Ultrabooks are laptops with screens smaller than 14 inches. Always thinner and lighter, they also tend to become more powerful. But with so many brands (Asus, Huawei, HP...), it's hard to choose. Here is our guide to the best ultrabooks for this year.
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Our selection
"The Asus Zenbook UX325EA-EG041T, also known as the Asus Zenbook 13, is an ultrabook that combines design, performance and durability in a compact size. Its…"
"The Chuwi Herobook Pro allows you to browse the Internet, watch videos in 4K, send emails and do word processing. In addition, it offers a…"
"The Blade Stealth 13 2020 is Razer's best gaming ultrabook upgrade. A compact metal shell, a GPU built for gaming, and an extra feature set…"
"The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2020 is a stylish, thin and light ultrabook. It is quite expensive, but still quite interesting thanks to its performance…"
The Asus Zenbook UX325EA-EG041T, also known as the Asus Zenbook 13, is an ultrabook that combines design, performance and durability in a compact size. Its 11th generation Intel processor is very fast.
1 273 £ on CdiscountThe entire chassis of the Asus ZenBook 13 is made of Pine Grey aluminum alloy. There aren't many frills, other than the bright chrome Asus logo. But the ZenBook 13 isn' t just a pretty ultrabook, it's also very solid. The thin, MIL-STD 810G-certified shell, which means it can withstand extreme temperatures, drops, shocks, vibrations and extreme altitudes.
For specs, the Zenbook UX325EA-EG041T features an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor clocked at 2.8GHz with 16GB of RAM, a 512GB M.2 PCI 3.0 SSD, and an Intel Iris Plus G7 integrated graphics card. The 13.3-inch display has a maximum resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels. It offers a colorful experience withcrisp details, especially on videos.
On the ZenBook 13, the hinge extends under the base of the keyboard, tilting it up slightly to increase typing comfort. The keyboard itself has sturdy, quiet keys. Along with the slightly loose touchpad hinge, this ultrabook offers a pleasant tapping experience. You can even turn the touchpad into a calculator, with backlit virtual buttons. Finally, as far as battery life is concerned, this Zenbook can run for 13 hours.
The Chuwi Herobook Pro allows you to browse the Internet, watch videos in 4K, send emails and do word processing. In addition, it offers a huge screen for an ultrabook. Although not very ambitious, it has a decent battery life.
See priceDespite a chassis made from second-rate materials, the Chuwi HeroBook Pro has a captivating and pleasing design. It features a 14.1-inch display with an extra-wide IPS panel and 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution. The keyboard sits almost flush with the body, while the touchpad is quite large and the entire body has no special detail except for the logo on the back of the screen. This simplicity makes the HeroBook Pro very understated, although it is essentially made of plastic.
The Chuwi Herobook Pro is powered by the Intel Celeron Gemini Lake N4000 processor. This is a 2.6 GHz dual-core processor. Here, no external graphics card, but a model integrated into the processor, the Intel UHD Graphics 600. The latter can play videos in 4K with a frequency of 60 Hz and a color depth of 10 bits. In addition, there are 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD.
A rare thing these days, the built-in battery is removable. With a capacity of 38 Wh, it has a good autonomy, but not exceptional either. It allows the Chuwi Herobook Pro to run for 6 hours in intensive use and nearly 9 hours in normal use. Finally, it should be noted that thanks to its fanless structure, the Chuwi Herobook Pro is very energy efficient.
The Blade Stealth 13 2020 is Razer's best gaming ultrabook upgrade. A compact metal shell, a GPU built for gaming, and an extra feature set put it in the upper echelon of ultraportables.
See priceEverything we loved about the 2019 Blade Stealth 13 has been retained on the 2020 version, especially the all-aluminum chassis. The square shape of the Blade Stealth 13 gives it a cleaner, more gamer-like look. The clean lines of this ultrabook are simply beautiful. Plus, it's thin enough to fit in one hand. It must be said, the Blade Stealth 13 has a small keyboard wedged between 2 speakers. Despite this, the keys are well spaced and offer an intuitive typing experience.
