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MagyarThe Best Ultra-Portable Notebooks
Subnotebooks typically bridge the gap between the performance of large laptops and the mobility of small devices such as tablets or even smartphones. More recently, 2-in-1 devices and convertibles have penetrated the subnotebook market. We categorize subnotebooks as devices that are no larger than 14-inches in screen size and lighter than 1.5 kg (~3.3 lbs) with integrated GPUs. The price range is wide and models from 300 to 2500 USD/Euros can be represented in our Top 10.
Subnotebook or ultrabook? We have created a separate Top 10 Ultrabooks list with devices meeting the Intel specifications from 2013: touchscreen, low-voltage Haswell processor (TDP: 15 W) or higher, battery life of 6 to 9 hours, Intel Wireless Display and USB 3.0. For the time being, however, our subnotebook charts will include ultrabooks and subnotebooks alike.
- The Best Ultrabooks (particularly thin and portable devices)
- The Best Convertibles (notebooks that can be used as tablets)
- The Best Premium Business Notebooks (high-quality and robust office laptops)
- The Best Budget Office Notebooks (affordable laptops for simple tasks)
The Best Ultra-Portable Laptops
Position | Total Rating | Date | Image | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Screen |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 92 % | 08/2022 New! |  | Apple MacBook Air M2 10C GPU Apple M2 Apple M2 10-Core GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.2 kg | 11.3 mm | 13.60" | 2560x1664 | glossy |
| 2 | 91.9 % | 06/2022 New! |  | Apple MacBook Pro 13 2022 M2 Apple M2 Apple M2 10-Core GPU 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.4 kg | 15.6 mm | 13.30" | 2560x1600 | glossy |
| 3 | 90.6 % | 11/2021 |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 AMD 20XH001KGE AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 16 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 1.4 kg | 18.19 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | matte |
| 4 | 90.5 % | 08/2022 New! |  | Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 21D2CTO1WW AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U AMD Radeon 660M 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.2 kg | 13.99 mm | 13.30" | 1920x1200 | matte |
| 5 | 90.1 % | 07/2022 New! |  | Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED AMD Ryzen 7 6800U AMD Radeon 680M 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.1 kg | 14.9 mm | 13.30" | 2880x1800 | |
| 6 | 88.9 % | 09/2022 New! |  | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 2 Core i7-1280P Intel Core i7-1280P Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 96EUs 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 958 g | 14.4 mm | 13.00" | 2160x1350 | matte |
| 7 | 88.8 % | 02/2022 |  | Huawei MateBook 13s i5 11300H Intel Core i5-11300H Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.3 kg | 16.5 mm | 13.40" | 2520x1680 | glossy |
| 8 | 88.8 % | 10/2022 New! |  | Schenker Vision 14 2022 RTX 3050 Ti Intel Core i7-12700H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.3 kg | 16.6 mm | 14.00" | 2880x1800 | matte |
| 9 | 88.6 % | 07/2022 |  | HP EliteBook 845 G9 6F6H6EA AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950HS AMD Radeon 680M 32 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.5 kg | 19.3 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1200 | matte |
| 10 | 88.2 % | 02/2022 |  | Acer Swift 3 SF314-511-54ZK Intel Core i5-1135G7 Intel Iris Xe Graphics G7 80EUs 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.2 kg | 16.55 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | matte |
The table above contains an overview over the best subnotebooks 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
Pricecompare
1st – Apple MacBook Air M2 10C GPU
The new Apple MacBook Air M2 is based on Apple's latest SoC and provides a bit more performance. Good input devices and a high-quality case are still part of Apple's flagship devices. Furthermore, the device is silent at all times due to passive cooling. The display also offers excellent rates and is bright enough for most purposes.
The Apple MacBook Air M2 offers a lot of performance. However, the upgrades for RAM and SSD are typically very expensive for Apple.
The MacBook Air M2 can be configured in the Apple's online Store, starting from $1,199. Amazon also offers a variant of the device for $1,349.
Pricecompare
2nd – Apple MacBook Pro 13 2022 M2
The new Apple MacBook Pro 13 also enjoys the new M2 SoC and benefits from the better performance just like the MacBook Air. However, the performance takes its toll on the cooling, which can sometimes get very loud when the CPU and GPU have to work simultaneously. On the other hand, we see the usual top build and timeless design. The very good display, the good speakers and the long battery runtimes round off the package perfectly.
With the 2022 MacBook Pro 13, Apple has once again come up with a top modern subnotebook this year.
On Apple's online store, it costs at least $1,299 for an MacBook Pro 13. Amazon also lists the device, around $1,349 for a variant with 512 GB SSD storage.
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3rd – Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2
The Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 offers a fast AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5650U 6 cores with 12 threads and gives the compact business companion a good run for its money. Lenovo does not forgo the very good input device features, which also satisfy prolific writers, although the keyboard of the predecessor was better. The 13.3 subnotebook could convince with a good system performance in the test. The materials used are high-quality and many different connectivity options provide plus points. We already found the same positive aspects in the Intel model of the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2.
