Top 5 Best business laptops (February 2023)
The best business laptops make it easy and simple to do work on your laptop without having to worry about whether or not your hardware is up to the task.
It doesn’t matter if you still work from home or go to the office. You need a portable computer that can handle your most complicated tasks and keep your work safe.
Consider the best business laptops 2023 has to offer if you need a device that can keep up with your busy work schedule. Over the years, many professionals have switched to devices made for consumers. However, these notebooks offer a unique mix of power, flexibility, and, most importantly, security that you won’t find anywhere else.
And you might be able to get by just fine at work with a cheaper laptop. But they aren’t as safe and, in some cases, won’t have the power you might need to be as productive as you want to be. The best Ultrabooks have taught the best business laptops a lot, which is good news. They are smaller, lighter, and easier to take with you, so they are just as portable as most of the options for prosumers.
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, people are moving away from desktop PCs and workstations more quickly. It has made laptops the most popular type of computer in businesses and enterprises, so people can work from the office, at home, or anywhere else.
Because of falling prices, component makers’ clear focus on thin and light laptops, and a push to use less power, there’s not much difference between laptops and desktops with the same specs once you add in the peripherals.
Here Are Top 5 Best business laptops (February 2023)
1. Dell XPS 15 OLED (2022)
The Dell XPS 15 has become something of a classic over the years, and the latest version is no different.
The XPS 2022 keeps the usual bravado and uses the latest Alder Lake processors up to the impressive Intel Core i9-12900HK and the mobile Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti.
The XPS 15 doesn’t become a gaming laptop with a discrete GPU, but it is better than any of the built-in video options, including Intel Iris Xe. More and more, graphics are the most important part of computing, so a better GPU is becoming necessary.
The most surprising thing about this Dell is that the processing power doesn’t have a big effect on the battery life. In our tests, the review hardware could play videos for more than ten hours.
The Dell XPS 15 is the obvious choice for companies that want to give their employees a solid mobile platform. It has great performance, a solid build, and good looks. But the Core i7 and Core i9 SKUs are a lot more expensive than the Core i3 and Core i5 options, which start at around $1,500. If you want every option, you can buy one of these systems for nearly $4,000 or £3,200.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: 12th Gen Intel Core i7 – i9
- Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
- RAM: 16GB – 32GB DDR5
- Screen: 15.6″ OLED 3.5K (3456 x 2160) InfinityEdge Touch Anti-Reflective 400-Nit Display
- Storage: 512GB – 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe
2. HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook
In a world that is becoming more and more cloud-based, not every problem needs Microsoft Windows. Many users can do everything they need on a Chromebook running Chrome OS.
The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook isn’t a cheap computer that students can abuse or use to watch videos online. It’s a very useful laptop with a lot of security features that’s meant to be the go-to solution for Enterprise customers’ IS departments.
The most important thing that makes this Chromebook more secure is that the higher-level SKUs come with an Intel vPro processor that’s made to support a multilayered security approach that’s in line with the level of customers HP wants most.
When businesses spend this much money, they want the best. To help with any transition, HP includes a one-year subscription to Parallels for Chrome OS, an app that lets Windows apps run on this hardware.
Our review hardware only had an Intel Core i5-1245U with vPro processor, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage, making it one of the most expensive Chromebooks we’ve ever looked at. But the top model, which has a Core i7-1265U vPro, 32GB LPDDR4x, and 512GB, costs a huge $3,393. Or, it costs more than most Windows laptops that have the same specs.
The HP Elite Dragonfly, as nice as it is, shows that not all Chromebooks are cheap or have too few features.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Up to 12th Gen Core i7-1265U vPro
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- RAM: 8GB – 32GB
- Screen: 13.3-inch diagonal 1080p LED FHD, 400 nits
- Storage: up to 2TB SSD
3. Dell XPS 17 (2022)
Dell doesn’t make big changes to its XPS machines, and from the outside, the Dell XPS 17 sold in 2022 looks almost exactly like the one sold in 2021 and 2020.
But on the inside, this is a completely new design that uses the latest 12th Gen Intel silicon and Nvidia GeForce RTX mobile GPUs to deliver a tonne of performance.
This design’s best features are its high-quality construction, good battery life, four Thunderbolt USB-C ports, and 4K screen. If you think that sounds great, there are a few things to keep in mind.
The basic XPS 17 designs are affordable, but the options with more features can be pricey. And for those who pay that high price, it may not fully drive the 4K display, which could be disappointing. The best GPU option is the RTX 3060, but most models come with the mobile RTX 3050, which will have trouble with this resolution.
This puts the XPS 17 in a strange spot between true mobile workstations and well-equipped laptops, with one foot in each camp.
Still, the product is impressive, even though it doesn’t reach the full potential of the 12th Gen platform.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: 2th-generation Intel Core i5 – i9
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
- RAM: 8GB – 32GB DDR5
- Screen: 17-inch 3,840 x 2,400, 500 nits
- Storage: 256GB – 512GB SSD
4. HP Envy 16
HP made the Envy 16 with the media professional in mind, but its GPU performance is good enough for people who want to game away from their desktop.
If you use all of this system’s power, it can get a little noisy, and the battery life isn’t long enough to let demanding tasks run for long without being plugged into the wall.
The fact that it doesn’t have a fingerprint scanner is also a sign that HP doesn’t see this as an ideal business solution for most of its corporate clients.
Starter models with a 12th Generation Core i5 processor cost $1,049. The new ARC A370M discrete processor and WQXGA-resolution screen are included. These are better deals than the high-end Core i9 machines that cost at least $2,599 and have a mobile RTX 3060 GPU and a 4K OLED screen.
