The best 4K laptops look so good that your jaw will drop. Yes, you can watch movies and TV shows in 1080p if you want to. However, 4K panels are usually brighter and have more colors than 1080p screens because they have a higher resolution (3840 x 2160). And because more and more games support this resolution, the best gaming laptops are built to give you the best experience possible.
There are a lot of options for the best 4K laptops, and you can find these super-sharp screens on the best laptops you can buy, like the best 2-in-1 laptops and workstations. And the best 4K laptops can also be used as the best laptops for editing videos and photos. But keep in mind that 4K laptops usually don’t have the best battery life, so you’ll have to make some sacrifices. See what we have to say about the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra now.
We found the best 4K laptops by measuring how bright their screens are in nits and how much of the sRGB color space they cover. When, not if, 8K laptops come out, we’ll have a whole new page ready for you.
The Best 4K Laptops You Can Buy Today
1. Dell XPS 13 (Model 9310, 4K)
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Intel Core i5/Core i7
- GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB
- Storage: 1TB HDD or 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD
- Display: 13.4-inch (1080p/4K/4K OLED)
- Size: 11.6 x 7.8 x 0.6 inches
- Weight: 2.8 pounds
Dell has the premium ultraportable thing down to a science at this point. A few small changes have been made to the Dell XPS 13, such as a smaller frame, thinner bezels all around, and a bigger keyboard and touchpad. When you add one of Intel’s new 11th Gen processors and one of the new GPUs that are built in, you have a laptop that looks good and works hard. Plus, you can look at a beautiful screen with a very high resolution.
Even though it’s hard to find anything wrong with the XPS 13, there are a couple: the battery life isn’t great and there aren’t enough ports. Even so, the Dell XPS 13 stays on our best laptops and best 13-inch laptops lists and is a great choice for anyone who wants a high-quality ultraportable.
2. Asus ZenBook Pro Duo (UX582L)
SPECIFICATIONS
- Display: 15.6-inch, 4K UHD
- CPU: Intel Core i9-10980HK
- GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070 8GB vRAM
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Battery Life: 6:50 – 5:01
- Weight: 5.3 pounds
The beautiful OLED touchscreen on the Asus ZenBook Pro Duo 15 is validated by Pantone, so you can be sure that any creative work will look bright and accurate. That’s especially important for this beast, which has an 11th Gen Intel Core i9 processor, an RTX 3070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It looks like it was made for the work of a professional.
But the Duo’s screen is better in one way. There is a second display, as the name and picture suggest. The ScreenPad Plus has a 14-by-4.3-inch, 3840-by-1100-pixel touchscreen panel on the bottom deck. This is a very useful tool for prosumers, who can use the stylus to do illustration work or get more control in Photoshop.
3. Alienware X17
SPECIFICATIONS
- Display: 17.3-inch, 1080p
- CPU: Intel Core i7-8700 to Intel Core i9-9900K
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 to RTX 2080
- RAM: 8GB to 64GB
- Storage: 1TB SSHD to two 2TB SSD and 1TB SSHD
- Battery Life: 2
- Weight: 8.5 pounds
Alienware keeps pushing the limits of what a gaming laptop should and can be. The X17 is the newest member of the family. It is a beautiful desktop replacement that is only 0.81 inches thick. The ultra-high-end system has everything you need, like an Intel Core i7 processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, and two SSDs. Interested? How do you like the sound of a 17.3-inch 4K screen, powerful speakers, and a Cherry MX keyboard?
This pretty and powerful thing costs $3,679 (starting at $2,199), so it’s not for people who are easily scared or who don’t have much money. But if you can afford it, the Alienware X17 is a very powerful laptop that easily makes it onto our list of the best 4K laptops.
4. Gigabyte Aero 15 (2021, RTX 3070)
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Display: 15.6-inch, 4K, 60Hz
- Size: 14.0 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
- Weight: 4.4 pounds
With the Aero 15, Gigabyte got a lot of things right, like the sturdy, all-aluminum, jet-black chassis, the beautiful OLED panel, and the satisfying, clicky keyboard. It also does well in gaming and performance tests. But Gigabyte does everything wrong with that terrible nosecam. Gigabyte should have put more thought into making a more useful webcam, considering how the workplace has changed. The battery life of the Aero 15 could also be a problem for people who hate being tethered to a charger all day, but most gaming systems have short battery lives.
The Aero 15 is a great choice for people who make content. The Aero 15’s color-accurate 4K screen will help photo and video editors, but they’ll also enjoy playing one of their favorite triple-A games after a long day at work.
5. Dell XPS 17 (2021)
SPECIFICATIONS
- CPU: Intel Core i7-11800H
- GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
- RAM: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB SSD
- Display: 17.3-inch (4K)
- Size: 14.7 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
- Weight: 5.3 pounds
Especially when it comes to the Dell XPS 17, bigger is better. Since coming back to the high-end laptop market, the XPS 15 and 13’s big brother, the XPS 17, has shown off its power at every turn. It has a 17-inch screen that turns heads and great sound. And it did this without being bigger or heavier than a normal 15-inch laptop. It’s big, but it’s big where it matters, so we put it on our page of the best 4K laptops.
But it’s also pretty big when it comes to price. For our configuration, it costs $2,949, which will make all but the richest shoppers clutch their wallets. And while all that power and a super high-res screen are tempting, they really hurt the battery life. But if you want a lot of power in a small, easy-to-use package, the Dell XPS 17’s problems are minor.
How to choose the best 4K laptops for you
What you do with your laptop will determine which of the best 4K laptops is right for you. Do you just want a pretty screen to watch movies on? Do you like to play games and want to see high frames in 4K? Or are you a professional artist who needs a 4K laptop for editing videos and making 3D models?
If you just want something pretty to look at, the HP Spectre x360 is your best bet. For a reasonable price, it has a 15-inch OLED screen that is bright and clear. If you’re a serious gamer looking for the best gaming laptop with a 4K screen, go with the MSI GT76 Titan. It’ll tear through the best PC games with no problems. But if you want a workstation, look at the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition or even the HP ZBook 17 G5.
How we test the best 4K laptops
Before our reviewers get their hands on a laptop, we put it through a lot of benchmark tests, both in the lab and in the real world. We test every part of the laptop, including its speed, battery life, screen, speakers, and how it handles heat.
We use a Klein K10 colorimeter in our benchmark tests to measure the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop’s screen. For testing the laptop’s performance, we put it through a series of benchmarks, such as Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and the 3DMark professional graphics test.
To see how well the laptop works in the real world, we asked it to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and copy a 4.97GB multimedia file. The Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings and 1080p resolution is our real-world graphics test.
We also measure the temperature of different parts of the laptop while a 15-minute video plays in full screen mode. Last but not least, we test the battery life by surfing the web over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and high-end Windows 10 laptops, a runtime of more than 9 hours is a good result. For gaming laptops and workstations, a runtime of more than 5 hours is something to be proud of.
In addition to these tests, our reviewers do a lot of hands-on testing where they look at everything from the materials used to how the touchpad feels.
