The A-List
The best products on the market, as picked by our editors
PREMIUM LAPTOPS
Apple MacBook Pro M4
M4 beast from £1,599 from apple.com/uk
This M4 update to the already brilliant MacBook Pro line is an easy recommendation, so the big question becomes do you choose the 14in version from £1,599 or 16in from £2,499? And then how much do you upgrade, as Apple isn’t afraid of high prices. But whatever you choose should last for years, and look great while it’s doing it.
REVIEW Issue 364, p50
Apple Mac Book Air 13in (M3)
Both the 13in and 15in MacBook Airs impress for speed, styling and battery life, but the 1.2kg 13in Air wins out of the two for its sheer portability.
From £1,299 from apple.com REVIEW Issue 356, p54
Asus Zenbook S 14 OLED
Asus pairs a Core Ultra 9 288V with a 72Wh battery to produce a laptop that lasts almost 20 hours on a charge. What’s more, this 1.2kg machine looks (and feels) the business.
From £1,750 from scan.co.uk REVIEW Issue 362, p46
Asus ProArt PX13
With AMD’s new Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 inside, this 1.4kg compact powerhouse offers incredible amounts of power. Add a fantastic OLED screen and RTX 4070 graphics and it’s a winner.
From £2,000 from uk.store.asus.com REVIEW Issue 361, p50
COPILOT+ PCs
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x (Gen 9)
AI on demand, £1,350 from lenovo.com
You won’t find a better-value laptop, never mind one that meets the Copilot+ PC criteria. With a Snapdragon X1E-78-100 inside it isn’t the fastest in benchmarks, but it’s incredibly nippy in practice, the battery lasts over 16 hours and the 14.5in OLED screen is top quality.
REVIEW Issue 361, p57
Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge
A classy 16in laptop that weighs 1.6kg, uses the fastest Snapdragon Elite X chip and delivers a solid 12 hours of battery life. 512GB, £1,499 from samsung.com
REVIEW
Issue 360, p53
Microsoft Surface Laptop, 7th Edition
The poster child for Copilot+ PCs offers quality, great looks and staggering battery life.
From £1,049 from microsoft.com REVIEW Issue 360, p50
Asus Zenbook S 15 OLED
With a price drop to £1,200 this 15.6in laptop becomes a viable competitor to the Yoga Slim 7x if you need a bigger screen. £1,200 from uk.store.asus.com
REVIEW
Issue 359, p52
BUSINESS LAPTOPS
Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 (Snapdragon)
Copilot+ PC for £1,500 exc VAT from lenovo.com
It’s perhaps a controversial choice – and we wouldn’t roll this out en masse – but if you’re buying for executives or CTOs this cutting-edge Copilot+ PC, complete with a Qualcomm Snapdragon Arm processor, is a superb choice. Not only is it good value, it’s light, it’s fast and its all-day battery life is genuinely 24 hours.
REVIEW Issue 360, p56
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12
The X1 Carbon range has stepped up a gear thanks to Intel’s Core Ultra chips, and Lenovo matches it with the stunning build quality and keyboard you’d expect.
From £1,375 from lenovo.com
REVIEW Issue 358, p58
Dell Latitude 9450 2-in-1
This 14in convertible, based around Core Ultra CPUs, lacks for nothing, whether that’s speed, battery life (around 16 hours), build quality or flexibility.
From £1,560 exc VAT from dell.co.uk
REVIEW
Issue 361, p63
HP OmniBook Ultra Flip
A top-quality 2-in-1 with a terrific 14in OLED panel, great build quality and superb battery life thanks to Intel’s latest generation Core Ultra 7 processors.
From £1,699 from hp.com
REVIEW
Issue 365, p46
EVERYDAY LAPTOPS
Acer Aspire 14 A14-51GM
Compact power for £850 from acer.com
Want gaming power? Buy the version with RTX 2050 graphics for £850 (part code NX.KSVEK.005). Just care about value? Get a Core 5 processor and integrated graphics for £600 (part code NX.KRWEK.00B). Whichever you choose, it’s a staggering laptop for the price.
REVIEW Issue 359, p82
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED (UX3405)
If you can stretch past £1,000, this is a top-quality Core Ultra laptop with a superb 120Hz screen and great battery life.
From £1,099 from uk.store.asus.com
REVIEW Issue 359, p58
Framework Laptop 13 (DIY Edition)
With a competitive price, modular approach and easy-to-repair ethos, you can pick and mix your perfect 13in laptop.
From £779 from frame.work
REVIEW Issue 360, p58
Huawei MateBook D16
It’s big and certainly not bashful, packing an Intel Core i9 chip and a high-quality 16in panel – and surprisingly good battery life, too. £1,000 from huawei.com
REVIEW Issue 359, p87
CHROMEBOOKS
Samsung Galaxy Chromebook Plus (2024)
Core 5 power for £749 from samsung.com
The first truly desirable Chromebook since the Pixelbook, this is a top-quality laptop from the all-metal chassis to the 15.6in Full HD OLED screen. And thanks to Intel’s Core 5 120U processor, it’s fast enough to last for years.