The price curve makes sense in part because the better machines have more RAM, more storage, and a great HP True Vision 5MP IR webcam.
Overall, the HP Envy 16 is a great deal, especially at the lower end of the price range.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: 12th generation Intel Core i7 – i9
- Graphics: Intel ARC A370M or NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile
- RAM: 8GB – 32GB DDR5
- Screen: 40.6 cm (16”), WQXGA (2560 x 1600), touch screen, 120 Hz, 400 nits
- Storage: 256GB – 2TB SSD
5. Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (2021)
If you are invested in the Apple ecosystem, having a single supplier limits the number of times you can expect to get new equipment. Or, in the case of the Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch, it was the first new design since the 15-inch MacBook Pro Touch Bar came out in 2017.
Since the 13-inch Air and Pro have already switched to the M2 CPU design, this design is left with slightly older technology and probably won’t get an update until 2025.
Still, this system works very well. It has a beautiful 3,456 x 2,234 Liquid Retina XDR display, and for such a quick system, the battery life is very good.
As with most Apple products, the downsides are that it’s expensive ($3,299 for a 1TB version), it’s not easy to carry around, and there’s no easy way to upgrade it (memory or SSD).
We’d recommend getting the 1TB SSD because by the time this model is replaced, 512GB might seem like a very small amount of storage.
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Apple M1 Pro or M1 Max 10-core
- Graphics: Integrated 16-core GPU
- RAM: Up to 64GB on M1 Max
- Screen: 16.2-inch, 3,456 x 2,234 Liquid Retina XDR display
- Storage: Up to 8TB
What is a laptop for business?
A business laptop is a computer that is made for use in the workplace. Business laptops come in a wide range of shapes, sizes, prices, and features, just like consumer laptops. And business laptops don’t have to only run Windows. Chromebooks, MacBooks, and so-called “mobile thin clients” are all being used by thousands of businesses.
Choosing your spending plan (and shopping window)
When an organisation buys a business laptop, the person buying it or someone else in the organisation usually sets a budget. This is usually part of a process called the “purchase lifecycle.”
That is, a device is being bought either because there is a new starter or because the old one no longer works (too slow, broken, or out of warranty). This means that buying a new PC for business is usually part of a well-planned process that is beyond the scope of this article.
In the 2020s, there may be two things to keep in mind when buying a business laptop. First, there’s PCaaS, which stands for “PC as a service.” It’s basically a different kind of leasing. There are usually no upfront costs (only one fixed monthly payment, which may cover accessories and peripherals), and essential software (like antivirus), deployment, recycling/migration at the end of the lease, and support are all included. All of the big companies now offer PCaaS.
Then there’s the rise of Black Friday and other sales events like it that happen all year long (e.g., Amazon Prime Day, Presidents Day). Many now go straight for small and medium-sized businesses with special discounts, coupons, and vouchers.
Windows 11 Pro and laptops used for business
Microsoft’s operating system is the standard in business and enterprise, and it has some great features that are geared toward business. People usually assume that you want to use Windows for business, but that’s no longer true. Apple’s macOS and Google’s Chrome OS have made inroads into what was and still is Microsoft’s most prized possession: its position as the default OS for business end-user/client computing.
Can you use a business laptop to work from home?
In a few words, yes. Business laptops are used for a wide range of jobs and often allow people to work from home. From accounting to journalism, graphic design, and project management, you can learn about everything. Using a business laptop to work from home is not hard in and of itself, especially if you are working for the business that gave you the laptop. The only problem could be getting on a secure network, but that’s not a problem with the laptop; it’s a problem with how the business has set things up. One of the best things about a laptop is that you can take it anywhere.
How much help does a laptop for business need?
You need to think about how much help your business needs. Smaller vendors often offer a one-year warranty, sometimes with onsite support, but more often than not, that warranty is return-to-base, which is not ideal because you have to pay to send the laptop back to the vendor.
Most laptops sold around the world come with a full warranty. Some come with a three-year warranty and support on-site the next business day. Dell and Lenovo stand out because they offer warranties for up to 60 months, or five years. This is a great deal for laptops that cost thousands of dollars. Check to see if you need coverage in case of an accident or if you’ll be travelling outside of your country. Some plans will help you in places as far away as India.
When a member’s car breaks down or is in an accident, some car insurance companies offer a rental car. This lets the customer keep his or her workflow as smooth as possible. There’s nothing like it from a laptop company yet. If you can’t afford to be offline and you’re worried about your privacy, you should get a second laptop or PC.
What do people do with business laptops?
A one-man band or very small business will have a very different approach to buying than a medium-sized company. If you only need a couple of laptops, you might not be as picky about the company that makes them. What you want to do with your laptop will also affect which one you choose.
Edge use cases, such as graphic designers, coders, video editors, and financial analysts, may need mobile workstations or rugged laptops instead of regular business laptops. Still, the configuration below should work for everyone else. Even though there’s no real substitute for a strong CPU, extra memory and a fast SSD can often help.
When you add in the market’s obsession with thinness, it’s no wonder that many people are often disappointed by their laptops because they are either powerful but have a short battery life or vice versa. Finding the right balance means figuring out how long you can go without a power source and how much processing power you need (hint: look at the applications you use most often).
Avoid these 10 easy mistakes:
Too little memory, memory that isn’t set up right, a low-resolution screen, slow storage parts, or no webcam. I just made a list of things that you shouldn’t do when buying a business laptop.