Intro
Here are our actual top 10 laptops . Look, this year it honestly felt a bit m more about incremental improvements versus revolutionary new devices with the exception of Intel’s Panther Lake CPUs. Those actually look really good. They should make Ultrabooks a lot more compelling this year. They now should have the performance for tasks like intensive programming and more serious video editing and gaming. And in our limited testing of those laptops, they did stay very cool and quiet while doing so. Plus, according to Intel, those laptops should have that same great battery life as we came to expect from thinner and light laptops powered by Luna Lake. Obviously, we’ll have to test all that when they come in for review. In fact, shh, we already have a couple. But anyway, most laptops themselves were more incremental updates. So, with that said, here’s our top 10 laptops.
Zephyrus G14 and G16
Look last year these were pretty good laptops. In fact, the 16-in was really the best all round Windows laptop for people who want a balance of performance and portability. But it did have a couple of issues. The Zephris’s OLED panels just weren’t as bright as competitors, and their GPUs weren’t fed full power, especially their higher tier ones like the 5080. Well, this year, Asus have addressed both these issues. The screens are now brighter, and there is an improved cooling solution. This and the inclusion of the supposedly more power efficient new Intel CPUs are allowing Asus to up the wattage fed to their GPUs, particularly those higher wattage ones. Also, the Zephyrus G14 is now getting a full-size SD card reader, so it should be able to better compete with the MacBook Pro 14. Now, according to ASUS, they’re also getting stronger hinges. It was rare last year that the Zephris laptops were able to hit their previous max GPU wattage. So, I want to see it to believe it to see if they’re able to hit this new max GPU wattage.
OmniBook Ultra
When it comes to thinner and light premium laptops, HP’s redesigned Omnibook Ultra is looking really strong this year. It may not have the bells and whistles of some of the other thinner and lights I’m about to talk about, but what HP tends to do better than those other brands is their pricing. HP just often significantly undercuts other laptops with similar build quality and specs. If they follow that previous game plan, this new redesigned Omnibook Ultra is going to give you a lot for your money. I’d say 90% of what those other laptops do for a much cheaper price. You’ll be getting a thin and light laptop that’s premium enough for most people with one of Intel’s or Qualcomm’s latest chips. It’s not perfect. As I said, its chassis, it isn’t quite as premium as other brands leading laptops. And its keyboard, it does continue to feel a bit low travel, but HP’s pricing strategy is probably going to make this one a winner in 2026, especially with what we’re expecting to see with laptop pricing.
Stealth 16 AI
MSI’s new and fully redesigned Stealth 16. With ASUS’ G16 now being ridiculously expensive and Asus Predator Helios Neo6s getting a surprising downgrade from a 5070Ti to a 5070, there is a vacuum in the market for a thinner and light gaming laptop with a 5070Ti. Well, MSI’s new Stealth, it looks like a contender. Of course, it comes with a 5070 Ti and unlike last year’s model, it’s actually fed decent power. Not the max 140 watts, it’s 125, but that’s still a really good amount. This year’s redesigned chassis, it also exhausts hot air out the back, not on your mouse hand. They’ve got rid of that silly tiny number pad, and they’ve centered the keyboard. They’ve also moved that annoying power cable over to the left side, so it won’t get in the way of your mouse hand, at least not if you’re right-handed. On top of this, it’s got upgradeable memory. Yay. But then, of course, who can afford to upgrade their memory this year? Anyway, it is really nice to see that MSI has listened to a lot of feedback and made a lot of changes.
TUF A14 with Strix Halo
People have been shouting from the rooftops to put Stricks Halo in a decent affordable laptop. If you’re unaware, Stricks Halo is AMD’s super powerful APU. It combines insane CPU performance with a powerful integrated GPU. The new chip inside the TU A14 specifically, it features the 40 core GPU that has the performance that rivals a dedicated Nvidia RTX 4060 laptop GPU that is quite a bit stronger than Intel’s latest XC3 12 core GPU that you’ve probably been hearing a lot about this week. Anyway, since Tris Halo is an APU, it can share its memory between the CPU and GPU. So you can give the GPU access to a lot more memory than a normal dedicated GPU would be able to do which is exactly what AI developers really want. This is the first time that we’ve seen Stricks Halo in a regular laptop that we hope is going to be somewhat affordable. The Tough A14, in fact, it actually won our best 14-in gaming laptop of last year. Not because it’s super premium, but because it’s the most practical of the 14-in higherformance laptops. It doesn’t get that warm under load, and it has excellent battery life. So, we can’t wait to try the new Stricks Halo version.
