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The best work-from-home laptops

More people are working from home than ever. And all indications are that this won't be changing anytime soon as people become accustomed to the flexibility of hybrid work. That makes the laptop a vital tool for not only getting work done but staying connected with coworkers.

The work-at-home laptops on this list share a few common traits, and a few of them have made their way to one or more of our best laptops lists. First, they're strong performers that meet demanding productivity workflows. Second, they're well-configured. And third, they offer high-resolution webcams that make videoconferencing a more pleasant experience.

Surface Laptop Studio – 14.4” – Intel Core i7 -16GB Memory – 512GB SSD - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
The best choice for creators
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HP Spectre x360 16
HP Spectre x360 16
An excellent large-format 2-in-1
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Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4
A portable powerhouse
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HP Elite Dragonfly Max
HP Elite Dragonfly Max
A work-from-home dream machine
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Apple MacBook Pro 16
Apple MacBook Pro
The best MacBook, period
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Pixelbook Go
Pixelbook Go
A Chromebook for the hybrid worker
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microsoft surface laptop studio review 13 stage mode

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

The best choice for creators

Pros
  • Most powerful Surface PC
  • Gorgeous, 120Hz screen
  • Fun 2-in-1 design
  • Wonderful haptic touchpad
  • Excellent build quality
Cons
  • CPU holds back performance

Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio took over from the Surface Book 3 as the most powerful Surface you can buy. It's also a convertible 2-in-1 with the unusual pull-forward design, giving it more flexibility than most laptops and a tablet-like form factor for creative types.

It's not the most powerful laptop on our list, but the 35-watt Intel 11th-generation H-series CPU is fast enough for productivity, and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti helps with creative applications that can use it. And Microsoft has built-in technology that balances CPU and GPU use as needed, providing the right mix of performance, heat, and fan noise.

The rest of the laptop is just as refined. The keyboard and touchpad are excellent, the build quality is second to none, and the 120Hz IPS display is high-res and colorful and supports Microsoft's Surface Slim 2 active pen with its haptic feedback for more realistic inking. Of course, the webcam is 1080p, helping you look your best when Zooming. If you're a creator who works at home, then the Surface Laptop Studio is a particularly good choice for you.

Surface Laptop Studio – 14.4” – Intel Core i7 -16GB Memory – 512GB SSD - Platinum
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio
The best choice for creators
hp spectre x360 16 review 01
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

HP Spectre x360 16

An excellent large-format 2-in-1

Pros
  • Solid productivity performance
  • Excellent build quality
  • Spectacular OLED display
  • Outstanding keyboard and touchpad
  • Elegant good looks
Cons
  • Creative performance is lacking
  • Large and heavy in tablet mode

HP's Spectre x360 16 is a more traditional convertible 2-in-1, with a large 16-inch 4K+ (3840 x 2400) OLED display that produces vibrant colors and inky blacks. It equips a 35-watt Intel 11th-gen quad-core CPU that provides for excellent productivity performance that meets the needs of the most demanding worker.

The keyboard and touchpad are top-notch, among the best you'll find in Windows laptops today, and the touch display supports an active pen for Windows Inking. It's large as a tablet and so a steady surface is required, but it works well.

For the home worker, the Spectre x360 16 incorporated a 5MB webcam that provides a stunning image along with various tools to enhance the videoconferencing experience. There's Beauty Mode that smooths out wrinkles and removes blemishes, Auto Frame that keeps the user centered in the image, and Lighting Correction that optimizes the image for the environment. Combined, the tools provide one of the best video conferencing solutions around.

HP Spectre x360 16
HP Spectre x360 16
An excellent large-format 2-in-1
lenovo thinkpad x1 extreme gen 4 review
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4

A portable powerhouse

Pros
  • Excellent build quailty
  • Superior entry-level display
  • Solid performance
  • Good keyboard and touchpad
  • Very powerful configuration options
Cons
  • Performance was inconsistent
  • Battery life was middling

Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 is the company's most powerful laptop outside of a workstation. For demanding home users who need a lot of power under the hood, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 can be equipped with up to a 45-watt, eight-core/16-thread Core i9-11950H with vPro and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 CPU. That's enough power for demanding creative work.

Several 16-inch displays are available, including a 4K+ (3840 x 2400) version with excellent colors, brightness, and contrast. They're all in the 16:10 aspect ratio and so they're great for productivity. The ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 is also user-upgradeable, with the ability to swap out the RAM and add a second solid-state drive (SSD) for redundancy or extra (and very fast) storage.

You'll also get a 1080p webcam for high-res videoconference; the outstanding ThinkPad keyboard, touchpad, and TrackPoint nubbin; and solid build quality. For home power users, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4 is the best Windows laptop on our list.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4
A portable powerhouse
hp elite dragonfly max review 12

HP Elite Dragonfly Max

A work-from-home dream machine

Pros
  • Outstanding build quality
  • Thin and light
  • Excellent keyboard and touchpad
  • Effective privacy screen
  • A slew of valuable business features
Cons
  • Underwhelming CPU performance
  • Expensive

In our review, we called the HP Elite Dragonfly Max a "work-from-home dream machine." And it's well-earned, with a design that was crafted to be attractive to both business people and regular consumers. Consider the laptop's "cleanability," which allows you to use common household wipes to clean and disinfect the laptop, and an Easy Clean utility that shuts off the touchscreen, keyboard, and touchpad while you're giving it a good scrub.

