Best Ultrabook in 2023: Top Thin and Lightweight Laptops

3. Razer Blade 14

Best Ultraportable Gaming Laptop

PC gaming and portability don’t usually go hand in hand. Oftentimes compromises need to be made, but with the Razer Blade 14, those are few and far between. It has managed to squeeze some insane hardware into a laptop just over four pounds and well below an inch thick. The 14-inch 240 Hz QHD+ display offers an is slightly taller than your typical screen, with a 16:10 aspect ratio that could take some getting used to. But it’s what’s on the inside that really blows us away with this gaming laptop.

That solid display is powered by an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS processor with an equally impressive Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card. This machine is ready for whatever game you throw at it, and it’ll also handle video editing like a champ. Heck, you can even do some overclocking. Toting a 16GB DDR5 RAM and 1TB of SSD storage ensures it’ll speedily chug along. And, Wi-Fi 6E support lets you enjoy fast connectivity for your on-the-go battle station, or you can park this at your desk to play and connect it directly to a gaming monitor with the laptop’s full-size HDMI port.

4. Apple MacBook Air M2

Best Ultralight Apple Laptop

• See it on Apple

After a couple of years, Apple has finally introduced the newest MacBook Air. Some big changes have been made inside and out. You now get a slightly larger display, coming in at 13.6 inches, though it still manages to be a super light 2.7 pounds. That makes this Apple’s most portable laptop, and it’s perfect for taking along to the office or sliding in your bag when traveling. There’s also a new 1080p camera, so you’ll look stellar during Zoom meetings, and MagSafe charging makes juicing up easy. However, the biggest upgrade is to the processors — you now get Apple’s own M2 chip.

The Apple M2 features four high-performance cores and four high-efficiency cores, letting it speed through some tasks while sipping energy when doing more basic work. Those processing cores also mean the new MacBook Air has a boost in battery life. For the integrated GPU, you get 8-cores that are even faster than the M1. Plus, the improved Neutral Engine should accelerate AI and machine learning. Finally, you can upgrade the laptop up to 24GB of memory and 2TB of storage, making it breeze through just about any task.

See more of the best MacBooks to buy right now.

5. Lenovo Yoga Book 9i

Best Convertible Ultrabook

Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i earns its name as it provides a ton of flexibility, letting you flip and fold it for use like a laptop, tablet, or stand-up display. But it sets itself apart from other 2-in-1 laptops thanks to its not one, but two 13.3-inch OLED touchscreens. You can use the displays in a multitude of ways, including different orientations, like a book or vertically stacked on top of each other. It’s even possible to have the bottom display function like a keyboard and trackpad. However, typing on glass isn’t ideal, so Lenovo throws in a Bluetooth keyboard, a mouse, and a stylus to make life easier.

Given there are two screens, you’ll need plenty of oomph on the inside to keep up. Luckily, powering this machine is a ten-core Intel Core i7-1355U processor paired with 16GB of DDR5 memory and 512 GB of SSD storage, so you’ll be good to run almost any productivity application. The integrated graphics limit this laptop’s gaming and content creation ability, so be prepared to run them at the lowest possible settings.

6. HP Envy x360

Another Lightweight Convertible Laptop

If you like the sound of a convertible laptop like the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i but want something cheaper with one less display, check out the HP Envy x360. This machine weighs slightly over 3 pounds and is only 0.77 inches thick, but it still totes an all-metal chassis that acts as an added layer of protection from an accidental drop. Even when you’ve got the laptop flipped to tablet mode to do a bit of drawing or in tent mode for giving a presentation, you’ll have peace of mind that this device is durable enough to take on whatever you throw at it.

The HP Envy x360 has several configurations, but our favorite offers an Intel Core i5-1335U CPU with an integrated GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB NVMe SSD. Those internals should be more than enough to get through most workloads and not break a sweat. They also help power the 14-inch IPS display with a Full HD resolution and an intuitive touch screen offering thin bezels, making the most of all the laptop’s available space.