This version of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 is almost identical to the previous ones, with a few exceptions. It now packs an Intel Core i7-1165G7 processor, still with 16GB of RAM, in a dual channel configuration. There is still a 512GB SSD. From now on, it is a GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q graphics card that is in the Razer Blade Stealth 13. As for the screen, it is still a 13.3-inch OLED panel with Full HD resolution (1920 x 1080 pixels), but the refresh rate is increased from 60 Hz to 120 Hz.
The battery life of the Razer Blade Stealth 13 2020 is good, although it does not top the charts. Razer offers us a 53.2 Wh battery here. You have to accept some concessions because of the GPU and the high refresh rate of the screen. Thus, this ultrabook guarantees about 10 hours of autonomy for a full day of work, but not in gaming mode.
The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2020 is a stylish, thin and light ultrabook. It is quite expensive, but still quite interesting thanks to its performance and exceptional autonomy. Too bad for the questionable location of the webcam.
1 232 £ on RueducommerceHuawei went for the usual minimalist look, with clean lines and rounded corners. In this respect, the MateBook X Pro looks a lot like a MacBook. With a 13.9-inch display, this ultrabook offers the best in terms of size and portability. On the left side are 2 USB-C ports, one of which offers a Thunderbolt 3 connection for charging the laptop, and a 3.5mm audio jack for your headphones. On the right, you have just one USB 3.0 port.
The island-style keyboard has nice big keys and a decent amount of travel. Its space bar, however, still has room for improvement. The touchpad is a bit small, especially compared to the huge ones you find on MacBooks. Despite this, it's still pleasant to use, with a nice, soft texture. It's worth noting that the MateBook X Pro's power button is also a fingerprint scanner.
This ultrabook is powered by an Intel Core i5-10210U processor clocked at 2.1 GHz, 16 GB of RAM and a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX 250 graphics card and a 512 GB SSD. One of the special features of the MateBook X Pro is the13.9-inch 3:2 ratio display with 3K resolution. With a colorimeter, we can see that the screen offers 96.2% coverage of the sRGB color gamut and the color accuracy is almost perfect.
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The best entry-level ultrabook}
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| TOP OF THE TOP | CHEAP | TOP OF THE LINE | EXCELLENT | |
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| OUR SELECTION |
Asus Zenbook UX325EA-EG041T
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Chuwi HeroBook Pro
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Razer Blade Stealth 13
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Huawei MateBook X Pro
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The Asus Zenbook UX325EA-EG041T, also known as the Asus Zenbook 13, is an ultrabook that combines design, performance and durability in a compact size. Its 11th generation Intel processor is very fast.
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The Chuwi Herobook Pro allows you to browse the Internet, watch videos in 4K, send emails and do word processing. In addition, it offers a huge screen for an ultrabook. Although not very ambitious, it has a decent battery life.
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The Blade Stealth 13 2020 is Razer's best gaming ultrabook upgrade. A compact metal shell, a GPU built for gaming, and an extra feature set put it in the upper echelon of ultraportables.
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The Huawei MateBook X Pro 2020 is a stylish, thin and light ultrabook. It is quite expensive, but still quite interesting thanks to its performance and exceptional autonomy. Too bad for the questionable location of the webcam.
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Screen size
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13.3-inch
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14.1-inch
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13.3-inch
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13.9-inch
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Processor
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Intel Core i7-1165G7 (2.8 GHz)
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Intel Celeron Gemini Lake N4000 (2.6 GHz)
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Intel Core i7-1165G7 (2.8 GHz)
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Intel Core i5-10210U (2.1 GHz)
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RAM
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16 GB
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8 GB
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16 GB
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16 GB
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Storage
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SSD 512 GB
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SSD 256 GB
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SSD 512 GB
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SSD 512 GB
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Battery
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67 Wh
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38 Wh
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53.1 Wh
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56 Wh
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Not everyone understands the technical jargon of specifications. And if you do, don't panic! Just make sure you understand the following things:
If you work on the road or travel constantly for long periods of time, battery life is a critical factor. The battery life quoted by the manufacturer is almost never indicative of the actual experience of using a laptop in general, and an ultrabook in particular. The reason is that there are simply too many variables that affect battery life. There's screen brightness, screen resolution, the number of applications you run in the background and whether or not you stay actively connected to Wi-Fi networks or Bluetooth devices. If you're running programs that require a lot of processing, streaming, playing graphics-intensive games, or transferring a lot of files over a wireless network, your battery will drain much faster than the manufacturer has indicated. The best thing to do to get an indication of relative battery life is to look at the power rating in Watt-hours (Wh) or milliamp-hours (mAh). In theory, the higher the number, the longer the battery can last. For a 13.3-inch ultrabook, for example, a 44- to 50-Wh battery will give you the best results.
