What Are The Best Laptops For Editing

A Note On The Criteria

High performance video editing demands three things: up-to-date computer memory , a fast Computer Processing Unit , and a Solid State Drive . If you find yourself asking: how much RAM do I need for video editing?

Think about this way: the more RAM you have, the faster your CPU boost-clock is, and the more storage your SSD has, the better. Its all about finding the right balance between price and performance.

You may also want to consider whether or not to buy a laptop with a dedicated Graphics Processing Unit . If a laptop has a dedicated GPU, we say that the system has discrete graphics. If it doesnt, then the graphics are integrated.

A computer with discrete graphics will help your post-production workflow but it wont necessarily change the game.

The laptops on this list are ranked in accordance to their value for video editing, including everything from light VFX to motion graphics design. Note that some video editing programs are available only on certain operating systems. For example, Final Cut Pro only runs on MacOS. Most other video editing programs, such as Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve run on Windows and MacOS.

Note that the prices on this list are only estimates and subject to change. There are multiple configurations for each computer on this list.

The Best Laptops For Photo And Video Editing

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The table above contains an overview over the best notebooks reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.

The Best Notebooks For Photo And Video Editing

One of the most common usage scenarios for notebooks is the storing, viewing, sorting and editing of pictures as well as videos. A laptop for this purpose should have a very high-quality display to represent your collections as accurately as possible and obviously provide the necessary performance to ensure a productive workflow. For this reason, we only list those laptops with the highest score in our test criteria display and application performance here. You can also use the following top lists for further research:

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Final Thoughts On The Best Laptops For Photo Editing

Editing photos is one of the essential parts of any photographer or artists workflow. It can be one of the more frustrating parts when using old and outdated hardware. Therefore, finding the right laptop for photo editing is vital.

In the market today, the clear winner is the latest MacBook Pro. Its the best all-arounder laptop for photo editors with Apples astounding true tone light monitoring retina display.

If its a big-screen youre looking for, the LG Gram 17 is ideal. Not to mention the Asus Zenbook Pro gives you versatility like no other. So there you have it, our top recommended laptops available on the market for photo editors and photographers.

Best Laptops For Photo Editing Reviewed

Here are our top picks of the 10 best laptops for photography and photo editing currently on the market. Youve got an idea of the clear top winners in their different categories, but here they are in an in-depth review.

In this list, youll notice a few key points about the product.; For you to see what price range the product is in, also take a look at the included a price rating of $-$$$.

Take a look at our buyers guide section at the end of the article, which explains some confusing terms used and what to look out for when buying a laptop for photo editing.;

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Two Woofers Two Tweeters

Even more impressive than the 94 percent screen-to-body ratio is that Dell manages to fit a camera with IR sensors into the incredibly thin bezel above the display. With 720p resolution, it doesn’t offer particularly good video quality, but it does let you log into your Windows 10 account with face recognition.

You can also log into your account using the fingerprint reader built into the power button, which is located at the upper right corner of the keyboard. The backlit keys are sturdy, offering 1.3mm of travel and satisfying thuds instead of high-pitched clicks when you’re typing. My only complaint about the XPS 17’s typing experience is that the laptop’s front edge is far too sharp, digging uncomfortably into my arms just above the wrists whenever I rest my hands on the home row. You can avoid this by holding your arms above the laptop, but I wouldn’t want to type in this unergonomic position for extended periods.;;

The keyboard lacks a dedicated number pad, unlike many other large laptops, but Dell has a valid excuse for this omission: two giant speaker grilles that flank the keyboard. They help conceal an impressive audio system that includes two 1.5-watt tweeters and two 2.5-watt woofers for a total output of 8 watts. The resulting audio quality rivals that of the 16-inch MacBook Pro as among the most impressive I’ve ever experienced from a laptop.

Buying A Video Editing Laptop Here’s What Experts Say

We reached out to Michel Yavercovski, Senior Director of Product Management for Corel video products, to get his expert opinions about choosing a creative computer.

“There are a few key things to look for when buying a video editing laptop and of course, when youre talking about video, the better the hardware, the smoother and more responsive your editing experience will be. Whether youre talking about ourPinnacle Studio orVideoStudio products, both have been designed to take full benefit of your hardware to make video editing as fast and efficient as possible.” Michel said.

