The best laptops of 2016: Buy the best UK laptops from £180

Great laptops aren’t exactly in short supply, but there are also plenty of also-rans – and this is Alphr’s guide to nothing but the very best. Thanks to Alphr’s team of reviewers (which, you’ll be reassured to know, includes some of the most experienced laptop reviewers in the UK) this regularly-updated Best Of guide covers everything from budget laptops that are ideal for the kids, to the finest ultraportables, gaming laptops, and cutting-edge hybrids.

You’ll find quick summaries of our favourite laptops below, and the key specifications for each device. Want to know more? Then click the product names to read our full, in-depth reviews, where we look at every detail of the device and put it through a demanding suite of tests and benchmarks. Only the best laptops make it this far – plenty don’t. 

1. Apple MacBook Pro 13in with Retina Display (2015)

Price: £999 Rating: 5/5 Key specs: 13.3in 2,560 x 1,600 display | Intel Core i5/i7 | 128-512GB SSD | 1.58kg 

It’s telling that, even in 2016, the MacBook Pro is still one of our favourites. It may not be the lightest 13in laptop around, and the last-generation Intel Broadwell processor technology is ready for an update, but Apple’s software platform ensures it delivers a fine balance between power and stamina. The high-DPI display and all-round quality alone are enough to make us wonder why we’d spend £1,000 on any other laptop, and the innovative Force Touch trackpad simply adds to the attraction.

2. Dell XPS 13

Price: From £849 Rating: 5/5 Key specs: 13.3in Full HD display/3,200 x 1,800 touchscreen | Intel Core i5/i7 (Skylake) | 128-512GB SSD | 1.29kg 

Dell was tantalisingly close to ultraportable perfection with the previous XPS 13, but now it’s well and truly cracked it – the new, improved XPS 13 is fan-bloody-tastic. The Skylake processors improve performance, extend battery life and deliver better gaming potential, and an array of minor tweaks has pushed the XPS 13 towards ultraportable perfection. The new NVMe SSDs are staggeringly fast, finally giving Apple’s laptops something to worry about, and Thunderbolt 3 compatibility seals the deal. 

3. Microsoft Surface Pro 4

Price: £749 (128GB) Rating: 5/5 Key specs: 12in 2,736 x 1,824 display | Intel Core m3/i5/i7 | 128-512GB SSD | 786g (tablet only)

The Microsoft Surface Pro 4 takes the tried and tested Surface Pro 3 and improves on it in almost every way. The screen is amazing, the keyboard is improved and the small design touches all gladden the heart. There won’t be quite enough here to make everyone want to upgrade from a Surface Pro 3, but it’s a good, solid update, and it remains the hybrid that sets the standard.

4. Acer Chromebook R11

Price: £230 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 11.6in 1,366 x 768 touchscreen | Intel Celeron N3050 | 16GB storage | 1.2kg

The Chromebook R11 is proof that you don’t need cutting-edge design or components to make a superb laptop. The flexible hinge takes its inspiration from Lenovo’s Yoga family, and it’s this that allows the R11 to effortlessly transform from laptop to tablet. The Celeron processor gets overwhelmed by one too many Chrome tabs, but for basic use and web surfing it’s perfectly bearable – to be entirely fair, it’s what you’d expect from a £230 machine. If you’re looking for a tough, cheap, portable laptop, then the Chromebook R11 will definitely hit the spot. 

5. HP Stream 11

Price: £180 Rating: 5/5 Key specs: 11.6in 1,366 x 768 display | Intel Celeron N2840 | 32GB eMMC | 1.29kg

HP’s budget Windows laptop comes in a choice of vibrant blue or magenta finishes, with a slim, lightweight chassis – it’s cute in a plasticky kind of way, and kids will absolutely love it. Thanks to Windows 10 Home, it’s more versatile than a Chromebook, working brilliantly with online apps, but it’s still able to run more conventional Windows software if you’re sensible about your requirements or pair it with an external USB 3 hard disk (the 32GB of storage is an ever-present limitation).

