TOP PICK 
BLW's Score
93
91
90
85
84
MSRP
$1,349.00
$1,799.00
$1,499.11
$999.99
Price not available
More Information
Processor
Intel i7-7500U 2.7 GHz
Intel Core i7-8550U 1.8 Ghz
Intel Core i5-7Y54 1.2 GHz
Intel Core i5 7300U 2.6 GHz
Intel Core i7-7500U 2.7GHz
RAM
16GB DDR4
16GB DDR4
8GB DDR3L
8GB DDR3L
16GB DDR3L
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
512GB SSD
256GB SSD
256GB SSD
512GB SSD
Display
12.5" FHD (1920 x 1080)
15.6" UHD (3840 × 2160)
13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080)
13.3" FHD (1920×1080)
12.5" UHD (3840 x 2160)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 620
NVIDIA GeForce MX150
Intel HD Graphics 620
Intel HD Graphics 520
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10
Windows 10
Windows 10
Windows 10
Windows 10
Weight
2 pounds
4.42 pounds
2.48 pounds
2.82 pounds
2.84 pounds
TOP PICK
Model
BLW's Score
93
MSRP
$1,349.00
More Information
Processor
Intel i7-7500U 2.7 GHz
RAM
16GB DDR4
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
Display
12.5" FHD (1920 x 1080)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10
Weight
2 pounds
Model
BLW's Score
91
MSRP
$1,799.00
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i7-8550U 1.8 Ghz
RAM
16GB DDR4
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
Display
15.6" UHD (3840 × 2160)
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce MX150
OS
Windows 10
Weight
4.42 pounds
Model
BLW's Score
90
MSRP
$1,499.11
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i5-7Y54 1.2 GHz
RAM
8GB DDR3L
Hard Disk
256GB SSD
Display
13.3" FHD (1920 x 1080)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10
Weight
2.48 pounds
Model
BLW's Score
85
MSRP
$999.99
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i5 7300U 2.6 GHz
RAM
8GB DDR3L
Hard Disk
256GB SSD
Display
13.3" FHD (1920×1080)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 520
OS
Windows 10
Weight
2.82 pounds
Model
BLW's Score
84
MSRP
Price not available
More Information
Processor
Intel Core i7-7500U 2.7GHz
RAM
16GB DDR3L
Hard Disk
512GB SSD
Display
12.5" UHD (3840 x 2160)
Graphics
Intel HD Graphics 620
OS
Windows 10
Weight
2.84 pounds
Note: Our comparison table only shows our top 5 picks. You can find the other recommendations within this article.
For buyers looking for a high-end laptop, many manufacturers are now coming up with innovative, crafted and beautiful solutions. Everything at the upper end of high-performance laptops is not necessarily a gaming laptop anymore.
Your beast doesn’t need to be a bulky, luminous object that draws unwanted attention at your office. It can have style, panache and still pack a punch for all your needs from a laptop. This is what an Ultrabook is all about.
Manufacturers are realizing that products like the MacBook Air have a certain appeal to them because of their reliable performance and a minimalistic but premium design.
These laptops usually come with high-end i7 processors, plenty of RAM and solid-state drives for storage. The USP for most of these laptops is solid, light-weight construction with slimmer panels. You can also find the links for these at the end of the description.
The laptops mentioned here have been carefully selected to offer you a diversity of choices as a buyer, Most of these laptops have some kind of a special point that sets them apart from the rest of the laptops. It might be an excellent performance, security features, battery life, etc.
As the needs of consumers are not a one size fits all phenomenon, manufacturers have to take care to construct products that need the exact needs of customers. For some, an Ultrabook is about the ultimate performance only.
For other portability with a good display and a slim construction is more important. It is advisable to consider your personal needs and then select a product best aligned to those needs.
The prices of all these products vary a lot as well. Take a look at the prices and decide what best fits your budget.
