Top 10 Ultrabooks

Ultrabooks are the best kind of laptop money can buy. Why? Because they’re slim, light and wake from sleep almost instantly. You should also expect long battery life, which is great for everyone from students to road warriors. There’s a lot of models from which to choose at different prices, including hybrids that double as tablets for the ultimate in versatility. You’ll also find new machines with super-sharp quad HD screens. Here’s our list of the Top 10 Ultrabooks based on our extensive reviews.


he HP Spectre 13t-3000 is easily one of our favorite Ultrabooks. In addition to a sleek design, fast performance and more than 9 hours of battery life, you get a full HD touchscreen to navigate Windows 8.1. HP goes the extra mile with its Control Zone touchpad, which provides extra room for executing Windows 8 gestures. A solid keyboard and sweet sounding speakers seal the deal.

Dell's XPS 13 combines comfort and style like no other Ultrabook. We love the soft-touch finish on the deck, which not only feels good but makes typing a pleasure. A bright and crisp full HD display and strong Haswell performance also make this a great laptop. Add in 8.5 hours of battery life and you have an ultraportable you'll want to take everywhere.

One of our favorite Ultrabooks has gone quad HD. The 3-pound Acer Aspire S7 features a powerful fourth-generation Intel Haswell processor, a fast 128GB SSD and a new super-sharp 13-inch screen that packs 2560 x 1440 pixels. The new S7 doesn't last as long on a charge as its predecessor, but it's still one of the most striking systems in its class.

The Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Touch makes our top Ultrabook list for its good performance at a reasonable price. For under $700, this machine sports an attractive design, excellent backlit keyboard and strong battery life at 8.5 hours. Lenovo goes even further by adding useful voice recognition.

 

If you have the means, the ASUS Zenbook UX301 delivers everything you're looking for in an Ultrabook--including serious eye candy. It all starts with a very sharp 2560 x 1440-pixel 13-inch screen, backed up by a scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass lid. A swift Core 7 runs the show, along with powerful Iris graphics. Add in a comfy keyboard and nearly 8 hours of battery life and you have one splurge-worthy Ultrabook.

Lenovo's business-friendly Ultrabook is ready to do your bidding with a flip-around display that hides the keyboard when in tablet mode. You can also use the 360-degree design for giving presentations. Having 8 hours of battery life and a comfy keyboard really sell us on this hybrid.

The ATIV Book 9 Plus is quite the looker, both in terms of its aluminum design and quad HD plus (3200 x 1800 pixel) display. It’s also quite the powerhouse, thanks to a fourth-gen Core i5 processor and 8 hours of battery life. Samsung also includes its SideSync software for better integration with Samsung Android phones. This Ultrabook also runs cooler than the previous version, making it a top choice.

The longest lasting laptop yet, the ThinkPad X240's 6-cell battery provided an astounding 20.5 hours of juice in our tests. The smaller 3-cell battery yields a still impressive 7:40 of runtime. We also love the X240's comfortable keyboard with elongated palm rest, durable design and wide viewing angles from the IPS display.

Looking for a powerful and portable MacBook Pro alternative? Get your hands on the Dell XPS 15, which delivers a crisp quad HD display, speedy performance, and robust audio. This 4.6-pound beast also boasts Nvidia GeForce GT 750M GPU graphics and more than 7 hours of battery life.

Lenovo builds on its great hybrid by gracing the Yoga 2 Pro's screen with a very sharp resolution of 3200 x 1800 pixels. This Ultrabook also gets a faster 4th Generation Haswell processor and backlit keyboard in a thinner and lighter design. Plus, we love the high-quality audio. The only notable drawback is the slightly below average battery life.