Best Lightweight Laptops

Do you want to buy a lightweight laptop? Are you looking for one that’s cheap? Maybe one that’s powerful?

More and more people are asking us for laptops that are small and light and easy to carry, so we’ve set to work.

We have analyzed a large number of light laptops in order to guide and help you choose the best model according to your needs and budget.

In this article, we will introduce you to lightweight laptops of all kinds: ultra laptops, 2-in-1 convertible laptops (tablet and computer), designed for travel and more.

RankingNameBest FeatureCurrent Price
1)
Huawei Matebook D 15AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor
Price On Amazon
2)
Lenovo Ideapad 530S-14IKB8GB RAM & 512GB SSD
Price On Amazon
3)
CHUWI UBook Tablet PCIntel UHD Graphics 600
Price On Amazon
4)
LG Gram 14Z990-VFull HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels
Price On Amazon
5)
MacBook AirBatterylife up to 12 hours
Price On Amazon

Lightweight Laptop Comparison: Which One To Buy?

After several hours of searching and after making an exhaustive analysis of more than 35 lightweight laptops of all types, we have selected the best models of the moment.

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In this list of laptops we include models of all types: light and cheap, light and powerful, ultrabooks, 2 in 1 convertibles, chromebooks, models for students or designers, for travel, with 4K resolution and more

1) Huawei Matebook D 15

Following are the technical features of Huawei MateBook D15, the best lightweight and cheap ultrabook available as of today.

  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3500U
  • RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM
  • Hard Drive Capacity: 256 GB SSD
  • Graphics Card: Radeon Vega 8
  • 15,6″ FullView screen with 1920×1080 pixels Full HD resolution
  • Windows 10 Operating System
  • Battery Life: Long battery life of up to 12 hours and quick charging system
  • Weight: 1.18 kg

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9Expert Score
Pros & Cons

Following are the PROS & CONS of this product

PROS
  • Excellent Pack: Laptop + wireless mouse + FreeBuds 3 wireless headset and a carrying bag.
  • IPS screen of maximum resolution with a thickness of only 5mm.
  • It allows you to easily share your mobile screen on your laptop with a single click so you can drag files between them and answer your messages.
  • High quality components and last generation of AMD with an excellent quality/price ratio.
  • Fast charging system at 50% in only 30 minutes thanks to its extra small USB-C charger that fits in your pocket.
CONS
  • There is no space available to expand RAM in the future.
  • It does not have an Ethernet port or SD card reader, requiring the use of a USB hub.

2) Lenovo Ideapad 530S-14IKB

This is one of the lightweight laptop with the best price/performance ratio) Technical features of the ultra-thin Lenovo IdeaPad are as follows

  • Intel Core i7 8550U processor up to 1.8 GHz
  • RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM
  • 512 GB SSD Hard Drive Capacity
  • Graphics Card: Intel UHD Graphics 620
  • Screen: Full HD screen from 14″ and 1920×1080 pixels resolution
  • Windows 10 Operating System
  • Battery Life Up to 6 hours
  • Weight 1.4 kg

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9Expert Score
Pros & Cons

Following are the PROS & CONS of this product.

PROS
  • Elegant design and polished aluminum construction of only 1.6cm thick.
  • High-end components at an unbeatable price: i7 processor and high-capacity SSD hard drive.
  • State-of-the-art connectivity: includes USB 3.1 type C ports, USB 3.0, HDMI and a 4-in-1 card reader.
  • It has a fingerprint reader for added security.
CONS
  • Your ventilation system can be a bit noisy if you give it too much juice.
  • Even though it is very light, it is the heaviest laptop among all those analyzed.

3) CHUWI UBook Tablet PC 11.6 Inch Tablet

This is one of the best 2-in-1 convertible lightweight laptops. Technical characteristics of the Chuwi UBook, the best lightweight laptop convertible into a tablet are as follow:

  • Intel Gemini Lake N4100 4-core processor up to 2.4 GHz
  • 8GB high-frequency RAM
  • Hard Drive Capacity: Ultra-fast 256 GB SSD
  • Graphics card: Intel UHD Graphics 600
  • 11,6″ and 1920×1080 pixel FullHD laminated IPS display
  • Windows 10 Operating System
  • Battery Life: Battery life of up to 9.5 hours thanks to its 26.6 Wh
  • Weight 0.7 kg

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8Expert Score
Pros & Cons

Following are the PROS & CONS of this product.