Zenbook DUO
Number six is the fully redesigned Asus Zenbook Duo. In prior years, this was kind of a cool laptop that was innovative, i.e. A laptop that could be used as a regular one or convert into a dual screen one, but it just didn’t fully deliver on its promise. You couldn’t use it with the screens side by side, only on top of each other. It was a bit big and bulky. Its screens didn’t get as bright as we’d like, and it didn’t feel all that premium. This year, Asus have really addressed a lot of these issues. It is more compact and you can actually use it in book mode. Not perfectly, but much better than the prior years. The screens are also brighter with smaller bezels. Plus, having Intel’s new Panther Lake processor inside, it should help with battery life. Guys, it no longer feels like a concept device, and I can really see software developers and students actually buying one.
Yoga Pro 9i
This was a device that just missed its opportunity to be the dominant 16-inch premium laptop from last year. That’s for people like programmers and creators or anyone who wants a productivity laptop and perhaps does some gaming on the side. The Yoga Pran and I, it just fell short in some key places. Although it had an incredibly comfortable keyboard, its mechanical trackpad just kind of sucked. Well, it’s now got a haptic one. It also felt thicker and bulkier than it needed to be last year. That’s fixed, too. It’s now thinner and lighter. Its charger wasn’t beefy enough, so it drained the battery a little even while plugged in during intensive use. I’m talking about that shouldn’t happen either, according to Lenovo. Also, its battery life has always been pretty bad. That should be improved with its new Panther Lake chip and slightly larger battery. On this list, the Yoga Proni. It really may seem a bit boring, but that’s because it was already a pretty good laptop. I think this new 2026 variant should really be an excellent alternative to the MacBook Pro 16 and could be the dominant Windows laptop for people looking for strong performance, a premium experience, and some portability.
XPS 14 and 16
Dell’s completely redesigned XPS 14 and 16. Yes, the XPS is back. These are super premium and very compact laptops for their respective screen sizes. Dell have really optimized space here. They have stunning tandem displays, a choice of Intel’s new Panther Lake processors, charging capable USBC ports on either side. They’ve also got incredible speakers, easily as good as the MacBook Pros. Plus, Dela finally fixed their own self-inflicted issues. The physical function row is now back and the invisible haptic trackpad now has clear markings. For such a nice laptop, you may think it’s just odd. Why isn’t it higher up on our list? The situation is this. Dell have done a lot here. For example, they are the first we’ve seen to introduce a variable refresh rate panel that goes right down to one herz, which would really help with battery life. But these laptops, they still have a bit of a way to go to be as polished as the other laptops higher up on our list. For example, at Dell’s own press event, their COO actually struggled to open one of these new XPS laptops. These are really hard to open. There isn’t a lip or an indent for your finger to grab onto. Dell’s desire for formover function strikes again. Also, the Panther Lake chips in these laptops aren’t fed as much wattage as they are in others. A max of 25 W sustained for the 14 and 35 W for the 16. These chips actually have a theoretical max of 45 W sustained. Also, the front edge is a little sharper than we’d like, and the tandem OLED displays aren’t as bright as other tandem OLEDs. Overall, these are really nice laptops and a huge step forward for Dell, but I feel they need one more iteration to move further up our list.
ExpertBook Ultra
Final , winning our bronze award for the third best laptop of CES is Asus’s Expert Book Ultra. If you haven’t heard of this one, it just ticks all the boxes. It’s super thin and light and built really well, guys. This thing feels very premium. It’s got a tandem display, a haptic touchpad, a comfortable keyboard, USBC ports on both sides. You can even get it with a 5-year warranty, and of course, it’s got the top tier Panther Lake processor inside. That’s the one with a full 12 core XC3 integrated GPU. So, you can expect that this laptop is going to perform really well. If you are looking for a super thin and light laptop, what more could you want? And I have to say, we really like that Asus are making this business laptop available to consumers. This is kind of similar to what Lenovo has been doing with their ThinkPads for years. Anyway, we’re trying to get this one in super fast, so get subscribed with the notification bell on because our full review is coming soon.
