The 8 Best 14- to 16-Inch Laptops of 2021

Most Popular: Acer Aspire E 15

4.5

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The Acer Aspire E 15 guarantees the most bang for your buck, especially when you look at its hardware. It features an 8th generation Intel Core i3 processor, 3.4GHz Turbo Boost, 6GB of RAM, and a 1TB hard drive. It also contains an Intel UHD 620 graphics card, capable of supporting most games with a lag-free connection. The 15.6-inch screen features full HD resolution and good color accuracy, although the brightness is a bit low. Still, the laptop compensates well with surround-sound audio from its built-in speakers.

For movie buffs, the visuals may be a deal-breaker. But ultimately, the Acer Aspire E 15 is built for productivity. It comes with port space for USB 3.0, 2.0, and Type-C, Ethernet, HDMI, along with an SD card reader and a DVD slot. The keyboard even comes with a full numeric keypad, which business professionals will surely appreciate. The battery also lasts for a good 13.5 hours and only takes two hours to fully charge. In his review, Jeremy praised the E 15's best-in-class performance at this (very low) price range.

Best Overall: Lenovo ThinkPad X1

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Released at the tail end of 2016, Lenovo’s ThinkPad X1 Ultrabook is a shining example of everything you can want in a 14-inch laptop. Powered by a 2.6GHz Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, there’s plenty of power under the hood for business tasks during the day and personal ones at night. The 14-inch 1920 x 1800 FHD IPS display offers excellent colors and great viewing angles for both browsing and videos. At just 2.6 pounds, the combination of fantastic performance and great display all make for a frame that’s easily portable.

The carbon fiber reinforced plastic lid and super magnesium body feel sturdy and solid in the hand and offer plenty of peace of mind that the X1 will stand up to some wear and tear. For the business user, the durable frame is complemented by added security options like a single-touch fingerprint reader that’s best utilized with Microsoft’s built-in Windows Hello login. To the left of the fingerprint reader is the ultra-responsive touchpad that pairs fantastically with Lenovo’s spill-resistant world-class keyboard. Add in nine hours of battery life and the X1 is the total package for laptop buyers looking for the best experience on the market today. 

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Apple 15-inch MacBook Pro (2018)

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The 15-inch MacBook Pro is a great choice for anyone who wants a good-sized screen, a sleek device, and most importantly, a ton of power. For this 2018 model, Apple has upgraded the Pro's processors and features to maintain parity with the specs offered by its PC competitors, and for the most part, they’ve done a good job.

This version of the 15-inch model comes standard with an 8th-generation, six-core Intel i5 processor, offering speeds of 2.2 GHz and a boosted speed of 4.1 GHz. Paired with 16GB of RAM, that’s amazing. But now you can choose to take that even further, to 32GB of on-board RAM, for a seriously top-of-the-line machine. Apple has also upgraded the graphics card, giving you a Radeon Pro 555X with its own dedicated 4GB of RAM. It won’t behave quite like a dedicated gaming PC, but it will get about as close as any MacBook Pro has. You can also get the laptop with upgraded SSD speeds in a 256GB or 512GB configuration.

The 2018 Pro model also includes four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports and Apple's Touch Bar feature, which replaces the top row of function keys with a touch-sensitive panel that integrates app controls into your keyboard and allows you to unlock your laptop with Touch ID. It also improves on the Retina display with new True Tone technology, which employs a sensor to measure the tone and temperature of your room’s lighting and optimizes the screen color gamut to give you a great looking screen no matter where you are. 

Best Gaming: Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop

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The Acer Predator Helios is definitely not the lightest machine, but the hardware inside justifies the weight. The Helios 300 contains a 7th generation Intel Core processor (with 3.8GHz Turbo Boost) and 16GB DDR4 memory, promising some of the fastest loading speeds among its competitors. The hard drive comes with 256GB SSD, but if you need extra storage space, there’s an additional slot to fit a second 2.5-inch hard drive. The 15.6-inch screen features a full HD, widescreen display, and a stylish red backlit keyboard that also provides comfortable typing feedback and a decent amount of travel. With seven hours of battery life and a custom-engineered cooling system underneath, the Predator Helios has enough power to last through even the most intense gaming sessions. As an added bonus, the Helios is also VR-ready, so all you need is a headset and any additional accessories, and you’re ready to take your gaming to a whole new level.

Best for Business: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga 2-in-1

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At just 2.8 pounds, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga 2-in-1 is an outstanding choice for business travelers that offers both laptop and tablet mode in a 14-inch package that’s just .67 inches thin. The full-size back-lit keyboard is spill resistant and retracts automatically into the hardware when not in use as a laptop, so it remains unexposed to any desk or desktop surface. Additionally, the X1 Yoga is tested against military specifications, which make it the world’s most durable, thinnest and lightest business-focused laptop.

Powered by a 2.6GHz Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space, the X1 Yoga offers four different usage modes for work, presenting, creating and connecting. The 14-inch 2K (2560 x 1440) touchscreen display pairs with OLED technology for accurate colors and sharper contrast. A dockable stylus pen can recharge in just 15 seconds and offers 100 minutes of use for drawing and annotating notes or documents. Lightweight, powerful and with more than eight hours of battery life, the X1 Yoga is a business-focused dream machine.

Best 2-in-1: Microsoft Surface Book 2 15"

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Since its initial release in late 2017, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 has managed to snag top slots on plenty of reviewers’ lists, including several of our own. The latest model features an 8th generation Intel Quad-core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage space. Additionally, it holds a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card which can handle highly demanding games and programs.

Graphic artists especially love the Surface Book 2 — the 15-inch screen features a PixelSense Display with 3,260 x 2,160 resolution and brilliant colors. Microsoft offers a range of accessories to complement the device like the Surface Pen, Surface Dial, and the Precision Mouse. This 2-in-1 is lightweight at only 4.2 pounds. It's also highly adaptable, able to switch between four versatile modes: laptop, tablet, studio, and view. For a product that doesn’t compromise on high-speed performance for portability, the Surface Book 2 is a no-brainer.

Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook 14

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This 2018 model of the Acer Chromebook is faster and stronger than its predecessors. It contains a high-speed 2.4GHz Intel Celeron processor with 4GB LPDDR3 RAM, 32 GB of solid-state storage, and a respectable 12-hour battery life. It features a 14-inch full HD widescreen, LED-backlit anti-glare display for easy browsing without the eye strain. The device also carries an HD web-camera, one HDMI input, two USB 3.0 ports, Bluetooth 4.2 connectivity, and a Kensington lock slot. Weighing just under four pounds and very affordably priced, the Chromebook is both cheap and portable, making it the perfect choice for students especially.