What Laptop Should I Buy?

It’s a shame to see the discrete graphics card get dropped – for UK models anyway – but the latest edition of the MateBook 14 still provides excellent value for money.

Huawei has stuck to its luxurious design and build – albeit not the lightest – and fitted AMD’s powerful Ryzen 4000-H series chips giving you plenty of power to rip through work.

It’s got more oomph than some laptops twice the price so it’s impressive for Huawei to bring both models in at under £1,000.

Otherwise, it’s another all-rounder with a nice screen, good port selection, reliable battery life, decent keyboard and more. Just be warned the webcam is still awkwardly positioned in the keyboard.

Read our full Huawei MateBook 14 (2020) review

The 2020 iteration of HP’s Envy 13 looks very similar to its predecessor when it comes to design, with a portable and refined finish. However, this year’s version boasts some additional flourishes that make it even more competitive. 

The keyboard features in-built privacy options for the microphone and webcam, whilst the display is brighter than ever with slimmer bezels.

A well-rounded set of spec includes up to 1TB of storage and the option of a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX350 graphics card without breaking the bank. HP manages to undercut similar rivals when it comes to price. 

The niggles are minor – a bit of a noisy fan, screen glare and a lack of a 4K display in the UK if you should want it. Nonetheless, the Envy 13 still remains one of the top dogs in the laptop market. 

Read our full HP Envy 13 (2020) review

The MacBook Air may not look any different to its predecessor, but it’s what’s on this inside that counts.

Offering a significant boost compared to the 10nm Intel chipset of the earlier MacBook Air range, the 5nm M1 chipset is blisteringly fast in operation, handling light video editing and gaming via Apple Arcade without breaking a sweat.

It’s faster than many Intel-based Windows alternatives, offering great bang for your buck from Apple’s entry-level ultralight laptop. There’s also a big jump in battery life and the display is top-notch, as are the keyboard and trackpad.

It’s fanless, which brings the benefit of silent running, but it also means that the laptop will throttle performance to keep things cool. Those that want to edit video for hours on end may be better off with the fan-equipped MacBook Pro M1, even though it doesn’t add any more ports.

Read our full Apple MacBook Air (2020) M1 review

We didn’t really think LG could make the gram 17 much better but the 2021 has really nailed it.

It’s still an incredibly lightweight marvel of engineering and now improves on the niggles we had before, all inside a more attractive design. Our main complaints were the speakers and trackpad which are both better.

The laptop also has incredible battery life, gets an upgrade to Thunderbolt 4 and has an excellent screen. It’s just not touch-sensitive and some users may prefer a crisper keyboard action.

Still, this remains the 17in laptop to beat and LG now has the gram 16 if you want something slightly smaller and cheaper.

Read our full LG gram 17 (2021) review

It might have a bog-standard webcam and a poor implementation of HDR, but those are minor niggles for what is a stunning piece of work from Dell.

Those looking for a 15in Windows laptop, perhaps as a MacBook Pro alternative, will be hard-pressed to find something better than the XPS 15 for 2020. This laptop is well made, compact and has plenty of performance to offer as well as impressive specs elsewhere.

It is expensive at the upper end, but you don’t need to splash out almost £3k to get an amazing laptop. In fact, simply avoid the lowest spec option with integrated graphics and you’ll have enough for most users.

Unless you know you need a 4K screen, the Full HD option will suffice and also increase battery life.

Read our full Dell XPS 15 9500 (2020) review

The MateBook X Pro 2020 looks an awful lot like the last two MateBook X Pros, but that’s no bad thing. This was one of the best laptops you could buy last year, and the upgrade to 10th-gen Intel chips and a lush new green colour keep things that way.

With specs that go up to a Core i7, 16GB RAM, MX250 GPU, and 1TB storage this can be a bit of a beast if you want it to be (though many will do just fine with the cheapest i5 spec), but that power is backed by a lightweight design, beautiful display, best-in-class keyboard and impressive battery life.