See Also: 5 Best Laptops For Hackers And Hacking
Our Top Picks for Best Ultrabooks
1. Asus Zenbook 3 12.5-inch
Specs:
Asus released the ZenBook as a direct competitor to the Apple MacBook Air. The current iteration of the laptop is a nice upgrade to the previous models. A cursory glance at it reveals all the small details that have been taken care of for providing one of the most elegant designs for laptops we have ever seen.
The laptop weighs only 2 lbs. and at 0.46 inches, it is amazingly thin. It is powered by the 7th generation Intel KabyLake i7 processor and features 16GB of RAM.
This is one of the best laptops for people who travel a lot. Not only because of the lightweight construction but because ASUS claims that battery will easily last you 9 hours.
With 512GB of SSD storage, you get plenty of space with a very high boot speed improving the overall performance of the laptop.
For multimedia users, the laptop also features Harman Kardon speakers working with the ASUS Golden Ear Team to provide excellent sound quality for audiophiles.
The laptop ships with Windows 10 and features a 1080p display. You also get the ASUS 1-year accidental damage protection, which covers any of kind basic accidental damage that might happen to your laptop.
For security purposes, it contains a fingerprint sensor as well integrated fully with Windows Hello so that you can sign-in easily without typing in a password.
See Also: 5 Best Laptops For PUBG (PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds)
2. HP Spectre X-360 15 inch
Specs:
When a company names its flagship product after a James Bond movie, you can be certain that they mean business. The HP Spectre has is a complete head turner.
It has been beautifully crafted with gold sidelines with a matte black finish. The backlit keyboard has been praised heavily for its user-friendliness and ease-of-use.
One of the unique features of the HP Spectre is the 360° flip and fold design that lets you use the laptop as a tablet as well. This is a great laptop for designers looking to work with a stylus on a laptop for creating stunning digital art.
With a 4K resolution setup, featuring one of the most brilliant displays you’ll have enough space to work with on this machine. With 2GB of dedicated graphics memory powered by a NVIDIA MX150 Graphics Card, all your gaming and digital rendering needs are taken care of.
The laptop features a 8th generation Intel i7-8550U processor with 16GB of Ram and 512GB of SSD storage space. This means extremely fast performance with battery efficiency. At 4.4 pounds, the laptop is lighter than most laptops giving you a similar spec.
To show how much this laptop is focused on taking the fight to apple, the laptop has its speakers placed on the sides of the keyboard providing you with excellent sound.
3. Acer Swift 7 13-inch
Specs:
Acer has been producing some brilliant laptops focussing on efficiency and cost-effectiveness for more than a decade now. The company’s Ultrabook model competing with the rest is this Acer Swift 7.
It has a 13-inch Full HD screen with Corning Gorilla Glass 4. The IPS display with the Corning Gorilla Glass not only produces some brilliant pictures but also offers ample of protection from any kind of scratches.
It has been ergonomically designed with chamfered edges and rounded corners to make it easy to hold.
At 0.39 inches, it is one of the thinnest laptops in production that you can buy right now. It also offers immense portability at a weight of 2.5 lbs. This is one of the few laptops featuring USB 3.1 ports with USB Type-C support.
The laptop is utilizing an Intel i5 processor with 8 GB of RAM. Do not think that it is a compromise on performance as Acer has used this configuration to save battery usage and give an output of up to 9 hours.
However, there a few gripes with this laptop. It does not feature a backlit keyboard which is something expected as standard in this price segment.
Second, this is not a laptop for gamers and or digital artists, as it cannot support high-end visual processing. This is a laptop for casual users and office users not involved in tasks, which require high processing power.
4. HP Elitebook X360 13-inch
Specs:
The HP Elitebook series is a famed business range of laptops that HP has been delivering with successfully for years now.
The Elitebook is aimed at business users who need a high-end system with top security features and good performance. The Elitebook offers a touch display and a foldable design that lets you use the laptop as a tablet as well.
This is a good laptop for users who need a product that converges the lines between a traditional laptop and a tablet. The laptop has a signature HP design in silver with a black keyboard. The laptop features an Intel Core i5-7200U processor clocked at 2.5GHz.
