These are the best lightweight laptops you can buy: Samsung, HP, and more
Buying a new laptop is always hard, but it’s not for lack of choice. There are lots of fantastic laptops out there, and choosing one can be tricky. There are different form factors, sizes, processors, and many more factors to consider. But one factor that tends to be pretty important when choosing a laptop is its weight. Laptops are meant to be portable, and carrying a heavy device in your backpack gets uncomfortable very quickly. Some of us want something truly portable, and we’re here to help you find it. We’ve rounded up some of the best lightweight laptops you can buy right now.
All the laptops on this list are running Windows, and of course, they’re all going to support Windows 11 when that releases later this year. If Windows isn’t your thing, you can also check out our list of the best Macs, as well as the best Chromebooks. Windows is generally the operating system that can work for well for anyone though, so all the options on this list are great.
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- Best overall: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro
- Best convertible: HP Elite Dragonfly Max
- Best clamshell laptop: Acer Swift 5
- Best 17-inch laptop: LG gram 17
- Best mainstream laptop: HP Pavilion Aero 13
- Best for business: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga
- Best mainstream business laptop: HP EliteBook 840 Aero
- Best tablet: Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable
Best overall: Samsung Galaxy Book Pro
Samsung recently returned to making high-end Windows ultrabooks, and the Galaxy Book Pro really knocks it out of the park. It’s powered by Intel’s Tiger Lake processors, featuring Iris Xe Graphics. That’s already a strong starting point, and you can combine it with up to 512GB of storage and 16GB of RAM to get a top-notch experience. That’s already a great starting point for being one of the best lightweight laptops out there.
What makes it stand out the most though, is it’s one of the laptops that has an AMOLED display, and Samsung displays are always a treat. There are very few laptops with OLED displays, but there are even fewer of them that aren’t 4K, so it’s great to get this 1080p option. You may say 4K is better, but it’s arguably unnecessary on a screen this size. It’s way more expensive, and it takes a big toll on battery life. This gives you the benefits of AMOLED on a relatively affordable package that still gets solid battery life — Samsung promises up to 21 hours on the 13-inch model.
All of that comes in a package that weighs under 2lbs (for the 13-inch model), so you can easily take it anywhere. It’s hard to go wrong with the Galaxy Book Pro as a combination of a lightweight form factor, high performance, and stellar display. If you have a Samsung Galaxy phone, you even get some additional integration with things like Quick Share and other Samsung apps. You can choose between 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch sizes in the link below. If you want a convertible and you’re OK with a little extra weight, there’s also the Galaxy Book Pro 360.
- Samsung's Galaxy Book Pro is a stellar combination of powerful specs, long-lasting battery, and a gorgeous display in a laptop that's still lightweight. It's really hard to go wrong with it if you want something you can take anywhere easily.
Best convertible: HP Elite Dragonfly Max
If you’re specifically looking for a convertible laptop that’s still really thin and light, the HP Elite Dragonfly Max is a stand-out choice. Coming in at just under 2.5lbs, this is a laptop that’s designed for businesses, but that doesn’t mean you can’t appreciate everything it offers. It’s made of CNC-machined magnesium that gives it a lightweight, but premium-feeling build, and it’s packing all the powerful specs you could want. You can have it with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, or spring for a vPro model for extra performance and security. You can also get up to 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage, so you won’t be missing out on much here.
There’s a lot more worth noting here. It comes with Windows Hello facial recognition, a 5MP camera, a privacy screen that protects your data from people looking over your shoulder, and more. A feature that’s worth noting is optional support for cellular connectivity, and you can even choose between LTE or 5G. If you need to get work done on the road, it’s great to have this option so you don’t have to depend on Wi-Fi.
If you’re still unsure, you can always read our review of the HP Elite Dragonfly Max, but if you’ve made up your mind, you can buy it below.
