If you’re looking for the newest ultralight laptops, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered the top laptops on the market today and ranked them according to several criteria. These include battery life, weight, CPU and graphics performance, as well as the laptops’ overall design.
HP Pavilion Aero 13
If you’re in the market for an ultralight laptop, you may want to consider the HP Pavilion Aero 13. This ultraportable comes with a powerful processor, a matte screen and a lot of great inputs. While it’s not ideal for gamers, it’s a great choice for a wide range of users.
The HP Pavilion Aero 13 is a well-priced, sub-1-kilo ultraportable. Its AMD Ryzen 7 5800U CPU provides plenty of power. But it’s not the fastest or the best performing ultrabook. Fortunately, the performance is paired with good battery life.
This laptop’s screen offers a Full HD+ resolution, a 16:10 aspect ratio and 400 nits of peak brightness. In addition, it’s IPS, which gives it a good view from both sides. And its micro-edge anti-glare display lets you see the screen even when it’s in your lap.
The touchpad is responsive and spacious. However, it’s plastic and doesn’t feel as nice to the touch as glass. There’s a row of positional keys on the right side of the keyboard.
This ultralight laptop is powered by an 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 CPU. The chip offers great performance, but the GPU isn’t as impressive.
This model of the Aero has a 512GB SSD, 16GB RAM, and an AMD Radeon Integrated Graphics with a 512MB dedicated DDR4 VRAM. Although it’s not the best for gaming, it’s great for casual movie watching.
Battery life isn’t long, though. We got around 9 hours and 30 minutes of video playback.
Asus ROG XG Mobile external GPU
If you are looking for a super-compact gaming laptop, you may have just found it. Asus’ new ROG Flow X13 features a 13.3-inch display, an 8-core AMD Ryzen processor, and Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics. It’s also a touch-enabled tablet and convertible laptop.
The ROG Flow X13 includes an HDMI port, a Gigabit Ethernet port, and an XG Mobile external graphics card. While it’s only compatible with the X13, the eGPU can be used to turn the Flow X13 into a powerful gaming machine.
The XG Mobile external GPU is a small enclosure that connects to your laptop. It provides desktop-like performance. In addition, it has four USB 3.0 ports, a Displayport port, and a Gigabit Ethernet port. However, the XG Mobile isn’t as flexible as traditional eGPU enclosures.
As with most external graphics cards, the XG Mobile doesn’t work with all laptops. Only the Flow X13 is compatible with the device, but other Asus laptops don’t have the eGPU built in. You’ll need to upgrade your computer if you want to use the eGPU. This isn’t an issue if you’re just going to play games, but you’ll have to play at low settings if you’re trying to play more demanding titles.
Luckily, the XG Mobile’s enclosure is easy to open. All you have to do is slide a long, rectangular button to unlock it. Its side-panel includes thick plastic lines that mimic circuitry gone wild.
Surface Laptop Go 2
If you’re in the market for an ultralight laptop, you should consider the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2. It’s a budget-friendly version of the company’s premium Surface Laptop, and it does its job admirably. In addition to being affordable, it’s also a fun to use device.
Compared to the previous model, the Surface Laptop Go 2 adds some nice features. It supports DisplayPort Alt Mode and HDCP 2.2. It also has a physical TPM 2.0 chip.
While the laptop doesn’t quite boast the most powerful CPU, it does include a nice display. The screen is bright enough to make watching a video worthwhile.
Aside from a good display, the Surface Laptop Go has a nice keyboard and decent speakers. As a bonus, it’s got Dolby Audio.
There are two primary variants of the Surface Laptop Go: the consumer and the business edition. The consumer version starts at $599, while the business edition goes for $799. Both are powered by a slick 11th-gen Intel Core i5 processor.
The base version comes with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD. The higher-end model has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD.
In terms of battery life, the Surface Laptop Go 2 stands up to the competition. It’s got all-day battery life. And while the laptop is not designed for gaming or video editing, it does run most games at playable settings.
