courtesy of its thin case paired with a TGP increase from 95 to 105 W as well as its short battery life. At the time of writing the best way to purchase a Razer Blade Advanced Model was Razer’s own web shop.
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10th – Asus Strix Scar 17 G733QSA-XS99
Expensive yet incredibly fast, that would be a quick and on-point description of the Asus Strix Scar. The device is exclusively available with AMD hardware, and truth be told we don’t really miss the Intel option given the Ryzen 9 5900HX’s performance that is similar to an Intel Core i9 desktop CPU. In addition to its impressive performance, courtesy of a GeForce RTX 3060 and a 360 Hz display, it also offers a great display well suitable for photo and video editing. With its high sRGB coverage of 99.41 %and a contrast ratio of 1321:1 the Strix Scar manages to score high enough for this particular top list. Our only gripe was with it maximum brightness of just 292 nits that could have been higher. However, given its weight of 2.8 kg and 17-inch display it is very unlikely to be used outdoors for prolonged periods of time anyway.
The Asus Strix Scar 17 comes with a liquid-metal cooled Ryzen 9 5900HX and offers a high sRGB color space coverage as well as a high contrast ratio.
The device is available among others on Amazon with prices starting at $3,600 for the 2 TB NVMe SSD-equipped SKU with 32 GB of RAM and just shy of $4,000 for the 2 TB NVMe-SSD equipped SKU with 64 GB of RAM.
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Best Notebooks for Digital Content Editing in Comparison
Test Results
| Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR YD | Lenovo Legion 7 16ACHg6 | Apple MacBook Pro 13 Late 2020 M1 Entry (8 / 256 GB) | HP ZBook Studio G7 | Lenovo ThinkPad P15s Gen2-20W6000GGE | Schenker Vision 14 | Lenovo ThinkPad T15p-20TN0006GE | Schenker XMG Neo 17 (Early 2021, RTX 3070, 5800H) | Razer Blade 15 Advanced (Mid 2021) | Asus Strix Scar 17 G733QSA-XS99 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 86.86 | 70.26 | 98.21 | 84.48 | 75.4 | 86.8 | 70.46 | 66.9 | 71 | |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.99 | 99.37 | 99.92 | 98.67 | 99 | 99.25 | 99.47 | 97.1 | 99.41 | |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 99.63 | 72.65 | 86.51 | 97.78 | 76.4 | 98.51 | 71.85 | 69 | 72.22 | |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 52 ? | 14 ? | 48 ? | 56.4 ? | 40 ? | 32.8 ? | 41.6 ? | 16.8 ? | 4.2 ? | 6.6 ? |
| Response Time Black / White * | 26 ? | 6.4 ? | 25.2 ? | 37.6 ? | 23.2 ? | 20.4 ? | 21.2 ? | 10 ? | 10 ? | 10.8 ? |
| PWM Frequency | 122000 ? | |||||||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 488 | 489 | 510 | 723 | 604 | 390 | 595 | 410 | 353.4 | 303.8 |
| Brightness | 467 | 469 | 491 | 707 | 609 | 387 | 594 | 381 | 340 | 292 |
| Brightness Distribution | 86 | 92 | 94 | 92 | 91 | 94 | 94 | 88 | 92 | 85 |
| Black Level * | 0.33 | 0.38 | 0.29 | 0.35 | 0.34 | 0.29 | 0.32 | 0.37 | 0.31 | 0.23 |
| Contrast | 1479 | 1287 | 1759 | 2066 | 1776 | 1345 | 1859 | 1108 | 1140 | 1321 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 1.23 | 1.45 | 1.3 | 1.4 | 0.9 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 2.55 | 2.17 | 1.87 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 2.94 | 2.16 | 3 | 2.9 | 2.6 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 4.33 | 5.69 | 3.26 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated * | 0.77 | 1.16 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 1.8 | 1 | 1.28 | 1.05 | 1.45 | |
| Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 1.5 | 1.6 | 2 | 2 | 1.1 | 3.5 | 1.4 | 3.4 | 3.4 | 2.7 |
| Gamma | 2.169 101% | 2.197 100% | 2.23 99% | 2.14 103% | 2.15 102% | 2.24 98% | 2.1 105% | 2.275 97% | 2.2 100% | 2.26 97% |
| CCT | 6614 98% | 6377 102% | 6933 94% | 6484 100% | 6656 98% | 6174 105% | 6492 100% | 6637 98% | 6830 95% | 6436 101% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 99 | 73 | 88.3 | 77.3 | 84.5 | 76.4 | 85.3 | 72 | 65.6 | |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99 | 94 | 100 | 99.9 | 98.6 | 99 | 99.2 | 95 | 99.4 | |
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 25 | 26 | 29.2 | 24.4 | 24.3 | 25 | 29.3 | 24 | 25.1 | 25 |
| Idle Minimum * | 30 | 26 | 29.2 | 24.4 | 25.5 | 25 | 29.3 | 29 | 25.3 | 25.2 |
| Idle Average * | 32 | 30 | 29.2 | 24.4 | 25.5 | 25 | 29.3 | 32 | 25.3 | 25.2 |
| Idle Maximum * | 41 | 35 | 29.2 | 27.9 | 25.5 | 26.9 | 30.6 | 38 | 25.3 | 25.2 |
| Load Average * | 43 | 40 | 32.1 | 38.8 | 35.65 | 38.6 | 42.7 | 49 | 42 | 30.7 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 51 | 46 | 46.3 | 41.2 | 42.7 | 53 | 45.6 | 51.3 | ||
| Load Maximum * | 59 | 50 | 41.9 | 46.3 | 35.65 | 41.2 | 42.7 | 55 | 51.6 | 51.3 |
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 44 | 51 | 41 | 45.7 | 42.8 | 46.2 | 53.8 | 47 | 51 | 40 |
| Maximum Bottom * | 56 | 52 | 40.4 | 50.6 | 59.1 | 52.2 | 56.6 | 51 | 52 | 39.8 |
| Idle Upper Side * | 32 | 37 | 23.6 | 24.8 | 26.4 | 30.6 | 24.7 | 32 | 35.2 | 34.6 |
| Idle Bottom * | 35 | 38 | 23.6 | 26.1 | 28.9 | 33.6 | 24.2 | 37 | 37.8 | 38.4 |
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| Reader / Idle | 494 | 281 | 797 | |||||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 334 | 410 | 1223 | 468 | 464 | 366 | 436 | 208 | 353 | 559 |
| Load | 70 | 93 | 96 | 115 | 64 | 44 | 86 | |||
| H.264 | 406 | 1152 | 647 | 591 | 401 | 461 |
* ... smaller is better