6. Microsoft Surface 3

Price: £419 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 10.8in 1,920 x 1,280 display | Intel Atom x7 | 64/128GB SSD | 622g (tablet only)

At £419, the Surface 3 is significantly cheaper than the cheapest Surface Pro 4 (£749), although it’s worth bearing in mind that the Type Cover inflates the price by £119, and the Surface Pen adds another £45. Of course, the Atom processor does mean that the Surface 3 is a tad underpowered, but if you don’t need to chomp through Photoshop edits on a regular basis, it’s a capable little hybrid – and as classy as Windows devices get.

7. Apple MacBook (12in)

Price: £1,049 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 12in 2,304 x 1,440 display | Intel Core M | 256/512GB SSD | 923g

There’s no denying it, the MacBook is one seriously gorgeous machine. Yet this minimalist, ultra-light portable won’t be for everyone. It isn’t powerful enough to do the same jobs a MacBook Pro 13in with Retina Display can; it’s expensive; and connectivity – limited to a single Type-C USB port – isn’t ideal for a work machine. Still, if light weight and desirability matter more to you than all-out practicality, there’s nothing else that comes close.

8. Dell XPS 15 (2015)

Price: £1,649 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 15in 3,840 x 2,160 touchscreen | Intel Core i7-6700HQ | 512GB SSD | 2kg

It’s not cheap in the slightest, but Dell’s sleek 15in laptop is everything you could ask of a top-flight Windows laptop – if manufacturers want to take the fight to Apple’s increasingly dominant MacBook family, they should be taking notes. The XPS 15 is surprisingly fast for such a slimline laptop, good-looking, and has enough gaming grunt to take on the latest games at high resolutions and detail settings. Did I mention the stunning 4K display? This is perhaps the ultimate do-it-all Windows 10 laptop.

9. Microsoft Surface Book

Price: from £1,299 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 13.5in 3,000 x 2,000 touchscreen | Intel Core i5/i7 | 256-512GB SSD | 1.5kg

The Surface Book is Microsoft’s vision of the ultimate laptop. It’s superb in many ways – the screen is astonishingly good; the keyboard and touchpad are best in class; and performance (particularly from the GPU-equipped models) is impressive for a 1.5kg device. There are flaws, though. The design quirks and short battery life in tablet mode are disappointing, and it’s breathtakingly expensive.

10. Asus Zenbook UX303LA

Price: Around £700 Rating: 5/5 Key specs: 13.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 128GB SSD | 1.4kg

The Asus Zenbook UX303LA has been around a while, but it remains an excellent buy. Serving up a taste of premium Ultrabook performance for around £700, it’s something of a bargain. It also has an excellent 13.3in Full HD screen and a decent keyboard, a lovely design and a very tempting price. Not many other laptops can match this machine’s all-round appeal and value for money.

11. Toshiba Chromebook 2

Price: Around £270 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 13.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Celeron N2840 | 32GB SSD | 1.35kg

The fact that this laptop doesn’t run Windows will leave some people running for the hills, but Toshiba has done a superb job with the Chromebook 2. This is a Chromebook with a top-quality screen, that’s better than many displays on laptops at three times the price. Right now, this is the Chromebook we’d buy – and it offers a fine alternative to the likes of HP’s bargain-priced Stream 11.

12. Toshiba Satellite C40-C 

Price: Around £200 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 14in 1,366 x 768 display | Intel Celeron | 32GB SSD | 1.7kg

Not so long ago, buying a super-cheap laptop would have left you looking at Chromebooks and not a whole lot else. Now, however, Windows is fighting back. Toshiba’s 14in Satellite C40-C is a solid all-rounder which brings Windows 10 to the table for only £200. It’s not especially exciting, but the 14in display strikes a good balance between portability and all-day usability, and though the Celeron CPU is pretty slow, it’s good enough for basic use. Battery life is good, too – over 7 hours of video playback bodes well for a full day’s worth of lighter usage.

13. Microsoft Surface Pro 3

Price: £639 (64GB) Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 12in 2,160 x 1,440 display | Intel Core i3/i5/i7 | 64-512GB SSD | 800g (tablet only)

The Surface Pro 4 has stolen its thunder, but that doesn’t mean that you should ignore the Surface Pro 3. Microsoft is no longer selling it, but you may still be able to find some tempting discounts elsewhere across the web – if you see the Pro 3 going for a song, it’s still a fantastic tablet and hybrid in every way. Beware the handful of sites which are selling it at ior even above its original price, however.

