The best business laptops in 2023

The best business laptops make it easy to get work done and be more productive on the go. They're light enough to carry all day, with great keyboards and crisp, easy-to-read screens that are comfortable to look at during marathon sessions. 

Plus, they've got great battery life so you don't need to worry about carrying a charger around the office. The minimum we expect a good business laptop to last in our battery tests (one part of our comprehensive testing plan) is 8 hours, but ideally you want closer to 10-12 so you don't have to plug in during long days.

While the best business laptops used to chiefly be made by a handful of companies like Dell, HP and Lenovo, advances in manufacturing have made ultra-light laptops with speedy, power-efficient processors more common and affordable than ever. You'll certainly find traditional matte black clamshells on this list, but you'll also find business laptops with beautiful OLED displays, 2-in-1 hinges that let you use them like giant tablets, and more.

Every one of these recommendations is backed up by our performance testing lab and a hands-on review from one of our experts. That means you know what you're getting before you buy, because you can read all about how each performs, what they're like to use in day-to-day work and how they compare to other laptops we've tested by clicking the linked reviews. 

Tony Polanco

Tony is a computing writer at Tom’s Guide covering laptops, tablets, Windows, and iOS. During his off-hours, Tony enjoys reading comic books, playing video games, reading speculative fiction novels, and spending too much time on Twitter. His non-nerdy pursuits involve attending Hard Rock/Heavy Metal concerts and going to NYC bars with friends and colleagues. His work has appeared in publications such as Laptop Mag, PC Mag, and various independent gaming sites.

The quick list

In a hurry? Here's a brief overview of the laptops on this list, along with quick links that let you jump down the page directly to a review of whichever laptop catches your eye.

The best business laptops you can buy right now

The best business laptop overall

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Nano is a great business laptop because it's powerful, long-lived, and easy to carry. Weighing in at just 2 pounds, the Nano is the lightest laptop on this list, but with a tested battery life of 12 hours it still has enough juice to last you through a day of work without needing a charger. You can also pay extra for 4G/5G connectivity, if you need to stay connected on the go.

Lenovo didn't sacrifice on performance or usability either. In addition to the standard suite of security features and durability ratings all ThinkPads have, the Nano's Intel 11th Gen Tiger Lake processors provide the speed you need for tons of productivity — and its keyboard provides a snappy and comfortable typing experience that lives up to the ThinkPad brand. You might want to pack a USB hub though, as it sports just two Thunderbolt / USB-C ports.

Read our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano review.

The best value for a business laptop

The AMD-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is an excellent value, offering an eye-catching 1080p OLED display and exceptional 15-hour battery life in a slim, lightweight package for less than a thousand bucks.

The speakers aren't amazing, the webcam leaves something to be desired, and there's no headphone jack, but these are stumbling blocks you can work around. If you need a zippy little laptop to get work done with a great screen that will last you all day long, you can't do better than the OLED-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 at this price.

Read our full Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review.

The best MacBook for business

The MacBook Air M2 is arguably the best overall MacBook for most people. And we're not saying that the previous MacBook Air M1 wasn’t good — it helped introduce the world to the power of Apple silicon. It’s just that cramming revolutionary performance in the same old chassis didn’t feel (or look) like a leap forward.

The latest Air lives up to its name by shrinking down the design 20% by volume and measuring just 0.44 inches thick. And it's quite light at 2.7 pounds. And yet the M2 chip inside this machine delivers power that outperforms most Windows laptops. It's a multitasking champ, and if you want more graphics might you can upgrade to a 10-core GPU.

We also really like the bright display on the new MacBook Air M2, which rivals the MacBook Pro M2, and it's now bigger at 13.6 inches with slimmer bezels. Other highlights include a sharp 1080p webcam, MagSafe charging and four color options.

Lasting over 14 hours on our web surfing battery test, the MacBook Air M2 should last you most of the day on a charge. The only strikes against this system are the somewhat distracting notch and support for only a single external display. 

Read our full Apple MacBook Air M2 (2022) review.

