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The Best Windows Ultrabook

By Kimber Streams
Updated
Our five picks for best window ultrabook, placed near each other in front of a green background.
Photo: Marki Williams

If you want a great laptop to accomplish everyday laptop tasks, you should get an ultrabook. Ultrabooks are powerful, thin-and-light laptops with long battery life, which means many of them are good—but not all of them are worth buying.

After testing hundreds of laptops over the past nine years, we’ve found that the HP Spectre x360 13.5″ is the best Windows ultrabook for most people.

Everything we recommend

Our pick

The Spectre x360 offers excellent battery life, a tall touchscreen, and a reliable keyboard and trackpad. It’s also thin and light enough to slip in a bag and take anywhere.

Buying Options

Runner-up

The Yoga 6 is nearly as good as our top pick, but its display is a bit smaller and a bit dimmer, and its webcam isn’t as high-def.

Budget pick

The Zenbook 14 is the best laptop you can get for the price. But its build quality isn’t as nice, and it won’t perform as well in a few years as our top picks.

Buying Options

This version of the Zenbook 14 performs just as well as our top pick, but it costs a couple hundred dollars more than the base model.

Buying Options

Also great

The Framework Laptop is the best—and so far only—option if you want a laptop you can easily upgrade and repair. And it’s a great ultrabook, too.

Buying Options

The Intel version of the Framework Laptop 13 has shorter battery life, but it’s otherwise identical to the AMD model.

Buying Options

Upgrade pick

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a bigger screen, our favorite laptop keyboard, and a variety of ports. But it costs more than you need to pay to get something great.

Buying Options

How we picked


  • Compact and light

    An ultrabook should be as thin and light as possible—we look for models under 3 pounds.

  • Long battery life

    A great ultrabook should last at least a full day of work or classes away from an outlet.

  • Fast performance

    All of our picks have fast enough processors, memory, and storage for most people’s productivity needs.

  • Premium quality

    Ultrabooks are the cream of the laptop crop, so we expect top-notch keyboards, trackpads, displays, and build quality.

Read more

Our pick

The Spectre x360 offers excellent battery life, a tall touchscreen, and a reliable keyboard and trackpad. It’s also thin and light enough to slip in a bag and take anywhere.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:Intel Core i5-1335U or Core i7-1355UScreen:13.5-inch 1920×1280 touch
Memory:16 GBWeight:3.01 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

The HP Spectre x360 13.5″ has excellent battery life combined with fast performance, a spacious screen, a quality keyboard and trackpad, and the best webcam we tested this year. At 3 pounds, our pick is compact and light enough to take on a plane or to a coffee shop. It also has a 360-degree hinge that allows you to flip the touch display around, and some—but not all—models come with an active stylus. The Spectre x360 does ship with an excessive amount of bloatware, but that’s easy enough to uninstall.

Runner-up

The Yoga 6 is nearly as good as our top pick, but its display is a bit smaller and a bit dimmer, and its webcam isn’t as high-def.

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 7 7730UScreen:13.3-inch 1920×1200 touch
Memory:16 GBWeight:3.02 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

If our top pick is unavailable, the next best option is the Lenovo Yoga 6 (13 AMD). Like the Spectre x360, the Yoga 6 offers fast performance, long battery life, a reliable keyboard and trackpad, and a 360-degree hinge. But the Yoga 6’s slightly smaller screen doesn’t get as bright, its 1080p webcam isn’t as high-quality, and it’s harder to open with a single hand.

We recommend the Yoga 6 with a Ryzen 7 7730U and 16 GB of memory. But if you’re working with a limited budget and you see the Ryzen 5 7530U model with 8 GB of RAM on sale for cheaper than our budget pick, go for it.

Budget pick

The Zenbook 14 is the best laptop you can get for the price. But its build quality isn’t as nice, and it won’t perform as well in a few years as our top picks.

Buying Options

This version of the Zenbook 14 performs just as well as our top pick, but it costs a couple hundred dollars more than the base model.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 7530U or Ryzen 7 7730UScreen:14-inch 2880×1800 OLED touch
Memory:8 GB or 16 GBWeight:3.06 pounds
Storage:256 GB or 512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

If you want a great ultrabook but don’t have a thousand dollars to spend, we recommend the Asus Zenbook 14″ OLED (UM3402YA-WS51T). This base model of the Zenbook 14″ won’t perform as well for as many years as the Spectre x360, but the UM3402YA-WS74T version with more memory will, if you can spend a little more.

Compared with our top pick, the Zenbook 14″ is bulkier and feels cheaper—though it isn’t as flimsy as other budget ultrabooks—and its webcam isn’t as high quality. But the Zenbook 14″ is still portable, and its battery will last a full day of work or classes. Our budget pick has a fingerprint reader, comes with a USB-C charger, and its touchpad can double as a number pad, which is a fun bonus.

Also great

The Framework Laptop is the best—and so far only—option if you want a laptop you can easily upgrade and repair. And it’s a great ultrabook, too.