14. Asus Transformer Book Chi T300

Price: Around £500 Rating: 4/5 Key specs: 12.5in 2,560 x 1,440 display | Intel Core M-5Y71 | 128GB SSD | 1.43kg (tablet 720g) 

The Transformer Book Chi T300 is a great little hybrid. The high-DPI display is superb, the design attractive and, crucially, this is a hybrid that manages to perform well in both tablet and laptop roles. If you’ve been looking for a more affordable, more flexible alternative to the Surface Pro tablets, the Asus Transformer Book Chi T300 is well worth considering – and especially now that you can pick it up for under £500.

The best gaming laptops:

1. Chillblast Defiant 2 Mini review

Price when reviewed: £899 inc VAT

Key specs: 13.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 1TB hybrid HDD | 2.1kg

Portable, powerful and affordable are three words that rarely go together when one thinks of gaming laptops, but that’s exactly what Chillblast has served up with the Defiant 2 Mini. Like squeezing the engine of a supercar into a hatchback, the Defiant 2 Mini unites a quad-core Intel CPU, a cracking Full HD IPS display and has recently been upgraded with the latest Nvidia GTX 960M graphics chip. If you want to play the latest games but don’t want to shell out on a giant laptop, the Defiant 2 Mini is a pint-sized wonder. Click here to read our Chillblast Defiant 2 Mini review

2. MSI GT72 Dominator Pro

Price when reviewed: £2,000 inc VAT

Key specs: 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 2x 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD | 4kg

The MSI GT72 is every inch the gaming laptop we’d love to own. And we wouldn’t be disheartened by the hefty asking price, either: the price of our review unit was inflated due to the inclusion of a swathe of SteelSeries gaming accessories and an MSI rucksack. Spend a little time shopping around and, as long as you don’t mind dropping to 8GB of RAM and a single 128GB SSD, you can buy a GT72 equipped with a 4GB GTX 980M for less than £1,400. At that price, this easily upgradable powerhouse is a steal. Click here to read our MSI GT72 Dominator Pro review

3. Chillblast Helix 2 17in

Price when reviewed: £1,430 inc VAT

Key specs: 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD | 2.66kg

There’s no two ways around it: 17in gaming laptops are chunky monsters. Not so the Chillblast Helix 2. It has the same plus-size footprint as its big-screened rivals, but it’s gone on a crash diet to achieve its 27mm thickness. It’s still no lightweight, but the payoff is very respectable performance across the board. A quad-core Core i7, 128GB SSD, 1TB HDD and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 970M provide enough oomph to run most games smoothly at the 17in screen’s Full HD resolution. If you want big-screened gaming power with a little less bulk, the Helix 2 could be just the ticket. Click here to read out Chillblast Helix 2 review

The 5 BEST business laptops

1. HP EliteBook Folio 1020

Price when reviewed: £1,892 inc VAT

Key specs: 12.5in 2,560 x 1,440 display | Intel Core M | 128-512GB SSD | 1.26kg

HP’s EliteBook might just be the best Windows business laptop ever made. It fuses a glorious touchscreen with bombproof build quality, a brilliant keyboard and innovative ForcePad touchpad to produce an Ultrabook of rare quality. The only stumbling block, aside from its ludicrously high price, is its Core M processor, which rules it out for heavy duty tasks such as video editing or 3D rendering. There are no other compromises, however. Simply put, if you want the best and are prepared to pay for it there’s nothing to beat the HP EliteBook Folio 1020. Click here to read our HP Elitebook Foilo 1020 review

2. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015)

Price when reviewed: £1,892 inc VAT

Key specs: 14in 3,200 x 1,800 display | Intel Core i5/i7 | 128-512GB SSD | 1.31kg

The ThinkPad X1 Carbon means business. Offering enterprise-grade features that Apple’s “Pro”-branded laptops can only dream of, this is a true professional ultraportable. As ever, the price is dauntingly high. The entry-level X1 Carbon kicks off proceedings at over the £1,200 mark and touts a mundane specification – the combination of a Core i5 CPU, 4GB of RAM, 128GB SSD and Full HD display is underwhelming for the money. Add in a Quad HD touchscreen, 256GB SSD and Core i7 CPU, and the price leaps up above £2,000. It does everything you can ask of it – performance is great, and battery life competitive – but at this price we’d expect nothing less. Click here for our Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (2015) review