It offers 8GB of DDR4 RAM and features Windows 10 Pro. Windows 10 Pro offers a multitude of business features that can be handy for company laptops. HP provides you the laptop with a one-year warranty and a 256GB Turbo Drive SSD.
The laptops tests reveal a lower than average brightness output. The laptop is highly usable for using indoors but usage in sunlight might be problematic.
The laptop trumps others in its range of peripherals available. These include a Thunderbolt 3, an HDMI port, a Kensington Lock Slot and much more apart from the standard USB ports.
5. Razer Blade Stealth 12.5 Inch
Specs:
The Razer Blade Stealth is a different take on the Ultrabook forming a niche market of its own. This is a laptop focused on high-end performance with the highest levels of durability. For those who want their laptops to not draw a lot of attention but still give them the feel of a gaming laptop, this is probably a good option.
It offers a 12.5-inch 4k screen at 3840 x 2160 with touchscreen capability. As mentioned earlier, the Razer Blade Stealth is a laptop offering utmost durability.
The chassis has constructed using CNC-milled out aluminum. This is a material used in aircraft construction to provide weight savings and strength. This laptop has a Thunderbolt 3 connectivity port.
As this laptop is focused on delivering extreme performance, it has been fitted with a 7th generation Intel i7-7500U processor. Although the normal clock speed is 2.70GHZ, the laptop can be overclocked to 3.50 GHz as well for added performance.
With 16GB RAM and 512 GB of SSD storage, you have plenty of power for high-end performance, accessing files faster, and low boot up times. This particular laptop also features an anti-ghosting keyboard powered by Razer Chroma.
This offers you with a highly customisable keyboard. The laptops offer plenty of USB connectivity with 3 USB 3.0 ports that let you connect to an external desktops graphics enclosure for high-end gaming as well. For portable gaming, this is the perfect laptop.
6. Microsoft Surface Book 2
Specs:
The Microsoft Surface Book 2 laptop is Microsoft’s idea of what the Windows experience should actually be like. For years, Microsoft has shied away from producing its own hardware to power the most widely used operating system in the world.
But now, Microsoft has finally stepped into the game with the Surface Book. For those who use Microsoft Office and other MS products, this is the good laptop to buy. Customization is available in plenty from the makers of Windows 10 for your needs.
You can have an i5 or an i7 model with 128, 256 or 512 GB of storage space at your disposal. The keyboard is one of the best in the class. With the Surface laptop, you are eligible to use all of Microsoft’s new hardware for increased productivity. This includes the Surface Pen, the Surface Mouse and the Surface Dial.
The 13.5-inch screen with PixelSense display and a 3000x2000 resolution offers one of the best displays that easily competes with Apple. You also get an amazing 17 hours of battery life. With 16GB of RAM, you can be sure that your experience with the Surface range is seamless.
7. Acer Aspire 5
Specs:
The Acer Aspire 5 is another offering from Acer in our lists. This is a laptop offering you a traditional laptop design with a classic monochrome black tone. This is a laptop offering good performance at the mid-range of the Ultrabook segment.
It features a 15.6 inch Full HD display with a very capable NVIDIA GeForce MX150 GPU. This combination will support video streaming or anything but the most demanding game applications.
At 0.8 inches, Acer Aspire 5 is one of the slimmer laptops to be featured on this list. The laptop also weighs a reasonable 4.4 pounds offering a very portable option for a laptop with good performance.
The improved hardware has been designed to offer a seamless, efficient interface to make your experience with the laptop more memorable than ever. The laptop is powered by an Intel i5-8250U processor which is a bargain at this laptop’s price. It features an SD card reader.
It offers good connectivity with Bluetooth 4.0 and 802.11ac WiFi with a dual band setup at 2.4GHZ and 5 GHz. There are two USB 3 ports (one is Type-C) and two USB 2.0 ports. The laptop also has an HDMI Port with HDCP support, which can be important for stream high resolution video content.