The best 2-in-1 business laptop

HP’s latest 13.5-inch version of the Spectre x360 comes with a 12th Gen Intel Core i7 chip that’s capable of handling all sorts of creative and productive apps, plus the 13.5-inch screen is a stunner and the refreshed design is appealing. The slim, transformable approach has a couple of drawbacks, including a steep asking price, but this is an alluring option all the same that ranks among the best laptops you can buy.

If you think you’ll reliably use the tablet form factor and stylus, then the HP Spectre x360 is a sharp 2-in-1 option for those with a premium budget. There are other strong options near this price point, including the upgraded Lenovo Yoga 9i with 12th-gen Intel Core i7 chips, however—we really liked last year’s model with the previous Core i7 processor aboard.

All that said, you’re clearly paying HP a premium for the convertible form factor here—so if that’s negligible to your needs, you can find more power and longer battery life at a lower price, particularly with the excellent Acer Swift 5. Even so, if you need a notebook that flips, HP’s option is plenty enticing.

Read our full HP Spectre x360 review.

The best OLED for business

The Dell XPS 15 OLED (2022) isn’t an innovative or revolutionary laptop. Aside from its updated internals, it’s virtually identical to its predecessor. But while this machine isn't shaking things up, it's still one of the best laptops you can buy.

All models of the refreshed Dell XPS 15 pack the latest Intel Core CPUs and come bundled with Windows 11. Higher-end configurations feature an Nvidia 30-series GPU and, like last year's iteration, Dell offers a model with a 3.5K OLED touchscreen.

Not only is this a stellar laptop for everyday use, it’s also a competent gaming machine when kitted out with high-end internals — though that's admittedly pricey.

The Dell XPS line of laptops has long been highly regarded here at Tom's Guide, and the Dell XPS 15 OLED (2022) continues the trend. Even if it isn’t shaking up the computing world with never-before-seen features, it's an all-around solid machine with versatility and style. Now if only Dell could ditch the grainy 720p webcam!

Read our full Dell XPS 15 OLED (2022) review.

The best business laptop for travel

If you’re looking for a great all-around ultraportable laptop for under $1,000, then I think you need the HP Pavilion Aero 13 ($839 as reviewed).

That’s because the HP Pavilion Aero 13 offers a powerful AMD Ryzen 7 CPU backed by a bright, colorful 13.3-inch display along with a clicky keyboard and a superlight chassis, all for a great price. However, some people may not like the small keyboard deck and the lack of a microSD card slot.

But those are cons you could easily get over when you consider it delivers great performance in a lightweight laptop that's easy to carry and satisfying to type on. It’s easily one of the best laptops you can buy.

Read our full HP Pavilion Aero 13 review.

The best 13-inch business laptop

Judging by the name, you might think the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a bigger version of Dell’s iconic laptop. But it’s actually quite the opposite. This is as minimalist a design as we’ve ever seen from Dell.

There are just two ports. There’s no headphone jack. And Dell even took away physical function keys, replacing them with a capacitive row. There are not even lines to demark the touchpad; the entire area beneath the keyboard is one smooth piece of glass.

But the XPS 13 Plus isn’t just a design statement. Dell managed to pack a 28W 12th gen Core i7 processor into this sleek 2.7-pound machine. And the result is a system that can outperform even the mighty MacBook Pro M2 on some tests. However, the short battery life and capacitive function row will give some pause. We also found the bottom gets a bit toasty when running at full power, so keep that in mind to avoid a scorched lap!

Read our full Dell XPS 13 Plus review.

The best 14-inch business laptop

The Acer Swift 5 (2022) packs a lavish new design with golden trim plus a powerful 12th-gen Intel Core i7 chip, a gorgeous 14-inch display, and a startlingly swift 1TB SSD onboard. It’s also cheaper than rivals like the Dell XPS 13 when comparably equipped. There are a couple of caveats to consider, but the latest Acer Swift 5 is a very strong overall pick given its $1,499 price tag.

It's a great Windows laptop that offers plenty of power for everything save serious gaming. And while the speakers and pre-installed bloatware leave room for improvement, the striking 16:10 1600p display and the power of Intel's Core i7 chip make this a great (and great-looking) Windows laptop for getting things done on the go. 