Buying Options

The Intel version of the Framework Laptop 13 has shorter battery life, but it’s otherwise identical to the AMD model.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 7640U or Intel Core i5-1340PScreen:13.5-inch 2256×1504 non-touch
Memory:8 GB or 16 GBWeight:2.9 pounds
Storage:256 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours (AMD)

If you want a more sustainable option, we recommend the Framework Laptop 13 (AMD). Unlike most ultrabooks, it’s really easy to repair and upgrade. This means you can make the laptop last longer without replacing the whole thing, saving you money and creating less e-waste. But if the company goes under, then the Framework Laptop 13 is just like any other laptop—when it gets old or breaks, you’ll have to replace the whole thing. So far, though, Framework has lived up to its promise: Every year since it launched in 2021, the company has introduced upgraded parts.

The Framework is an excellent laptop—it’s sturdy, and surprisingly thin and light for how modular its design is. It also has a reliable keyboard and trackpad and a bright, spacious display. The AMD Ryzen 5 model has battery life in line with our top pick, while the Intel version’s battery life is shorter. And unlike our other picks, you can replace or upgrade the battery when it wears out.

Upgrade pick

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a bigger screen, our favorite laptop keyboard, and a variety of ports. But it costs more than you need to pay to get something great.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:Intel Core i5-1335UScreen:14-inch 1920×1200 non-touch
Memory:16 GBWeight:2.5 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:11 hours

The 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 is the best laptop we’ve tested in the past few years—and it costs hundreds more than you need to pay to get a great ultrabook. But spending more gets you a lighter laptop with a stellar keyboard, larger screen, and more useful array of ports. It comes with a fingerprint reader and a handy webcam cover, too, and like our top pick, its battery will last a full workday.

Senior staff writer Kimber Streams has tested and reviewed hundreds of laptops—including fancy ultrabooks, cheap Windows laptops, gaming laptops, and Chromebooks—and has written or edited most of Wirecutter’s laptop guides since 2014.

Ultrabooks are perfect for everyday tasks like checking and replying to email, editing audio, doing some light photo editing, or collaborating on documents and spreadsheets. But they’re not meant for heavy photo video editing or gaming; if you need a laptop for those tasks,see our guides to the best laptops for video and photo editing and the best gaming laptops. If you prefer macOS, see our guide to the best MacBooks.

If you need a good laptop for less than $500, check out our favorite cheap Windows laptop—though we suggest saving up for our budget ultrabook pick if possible. The ultrabook will last years longer than a sub-$500 laptop due to its better performance and longer battery life.

These are the features we look for in a great ultrabook:

Size: An ultrabook should be thin and light, but a well-built, slightly thicker laptop is better than a thin one that feels flimsy or has poor battery life. We look for ultrabooks under 3 pounds with 13- or 14-inch displays that are compact enough to slip into a backpack.

Battery life: A laptop should last at least a full eight-hour day of work. But battery life degrades over time—and most ultrabook batteries cannot be easily replaced—so the more a laptop starts with, the better.

Performance: A 12th- or 13th-generation Intel Core i5 U-series processor or a 6000- or 7000-series AMD Ryzen 5 processor is fast enough for everyday work. We found that Intel’s P-series processors run hotter and burn through battery faster, so we prefer U-series options.

We recommend 16 GB of memory for our top pick and 8 GB for our budget pick; a laptop should last at least five years, and RAM is soldered (and therefore not upgradable) in most ultrabooks. Having enough memory will keep everything running smoothly when you’re switching between programs, opening lots of files, and thumbing through browser tabs.

Many ultrabooks now come with a 512 GB solid-state drive (SSD), though 256 GB is also a passable amount of storage for a cheaper ultrabook.

Keyboard and trackpad: A high-end laptop’s keyboard and trackpad must be accurate and comfortable to use for long periods of time.

Display: We recommend a resolution of around 1920×1080 for a 13- to 14-inch screen, because higher resolutions often aren’t worth the trade-off in battery life. We found that 3840×2160 (4K) screens significantly reduced battery life, and though resolutions from 2160×1350 (2K) to 2560×1600 (2.5K) don’t hurt battery life as much, they don’t provide a noticeable visual improvement on a small display, either. We don’t yet recommend OLED displays if another option is available, because they tend to cost hundreds more and can be battery hogs.

Webcam: We prioritize models with 1080p or better webcams, and a physical shutter is nice to have.

Build quality: You’re spending a thousand dollars or more—your laptop should reflect that. The lid and hinge should feel sturdy, and no parts should creak or flex.

Ports: We look for ultrabooks with both USB 4 or Thunderbolt 4 ports and traditional USB-A ports to connect older peripherals. Some laptop makers have started omitting the 3.5mm audio jack, but a strong majority of people we asked still use that port. And because good USB-C chargers are cheaper and easier to replace than proprietary chargers, we prefer our ultrabook picks charge via USB-C.