7. Surface Laptop 5

Most Stylish Ultrabook

The Surface Laptop 5 delivers an exceptional ultrabook experience with a well-polished design, modest but dependable internals, and a great display. The sleek and simple metal chassis comes in a new sage green color that exudes class. Even with its durable frame, this laptop remains lightweight and ultraportable, weighing 2.8 pounds and measuring just over half an inch thick. The keyboard and trackpad are super smooth, perfectly sized, and highly responsive, while the 13.5-inch PixelSense Touch display offers a 3:2 aspect ratio and a sharp 2,256 x 1,504 resolution. That touchscreen totes some new handy features that can increase productivity and help with multitasking.

Inside, the Surface Laptop 5 is powered by a capable Intel Core i5 processor offering two performance cores and eight efficient cores with multi-threading to cruise through everyday tasks. The system runs on 8GB of memory, though you can upgrade to 16GB for improved multitasking, while the 512GB of storage should be plenty of space for most users. As for connectivity, Wi-Fi 6 support lets you take advantage of everything from your typical Netflix streaming to Microsoft’s Xbox game streaming. However, this laptop does leave a bit more to desire as far as ports are concerned, offering just one Thunderbolt 4 and one USB-A.

8. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3

The Thinnest and Lightest Ultrabook

When it comes to a thin and light Ultrabook that still packs a powerful punch, not much compares to the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3. The laptop’s compact form factor is slightly over half an inch thick and weighs just over 2 pounds, but under the hood, it squeezes in an Intel Core i7-1360P processor and impressive 16GB RAM. You’ll be a multitasking maven with those internals. However, there are only Integrated Iris Xe graphics, so you’ll have limited image rendering when gaming or video editing.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano delivers a stunning, colorful 13-inch, 2K display. You can easily view the screen from just about anywhere thanks to the IPS panel’s anti-glare coating and 450 nit brightness, which comes in handy since the laptop is super portable for use outside. Speaking of portability, it has a great battery life to make working on the go as simple as possible, while two Thunderbolt 4 ports and Wi-Fi 6E support mean you’re in for some speedy connections.

9. Surface Laptop Studio

Best Ultrabook for Creatives

• See it on Microsoft

Creating on a laptop takes a bit more than just processor muscle and a pretty display. Microsoft has figured that out and improved upon it with the Surface Laptop Studio 2. This laptop certainly hits the performance levels you’ll want, and we particularly love this model, which pairs an Intel Core i7-13700H GPU with Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050. That gives the device enough graphical power to edit videos and photos, making it a content creator’s dream. Add in 16GB memory and 512GB of SSD storage—there are configurations to bump up those specs—and you’ll be a multitasking maven with quick loads and saves.

Microsoft’s screen and flexible design will fully convince you this is the creative tool you want. The 14.4-inch display has a sharp resolution of 2,400 x 1,600 and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate. There’s even HDR 400 support for more accurate colors and contrast, and the screen can hit a wild 650 nits of brightness. The clarity and motion precision will be extra helpful when using the advanced stylus, while the display portion of the laptop shifts forward and tilts back, letting you get it closer and write or draw on it at a more natural angle.

What to look for in an Ultrabook

Shopping for an Ultrabook comes down to picking an ultraportable laptop and shaving many millimeters from its profile, without sacrificing performance too greatly. For the most part, the best Ultrabooks nowadays are pretty peppy machines that can handle all-day office work as well as some light video and image editing tasks too.

These modern machines mostly come with either Intel Core i5 or i7 processors, a minimum of 8GB of memory, and at least 128GB SSD for storage. There are, of course, always exceptions to this rule.

Prices for a capable Ultrabooks laptop usually hover above $1,000 and can easily increase to over $2,000, depending on specs and manufacturer. Don’t get overwhelmed when looking at specs and prices, because unless you are going to edit a lot of videos or use resource-intensive programs, most mid-range ultraportables will be just fine.

Where to Get the Best Ultrabook Laptops in the UK