Overall, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 presents itself with a 16:10 display and long battery runtimes.
At the time of writing, the Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 (Ryzen 7 PRO 5850U) is available on Amazon US for $1,299.
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4th – Lenovo ThinkPad Z13
With the ThinkPad Z13, Lenovo grabs one of the front places in our top 10 list. The many positive aspects have led to this result, which makes the device a very good work device. With 16 GB of working memory and a 512 GB SSD, you get a solid work device with long battery runtimes. In addition, AMD's new Rembrandt SoC ensures good system performance. The Full HD panel offers a matte surface and covers the sRGB color space almost completely.
The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 is a high-quality and compact subnotebook with long battery runtimes and many connectivity options.
At the time of writing, prices in the manufacturer's online store start at around $1,355.
Pricecompare
5th – Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED
The Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED houses AMD's Rembrandt SoC (AMD Ryzen 7 6800U) with 8 cores and 16 threads. This offers a high CPU/GPU performance and the great OLED display with the high color fidelity. In addition, there is a high-quality and at the same time very compact case and good battery runtimes further support the place in our top 10 list.
The Asus ZenBook S 13 OLED is a powerful subnotebook with AMD Ryzen 7 6800U and an excellent display.
Currently, a variant is available on Amazon US for around $1,519, which is equipped with an AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, 16 GB of RAM and 1TB SSD.
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6th – Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen. 2
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen. 2 is based on Intel's latest Ader Lake generation and offers a top modern SoC with 14 cores and 20 threads in the form of the Intel Core i7-1280P. Thus, the CPU performance could be increased significantly compared to the predecessor. There is also Wi-Fi 6E and a new 2 MP webcam. With less than 1 kg, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen. 2 is also very light.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen. 2 is a high-quality and compact and very light subnotebook with a fast SoC.
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7th – Huawei MateBook 13s
The Huawei MateBook 13s is a compact i5-powered subnotebook with a good overall performance. Its highlights include the Intel Tiger Lake CPU as well as its long battery life, good speakers, and a comfortable keyboard that will satisfy most avid typists. The high-resolution display offers a 90 Hz refresh rate, good color space coverage, and a high contrast ratio.
The Huawei MateBook 13s i5 is a good subnotebook without any major flaws.
Huawei devices are not sold in North America.
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8th – Schenker Vision 14 2022
The Schenker Vision 14 weighs just over 1 kg and not only offers a very strong CPU with the new Alder Lake SoC, but also gets a good dedicated graphics card with the dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti laptop. Schenker also provides the Vision 14 with 32 GB of working memory and a fast 1 TB SSD. Like the predecessor, the display has a 3K resolution and does without PWM.
The Schenker Vision 14 offers many ports and modular components.
Schenker devices are not sold in North America.
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9th – HP EliteBook 845 G9
The HP EliteBook 845 G9 is a brand-new AMD APU that has now made it into the high-end segment. The performance of the Ryzen 9 6950 HS is impressive, although the iGPU can only compete with an Intel Iris Xe. The SoC can also keep up very well under permanent load and is not slowed down excessively. Frequent typists will be happy about the comfortable keyboard. Unfortunately, there is still no Thunderbolt in connectivity. The very bright display has a matte surface and can fully reproduce sRGB.
The HP EliteBook 845 G9 offers a lot of performance with the new AMD Ryzen 9 6950HS and with the many security features, this is a very good business notebook.
Starting at $988, you can configure your HP EliteBook 845 G9 on the manufacturer's online store. Amazon US also offers some variants of the model, here is an example.
Pricecompare
10th – Acer Swift 3 SF314
The Acer Swift SF314 is an Acer subnotebook that offers good performance thanks t its Tiger Lake CPU paired with 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and a spacious 512 GB SSD. At prices of just north of $700 you also get a pre-calibrated display with good sRGB coverage, a low weight despite a metal case, and most importantly a Thunderbolt 4 port that is often missing on more expensive devices.
The Acer Swift 3 SF314’s Core i5 CPU performs better than we would have expected at first glance.
The device is available among others through Amazon with prices starting at around $700.
