HWM+HardwareZone.com Tech Awards 2019: Editor's Choice - Part 2

Best Ultraportable Notebook

Best Ultraportable Notebook

Advances in processor and battery technologies have helped made notebook thinner and lighter. Most ultraportable notebooks today are just a smidge over a kilogram heavy and are small enough to slip into most bags. And despite their portability, they offer good performance and can do just about anything (even light gaming).

To make the cut for this year’s awards, the notebook must be amongst the slimmest and lightest in the brand's lineup. It can be a traditional notebook or a convertible or detachable. Finally, it must be powered by a full Intel Core processor (no ultra low voltage variants).

Nominees:

• Acer Swift 5
• ASUS ZenBook S UX391
• Dell XPS 13 (2019)
• HP Spectre X360 (2018)
• Lenovo Yoga C930
• LG gram 13
• Microsoft Surface Pro 6
• Razer Blade Stealth (2018)

And the winner is...

Windows notebooks have advanced tremendously in the past year, so naturally competition was very keen in this category. However, after poring over performance charts, comparing dimensions and weights, a winner emerged and that was the HP Spectre X360. Overall, this notebook offered the best blend of performance, design, portability, and features.

It has a bold and edgy design with angled sides and gold accents, and it is one of the notebooks to come with both USB-C Thunderbolt 3 and USB 3.0 USB-A ports. It even has a microSD card slot to help transfer data out of phone/camera memory cards. It doesn’t end there. Some interesting features that it has include a built-in screen privacy filter that can be activated with a single press of a button, and a kill-switch for the web camera that gives users a peace of mind. Battery life is also very respectable - especially if you consider that this is a convertible notebook that really feels like a regular ultrabook in terms of portability. Overall, the HP Spectre X360 is simply the best all-around notebook.