PROS
  • Excellent aluminum design
  • it weighs less than 800 grams and is only 9mm thick
  • Its detachable magnetic keyboard allows it to be used both as a laptop and as a tablet in a comfortable way.
  • Its SSD hard disk is expandable in the future up to 1TB capacity.
  • Stay connected at all times thanks to its 2.4G and 5G dual-band WIFI.
  • It has USB 3.0 ports, USB type C, HDMI, SD reader …
CONS
  • It is possible to write softly with the Hi6 Pen from CHUWI but the Stylus is not included in the price.

4) LG Gram 14Z990-V

This is an ultra-thin, lightweight laptop that is very durable Technical characteristics of the LG Gram from 14″, the thinnest and lightest ultrabook are as follow:

  • Processor: Intel Core i7 8565U up to 1.6 GHz
  • RAM: 8 GB DDR4 RAM (expandable to 16 GB)
  • Capacity: 256 GB SSD hard disk expandable up to 2TB
  • Intel HD Graphics 620
  • Screen: Screen of 14″ with Full HD resolution of 1920×1080 pixels
  • Windows 10 Operating System
  • Battery Life: Long battery life of up to 23.5 hours and quick charging system
  • Weight 993 grams

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7Expert Score
Pros & Cons

Following are the PROS & CONS of this product.

PROS
  • It is the lightest (less than 1kg) and thinnest (only 14mm) ultrabook on the market.
  • Its 72Wh battery provides an autonomy of more than 20 hours.
  • Built with high quality materials such as nanocarbon and magnesium.
  • It has the military resistance and durability certificate MIL-STD 810G.
  • Advanced connectivity: It has USB ports type C and allows playback of 4K content.
  • Portable and extremely quiet thanks to its efficient cooling system.
CONS
  • Its graphics card is integrated, so it is not very powerful to be able to edit video or work with design programs such as AutoCAD.
  • The speakers are not as good as other laptops in the same price range.

5) MacBook Air

This is one of the light and powerful laptop that you will find. Following are the technical features of Apple’s MacBook Air 13″, the most powerful and desired lightweight laptop

  • Processor: Dual-core Intel Core i5 processor. Turbo up to 3.6 GHz
  • 8GB high-frequency RAM
  • Hard Drive Capacity: 128GB or 256GB SSD
  • Intel UHD Graphics 
  • 13.3-inch 2560×1600-pixel UHD Retina Display
  • MacOS Operating System
  • Battery Life: Spectacular battery life of up to 12 hours
  • Weight 1.2 kg

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7Expert Score
Pros & Cons

Following are the PROS & CONS of this product.

PROS
  • Extremely thin and lightweight 100% aluminum
  • Highly Portable.
  • Includes: TouchID, state-of-the-art Apple keyboard and Multi-Touch TrackPad: pinch, zoom, 2 fingers, 3 fingers.
  • Retina display: displays 4 times more pixels than a traditional HD screen.
  • Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) connectivity with ultra-fast speeds to connect a monitor, TV, hard disk, cell phone.
  • Sound: surely the best speakers you have ever heard. Includes FaceTime HD, Siri, Dictation.
CONS
  • There's no turning back: If you buy a Mac, you'll hardly ever use a Windows laptop in your life again.
  • Its price makes this laptop unsuitable for all students.

Did Not Find the Model You Were Looking For?

If none of the lightweight laptops we’ve presented to you above have convinced you, don’t worry!

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Next, we’ll leave you with a link through which you’ll be able to see more models and access the best catalog of light laptops on the Internet:

Types of Lightweight Laptops

The most popular lightweight laptops are the ultrabooks and 2-in-1 convertibles. Below we briefly explain their features and specifications:

Ultrabooks

An ultrabook is basically a light and powerful laptop that offers excellent performance thanks to its high quality components and SSD hard drives.

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Their lightness makes them perfect for travelling and being able to enjoy all the power of a traditional laptop with the weight of a lightweight laptop.

They are the most expensive light notebooks but are ideal for you if:

  • You play video games from time to time
  • You are a designer or engineer.
  • You move and travel frequently: weight is a key issue.
  • You want a laptop that goes fast and you don’t mind paying a little more to get it.
  • You like high resolution screens so you can work comfortably or watch series and movies.

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2 in 1 Convertibles

The 2 in 1 convertibles are a type of light and cheap laptops that work indistinctly as a laptop or as a tablet.

Convertible laptops are ideal for people who are often on the move and who travel frequently.

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Its main advantage is that they will allow you to use the device as a tablet to read a book or watch a movie in a super comfortable way.

In the same way that the ultrabooks are extremely powerful, the 2 in 1 convertibles are portable with a moderate power that stand out for their excellent prices.