Of course, it's also an excellent laptop, thin and light and incredibly well built. It uses 11th-gen Intel CPUs for solid productivity performance, and it offers a bright and colorful display with a privacy option to keep your work safe from prying eyes. The keyboard and touchpad are excellent, and the optional touch display is handy.

It's in videoconferencing where the Max version of the Elite Dragonfly really shows off. Like the Spectre x360 16, there's a 5MP camera on hand with auto-exposure for faces and up to 1440p video resolution. Four microphones provide for A.I.-powered noise cancellation to keep household background noise at a minimum. The Elite Dragonfly Max might be a business laptop at heart, but it works incredibly well for the home user, too.

HP Elite Dragonfly Max
HP Elite Dragonfly Max
A work-from-home dream machine
apple macbook pro review 2021 01

Apple MacBook Pro

The best MacBook, period

Pros
  • Incredible XDR display
  • Fantastic creative performance
  • Extensive port selection
  • Keyboard and trackpad are perfect
  • Excellent speakers and webcam
  • Endless battery life
Cons
  • Notch is a distraction

If you're not married to Windows, the MacBook Pro is the most potent laptop on our list – at least when it comes to the processor. It uses Apple's M1 Pro or Max CPUs that are incredibly fast and power-efficient, making the MacBook Pro a great choice for creators.

Whether you opt for the 14-inch or 16-inch model, you'll get the best-built laptop, and Apple has increased its thickness just a bit to fit in some extra connectivity – a full-size HDMI port and an SD card reader – along with optimizing the thermal performance. And with incredibly long battery life, you won't be tied to your home office.

The MacBook Pro 16's keyboard is the best one currently made, and its haptic touchpad is a joy to use. Finally, you'll love the mini-LED display that rivals OLED for deep blacks and dynamic colors, and the 1080p webcam produces high-quality video. This is another great laptop for anyone who does demanding creative work at home.

Apple MacBook Pro 16
Apple MacBook Pro
The best MacBook, period
google pixelbook go review 3
Riley Young / Digital Trends

Pixelbook Go

A Chromebook for the hybrid worker

Pros
  • Portable design
  • Bright, colorful display
  • Speakers are impressive
  • Excellent battery life
Cons
  • Chunky bezels
  • No fingerprint scanner

If your work is less demanding and you don't rely on Windows or MacOS applications, then a Chromebook is an easier-to-manage solution. And the best Chromebook available today is Google's Pixelbook Go, even though it's been on the market for a few years.

You'll love the bright, colorful 13.3-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) display, and the Pixelbook Go produces excellent sound quality. The Hush Keys keyboard is extremely quiet and comfortable to use, meaning you won't bother your housemates when working feverishly at night.

The 1080p webcam is unusual on Chromebooks and produces an excellent image, making for great videoconferencing. And the Pixelbook Go's design is both good-looking and functional, with a ribbed bottom chassis that makes the laptop easy to carry around. If you want the simplicity and ease of use of a Chromebook, then the Google Pixelbook Go remains your best choice.

Pixelbook Go
Pixelbook Go
A Chromebook for the hybrid worker

Editors' Recommendations

This deal saves you $550 on a Dell XPS 15 with an RTX 3050
The Dell XPS 15 Touch Laptop placed on a desk next to a monitor and other study accessories.

The 15-inch model of Dell's most popular laptop is on sale today as part of the retailer's ongoing laptop deals. You can grab the Dell XPS 15 for $1,349 after a $550 discount. This is a great all-purpose laptop that will make work and fun faster, easier and look better. Dell deals don't last long, so grab this one while you can.

Why you should buy the Dell XPS 15
Dell is one of the best laptop brands and it shows with the Dell XPS 15. It has a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor along with 16GB of memory and 512GB of SSD storage. That's a reasonable set of specs to ensure you can multitask well, allowing you to be productive and have plenty of space to store all your files. It also has an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card so you can get some gaming in. While it won't rival the best gaming laptops, it's nice to have such flexibility made available to you. There's also an attractive 15.6-inch full HD+ screen with a resolution of 1920 x 1200 so you can see plenty on-screen with 500 nits of brightness further helping matters.

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This Lenovo gaming laptop with an RTX 3070 Ti is $730 off right now
Playing a game on the Lenovo Legion Slim 7i gaming laptop.

There's no getting around it: An expensive gaming laptop is going to cost a lot. That doesn't mean, however, that you can't find ways to save some money. Lenovo, for instance, has tons of great gaming laptop deals that cut triple-digits off their best devices. Right now you can get the Lenovo Legion 7i for $2,000 thanks to a $730 discount. While it's still expensive, a price cut that big is basically like getting the graphics card for free. Read on and we'll tell you other ways this laptop is worth that kind of cash.

Why you should buy the Lenovo Legion 7i gaming laptop
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Normally $430, this HP laptop is down to just $250 right now
HP 14 laptop with intel Celeron on desk.

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Why you should buy the HP 14z Laptop
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