Security: We prefer laptops that support Windows Hello login via fingerprint or face, which lets you log in instantly without having to type in a password every time.

Our five picks for best windows ultrabook, stacked one on top of the other, in front of a green background.
Photo: Marki Williams

We lived with each laptop for at least a day of work to get a feel for its real-world performance, keyboard, trackpad, and screen. We checked Gmail and Google Calendar, ran Slack, streamed music, worked in large documents and spreadsheets, opened too many research tabs, streamed video, and chatted on Zoom. We then lived with each finalist for a few days to gain an intimate understanding of each laptop’s strengths, weaknesses, and quirks.

To test battery life, we set each screen’s backlight to 150 nits and ran a customized version of the Chromium web-browsing battery test. It emulates typical browsing behavior by cycling through web pages, email, streaming audio, Google Docs files, and video.

Our pick for best windows ultrabook overall, the HP Spectre x360, shown with the screen flipped open and turned on to the windows desktop.
Photo: Marki Williams

Our pick

The Spectre x360 offers excellent battery life, a tall touchscreen, and a reliable keyboard and trackpad. It’s also thin and light enough to slip in a bag and take anywhere.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:Intel Core i5-1335U or Core i7-1355UScreen:13.5-inch 1920×1280 touch
Memory:16 GBWeight:3.01 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

The HP Spectre x360 13.5″ has the best combination of what makes an ultrabook great: fast performance, all-day battery life, a spacious screen, a quality keyboard and trackpad, and the best webcam we tested this year. Our pick also has a 360-degree hinge, and some models come with an active stylus. The Spectre x360 isn’t as light or as compact as some other ultrabooks, but at 3 pounds it’s certainly not heavy, either. It comes with too much bloatware, but that’s easy to remove when the laptop arrives.

The HP Spectre x360 windows ultrabook, shown with its screen folded back into the "tent" position.
The HP Spectre x360 has a 360-degree hinge that allows you to flip the screen all the way around for use as a tablet or in any intermediate position. (Tent mode is shown here.) Photo: Marki Williams

The Spectre x360 is highly portable. It’s compact enough to slip into a bag to take on a plane or to a coffee shop. At 3.01 pounds, the Spectre x360 isn’t the lightest ultrabook, but this extra weight is a reasonable trade-off for the spacious display and long-lasting battery. In our web-browsing battery tests, our recommended configuration with a 1920×1080 display lasted 10 hours and 25 minutes on its default power profile. The 3000×2000-resolution OLED model died about 2.5 hours sooner—barely enough to make it through a full workday.

A close-up of the keyboard and trackpad on the HP Spectre x360 windows ultrabook.
The Spectre x360’s backlit keyboard looks nice on the black and blue models; we don’t recommend the silver model, though, because its white backlight makes the key labels difficult to see. Photo: Marki Williams

The springy keyboard and large trackpad are responsive and satisfying. And the Spectre x360’s fingerprint reader, located between the right Alt key and the left arrow key, is reliable and fast. The natural silver model has silver keys and a white backlight that make the key legends difficult to read in a well-lit room, but the nocturne blue and nightfall black models don’t have this problem.

The Spectre’s touch display is spacious, vivid, and bright. Over the past couple years, ultrabooks have shifted from squat, 16:9 aspect ratio screens to taller 16:10 and 3:2 aspect ratio screens. The HP Spectre x360’s 13.5-inch 1920×1280 IPS touchscreen follows this trend, and it’s especially convenient for document work and browsing web pages. HP also offers the Spectre x360 with a 3000×2000 OLED display, but this display looks grainy, costs more, and knocks hours off the laptop’s battery life.

The webcam is the best we tested. The 5-megapixel (2,560×1,920) webcam captured the sharpest and most flattering image and performed better in low light. The default “appearance filter” made me look like a creepy wax doll, but you can disable it in the HP Command Center software under the GlamCam tab. There’s also a button on the keyboard to toggle a physical shutter for the webcam and another key to disable the microphone.

You can use it as a tablet. Our pick has a 360-degree hinge, so you can flip the screen around, and some—but not all—models come with an active stylus for taking notes, drawing, and sketching. The stylus is similar in size and shape to the Apple Pencil, so it’s comfortable to write with, but there’s no spot to store it inside the laptop.

The Spectre x360 looks and feels like the premium ultrabook that it is. Cheaper laptops can feel hollow, and their chassis can creak and flex under light pressure; some are so flimsy that you can accidentally click the trackpad by placing your hands on the palm-rest. But the Spectre x360’s stylish aluminum chassis feels solid. The hinge is tight and keeps the screen in place, and the laptop’s rounded edges make it easy to open one-handed from all sides.

The Spectre x360’s audio jack is oddly placed on the back-left corner of the edge, but at least it still has one. It also has a full USB-A port for older peripherals. Photo: Marki Williams

A couple ports are awkwardly placed on the back corners of the laptop, but their location didn’t cause any problems. Having both Thunderbolt ports on the right side of the laptop can be inconvenient though, since you can charge the laptop only from the right side.