Literally the only complaints are the dodgy webcam placement (under the keyboard, which looks cool but gives a deeply unflattering camera angle) and the fact that it’s priced to match all that performance, meaning you can get almost as much bang for a lot less buck elsewhere.

Read our full Huawei MateBook X Pro (2020) review

Despite the mid-range nature of the laptop, Huawei has done a great job at making the MateBook D 14 look like a premium option. 

It sports AMD internals that can give similarly priced laptops a run for their money, and despite not being billed as a gaming laptop, the Radeon Vega 8 graphics are enough to power casual games like Fortnite and Rocket League with no issue. There’s also all-day battery life on offer, at just over 10 hours in our benchmark, and 65W fast charging means it can replenish 43 percent of battery power in only half an hour. 

It’s lightweight, portable and powerful, making the MateBook D 14 a tough one to beat in the mid-range arena. 

Read our full Huawei MateBook D 14 review

It might not have a fingerprint scanner or an Ethernet port but the Yoga Slim 7 is otherwise hard to fault and the latter is rare anyway.

Lenovo provides the vast majority of things that most people will be looking for in a laptop at an affordable price. It’s lightweight and portable as the name suggests, although doesn’t have a 360-degree hinge like many Yoga models.

There’s a choice of Intel or AMD processors, decent screen, solid battery life, Dolby Atmos speakers, Wi-Fi 6 and more. Overall, a very good value for money package.

Read our full Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 review

Acer continues to impress with the Swift 5, an excellent laptop that’s a great all-rounder.

It’s not quite as affordable as the last version but it’s incredibly compact and lightweight, yet remains premium and offers a good selection of ports including Thunderbolt 4.

It doesn’t have the best keyboard or speakers but the display is improved and performance is solid and battery life is very impressive, too. Overall, there’s very little to dislike here as Acer continues to refine its best laptop.

Read our full Acer Swift 5 (SF514-55T) review

The first-gen Galaxy Book Flex instantly became our favourite convertible last year, and its successor is no different.

While some areas like the screen and battery remain the same, the laptop now has 11th-gen Intel chips giving a nice battery boost, 5G support for data on-the-go and a secondary 13Mp camera.

Samsung has also improved the hinge making it more robust and the laptop now has useful USB-A and HDMI ports, too.

Downsides include the price and fiddly trackpad. It’s also a Full HD resolution should you be looking for something higher.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Book Flex 2 review

It’s more of the same from Microsoft here and while the design could maybe do with a refresh, the Surface Laptop 4 is another great all-rounder notebook that will suit many different users. 

The fans can be a bit loud, but performance is solid from either AMD or Intel chips and battery life is strong, too. A high-end display and a nice keyboard make for a comfortable experience. 

However, top-end models are overly expensive, and we’d like to see some options like an OLED panel and optional LTE connectivity. 

Read our full Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 review

The XPS 13 was once the undisputed king of the ultrabook world, but the competition has stepped up its game and Dell isn’t quite doing enough to keep pace.

A beautiful 16:10 display and the best keyboard you’ll find anywhere are enough to mean the XPS 13 is well worth a look for anyone considering a Windows ultrabook, but the caveats feel more pointed than ever – namely poor port selection and a steep price.

This late 2020 edition with 11th-gen Intel is improved on thermal side with better performance but it’s still not perfect with loud fans. It might mean you can find the older 9300 cheaper if you’re ok with the downsides.

Read our full Dell XPS 13 9310 (late 2020) review

The innovative ZenBook Duo hinges, quite literally, around its second screen and makes for an interesting setup if you like the idea of having two screens without having to plug one in.

It makes for impressive multi-tasking for certain situations once you get used to it and performance is good for a wide range of tasks as well as decent battery life. It’s also surprisingly light and portable for a machine with two displays.

That second screen does have downsides though, mainly the knock-on effect to the keyboard and trackpad, making them small and awkward.

Read our full Asus ZenBook Duo UX482 (2021) review

The Galaxy Book S is a stylish laptop that’s well-made and extremely compact, albeit with a lacklustre keyboard.

Combine this with the longest battery…