Yoga Pro 7i
Coming in as runner up for the best new laptop of CES is Lenovo’s new Yoga Pro 7i. last year, one of the hottests selling laptops at least on our website was the Legion 5i, a 15-in gaming laptop with a mid-tier dedicated GPU that came in a little over $1,000. It was just the sweet spot. A large enough display and a big enough cooling solution, yet more portability than a 16-in laptop. Well, the Yoga Pro 7i really takes this to another level. It’s more compact than that Legion and more portable. It has a stunning 15.3 in OLED panel. It’s got a mid-range dedicated GPU and a Panther Lake CPU. To top this off, you get a great port selection, including a fast full-size SD card reader. and the one from the Lenovo store can be had with a haptic trackpad. Apparently, the best buy configuration will only have a mechanical one. Anyway, this is really going to be the perfect laptop for a student who wants a bit more grunt than an ultrabook, but doesn’t want the weight or bulk of a larger laptop. In fact, this is probably going to be a top pick for anyone who wants a lot of portability, but just doesn’t want to compromise on performance or productivity. The only reason I didn’t put it as number one is because I feel Lenovo’s next laptop has broader appeal.
Yoga Slim 7i Ultra
Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7i Ultra. This laptop is going to appeal to so many people with almost no downsides . The Yoga Slim 7i Ultra is incredibly thin and light, yet it is powerful. It has one of Intel’s most powerful Panther Lake processors inside, the one with that 12 core GPU, and unlike other manufacturers, Lenovo is feeding at 40 W sustained. This is a lot of power for a laptop this size. And you’re going to be able to do a lot of things on it, whether it’s performance intensive tasks or even a bit of gaming. And if you think it’s going to get super hot with all that power, I actually felt it while gaming and it wasn’t too bad. The Yoga Slim 7i Ultra, it also feels incredibly premium. The soft touch coating that they’ve used all around this laptop is just chef’s kiss. Anyone who picks this thing up is going to want to buy one. It also looks stunning in its white color. But , it wasn’t just this that set the Yoga Slim 7i Ultra apart. It was just how polished the device is. The edges, they’re all nicely curved for comfort. There is a charging capable USBC port on both sides. The keyboard felt very comfortable to type on and not low travel. You could easily open the laptop because of its lip. It has a bright PLE display and a haptic touchpad. My only nits and it’s pretty minor with this laptop is that it lacks a USBA port. The light colored backlight on the white model may blend in with a light colored keyboard making it kind of hard to read the keys in certain lighting conditions. And that FIFA edition’s trackpad is a bit of a no-go, at least for me. On that version of the laptop, the soccer pitch isn’t smooth to glide your fingers over as you can feel the lines of the pitch. Please note though, this laptop, at least in my opinion, is really a Yoga Slim 9. Basically, it’s a much more premium version of the Yoga Slim 7. I think given how awful last year’s Yoga Slim 9 was, Lenovo wanted to avoid calling it that and instead added Ultra onto the end of the name. I’d expect it to come in at a similar price point as the 9 being around $1,500 or a little higher. And I must say I do think that’s kind of fair for this laptop given how amazing it is. Well, that’s it for our top 10.
Others
For example, the redesigned and lighter LOQ, which I probably meant to pronounce as ‘lock’. The updated ThinkPad X915 with Panther Lake, and it has more ports, including an SD card reader. Also, Dell is bringing an OLED screen to their high-end Alienware laptops, which really rounds out their lineup. They also announced that they are working on a slim Alienware. I have to say that it feels more premium, and it actually looks a lot better than the Blade 16, but it is a very early-stage device.
Outro
Anyway, if you think we’ve missed a laptop that deserves to be on here, just leave a comment down below or like someone else’s. We’ll be checking the comments to determine which laptops we want to prioritize for our full reviews. Finally, and I just want to end with this, I think the best thing about CS was actually seeing our fellow reviewers. There really is only a handful of us who do this full time. And even though we are competitors, everyone is just very respectful and might I say good friends. As I always say, if you are in the market for a laptop, make sure to check our website, bestlaptop.deals. It really is the hub for laptop buying. We provide our top 10 laptops for each type of laptop buyer. You can combine use cases together for a custom recommendation. And we track prices right across retailer so you know where to go to get the best deal. Till next time, go do something awesome with your day and I will catch you later