Flaws but not dealbreakers

Our pick’s glossy touchscreen is very reflective. If you need a matte screen, consider our upgrade pick, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, or our repairable pick, the Framework Laptop 13.

HP includes too much bloatware. When the laptop arrives, we recommend uninstalling programs you won’t use to speed up boot time, patch up potential security holes, and eliminate annoying notifications.

Our pick for best windows ultrabook with a slightly smaller screen, the Lenovo Yoga 6, shown in front of a green background.
Photo: Marki Williams

Runner-up

The Yoga 6 is nearly as good as our top pick, but its display is a bit smaller and a bit dimmer, and its webcam isn’t as high-def.

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 7 7730UScreen:13.3-inch 1920×1200 touch
Memory:16 GBWeight:3.02 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

If the Spectre x360 is unavailable, we recommend the Lenovo Yoga 6 (13″ AMD). Like our top pick, the Yoga 6 offers fast performance, long battery life, a reliable keyboard and trackpad, and a 360-degree hinge. But the Yoga 6’s slightly smaller screen doesn’t get as bright, its 1080p webcam isn’t as high-quality, and it’s harder to open with a single hand.

We recommend the Yoga 6 with a Ryzen 7 7730U and 16 GB of memory. But if your budget is limited and you see the Ryzen 5 7530U model with 8 GB of RAM on sale for cheaper than our budget pick, it’s a great option.

The Lenovo Yoga 6 windows ultrabook, shown with its screen folded back into the "tent" position.
The Yoga 6 also has a 360-degree hinge that lets you flip the screen all the way around. (Tent mode shown here.) Photo: Marki Williams

The Yoga 6 is just as portable as our top pick. The Spectre x360 and Yoga 6 are similar in size and weight, and the Yoga 6 lasted 10 hours 40 minutes in our battery tests. That’s plenty of battery life to get you through a full day of work or classes.

The Lenovo Yoga 6 and the HP Spectre x360 windows ultrabooks, shown stacked one on top of the other, in front of a green background.
The Yoga 6 (top) and HP Spectre x360 (bottom) are similar in size and weight. Photo: Marki Williams

I didn’t enjoy typing on the Yoga 6 quite as much as the Spectre x360, but our runner-up still has a good backlit keyboard and a large, responsive trackpad. The recessed fingerprint reader on the right side of the palmrest worked quickly every time.

A close-up of the keyboard and trackpad on the Lenovo Yoga 6 ultrabook.
The Yoga 6’s keyboard feels a bit mushier than our top pick’s, but the keyboard, trackpad, and fingerprint reader are all quick and accurate. Photo: Marki Williams

Our display on our runner-up is a bit smaller, but still looks good. The Yoga 6’s 13.3-inch 1920×1200 display is a bit dimmer than the Spectre x360’s, and its 16:10 aspect ratio isn’t quite as tall for browsing web pages. Like our top pick, the Yoga 6’s glossy touchscreen is very reflective.

The 1080p webcam on the Yoga 6 is flattering for video calls. It’s not as high-resolution as the Spectre x360’s category-leading webcam, but it still works well in a range of lighting situations. The Yoga 6 also has a physical shutter for the webcam, and a key on the keyboard to disable the microphone.

You can use it as a tablet. The Yoga 6 has a 360-degree hinge, just like our top pick, so you can flip the screen around to use it as a tablet or in any position between. Some, but not all, versions come with an active stylus—double check if that feature is important to you.

Like our top pick, the Yoga 6 has excellent build quality. There’s minimal flex in the lid and keyboard, and the rounded edges make the Yoga 6 comfortable to use in tablet mode. The tight hinge keeps the screen from wobbling or sagging, but also makes the Yoga 6 more difficult than the Spectre x360 to open with a single hand.

On the left side, the Yoga 6 has two USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an HDMI 2.0 port, and an audio jack. Photo: Marki Williams

The Yoga 6 lacks Thunderbolt 4 ports. Its USB-C ports can still carry data, display, and power. Like our top pick, the Yoga 6 can only charge on one side.

Our pick for best windows ultrabook on a budget, the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED, with its screen flipped open, displaying the windows desktop.
Photo: Marki Williams

Budget pick

The Zenbook 14 is the best laptop you can get for the price. But its build quality isn’t as nice, and it won’t perform as well in a few years as our top picks.

Buying Options

This version of the Zenbook 14 performs just as well as our top pick, but it costs a couple hundred dollars more than the base model.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 7530U or Ryzen 7 7730UScreen:14-inch 2880×1800 OLED touch
Memory:8 GB or 16 GBWeight:3.06 pounds
Storage:256 GB or 512 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours

If you want a great ultrabook but don’t have a thousand dollars to spend, we recommend the Asus Zenbook 14″ OLED (UM3402YA-WS51T) or the UM3402YA-WS74T version with more memory. Compared with our top pick, the Zenbook 14″ is bulkier and feels cheaper—though it feels sturdier than other cheap ultrabooks—and its webcam isn’t as high quality. But it’s plenty portable and offers enough battery life for a full day of work or classes. The Zenbook 14″ has a fingerprint reader, comes with a USB-C charger, and its touchpad can double as a number pad—all nice bonuses for a cheap ultrabook.