“First, youll want to look for a system with a powerful multicore processor — the Intel Core i7 product line is a good choice to get started with — and our software has been optimized to take advantage of multithreading so you can get the most out of these impressive chips. A powerful processor will also give you a seamless experience when working with todays popular formats and creative features like multi-camera and 360° video support. 4K video can create huge file sizes, so youll also want to make sure the device has a large and fast SSD storage drive that can read and write large video files without any hang-ups.”

“Video editing takes up a lot of memory, so shop for a system that has between 16GB and 32GB of RAM to keep things running smoothly. And, of course, a 64-bit version of Windows 10 is a must.;” he added.

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So Which Laptop Should I Buy For Video Editing

We’ve selected 10 of our top-rated models for video editing below. Some are gaming laptops, others are mobile workstations, and there are even a few thin-and-light models. Any of them should be powerful enough for at least casual editing, and some are muscled-up enough for major editing tasks.

Ultimately, how much you’ll have to budget depends on whether you’re using your video-editing laptop only for quick work in the field, or whether you plan to bring it back to the studio, plug it in, and use it as your primary machine. If you’re going the former route, you’ll also want to take a look at our best desktops when it comes time to upgrade your main rig. If you’re choosing the latter, you might want to familiarize yourself with our list of best gaming laptops, one of which may offer the powerâespecially the heftier CPUâyou need for marathon editing sessions on deadline night. Color-precise screens tend not to be their forte, but good gaming laptops tend to have many of the same traits you need in a good video editing laptop.

Editing Platform Basics: Mac Or Pc

Video editors are among the class of creative professionals that stereotypically prefer to use Macs instead of PCs. Whether or not you fit that stereotype, if you’re a veteran of the industry, you probably already have a preference, so we’re not going to try to change your mind.

If you’re OS-agnostic, however, you have a vast array of hardware choices if you decide to choose a PC over a Mac laptop. The biggest advantage of going with Windows 10 or Linux is the possibility of buying a workstation-class laptop with a many-core Intel Xeon processor, something not available on any Mac portable.

Another OS consideration is your specific video-editing software preference. For example, Final Cut Pro works only on Macs, although most other editing suites, from Premiere Pro to Avid Media Composer, are available on multiple platforms. If you’re wedded to one program or another, we’d expect that to play into your decision just as much as, if not more than, the OS itself or the hardware available.

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Video Editing At Your Fingertips

Once upon a time video editing was an endeavor that required some very bulky equipment. You had to have a veritable studio set up in order to get anything that remotely looked professional. Not the case anymore. When it comes to such editing, all you really need now is a decent laptop; as far as the best laptop for video editing: there are many solid choices out there ranging in price from less than $1000 to over 2k.

Acer Conceptd 7 Ezel Pricing And Configuration

Lets get one thing straight, this laptop aint cheap. But then again, creator-class laptops are rarely cheap. That stated, the base model of the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel costs $2,499 and has a 2.6-GHz Intel Core i7-10750H processor with 16GB of RAM, a 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD, Intel UHD Graphics, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 GPU with 6GB of VRAM, and a 3840 x 2160-pixel touch display.;

The mid-tier iteration costs $2,999 and doubles the RAM, and gets you two of those 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 configuration. You also get an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2070 GPU with 8GB of VRAM. Acer let me run amok with the $3,999 model which bumped me up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU with 8GB of VRAM

Each version of the ConceptD 7 Ezel includes a Wacom Pen EMR pen.

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Intel Hd Graphics: Watch Some Videos Play Some Wow

Good For: Affordability, Portability, VersatilityBad For: Performance

From ultraportables like the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 to business laptops like the HP Elitebook 1030 G1 and everywhere in between, you’re likely to find an Intel HD Graphics chip beneath the hood. Sharing memory with its Intel CPU, iterations of this chip have been reliably streaming videos and running less-taxing games without a hitch. You might even find an integrated GPU with a discrete chip, alternating depending on the task. But when push comes to shove, you’ll want to look at a much more powerful chip if you want smooth frame rates when gaming, especially at those higher settings.

A Final Word On Shopping For The Best Video Editing Laptops

The best laptops for video editing are a mixed crop: some Apple laptops, some gaming laptops, some ultraportables, and some maxed-spec machines. Most laptops can function for video editing, but if you follow our guide and focus on RAM, GPU, and display quality, youll get something that can do more than just function.

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Good For Artists Bad For Video

The Surface Book 3 uses a quad-core processor that makes it a worse choice for video editing than our other picks, but its graphics performance is still good, and its unique detachable touchscreen makes it an interesting choice for artists who want to use it as a canvas or sketchpad.