- The HP Elite Dragonfly is a fantastic convertible that's designed for business users, but it's great for anyone. It has the high-performance and versatility for anyone's needs, plus a lot of security and privacy features.
Best lightweight clamshell: Acer Swift 5
The Acer Swift 5 is another fantastic laptop, this time for fans of more traditional clamshell designs. It’s made out of a combination of magnesium alloys, allowing it to be just 14.45mm thin and weigh 2.31lbs. It’s still a powerful laptop though, with Intel’s latest Tiger lake processors, 16GB of RAM, and up to 1TB of SSD storage. You actually get dedicated graphics too, with an NVIDIA GeForce MX330, so you can even get some light gaming in every now and then. That’s pretty impressive for a device this light and thin.
Another thing that helps the Swift 5 stand out is its design. In a market often saturated with neutral colors and designs that piggyback off Apple’s MacBooks, Acer actually did something unique here. The Swift 5 comes in Mist green, and it has some nice gold accents that are sure to grab people’s attention when you pull it out in public. Of course, there are other great things here, like a 14-inch IPS display, and a built-in fingerprint reader for security.
- The Acer Swift 5 is a great lightweight clamshell laptop that offers the latest and greatest in terms of specs, plus a dedicated GPU from NVIDIA. It also has a fairly unique design and a nice IPS display.
Best lightweight 17-inch laptop: LG gram 17
You might think that a 17-inch laptop can’t be considered thin and light, but LG has actually been doing it for years. The gram lineup is well-known precisely for having some of the best lightweight laptops, and while the gram 17 gets close to 3lbs, it’s still an impressive machine. The highlight is, of course, the big 17-inch display that comes in the 16:10 aspect ratio and Quad HD+ resolution. That’s a killer combination of specs that makes this PC fantastic for work. You get a large canvas to see more of what you’re working on, and everything looks extra sharp and crisp.
You’re also not short on power. You get Intel’s latest Tiger Lake processors, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage, which gives you plenty of power to work, plus enough space for lots of documents. There’s also Thunderbolt support, and up to 19 hours of battery life on an 80Wh battery. That’s a solid number for a laptop with a large, high-resolution screen like this. No matter how you slice it, the LG gram 17 is a very impressive combination of a large and sharp display, solid battery life, and a lightweight build. If you need a large screen you can take anywhere, this is one of the best lightweight laptops you can get.
- The LG gram 17 is an impressive 17-inch laptop that offers top-notch specs across the board. With a sharp display and high-performance components, it's crazy it still weighs less than 3lbs.
Best mainstream lightweight laptop: HP Pavilion Aero
HP recently introduced the Pavilion Aero, which the company calls its lightest consumer laptop ever. At under 2.2lbs, it certainly is very light but that doesn’t mean it’s not powerful. It’s powered by AMD’s Ryzen 5000 series mobile processors, and it packs up to 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. AMD’s latest processors are arguably better than Intel’s competing products in many ways, so this is a great choice for fans of team red.
The display is pretty impressive, too. It’s a 13.3-inch IPS panel, but it comes in the taller 16:10 aspect ratio, which isn’t super common on laptops in this price range. Not only that, there’s a WQXGA resolution option, which is extra sharp. Plus, it’s not common for laptops to offer a lot of color variants, but HP has gone the extra mile here. There are four colors available, and while they’re somewhat subdued, some of the options are still pretty unique compared to most other laptops. This is one of the most affordable laptops on this list, and considering what it offers, you can’t really go wrong.
- The HP Pavilion Aero is HP's lightest consumer laptop, but it's still very powerful with AMD's latest processors, plenty of RAM and storage, and a tall, sharp display. It's also relatively affordable for what it offers.
Best for business: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga
Lenovo’s ThinkPad lineup has always been aimed at business users, and it usually looks pretty similar each generation. The X1 Titanium Yoga tries to bridge together modern and classic elements alike. For starters, it has the latest Intel processors, up to 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, which is a recurring theme on this list. But it also has a tall 3:2 aspect ratio that’s great for productivity, and that’s a very high 2256 x 1504 resolution. Of course, it’s a convertible too, so it has a touch screen and pen support. At the same time, the classic red nub to control the mouse is still here, carrying the legacy of the ThinkPad family.