The biggest trade-off the Zenbook 14″ makes is performance. The cheaper UM3402YA-WS51T model has only 8 GB of memory—it performs fine today for most tasks, but in a few years you’ll feel the limitations. And the Zenbook 14″ is not designed to be upgraded. Even if you can get past the torx screws hidden beneath the glued-down feet to open the laptop, only the SSD is upgradable, while the memory is not. The UM3402YA-WS74T model with more memory will perform better and likely last years longer, if you can spend a bit more for it.

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED stacked directly on top of the HP Spectre x360 windows ultrabook.
The Zenbook 14″ (top) is larger than the Spectre x360 (bottom). Photo: Marki Williams

The Zenbook 14″ is bulkier than our top pick. It’ll still fit in a bag or backpack, but it’s not as sleek or compact. Both options weigh about the same, though.

Our budget pick has long battery life, and convenient USB-C charging. Both models will easily make it through a full day of work or school, lasting 10 hours and 36 minutes in our battery life tests. And like our other picks, the Zenbook 14″ charges via USB-C and comes with a USB-C charger in the box—a plus compared with the many budget ultrabooks that still have proprietary chargers.

A close-up of the keyboard and trackpad on the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED ultrabook.
The Zenbook 14″ has a reliable keyboard and trackpad, as well as a fingerprint reader located on the power button. Photo: Marki Williams

It has a reliable keyboard and fingerprint reader. The backlit keys on the Zenbook 14″ feel comfortable to type on—not shallow or mushy like the keyboards in some other budget ultrabooks—and the fingerprint reader worked quickly and accurately nearly every time I logged into the laptop.

A close shot of the trackpad with illuminated numbers showing through as it doubles as a number pad.
The Zenbook’s trackpad can also double as a number pad, which is neat. Photo: Connie Park

The touchpad can also function as a number pad. Long pressing on the upper-right corner of the trackpad displays the number pad interface on the trackpad itself. It works fine but gets confusing if you’re using the trackpad to navigate more complex functions in the calculator app and input numbers at the same time. For everyday use, though, the precision trackpad worked well for all swipes, taps, and gestures.

Our budget pick has a vivid OLED touch display. The 14-inch glossy 2880×1800 screen produced bright colors and deep, rich blacks, and its touchscreen is a convenient addition. But the OLED panel has a noticeable graininess on bright backgrounds like a Google Doc or some webpages. And the glossy display is very reflective—I could see my reflection in a well-lit indoor space.

The 1080p webcam isn’t as high quality as that of our top pick. Even so, it’s good enough for Zoom calls, even if the image isn’t as crisp and colors look washed out. The keyboard has two keys (F9 and F10) to disable the microphone and camera when you’re not using them.

Its build quality doesn’t match that of our other picks—it is a budget option, after all—but at least the laptop is easy to open one-handed. The keyboard deck flexes under pressure, but otherwise this model’s metal chassis feels sturdy and durable.

On the right side, the Zenbook 14″ has a microSD slot, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, an audio jack, and an HDMI port. Photo: Connie Park

Even though the Zenbook 14″ can only charge on the right side of the laptop, we appreciate that it can charge via USB-C and comes with a USB-C charger in the box.

Our pick for best windows ultrabook that you can repair and upgrade yourself, the Framework Laptop 13.
Photo: Marki Williams

Also great

The Framework Laptop is the best—and so far only—option if you want a laptop you can easily upgrade and repair. And it’s a great ultrabook, too.

Buying Options

The Intel version of the Framework Laptop 13 has shorter battery life, but it’s otherwise identical to the AMD model.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:AMD Ryzen 5 7640U or Intel Core i5-1340PScreen:13.5-inch 2256×1504 non-touch
Memory:8 GB or 16 GBWeight:2.9 pounds
Storage:256 GB SSDTested battery life:10.5 hours (AMD)

If you want a more sustainable option, we recommend the Framework Laptop 13 (AMD). It’s easy to repair and upgrade—even for a layperson—which means you can make the laptop last longer without replacing the whole thing, theoretically saving you money and creating less e-waste. But this promise depends on the company continuing to exist and supply parts. The AMD Ryzen 5 model has battery life in line with our top pick, but the Intel’s version’s battery life falls at least an hour short. And compared to our top pick, the Framework Laptop 13’s webcam isn’t quite as flattering.

We advise adding another 8 GB of memory to the base model and installing it once your laptop arrives. You can also choose from a wider variety of parts with the DIY Edition.

