Windows 8 was designed to be touchscreen-friendly, but the operating system and the best 2-in-1 laptops at the time weren’t quite ready to work together. Now, however, touchscreen and 2-in-1 laptops have become increasingly popular, saving money and space. They make for a great travel companion, too, allowing you to work while you’re commuting, without the extra weight and size of a hefty laptop. With touch-friendly interfaces, handy stylus pens, and apps that work with touchscreen capabilities, it’s easy to see why 2-in-1 laptops are a great choice. And with Black Friday deals, these devices are the best way to get both a tablet and a laptop at the same time.
TL;DR – These are the Best 2-in-1 Laptops:
- Surface Pro 9
- Surface Laptop Studio 2
- Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360
- HP Envy x360
- Zenbook Pro 15 Flip OLED
- Asus Chromebook Flip
2-in-1 laptops are designed to offer a touchscreen and laptop in one device. So, you can rotate or flip the screen so you can easily switch from tablet to laptop in an instant. Work on important projects, type up notes, then switch to handheld mode and enjoy a movie in bed. It offers the best of both worlds and often comes up smaller than most standard laptops.
But, because there are so many decent laptops and tablets out there, investing in a 2-in-1 laptop shouldn’t be something you decide on quickly. You should consider what you want to use your 2-in-1 for; would it be useful to detach laptop parts from it so you can easily transport it, for example? We’ve narrowed down our choices based on our research to offer you the best 2-in-1 laptops on the market.
The Best 2-in-1 Laptops You Can Buy Today
1. Surface Pro 9
Best 2-in-1 Laptop
There’s no doubt that Microsoft’s Surface Pro lineup helped create the 2-in-1 market, and with the Surface Pro 9, Microsoft has once again set the bar for a portable device that pulls double-duty as a laptop and tablet. The detachable’s 13-inch ultra-crisp touchscreen offers superior color quality and touch accuracy, supporting a stylus like the Microsoft Slim Pen 2 for drawing or writing. It’s even rocking a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate for super smooth scrolling.
Our favorite model runs on an arm-based, Microsoft-designed SQ3 chip that offers AI features for video calls, a better battery life, and 5G mobile broadband to let you get work done anywhere. It’s slightly less powerful than the Intel models of the Surface Pro 9 but still has no problem cruising through most everyday tasks and offers a decently snappy performance with its 8GB RAM and 256GB of storage.
Keep in mind, however, that if you want to use the Surface Pro 9 as a laptop and tablet, you’ll need to buy a keyboard separately, like the $180 Surface Pro Signature Keyboard or the $280 combo that comes with a Surface Slim Pen 2, adding to the overall cost.
2. Surface Laptop Studio 2
Best 2-in-1 Laptop for Creatives
With plenty of real estate and enough power to prove its worth, the Surface Laptop Studio 2 is one of the best 2-in-1 laptops for design professionals. While the screen doesn’t detach from the device, the woven hinge allows for the seamless transition of the display. Angle it perfectly for your requirements while you type, sketch, or stream.
This 2-in-1 not only delivers powerful performance, but it offers all-day battery life so you don’t have to worry about where to recharge your laptop. Up to 18 hours can be achieved, meaning you can work all day and play all night. And with plenty of upgrade options, you can enjoy up to 64GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, providing a device that works in every scenario.
3. Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360
Thinnest 2-in-1 Laptop
Samsung’s latest 2-in-1 laptop is the Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360, an impressively thin and light laptop/tablet hybrid. The display folds back, nearly 360-degrees, converting from a standard laptop to a tablet. On top of that, you can use the stowable Samsung S Pen stylus to interact with the Windows 11 interface.
Samsung includes several of its own apps and services on the Book 2 Pro 360, such as the Samsung Notes app that syncs with Galaxy smartphones, like the Samsung Galaxy S22.
This model has an impressively sharp AMOLED display that’s powered by a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and 512GB of storage with enough battery life to get through a full day of work with some juice to spare.
