Even if you don’t plan on using your laptop for gaming, these kinds of performance tests tend to reveal any underlying problems with a laptop’s heat dissipation and thermal throttling – that’s when a CPU slows itself down to avoid damaging the components.
Dell XPS 15
Dell’s flagship laptop, the XPS 15 combines a sleek design with top-end specifications. From the crisp and bright OLED display to the 13th-generation Intel CPU – backed up with a generous 16GB of memory in the base model – it’s one of the best Windows ultrabooks you’ll find for productivity.
Asus ZenBook pro 14 OLED
Despite its thin profile, the ZenBook pro 14 OLED feels reassuringly sturdy. The keyboard offers a comfortable typing experience with ample key travel. Unique to this laptop – and because Asus loves being weird sometimes – there’s an iPod-style rotary dial on the trackpad that can be customised to control the application you’re using.
Dell XPS 13 (2024)
The newest Dell XPS 13 is the best this series of Windows laptops has ever been. The switch to a Snapdragon X Elite chip gives it a huge boost to battery life and efficiency, the starting configuration of 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1920 x 1200 display is excellent value, and our benchmarking tests place it among the top performers in this category.
MSI Prestige 14 evo
The design is polished, using a lightweight and slim chassis that’s sturdy to the touch. MSI claims the Prestige 14 evo has “military-grade” durability, and while we didn’t feel compelled to try rolling over our test unit in a tank, the laptop feels like it could take a few knocks. The keyboard is particularly delightful to work on all day, with plenty of travel in the keystrokes, though MSI has inexplicably decided to cram the ‘page up’ and ‘page down’ keys into a tiny space surrounding the arrow keys.
Lenovo yoga slim 7
Lenovo has been quietly producing excellent laptops and tablets at affordable prices for years, and the Lenovo yoga slim 7 is the manufacturer’s best ultrabook so far. This year’s model sees a refresh, with the newest CPUs from Intel and AMD, making it a great option for productivity-focused users looking for portability and battery life.
Microsoft Surface Laptop
The vast majority of users will enjoy truly impressive battery life and supercharged performance with everyday tasks like web browsing, creative work and entertainment, but if you use your laptop for gaming or you’re running older, uncommon software you might notice a drag on battery and performance – or outright crashes – as the laptop works overtime to emulate the older x64 framework.
Apple MacBook pro M3
Apple’s premium laptop is still the go-to machine for specialist users, creatives and editors who need every last bit of processing power. Powered by Apple’s latest proprietary M3 chip, the MacBook pro can handle tasks that would have its slimmer cousin wheezing into a brown paper bag. Like the MacBook air, the power button has a built-in fingerprint sensor, the keyboard is comfortable and the trackpad is big and responsive.