That’s far from everything you can get with the ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga. It has an IR camera and fingerprint reader for Windows Hello, but you can also get it with human presence detection, so it wakes up as soon as you walk up to it. You can get it with Windows 10 Pro, add LTE or 5G connectivity, and you get a quad-speaker system that should be great for calls and media consumption alike. It’s one of the best convertibles there, and at just over 11.6mm thickness and 2.5lbs weight, it’s also very lightweight.
- The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Titanium Yoga is a high-end laptop with lots of modern features and classic Thinkpad elements. It has high-end processors, a sharp display with touch and pen support, and extra security features.
Best lightweight mainstream business laptop: HP EliteBook 840 Aero
If you want something a little more traditional, the HP EliteBook 840 Aero is another great business laptop. It’s a typical clamshell form factor, but while it’s basic in some ways, it still has a lot to offer. It has Intel Tiger Lake vPro processors, up to 64GB of RAM, and 2TB of SSD storage. It’s truly a laptop that can last you for a long time because it has very high-end specs and security features.
It’s highly customizable too, and that’s a big part of its appeal. You can add 4G or 5G connectivity, Tile tracker integration, a privacy screen and keyboard, a fingerprint reader for Windows Hello, and a SmartCard reader, in addition to the configuration options you’d expect. Some things are standardized across the board though, like the display resolution being Full HD and the inclusion of Windows Hello facial recognition. Still, if you’re looking for a lightweight business laptop that can be tailored to your needs, this is one of the best.
- The HP EliteBook 840 Aero is a typical clamshell laptop with tons of configuration options for business users. It has high-end specs that ensure it will last you a long time, too.
Best lightweight tablet: Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable
There aren’t a lot of premium Windows tablets out there aside from Microsoft’s Surface line, but the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable is definitely one of the best options you can find. Like other laptops on this list, it has Intel’s latest Tiger Lake processor, including vPro support, plus up to 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. However, there’s a bit of a difference here from some of the other laptops. It uses Intel’s “UP4” processors, which consume less power, but offer very similar performance.
It’s just a tablet, but you can add a detachable keyboard if you want to type more comfortably every now and then. The Full HD display hits 500 nits of brightness and it also supports pen input. Plus, it’s protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 6 DX, so it should be very durable. In fact, the whole tablet is designed to meet military standards for durability, and it has plenty of nice bonus features.
4G support is optional, and you can also add presence detection for easier sign-in, NFC, and a SmartCard reader. Something else that makes this stand out compared to, say, the Surface line, is it actually supports Thunderbolt 4. That gives you lots of expansion options, even though the device itself is very compact and lightweight at 1.7lbs. If you want to learn more about the Dell Latitude 7320 Detachable, you can read our full review, but if you’re set on it, you can use the link below.
- The Dell Latitude 7320 is a fantastic tablet that uses low-power processors, but can still handle almost all kinds of day-to-day tasks. It has a premium design and some useful features like facial recognition, optional 4G connectivity, and more.
No matter which one you choose, you’re getting a fantastic experience with the devices on this list, and as we’ve mentioned, they’re all going to get the upgrade to Windows 11 when it releases. While all these are light, they do come in various sizes, so you can definitely find something that still suits your tastes. I personally prefer larger displays, so something like the LG gram 17 would be great for me, though the 15.6-inch Galaxy Book Pro is also very tempting.
Another thing that’s worthy of appreciation is some devices at least still try to look a little different. It’s great to see PCs like the HP Pavilion Aero and the Acer Swift 5 that deviate a bit more from the typical silver and black colors most laptops tend to have. If you want something that stands out from the crowd, those are two great options, too.
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