Read our full Acer Swift 5 (2022) review.

The best 15-inch business laptop

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is an ultra-thin 2-in-1 laptop that's tailor-made for people who are always on the go. Like its siblings the Book Pro 360 and Book 3 Pro 360, this iteration features a gorgeous AMOLED screen that's perfect for media consumption. It's also ideal for work thanks to its speedy performance.

Though a Windows laptop at its core, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 comes loaded with a slew of Samsung software. This could be good or bad, depending on how invested you are in the Samsung ecosystem. If you are, then you'll find that this 2-in-1 pairs nicely with your Samsung tablets and phones. Otherwise, all of these applications are effectively bloatware.

Despite the middling webcam and Samsung bloatware, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 has a lot going for it and is a 2-in-1 we highly recommend to those who are in the market for a powerful, portable laptop that pairs nicely with Samsung devices. While Samsung has since released a successor in the Galaxy Book3 Pro 360 (farther down this list), its upgraded CPU is a little anemic and it actually has worse battery life than its predecessor. Both are great, but we still like to recommend the Book2 Pro 360 since it's such a standout performer and now often available at a deep discount. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 review.

Battery benchmarks: comparison

How to choose the best laptop for you

Performance: If you only need something basic for tackling emails and surfing the web, you'll be fine with a mid-range CPU (think: Core i5 or an AMD A10) and 4-8 GB of RAM. However, if you want something that can tackle anything you throw at it (short of heavy-duty gaming and video editing) splurge for a Core i7 and 16 GB of RAM.

Graphics and gaming: Business laptops are rarely built to do much serious gaming, but if you just want to unwind with older or undemanding games like Civilization, you should be fine as long as you have at least a Core i5 CPU and 8 GB of RAM. For more demanding games, look into one of the best gaming laptops instead — a few have designs subtle enough to not look out of place in a boardroom.

Size: Consider how mobile you want your business laptop to be. Machines such as the Dell ThinkPad X1 Nano and HP Elite Dragonfly are slim and feather-light, whereas machines with larger screens (like the Dell XPS 15) are a bit bulkier and more painful to carry all day.

Whichever system you decide on, you may also want to pick up the best mouse and best keyboard for your particular work situation since spending long hours working hunched over a laptop can be murder on your hands, wrists and back.

How we tested these laptops

How we test the best business laptops

To find the best laptop, we run every machine through a rigorous suite of benchmarks and real-world tests to gauge how it will perform during everyday use. 

We measure the average brightness and color quality of each laptop's display using our in-house light meter and colorimeter. For general performance, we run our machines through tests that include Geekbench 5 (CPU performance), as well as various 3DMark tests to measure graphics capabilities. We also run a file transfer test to measure how fast a machine's hard drive is, and a custom battery test that has the machine browse the internet over Wi-Fi until it runs out of juice.

When testing dedicated gaming laptops, we run benchmarks for popular games such as Assassin's Creed Valhalla, Far Cry 6 and Red Dead Redemption 2. For more information on our testing process, check out our guide to how we test.

Performance: If you only need something basic for tackling emails and surfing the web, you'll be fine with a mid-range CPU (think: Core i5 or an AMD A10) and 4-8 GB of RAM. However, if you want something that can tackle anything you throw at it (short of heavy-duty gaming and video editing) splurge for a Core i7 and 16 GB of RAM.

Graphics and gaming: Business laptops are rarely built to do much serious gaming, but if you just want to unwind with older or undemanding games like Civilization, you should be fine as long as you have at least a Core i5 CPU and 8 GB of RAM. For more demanding games, look into one of the best gaming laptops instead — a few have designs subtle enough to not look out of place in a boardroom.

Size: Consider how mobile you want your business laptop to be. Machines such as the Dell ThinkPad X1 Nano and HP Elite Dragonfly are slim and feather-light, whereas machines with larger screens (like the Dell XPS 15) are a bit bulkier and more painful to carry all day.

Whichever system you decide on, you may also want to pick up the best mouse for your particular work situation.