Most laptops—especially thin and light ultrabooks—are not repairable or upgradable. Even if you get past the screws and difficult-to-pry-open chassis, you might have access to the SSD, but the RAM is likely soldered and you certainly can’t upgrade your processor. When something breaks out of warranty, the battery wears out, or after 5 or 6 years when you’re ready to upgrade, you have to recycle or dispose of the entire laptop—even if some parts are still perfectly good.

The inside of the Framework 13's case, showing all the labeled and replaceable parts.
The Framework Laptop is easy to open up using the included screwdriver, and once inside all the parts are helpfully labeled. Photo: Connie Park

The Framework Laptop 13 is super easy to repair and upgrade. It’s especially easy to open, and upgrading parts feels more like following Lego instructions than wrestling with a complex electronics project. Inside, every part and screw is helpfully labeled, and there are handy QR codes by each part that direct you to step-by-step replacement guides that also contain links to the exact parts you’ll need. You can add more storage and memory, replace or upgrade your battery, upgrade your mainboard with a new processor, or repair anything else if it breaks—display, fingerprint reader, keyboard, hinge, you name it.

But if the company goes under, the Framework Laptop 13 is like any other laptop—when it breaks or outlives its usefulness, you’ll have to replace the whole thing. Other companies have attempted to make upgradable laptops in the past, and failed to follow through with parts. So far, though, Framework has lived up to its promise: Every year since it launched in 2021, the company has introduced upgraded parts.

The Framework Laptop 13 ultrabook, shown stacked directly on top of the slightly thinner HP Spectre x360 ultrabook.
The Framework Laptop (top) is a bit bulkier than the HP Spectre x360 13.5″ (bottom). Photo: Marki Williams

It’s both portable and modular. The Framework Laptop is similar in size to our top pick, the HP Spectre x360, and it’s a bit lighter at 2.87 pounds.

It offers decent battery life, and the battery can be upgraded. The AMD Ryzen 5 model with a 55Wh battery lasted 10 hours and 23 minutes in our tests, about the same as our top pick. The 13th-gen Intel Core i5 model with the same battery, however, lasted 9 hours and 15 minutes. One of the reasons we like to see long battery life is because batteries degrade over time, and most ultrabook batteries cannot be easily replaced when they wear out. However, the Framework Laptop’s battery can, and the company now sells a larger 61Wh battery that will extend battery life by around 10%.

The Framework Laptop’s keys are quiet to type on, and its trackpad is spacious and reliable. Photo: Marki Williams

The Framework Laptop is enjoyable to type on. Its keys are quiet, and their travel feels soft and pillowy compared with the snappy sensation of our other picks’ keys. The Framework’s smooth and responsive trackpad worked well for all taps, clicks, and gestures, and the fingerprint reader on the power button worked quickly for every login.

A close-up of the backlit power button located above the upper right corner of the Framework Laptop 13's keyboard.
The fingerprint reader is located on the Framework Laptop’s power button in the upper right corner. Photo: Marki Williams

The Framework’s matte screen looks good, but lacks touch input. The 13.5-inch screen is the same size and aspect ratio as our top pick, but its higher 2256×1504 resolution has a negative impact on the Framework’s battery life. Framework swapped the previous model’s distractingly reflective glossy display to a much-improved matte panel, and sells upgrade kits for anyone who bought an earlier model. That’s part of the appeal of a user-upgradable laptop—you can fix flaws with a small upgrade, rather than replace your whole laptop.

The 1080p webcam works well in different lighting situations, but it isn’t quite as high resolution as the HP Spectre x360’s category-leading 5-megapixel webcam nor as flattering as the X1 Carbon’s same-resolution webcam. We appreciate the Framework Laptop 13’s physical switches to disable the webcam and the microphone independently.

The Framework Laptop 13 is sturdy and well-made. It’s possible to open with one hand, but it would be easier if the lip at the front was more pronounced and easier to get purchase on.

Three of the modular ports for the Framework Laptop, shown next to the slot in its right side where any of them can fit.
The Framework Laptop’s modular ports are as fun as they are useful. Photo: Michael Hession

You can choose which ports you want. When you check out, you can select any combination of four USB-C, USB-A, HDMI, DisplayPort, and microSD ports that fits your needs. Framework also offers expansion cards if you want to give up a port for additional storage.

Our pick for best windows ultrabook that has a bigger screen and more ports, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, shown with the screen flipped open, displaying the Windows desktop.
Photo: Marki Williams

Upgrade pick

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon has a bigger screen, our favorite laptop keyboard, and a variety of ports. But it costs more than you need to pay to get something great.

Buying Options

Recommended configuration

Processor:Intel Core i5-1335UScreen:14-inch 1920×1200 (touch optional)
Memory:16 GBWeight:2.5 pounds
Storage:512 GB SSDTested battery life:11 hours

If you don’t mind paying more for a lighter laptop with a more comfortable keyboard, a larger screen, and a wider variety of ports, get the 14-inch Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11. It’s the best laptop we’ve tested in the past few years. Aside from its high price, this laptop is nearly perfect.