Since you'll probably end up staring at your ultrabook's screen for hours on end, you'll probably want to make sure it's as painless as possible for your eyes; especially since your screen is already small (between 12 and 14 inches). For this, you'll need a screen that's comfortable to look at and natural to use. To start, you need to ask yourself if you want your next ultrabook to have a touchscreen. These days, touchscreens are very common and can make some tasks easier than others, especially on ultrabooks. Unfortunately, opting for a touchscreen can sometimes add a shine to the display. And brighter screens are often a bit more susceptible to glare. This can be a definite drawback if you're gaming, watching content, or editing images and video content. Next, be sure to look at the resolution. A resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels (Full HD) should be considered the minimum if you want plenty of room to line up windows. Some modern ultrabooks also offer 4K resolutions. However, these high-end display panels are usually expensive. 4K is an extra that's really only worth it for those who really need it, like content creation professionals and gamers. Photographers and videographers will also want to favor ultrabooks that offer better color accuracy and support a wider color gamut and the HDR standard. If you're a gamer, it's also worth taking the time to check the refresh rate. A high refresh rate can often provide a competitive advantage in online games, as it allows for a smoother, more responsive gaming experience.
For
long typing sessions, you'll need a laptop with a comfortable keyboard. This is especially important on ultrabooks, which already have relatively compact dimensions. You don't want to have a keyboard with mini-sized keys or a compacted layout, as this can result in a poor overall user experience when looking for details such as arrows or delete keys. Ideally, you want a keyboard that has a comfortable layout with normal-sized keys and some space around the navigation arrow keys. The keys should have adequate travel on the downstroke and crisp responsiveness when you release. Make sure the keyboard is also backlit. At first glance, this may seem like a superficial detail, but backlit keys make it much easier to see what you're typing in dimly lit or no-light environments. If you're used to typing on a desktop or laptop keyboard that extends to the edge of the chassis, you're likely to find ultrabooks that opt for the same or a similar layout.
No matter how careful we are, we will inevitably take a toll on our ultrabook from the rigors of daily use. For this reason, it's worth checking to see how many tests a model has undergone (the manufacturer usually talks about this) or if there is a certification you can refer to. Modern ultrabooks are often rugged and are built to withstand rain and dust. Some are built specifically for relatively extreme environments and come with military-grade protection certifications, such as MIL-STD 810G. MIL-STD-810G is a standard used by the U.S. military to indicate a guaranteed minimum level of durability. Products that meet this standard have passed a challenge of 29 separate tests that measure resistance to impact, heat, cold, moisture and more. Although originally developed to evaluate military equipment, MIL-STD-810G has become increasingly common in consumer technologies in recent years, including with ultrabooks and laptops in general.
For a laptop to qualify as an ultrabook, it must be powered by an Intel low-power hardware platform also known as ULV platforms. These platforms are notably the basis of Intel's Sandy Bridge, Ivy Bridge, Haswell or Broadwell chips. ULV platforms are designed to offer good performance, while focusing on efficiency.
Basically, an ultrabook will be able to handle most of your daily activities with ease, without requiring a lot of power. But this means that ultrabooks aren't really best suited for power-hungry tasks like gaming, video editing, running programming software, etc. However, it really depends on one's expectations. Intel Core i5/i7 configurations are more suitable for these specific tasks.