Pricecompare
Top 10 Subnotebooks in Comparison
Test Results
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon G9-20XXS00100 | Lenovo ThinkPad X13 G2 AMD 20XH001KGE | Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano-20UN002UGE | Schenker Vision 14 | Huawei MateBook 13s i5 11300H | Huawei MateBook 14s i7 | Asus ZenBook 13 UM325S | LG Gram 14Z90P-G.AA79G | Acer Swift 3 SF314-511-54ZK | HP EliteBook 830 G8-i7-1165G7 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 76.1 | 70.1 | 70.4 | 75.4 | 65.2 | 67.8 | 99.9 | 97.6 | 67 | 69.2 |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.9 | 99.4 | 99.9 | 99 | 92 | 98.3 | 100 | 99.9 | 98 | 94.5 |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 77.7 | 71.3 | 72 | 76.4 | 67.5 | 70.1 | 99.7 | 85.3 | 69 | 71.1 |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 62.4 ? | 34 ? | 46.8 ? | 32.8 ? | 44.8 ? | 37.6 ? | 4 ? | 45 ? | 52 ? | 45 ? |
| Response Time Black / White * | 34.8 ? | 22 ? | 28 ? | 20.4 ? | 22.8 ? | 21.6 ? | 4 ? | 23 ? | 29 ? | 30 ? |
| PWM Frequency | 9804 ? | 27780 ? | 60 ? | |||||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 396 | 309 | 460 | 390 | 468 | 419 | 370 | 352 | 320 | 1007 |
| Brightness | 397 | 297 | 434 | 387 | 450 | 407 | 378 | 332 | 309 | 985 |
| Brightness Distribution | 90 | 81 | 92 | 94 | 92 | 93 | 96 | 91 | 84 | 87 |
| Black Level * | 0.23 | 0.26 | 0.27 | 0.29 | 0.23 | 0.23 | 0.05 | 0.22 | 0.25 | 0.34 |
| Contrast | 1722 | 1188 | 1704 | 1345 | 2035 | 1822 | 7400 | 1600 | 1280 | 2962 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 3.7 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 2 | 1.9 | 4.33 | 2.89 | 2.57 | 4 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 7.6 | 3 | 4.5 | 4.4 | 5.5 | 3.6 | 7.04 | 4.66 | 3.5 | 8.9 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.7 | 0.8 | 1 | 1.8 | 1.5 | 0.9 | 4.14 | 2.7 | 0.76 | 2.4 |
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 5.2 | 2 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 2.6 | 2.9 | 0.92 | 6.9 | 2.46 | 4.3 |
| Gamma | 2.11 104% | 2.24 98% | 2.2 100% | 2.24 98% | 2.17 101% | 2.14 103% | 2.38 92% | 2.34 94% | 2.23 99% | 2.1 105% |
| CCT | 6252 104% | 6315 103% | 6475 100% | 6174 105% | 6511 100% | 6733 97% | 6394 102% | 7904 82% | 6311 103% | 6462 101% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 70.4 | 65.7 | 76.4 | 89.4 | 76 | |||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99.9 | 99.9 | 99 | 100 | 100 | |||||
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 700 | 556 | 596 | 366 | 563 | 618 | 551 | 854 | 724 | 480 |
| Load | 86 | 98 | 94 | 95 | 234 | 219 | 114 | 107 | ||
| Reader / Idle | 1394 | 2925 | 2015 | |||||||
| Power Consumption | ||||||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 3 | 3.82 | 3.3 | 9.8 | 4.2 | 4.4 | 7.4 | 2.5 | 4.3 | 6.5 |
| Idle Average * | 5.2 | 5.74 | 5.7 | 12.5 | 8.1 | 8.7 | 10.4 | 5.3 | 6.8 | 8.4 |
| Idle Maximum * | 5.9 | 7.65 | 9.1 | 13.7 | 9 | 9.6 | 11.1 | 9.5 | 9 | 10.3 |
| Load Average * | 42.8 | 35.79 | 29.6 | 39.3 | 41.7 | 46 | 35.7 | 26.2 | 33.3 | 34.6 |
| Load Maximum * | 65.7 | 45.04 | 55.1 | 72.8 | 68 | 87.6 | 37.2 | 42.8 | 65 | 33 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 35.6 | 27.7 | 44.8 | 40.1 | 42.2 | 33.3 | 34.4 | |||
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 24.17 | 24.9 | 25 | 24.5 | 24.3 | 29.6 | 26 | 25 | 26 | |
| Idle Minimum * | 24.17 | 24.9 | 25 | 24.5 | 24.3 | 30.5 | 26 | 25 | 26 | |
| Idle Average * | 24.17 | 26.3 | 25 | 24.5 | 24.3 | 30.5 | 26 | 25 | 26 | |
| Idle Maximum * | 24.17 | 31.8 | 26.9 | 28 | 28.4 | 30.5 | 26 | 27.5 | 27.5 | |
| Load Average * | 29.92 | 34.3 | 38.6 | 35.9 | 31.7 | 35.7 | 30.5 | 32.9 | 35.4 | |
| Load Maximum * | 31.52 | 37.5 | 41.2 | 38.6 | 46.8 | 37.2 | 30.5 | 42 | 35.3 | |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 34.3 | 41.2 | 35.9 | 31.7 | ||||||
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 43.7 | 42.2 | 46.2 | 42.8 | 41.1 | 42.6 | 47.2 | 39.6 | 41.7 | |
| Maximum Bottom * | 38 | 47.5 | 52.2 | 46.9 | 45.4 | 43.6 | 45.8 | 43.2 | 39.1 | |
| Idle Upper Side * | 25.8 | 24.3 | 30.6 | 25.2 | 25.3 | 36 | 23.8 | 25 | 30.1 | |
| Idle Bottom * | 26.2 | 25.3 | 33.6 | 26 | 26.5 | 32.8 | 22.9 | 26.2 | 30.3 |
* ... smaller is better
Benchmarks
| PCMark 8 - Work Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
| LG Gram 14Z90P-G.AA79G | |