Lenovo offers a variety of configurations depending on your budget and performance needs. Our recommended configuration is fast enough for most tasks for years to come. If you upgrade, be aware that higher-resolution and OLED screens as well as P-series processors will result in shorter battery life.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 ultrabook, shown stacked on top of the slightly smaller HP Spectre x360.
The X1 Carbon (top) is a bit larger than the Spectre x360 (bottom), but it’s still about half a pound lighter. Photo: Marki Williams

The X1 Carbon is about half a pound lighter than the Spectre x360—a noticeable difference if you’re lugging a laptop around every day. Our upgrade pick is a bit wider and deeper than the Spectre x360, though, thanks to its larger display.

The battery will last a full day of work, or through a cross-country flight. In our battery life tests, the X1 Carbon Gen 11 with a Core i7-1355U processor lasted 10 hours 53 minutes.

A close-up of the keyboard and trackpad on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 ultrabook.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Carbon has the best keyboard of any laptop we’ve used, bar none. Photo: Marki Williams

The X1 Carbon has the best keyboard of any laptop we’ve ever used. In our tests, the keyboard was bouncy and responsive—it’s a delightful experience. The X1 Carbon also has a fingerprint reader on the power button for quick logins. Its touchpad is quiet, comfortable, and accurate. Or if you prefer, you can use the red TrackPoint nub in the middle of the keyboard to navigate.

A close-up of the power button located above te top right corner of the keyboard on the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 ultrabook.
The fingerprint reader located on the power button is smaller than that of our other picks, but just as accurate. Photo: Marki Williams

The matte 14-inch display is great for getting work done. Though not quite as tall as the Spectre x360’s display, the X1 Carbon’s 16:10 aspect ratio is well-suited to running multiple apps side by side. We tested the model with a 1920×1200 IPS touchscreen, which had accurate colors, and its matte surface doesn’t throw distracting reflections.

The 1080p webcam looks good and works well in various lighting conditions. Although it’s not quite as high-resolution as the Spectre x360’s 5-megapixel webcam, it is sharp enough and doesn't have an aggressive appearance filter. The X1 Carbon’s webcam can be disabled with a physical shutter, and it has a button on the keyboard to disable the microphone.

The X1 Carbon is sturdily and reliably built. Its lid feels smooth to the touch, its solid body is made from carbon fiber and magnesium, and its palm rest is comfortable. We didn’t feel any flex in its keyboard or its lid, and it’s easy to open with one hand.

On the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s left side are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A port, and an HDMI port. Photo: Marki Williams

It offers more port variety than the competition. Both Thunderbolt ports are located on the left side of the laptop, though, so you can only charge the X1 Carbon from that side.

If you don’t need a headphone jack: We recommend the Dell XPS 13 (9315) with a Core i5-1230U processor and 16 GB of memory. (As of this writing, Dell hasn’t yet updated this model with 13th-gen processors, but the difference isn’t noticeable.) The XPS 13 is compact and light, with excellent build quality, a reliable keyboard and trackpad, long battery life, and a vivid 13.4-inch 1920×1200 display. But it lacks a 3.5 mm audio jack—it has only two Thunderbolt 4 ports—and many people still use wired headphones. The XPS 13 comes with a USB-C-to-3.5mm headset adapter, but be careful not to lose it like I did.

If our budget pick is unavailable: We recommend a lower-specced version of our runner-up, the Lenovo Yoga 6 with a Ryzen 5 7530U processor and 8 GB of memory. Aside from the specs, it’s identical to our runner up pick—same display, same keyboard and trackpad, and we expect similar battery life. If you see it on sale for less than our budget pick, it’s an excellent deal.

The cheapest decent ultrabook: The HP Pavilion Aero Laptop (13-be2047nr) is a solid ultrabook, especially when it’s on sale. It’s compact and super light at 2.2 pounds, and has long battery life and a bright 13.3-inch 1920×1200 non-touch display. But it comes with too much bloatware, its 720p webcam is mediocre, and it doesn’t come with a USB-C charger (but it can charge via USB-C).

Last year’s upgrade pick: The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 10 is largely identical to our current upgrade pick, but comes with last year’s 12th-gen processors. If you spot it on sale for less than the Gen 11, it’s still an excellent laptop.

A beautiful, powerful, super light laptop: The Asus Zenbook S 13″ (UX5304VA-XS76T) is a 2.2-pound laptop with an elegant brutalist design and (excessively) powerful specs: a Core i7-1355U processor, 32 GB of memory, and 1 TB of storage. It has a comfortable keyboard, a spacious trackpad, and a variety of ports. But the Zenbook S 13 is expensive, its battery life falls short of our upgrade pick’s, and its glossy, non-touch screen is very reflective.