Tips for Buying a Good Lightweight Laptop

Here are the main aspects you should consider when buying a lightweight laptop:

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What Is the Ideal Weight for a Lightweight Laptop?

Lightweight laptops are all the rage, so if you’re a student and have to carry your laptop to class every day, if you travel a lot, or if you plan to carry it with you on a daily basis, don’t hesitate.

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Lightweight laptops are ideal for comfort and also for taking care of your back and body posture when carrying them.

Regardless of the type of lightweight laptop you are interested in (ultrabooks, convertibles, chromebooks), our recommendation is that it should weigh no more than 1.5kg.

What Size Screen Do I Need?

Depending on the use you are going to use the laptop for, you should buy a laptop with a screen size more or less big.

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If portability is an important factor for you, we recommend that you choose laptops between 11″ and 13.3 inches.

11″ laptops are very light and portable, but they are really small and may not be very comfortable visually.

The 13.3″, 14″ and 15.6″ laptops are perhaps the best, since they present a balance between visual comfort, power and mobility.

Finally, the 17.3″ laptops are not recommended at all, as they are excessively heavy and bulky.

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Windows or Mac?

Windows is the most widely used operating system worldwide and is the one that offers the best compatibility when working with different programs.

They are laptops much cheaper than Apple MacBook but much more vulnerable to being infected by viruses and hang more than Macbook.

MacOS is the operating system of Apple and has a really careful design. They enjoy greater autonomy than Windows and are very intuitive to use.

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The main negative aspect of MacBook is its price, as they are the most expensive laptop on the market.

As a curiosity, you should know that there are other minority operating systems such as Linux and Chrome OS.

How Long Should the Battery Last?

Our recommendation is that the battery of your ultrabook or lightweight convertible should last at least 6-7 hours.

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You should look for a laptop with enough battery life to keep it open all day, although this will vary greatly depending on your laptop’s settings.

Aspects such as screen brightness, processor power or the number of open applications will largely determine its duration.

Are Lightweight Laptops Powerful?

A laptop’s charging speed and working performance are key aspects when choosing a good lightweight laptop.

All the light laptops we have presented to you in our ranking have the latest generation of Intel i5, Intel i7 or AMD processors, being powerful enough to perform almost all the tasks you need.

When choosing the amount of RAM memory of your laptop, we recommend you to choose one with at least 8GB of RAM if you want to extend its life and last several years.

What Size Hard Drive Should I Choose?

It is important to choose a hard disk with enough space to store all your data.

Nowadays there are mechanical hard disks (the ones with a lifetime) and SSD solid state hard disks, much faster and more reliable.

If you want a lightweight laptop that is powerful, you should choose one with an SSD.

In the worst case, if you ever need more space to store data, you can always buy an SSD external hard disk.

Other Final Aspects To Consider

Keyboard

If you are going to type a lot, make sure it has a comfortable and large enough keyboard. If you intend to work at night, you might want to consider having it backlit.

Build Material

If you’re a person who usually has water or coffee next to your laptop, you should know that there are several models that have been designed to be resistant to liquids and dust.

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Connectivity

We recommend that you look for a lightweight laptop that has several ports of the type USB 3.0 or USB type C to connect external devices such as mice, external hard drives.

Conclusion and Final Summary

Choosing the best lightweight laptop for your needs is not an easy task at all. There are many lightweight laptops on the market today, so after many hours of research, our experts were left with an initial sample of about 25.

All of them were selected because of their high popularity and good performance.

Choosing between one model or another basically requires:

  • Quite a lot of time comparing (we have done this for you).
  • Looking at many prices (we have also done this).
  • Knowing your personal situation, your needs and your budget (this is already up to you).

And this is what we have reached in this article about the best light laptops of this 2021.

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Did you already know any of these laptops? Have you bought or are you thinking of buying any of them? What do you think?

For any doubt or suggestion you may have, don’t hesitate to write a comment below.

Also, if you think this article can help a friend or family member, don’t hesitate to share it!

Keep visiting Laptop Guide to read latest reviews and if you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment down below.

References

https://www.thegate.ca/tech-gadgets/048560/samsung-galaxy-book-pro-hands-on-with-the-15-lightweight-laptop/

https://searchmobilecomputing.techtarget.com/news/252500092/Samsung-releases-2-lightweight-laptops

David is an experienced Laptop technician and enthusiast. He takes pride in providing unbiased opinion about to the products he review. In addition to his primary job as a Laptop technician he also runs a Youtube channel where he talks about latest Laptops, build custom gaming laptops and more.

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