Acer provides you with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage. However, you can also opt for a 512GB version of the laptop. This is a laptop offering every choice and functionality you can imagine when shopping for a high-end Ultrabook.
8. ASUS Zenbook 13-Inch
Specs:
The Asus Zenbook 13 inch is the little brother of the Zenbook we mentioned earlier. The ZenBook UX330UA focuses on being lighter, slimmer and faster than all other notebooks in its class at an affordable price.
It features a 13.3-inch screen with a Full HD Display. Thanks to the 256 GB SSD present, everything from startup to loading happens instantly. You get a fingerprint reader mounted specifically at the corner of the TouchPad.
This lets you log in through Windows Hello without entering your password repeatedly. The laptop features a beautiful, silver finish and at a first glance could be mistaken for an Apple MacBook Air as well.
With Sonic Master from ASUS, the audio output you get is clear and crisp with a lot of customisation for audiophiles to fiddle around.
There has been extra care taken for providing a long-lasting battery and a design that ensures your hands do not feel fatigued after a longer period of usage. As for the performance, the laptop has an Intel i5-6200U processor and 8GB of DDR3 Ram.
A major issue with the laptop though is the amount of bloatware ASUS adds to the system which might affect performance. This is a laptop offering a very premium finish and design for a very good price.
9. Lenovo IdeaPad 710S
Specs:
The Lenovo IdeaPad series is one of the best professional laptops in the market. It is famous for its robust and elegant design and its natural feeling keyboard. The IdeaPad 710S Ultrabook features a 13.3 inch Full HD display.
Powered by Intel i7-7500U processors with a 2.7GHZ clock speed that can be overclocked to 3.5 GHz, this is a beast of a machine with enough processing power for all your needs. It can tackle all the tasks you throw at it with ease by using this 8GB of DDR4 RAM and 256 GB of SSD storage.
The laptop is fairly portable at 2.6 pounds in weight. Lenovo claims an 8 hour output time for the laptop. The laptop is quite thin for an Ideapad laptop and doesn’t heat up much even at heavy usage. It can be trusted with hours of continuous use without any heating issues. The speakers in the laptop are from JBL.
They offer a very crisp sound with a distinctive bass and raunchy trebles for playing different kinds of music. The Intel HD Graphics 620 chipset is good enough for all multimedia tasks that you might throw at this laptop. However, it should be noted that this is not a gaming laptop.
10. Dell XPS 9360 13 Inch
Specs:
The final entry in this list is the critically acclaimed Dell XPS 13 inch. This is a laptop that has been famed for its brilliant display, and one of the best designs. It features an almost bezzle-free display with a Quad HD screen at 3200 x 1800.
The laptop features Intel’s i7-7500U processor clocked at 3.5 GHz. You get 256 GB of SSD space with 8GB of RAM. However, the XPS series offers a range of customizations where you can choose the laptop processor, RAM, and storage to suit your personal needs. The HD webcam has a skewed position though.
It captures really good videos when using Skype but the position of the camera makes it difficult to cover the whole face sometimes. Although it has a very slim design, the XPS features enough ports for most users including HDMI, Thunderbolt 3 as well.
The audio through the laptop speakers is loud, but it lacks the clarity that other laptops offering the price range. With its Intel HD Graphics 620 chipset, you can play light games on this system as well.
However, there is no dedicated graphics card to support high-end gaming. With a classic silver finish, the Dell XPS is one of the most beautiful pieces of craftsmanship you can buy.
Conclusion
So there you go, these are currently the 10 best Ultrabooks. Before making a final purchase, we advise you to buy the laptop that suits your personal needs well.
Make sure you choose the product that offers you enough performance, speed, and storage. If high performance is your main need and portability can be compromised, we would suggest looking at other Ultrabooks as well which offer similar performance.
All the laptops vary greatly in the kind of customer they wish to attract. You as a buyer, should look at all the necessary features you need and then buy the laptop. Note that most of these laptops are not customizable and an upgrade on storage or RAM might not be possible.