At CES 2024, companies revealed new laptops powered by Intel’s latest 14th-gen processors. These processors have NPUs, or neural processing units, that can run certain machine-learning tasks faster, more efficiently, and more securely. They also have more powerful graphics than the previous generation.

HP announced the Spectre x360 14 (14t-eu000) with a 14-inch screen, a 14th-gen Intel H-series processor, and an OLED display. It’s available now and starts at $1,500. We plan to test it in the coming weeks.

The latest generation of our upgrade pick, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12, is available now with 14th-gen Intel H-series processors. The U-series version will begin shipping in March, and we plan to test it then.

We’ll test the following newly announced models as they’re available: Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405), Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UM3406), Dell XPS 13, Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro (14-inch), Acer Swift Go 14 (SFG14-73), Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 (14”, 9), Lenovo Yoga Pro 7 (14”, 9), Lenovo Slim 7i (14”, 9), , Lenovo Yoga 7i 2-in-1 (14”, 9), Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1 (14”, 9), Lenovo IdeaPad 5 2-in-1 (14”, 9), LG gram 14 (14Z90S), and MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo.

Lenovo announced the second generation of its dual-screen OLED laptop, the $2,000 Yoga Book 9i (13”, 9). We plan to test it when it’s available in April. Asus also announced a dual-screen laptop at CES 2024; the Asus Zenbook Duo (2024) UX8406 will be available in Q1, but the company has not yet announced pricing.

HP offers the Spectre x360 13.5″ with a 3000×2000 OLED display, but it costs hundreds more and its battery life falls hours short of our pick.

The Lenovo Slim 7i (14" Intel) has mediocre battery life and a mushy keyboard.

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 360 is super compact, but has a small screen and a 720p webcam.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 is bulky due to its large bezels. Its 720p webcam and battery life aren’t as good as our top pick.

Budget options

The Acer Swift Go 14 is a decent budget ultrabook with long battery life. But compared with our budget pick, it feels bulkier and cheaper and its display isn’t as crisp, smooth, or bright.

The Acer Swift 3 (SF314-512T-56CT) is light and has long battery life, but its display has a yellowish cast and it comes with a ton of bloatware.

The Asus Zenbook 14″ OLED (Q409ZA-EVO.I5256BL) is the former version of our budget pick. Its battery life falls hours short of the newer model, it lacks a touchscreen, and it has a 720p webcam.

The HP Pavilion Plus Laptop (14t-eh100) has poor battery life and resting my hand on the left palm-rest clicked the trackpad.

Just like its predecessor, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2, the Surface Laptop Go 3 has a small, low-resolution display and its battery life isn’t long enough to make it through a full day of work or class.

The Acer Vero (AV14-51-59UW) is heavy, its screen has a sickly greenish cast, and the chassis material feels rough and cheap.

Upgrade options

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano Gen 3 is available only with P-series processors, and as a result its battery life falls hours short of our top picks. The X1 Nano is wonderfully light and compact, but the X1 Carbon provides more of an upgrade in screen size, port selection, and battery life.

The Lenovo ThinkPad Z13 (13″ AMD) is an excellent laptop with long battery life, but compared with the X1 Carbon, its display is small, it lacks port variety, and its haptic trackpad feels unsatisfying on its default setting.

The Dell XPS 13 Plus has a finicky touchpad, a 720p webcam, and limited ports.

Lenovo’s Yoga Book 9i is a $2,000 thin-and-light laptop with two 13.3-inch OLED screens. It’s an interesting experiment that Lenovo has mostly pulled off, but it’s very expensive and it sacrifices some of the best parts of a laptop.

It comes with a stand, a decent Bluetooth keyboard, a mediocre mouse, and a stylus, and with all those accessories, you can use the Yoga Book 9i a bunch of different ways. I enjoyed using the Yoga Book 9i on its stand with both displays stacked atop one another—laptop displays are often too cramped to juggle large spreadsheets and multiple windows. I didn’t love using the Yoga Book 9i as a regular laptop, though, because the on-screen keyboard doesn’t provide enough tactile feedback for touch typing. The Yoga Book 9i lasted about 8.5 hours in our battery life tests—better than expected for an ultrabook driving two 2K OLED displays, but it still falls hours short of our picks. And it lacks a headphone jack. If you need more display than a traditional laptop offers, I’d recommend getting one of our top picks and a portable monitor instead.

The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8’s P-series processor and 4K OLED display make for worse battery life compared with the X1 Carbon. It’s also on the heavy side, at 3.1 pounds.

The HP Dragonfly Pro is inconveniently heavy, its haptic trackpad introduced an awkward delay to all my clicks, and it lacks a headphone jack.

This article was edited by Signe Brewster and Caitlin McGarry.

Meet your guide

Kimber Streams

Kimber Streams is a senior staff writer and has been covering laptops, gaming gear, keyboards, storage, and more for Wirecutter since 2014. In that time they’ve tested hundreds of laptops and thousands of peripherals, and built way too many mechanical keyboards for their personal collection.

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