To successfully consume as little power as possible, ultrabooks use SSD storage. Of course, an SSD consumes less power than an HDD, but it also ensures that the ultrabook runs briskly and responsively.
Recently, a new series of laptops known as ultrabooks has been released. The term was first defined by Intel. Later, other manufacturers also started to produce similar devices under the same name, but which meet specific criteria defined and trademarked by Intel. An ultrabook should be a thin, light and portable device with the processing power of a conventional laptop. An ultrabook should be able to be used for work, multimedia and entertainment.
They are designed to offer the benefits of laptops and notebooks at a higher price. While ultrabooks usually come with ultra-fast SSDs, notebooks use SSDs, HDDs or a combination of both. Ultrabooks range in screen size from 12 to 14 inches. Intel requires that laptops that qualify as ultrabooks have at least 9 hours of idle time, 6 hours of video viewing or heavy web browsing, and 7 days of standby time.
The notebook is the ordinary laptop. Generally speaking, a notebook is a portable computer that has similar processing power to a desktop computer. It weighs about 5 kg and has batteries that can run it for 4-5 hours without any external power source. They have a screen size larger than 15 inches and support high resolution displays. The mouse is replaced by a touchpad keeping in mind the portability factor.
Notebooks offer most of the features offered by a normal desktop computer. It usually comes with several built-in USB ports and contains a CD/DVD/Blu-Ray drive. Some notebooks also have a VGA port to connect an external monitor or even a projector.
The main argument in favour of the ultrabook is portability. Whereas notebooks offer a much wider choice of configuration, but lack the thinness and lightness of ultrabooks. Either way, ultraportables are clearly the future. And if you want to get ahead of the curve, this is the model to look out for.
Pay attention to the keyboard during cleaning
To remove dust from your ultrabook, you will need to use a vacuum cleaner, but you should be careful. Be careful not to detach the keys from the keyboard. It is recommended to use a microfiber cloth. Soak it in 90%+ isopropyl alcohol for the chassis and a cotton swab soaked in alcohol to remove dirt from small corners. For the screen, you will need to use foams specially dedicated to this use.
Wait until you have some charge before unplugging the power cord
To
optimize the life of your battery, it is recommended to recharge it to at least 40% before using the ultrabook without its power cord. It is also possible to save battery power. Also remember to work with the brightness set to "medium". Finally, this should be a no-brainer, but disconnect your Wi-Fi when not using the Internet.
Get a protective cover
To
protect your ultrabook in the best way possible, it is highly recommended to use a special cover. Today, you can find different types of covers on the market. There are waterproof models, protective backpacks, shockproof covers, etc.
Avoid overheating at all costs
First of all
, consider doing a thorough cleaning of your device. Next, promote airflow underneath your ultrabook by raising the chassis at least 1.5 cm above the work surface. You can also invest in a cooling tray consisting of multiple fans, which are placed under the computer to bring in cool air.
Optimize Ultrabook Performance
To
improve your notebook's performance, consider cleaning your hard drive from time to time by deleting unnecessary and temporary files. Also uninstall unnecessary programs and stop programs that start automatically when your device starts. Scheduled defragmentation is also a great idea.
The best ultrabook depends on your needs and your budget. Read our buying guide to find out which products are the best at the moment.
The term ultrabook was coined (and trademarked) in 2011 by Intel Corp. With slate-style tablet PCs and low-powered netbooks becoming popular, the company saw a growing consumer appetite for laptops that would be almost as thin as tablets but offer better performance.
Typically, on the vast majority of ultrabooks, the battery health status can be checked both outside and inside the operating system environment. The battery health status shows the current state of the battery's performance and allows you to decide if the battery needs to be replaced. Battery health can be checked using the BIOS, hardware diagnostics and various utilities.
The main causes of overheating in an ultrabook are lack of airflow, failure of the main fan and dust clogging the air outlet channels.
In the ranking of the best ultrabook brands, it's impossible not to mention the top three, which are Apple, Razor and Dell. These are the most popular and highest selling brands in this category.
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