The Best Ultrabooks of 2026

If you spend all day typing away, you will adore the Surface Laptop 4’s gentle but tactile keyboard. It’s just about perfect for typing quickly and accurately without all that finger fatigue. Meanwhile, its 3:2 screen ratio is crisp and vibrant, with plenty of vertical space to get work done.

Just like the other Surface laptops, the Surface Laptop 4 has a sleek brushed silver finish and a plush fabric interior that make the laptop look and feel luxe. Media playback is a pleasure with the laptop’s brilliant 3:2 touchscreen and its clear and full-bodied sound. In many ways, it feels like Microsoft’s answer to the MacBook Air.

We tested the Intel Core i7 model, which was one of the fastest laptops we’ve reviewed so far, but there is also an AMD Ryzen model available with even better performance and battery life. We only managed to squeeze eight hours of battery life from our unit, but many users claim they can get north of ten hours or more. This inconsistency holds it back from being the best Windows laptop we’ve tested, but it’s still a darn good laptop.

The Dell XPS 15 9510 hits all the marks: it’s powerful, it’s durable, it’s beautiful, and it has a nine-hour battery life. Whether you need to edit some video footage or just want to play some games, the Dell XPS 15’s Intel Core i7 processor and Nvidia RTX 3050Ti graphics card can handle a lot.

It’s not the most affordable Windows laptop, but its premium build quality and gorgeous 3.5K LED display make up for the cost compared to something like the Razer Blade 14 or MacBook Pro 16. The silver-tinted aluminum chassis is classy enough to blend into just about any environment, and with one of the best laptop keyboards out there, it’s perfect for coffee shop writing sessions or taking notes in the boardroom. The UHD OLED display is so brilliant it’s fit for professionals, touting X nits of brightness and great coverage of the P3 color gamut. HDR content looks as vibrant as it should on this screen.

With the option for a discrete processor, the Dell XPS 15 also makes a good creativity and modeling laptop for quick edits. Its entry-level Nvidia RTX 3050Ti graphics card can’t keep up with high-end gaming laptops, but it’s enough power to outclass any integrated graphics by far. It’s even more impressive Dell managed to cram this much power into a laptop without sacrificing battery life or laptop thickness. The Dell XPS 15 is the jack of all trades that can do a bit of everything.

The Lenovo Yoga 9i is Lenovo’s best 2-in-1 yet. With a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, a brilliant OLED display, and a handy stylus, the Yoga 9i is one of the fastest, most versatile laptops available for serious productivity tasks. Photo editing is particularly a treat, as its 16:10 ratio 4K monitor covers over 90% of the DCI-P3 color gamut and can get to about 375 nits of brightness. Best of all, compared to the competition, the Yoga 9i usually sells for hundreds of dollars less than similar laptops and makes almost no compromises to do so.

For professional film editing or 3D modeling and rendering work, the Yoga 9i can get the job done, but it won’t get it done quickly. While its integrated graphics are excellent compared to those on other processors, the Yoga 9i lacks a discrete graphics processor that would elevate its utility for professional creatives. However, few 2-in-1s offer discrete graphics as an option, leaving you to choose between expensive options like the MSI Summit E16 Flip or settle for a traditional laptop like the Dell XPS 15 or MacBook Pro 14. For those who travel frequently, they may additionally find themselves frustrated with the Yoga 9i’s seven-hour battery life.

If it’s a convenient, delightful 2-in-1 that you’re after, the Yoga 9i is an ideal laptop for most people’s productivity needs. Its stylish and ergonomic form factor, gorgeous touchscreen display, and efficient processor earn it a high spot among our favorite 2-in-1 laptops.

The Summit E16 Flip is one of the best 2-in-1s available on the market for artists. Its breathtaking, ultra-bright 4K screen can accurately display HDR content with a full DCI-P3 and Adobe RGB color gamut. If you do 3D modeling, its graphics processor is powerful enough to let you open and work on sculpts on the go. If you’re more of a 2D person, the MSI Pen stylus has 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity for crisp, varied line art. Even though the laptop has a massive 16-inch screen, it’s about the size of a standard 15.6-inch laptop thanks to its 16:10 aspect ratio and ultra-thin bezels.

For the times you do prefer to use it as a traditional laptop, you’ll find its large smooth trackpad and crip keyboard are a delightful experience. The only major downside to the Summit E16 Flip is its four-hour battery life. This puts it well behind other 2-in-1s, which can get eight hours of battery life or more (MSI’s previous model, the Summit E13 Flip, gets eight hours, for instance). However, these 2-in-1s often don’t have a 16-inch 4K display like the Summit E16—13 and 14-inch displays are much more common. While the Summit E16 Flip is one of the pricier 2-in-1s out there, its excellent pressure-sensitive display and powerful graphics hardware are some of the best on the market.

Best-in-class keyboard? Check. 4K OLED touch screen? Check. High-end performance? Check. The Dell XPS 13 9310 is once again a standout laptop for those on the go.

It is one of the more expensive ultraportable laptops, but its attention to detail justifies it. The brilliant screen and Intel Core i7 Tiger Lake processor make the Dell XPS 13 a great pick for serious workloads, while its sleek aluminum body is easy to slip into your backpack and use in a meeting. Its 16:10 body ratio gives a surprising amount of room for the keyboard and trackpad so your fingers can keep going.

Sadly, its small body limits its port selection. There are just two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a microSD card reader, and a headphone jack. You’ll need to carry some dongles if you need a USB-A or Ethernet port.

The eight-hour battery life might get you through the day, but you may want to use it on a desk as the Dell XPS 13 tends to run hot. It’s expensive compared to its rivals, like the Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED and the Apple MacBook Air M2, but its overall performance and function make the Dell XPS 13 worth the extra cash.