4. HP Envy x360
Best Premium 2-in-1 Laptop
The HP Envy x360 is a capable laptop ready to take on all your everyday tasks with ease. This machine is packing the latest 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of memory, and 512GB of storage. This combo ensures all your applications run smoothly and fast. And when it comes to battery life, it should last most of the day with moderate use and comes with a fast charging feature. Though this machine is somewhat heavy at over 3lbs, so it’s not the most portable option on our list.
Of course, you’re not just getting a basic laptop with the HP Envy x360, but a 2-in-1 option. It can also be used in tent mode to watch movies or YouTube videos or fold the screen all the way back and use it as a big tablet. The display itself offers thin bezels and a 1920 x 1200 resolution with intuitive touch technology baked-in.
Beyond the display, you get a sleek, durable chassis along with backlit keys and several ports that make it easy to connect your accessories. The integrated Bang & Olufsen speakers sound surprisingly good for a laptop, and a shutter on the 5MP camera also ensures privacy when you’re not video chatting.
5. Zenbook Pro 15 Flip OLED
Best 2-in-1 OLED Laptop
Want a 2-in-1 with a display you can’t stop staring at? Look no further than the Zenbook Pro 15 Flip OLED. It has a bright and vivid 15.6-inch OLED touchscreen panel featuring a 2880 x 1620 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate for butter-smooth visuals. That display covers a wide color gamut and is even HDR certified for a pleasant viewing experience. Best of all, you can use it as a laptop, tent it to watch your favorite shows, or fold the display until it lays flat and convert the ZenBook into an OLED tablet.
Inside the ZenBook Pro 15 Flip is a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of memory, and a 512GB SSD for storage to power that impressive OLED screen—and all your everyday tasks. You also get a 96W battery that should keep the laptop juiced up for 12 hours, making it a perfect campion to bring to work or on trips.
There are a full set of I/O ports on the Zenbook, including two Thunderbolt 4 ports for charging the laptop or connecting high-speed accessories, an HDMI port makes it easy to connect an external display, and a USB-A port means you won’t have to carry a USB hub either. The bow on top of this solid 2-in-1 option is the included stylus to get even more creative with drawing and writing.
6. Asus Chromebook Flip
Best 2-in-1 Chromebook
The Asus Chromebook Flip offers great value thanks to its low price and powerful everyday features. With a Ryzen 3 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 14-inch display, this Chromebook can do more than just run basic apps. No, it’s not a gaming laptop, nor is it designed to run hefty tasks, however, it does offer budget-friendly pricing and a good starting point if you want to view web pages, write up documents, or play a few casual mobile-based games.
Thanks to its lightweight frame, the Asus Chromebook Flip serves well as a portable 2-in-1 laptop. The 360-degree convertible design allows smooth transitions when adjusting the display’s angle, and the touchscreen makes it easy to scroll through pages or apps when you’re in tablet mode.
Where to Get the Best 2-in-1 Laptop in the UK
What to look for in a 2-in-1 laptop
It’s most important to take into account what you’re going to be using a 2-in-1 laptop for, not only today, but in the future. Once you identify if you’re going to use it for everyday tasks like browsing, email, messaging, online shopping and videos you can narrow down your search to a build near the lower end of most laptop makers’ configurations.
However, if you’re going to need to do heavy video and photo editing, or spend a lot of time in 3D animation software, then you’ll want to look at a device like the Microsoft Laptop Studio that has the power you’re certainly going to need.
If you’re not sure what you’ll use it for, the best advice, then, is to get a 2-in-1 laptop that has a fast processor and plenty of memory. Every option listed here, save for the Surface Pro 8, meets those requirements. And even then, you can pick a higher-end configuration of the Pro 8 to up the memory and storage.
A good starting point would be to look for a 2-in-1 laptop with an Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage. In an ideal situation, you’d double the memory and storage to future-proof your investment.
Jason Cipriani has covered technology full-time for the past 8 years. During that time he has freelanced for the likes of CNET, Fortune, Time, ZDNet, Macworld, Wired, and TechRadar.
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