3. Dell Precision M3800

Price when reviewed: £1,799 inc VAT

Key specs: 15.6in 3,200 x 1,800 display | Intel Core i7 | 256GB SSD | 2.1kg

Workstation laptops aren’t meant to be sexy or attractive, but the new Dell Precision M3800 turns convention on its head. It packs a quad-core CPU, Nvidia Quadro graphics and solid-state storage into a slim, stylish chassis that makes it look more like a super-sized Ultrabook – and it’s brimming with power. Click here to read out Dell Precision M3800 review 

4. HP ZBook 17

Price when reviewed: £3,598 inc VAT

Key specs: 17.3in 1,920 x 1,080 display | Intel Core i7 | 32GB SSD, 500GB HDD | 3.8kg

The biggest model in our line-up is the ZBook 17, and it partners a huge 17.3in display with a burly, upgradable chassis, a truckload of connectivity and a slew of high-end componentry. Quad-core Intel processors provide staggering amounts of power, features are plentiful and the optional DreamColor display is earth-shatteringly good. The only downside is the astonishingly high price. If your IT budget is up to it, however, there’s no doubting the quality on offer. Click here for our HP ZBook 17 review

5. Dell Precision M4800

Price when reviewed: £2,210 inc VAT

Key specs: 15.6in 3,200 x 1,800 display | Intel Core i7 | 256GB SSD | 1.29kg

High-DPI displays are the flavour of the moment, but the Dell Precision M4800 marks the first time we’ve seen such a screen on a business-class machine. That isn’t this monster of a workstation laptop’s only talent though. The Dell Precision M4800’s chunky chassis crams in a stupendous amount of tech, providing just the right blend of comfort, power and portability for those seeking the ultimate in laptop oomph. Click here for our Dell Precision M4800 review.

Best laptops: Buyer’s guide

For a simple, everyday computer, there’s still nothing to beat the traditional laptop. You don’t need to spend a fortune, either. A standard budget laptop will do pretty much all things more expensive models can do, albeit at a slower pace and/or with a less stylish design. Generally speaking, the only obvious compromises are in screen quality and resolution, and the lack of really powerful gaming-class graphics (GPUs). 

Dial back your budget to around £300, and there are still plenty of options. At this price, you’ll be faced with plenty of full-sized 15.6in laptops which are heavy, plasticky affairs replete with modest specifications and low-quality screens, but these are still absolutely fine for basic use. However, you don’t have to put up with a chunky laptop just because you’re on a budget, as it’s now possible to buy lightweight Windows laptops for as little as £200 (see the HP Stream 11). These models generally pair smaller, low-resolution 11.6in screens with tiny 16 or 32GB solid-state disks, low-power processors and a minimum of frills, and they’re a great option for students and people that need a laptop they can carry about every day.

Up your spend, and you’ll be able to consider an Ultrabook – thin and light machines that look as good as they perform – or a more luxurious touchscreen laptop or hybrid. A touchscreen isn’t essential, but it’s nice to be able to pinch, flick and swipe your way through Windows 10 and scroll around web pages. Plus, it gives your fingers a bit of respite from tiresome touchpad prodding.

If you want to take it to the next level, a hybrid could be the way to go, and with prices tumbling all the time, these are no longer a premium-priced option – they start from around £200 (check out Acer’s Chromebook R11). These machines allow you to detach or fold away the keyboard so you can use your laptop just like an iPad or Android tablet. For surfing the web on a sofa or just watching videos, many hybrid designs have the edge on a traditional laptop. 

Business laptops aren’t the boring things they used to be, though – we’re used to seeing business Ultrabooks which are every bit as good looking as their high-end consumer rivals. They do have some major advantages over standard home laptops, however. Business laptops routinely add office-friendly features such as fingerprints and smartcard readers, Ethernet sockets, and upgradeable components to give you more practical bang for your buck. Accessories such as docking stations are usually high up on the list of priorities, too, and longer warranties are par for the course.

If you have any more questions then drop us a line in the comments below, or hit the Twitter icon at the top of the page. It’s good to talk.