Buying Options

The 15-inch version of Microsofts Surface Book 3 is unique among the laptops we tested because its touchscreen completely separates from the base of the laptop, giving you a huge and reasonably lightweight canvas for sketching, taking notes, or just watching videos. And unlike the Surface Pro or other pro tablets, it attaches to a base that contains a reasonably powerful GPU, a traditional keyboard and trackpad, additional ports, and a big battery. But if you dont plan on using its touchscreen extensively, it has a few too many flaws for us to recommend it. The quad-core processor is much slower at video encoding and other CPU-intensive tasks than the six- and eight-core chips that our other picks offer. Its expensive for the hardware you get, especially if you want to expand beyond the relatively paltry 256 GB of storage. And it doesnt allow you to install more memory or storage yourself if you need an upgrade down the line. For artists who need a bit more power and a better keyboard and trackpad than most tablets offer, the Surface Book 3 is worth considering. Most other people should look at our top picks first.

Comparing Video Editing: Laptops Vs Desktops

Not too long back, it was unthinkable that a task as complicated and resource-intensive as video editing could be performed on a laptop. But the technological world changes every so often, and this scenario is now a reality. However, while laptops are capable of this task, how competent are they? Can they match up to the power of a desktop when it comes to a job well done? Let us examine this.

Ultimately, both laptops and desktops have their highs and lows when it comes to multimedia editing. While the former score brownie points for mobility, the latter offer a premium in power and longevity.

When choosing between them, you would be well advised to weigh your day-to-day needs, requirements for travel, and budget.

Depending on the specifications that your budget allows, many contemporary laptops can be as commendable as desktops at providing a smooth editing experience.

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Microsoft Surface Book 2

Most versatile video editing laptop

Specifications

Reasons to avoid

Both a powerful laptop and a portable tablet, the Surface Book 2 is the most versatile notebook you can use to edit video. It comes with a powerful 8th Gen Core i7 CPU and discrete Nvidia GTX 1060 GPU, as well as an incredibly vibrant 3240 x 2160 display.;The Surface Book 2’s 3240 x 2160 display is bright and vivid, so it’s perfect for drawing, video editing or just kicking back and watching five or six too many YouTube videos.

It lasted over 12 hours on our battery test, so you can edit all day without fear of losing a charge. If the 15-inch version is too big or too expensive for you, there’s also a 13.5-inch option, but that steps down to either integrated or GTX 1050 graphics.

Reasons to avoid

The HP Spectre x360 is an elegant machine capable of completing the HandBrake benchmark in 10 minutes and 45 seconds. The Spectre x360’s 15.6-inch, 4K, glossy display is a mixed bag. On one hand, it’s ridiculously colorful and sharp, but on the other, this screen is annoyingly dim and comes with distracting glare.;

Reasons to avoid

The HP ZBook x2 is pricey, but it gets you an adaptable tool for creative work. The matte, 14-inch 4K display lets you edit at any resolution, and, if you prefer a stylus, you can use the shortcut keys for quick actions or keep the Bluetooth keyboard nearby. The Quadro GPU could be stronger, but there are few devices that cater so directly to creatives.

Reasons to avoid

Reasons to avoid

Sonnet Egfx Breakaway Box

A no-frills purchase, the Sonnet EFFX Breakaway Box offers little in the way of ports and design. However, it’s easy to get into and install the graphics card, and this box could be fine for people who just want to game on their laptop.;

Design: Other than the rounded edges along the front and a blue backlit squiggle meant to resemble an “S,” the Sonnet EGFX Breakaway Box won’t turn heads. The 13.4 x 8 x 7.3-inch, 7.1 pound box is rather squat and wide and sure to take up a sizable space on your desk. Two metal lattices on the sides of the device make sure the GPU receives proper airflow.;

Ports: Like the AKiTiO Node, the Breakaway Box only offers a Thunderbolt 3 port and a port for the AC power cord.;

Accessibility:xGetting into the Breakaway Box involves removing two black bolts on the back of the box and lifting off the top. Installing the GPU is as simple as snapping it in.;

Compatibility: Despite multiple attempts, we could only get the Breakaway Box to work with the ThinkPad T470. However, we had to install a driver to get the system to recognize the eGPU.;

Value: At $258.99, the Breakaway Box is the cheapest eGPU we’ve tested, and with the plain-Jane design and lack of ports it shows. Throw in our $419.99 GPU, and you’ve got a grand total of $679.98.

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