If you travel for business and need to take your laptop with you everywhere, you should pass on the average Ultrabook. They aren’t hardy enough and lack certain features you might need. Here are some of our favorite laptops for business.
What’s a Business Laptop, Anyway?
Unlike Intel’s Ultrabooks, no one owns the definition of the Business Laptop category. So, you won’t find the same set of features on every laptop that markets itself to business professionals, but they generally share some of the same features.
Business laptops usually have a muted, simple design, hardened materials, biometric readers (like a fingerprint scanner or access card reader), easy access to components for upgrades, a lock system (usually from Kensington), and more ports than the average Ultrabook. Because of these features, business laptops are also typically heavier than Ultrabooks.
Muted designs don’t mean business laptops are ugly. But they don’t tend to have visual extras, like glowing LEDs or fancy colors. Think of it like a mature adult who graduated to grown-up body wash and left Axe behind. It’s not flashy, but it gets the job done, and it looks presentable for the office.
With that in mind, here are our top picks.
The Best Overall: Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon
Remember when we said not every description and feature above applies to every business laptop? Well the Thinkpad X1 Carbon set our design comments aside by flirting with Ultrabook status.
Sleek, light, and on the thin side, when it’s closed, you might confuse the X1 Carbon for an average Ultrabook. When you open it, though, all the familiar Thinkpad stylings reveal themselves, from the Trackpoint pointer to the classic Thinkpad trackpad. The X1 Carbon doesn’t skimp on other specs; it features a powerful Intel i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM, and a 512 GB SSD. It doesn’t skimp on ports either. It has an ethernet jack, 4 USB ports (including 2 Thunderbolt USB-C ports), and a full-size HDMI port.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Laptop, High Performance Windows Laptop, (Intel Core i7, 16 GB RAM, 512GB SSD, Windows 10 Pro), 20KH002JUS
The Lenovo Thinkpad X1 Carbon is a sleek business laptop that has the power and ports to get you anywhere.
$1643.99
More offers
Best Convertible: HP EliteBook x360