LG Gram 17
LG has done an excellent job of putting together a laptop that is both fast and light. The Gram 17 uses a magnesium alloy chassis, and it is noticeably lighter than you might expect.
The Gram 17 is one of the more impressive 17-inch ultralight laptops we have seen. While it is certainly not the fastest or the most powerful, it does a lot of things well.
The best feature is probably the 17-inch screen. It has a great resolution, accurate colors, and is easy to use indoors and out. However, its lack of a discrete GPU makes it useless for more demanding 3D games.
There are also other features to be found in the Gram 17. The keyboard is a full-size keyboard, with a palm rest, big touchpad, and full size keys. You’ll also find a good microSD card reader and two USB-C ports.
Another cool feature is the fingerprint reader. You can log in to your accounts and enter passwords in Edge without the need for a keypad.
While the LG Gram 17 isn’t the most stylish or the most powerful 17-inch laptop, it is a solid performer and a joy to use. With a solid 8 hours of battery life, this laptop is capable of a full day’s worth of work.
Other features include a microSD card slot, two USB-C ports, and an HDMI port. The system also comes with some free software. This includes Windows Store apps, McAfee Live Safe, Microsoft Office, and a copy of Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant software.
Razer Blade Stealth 13
Razer’s new Blade Stealth 13 ultralight laptop offers a streamlined design and a powerful quad-core i7 processor. This 13.3-inch ultrabook is also available in gunmetal with a tone-on-tone Razer logo. The laptop is powered by an Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB of LPDDR4X RAM.
Razer has also incorporated a 720p webcam with Windows Hello support into its Blade. A built-in battery can last up to ten hours when used for video playback.
There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack and two full-size USB 3.1 ports. In addition, the Blade Stealth is equipped with Thunderbolt 4 connections that can double as USB-C ports. Lastly, the Blade has a high-quality braided USB-C charging cable.
The Blade Stealth is available in two color choices: black or gunmetal. It’s an ultralight gaming laptop that weighs just over 2 pounds, making it the lightest and thinnest 13-inch gaming laptop on the market.
The Razer Blade’s display has an excellent Delta E of 1.2. Additionally, the screen is fast and bright. While the display can’t handle Adobe RGB colors, its warm color temperature of 5,981K helps to enhance the visual experience.
The speakers are located on either side of the keyboard and they don’t have a good bass. They are also tinny. However, the speaker system’s high-end is loud and the speakers do produce a decent amount of audio.
Razer has also made this laptop available with a Chroma studio software suite. This software lets users control the speed and effects of the colors on the display.
Acer Swift 3
The Acer Swift 3 is a budget ultralight laptop that packs a lot of bang for your buck. It has a long battery life and a bright display that makes it a great choice for users who need to bring a portable machine with them.
The Acer Swift 3 SF314-511 has a 2.3 GHz AMD Ryzen 5 4500U hexa-core processor. This means it’s capable of handling general productivity tasks such as writing and editing documents.
In addition to the processor, the Swift 3 also has an AMD Radeon Vega GPU. This translates into faster performance and can handle graphic-intensive tasks.
Acer opted for a thinner and more elegant design than its previous Swift series. Its aluminum chassis is sleek and understated, while its matte-silver finish gives the laptop a premium look.
The Swift 3 is available in a few different color schemes, including white, black, and silver. Though Acer tries to keep its design simple, it doesn’t compromise on its quality.
The Swift 3 has a full-size HDMI port. It also features a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 4 support. You can also charge it with a 65-watt power supply.
While the keyboard feels a little small, the Swift 3 has an extra row of keys towards the right. This enables dedicated keys for PgUp and End. Other keys include a home key and a PgDw key.
The Swift 3’s touchpad works well, but it can sometimes drop items early. Some people may find it a bit tiring to type on. However, it does work with palm rejection.