Editor’s Pick
Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch)
Best 2-in-1 for most people
Acer Chromebook Spin 714
Best 2-in-1 convertible Chromebook
If you can’t decide between a laptop or a tablet, why not go for the best of both worlds? A great two-in-one laptop can offer the versatility you need like nothing else. Microsoft’s Surface Pro line is a great example of what two-in-one laptops can offer — a super-flexible work environment that lets you type on the go and detach the display when needed. The best two-in-one laptops help you do more than a traditional laptop without a significant increase in size, weight or price.
Most of the best two-in-ones are convertible laptops, with 360-degree hinges where the keyboard and trackpad rotate around to the back of the display. There are some excellent two-in-one laptops that are essentially Windows 11 or ChromeOS tablets with a detachable keyboard. They work better as tablets, but are still good in laptop mode, and we’ve included models like the Surface Pro 8 and the Lenovo Duet Chromebook. Both styles of two-in-one feature touchscreens and typically support pen input. Most also include a headphone jack and backlit keyboard.
And if you’re only thinking of a hybrid device as a detachable tablet and a laptop, here are five other uses for a two-in-one that you might not have considered. These are the best two-in-one laptops 2023 has to offer.
Read more: Best Laptop for 2023
Editor’s Pick
This thin, 3-pound convertible is a solid choice for anyone who needs a laptop for office or schoolwork. The all-metal chassis gives it a premium look and feel, and it has a comfortable keyboard and a responsive, smooth precision touchpad. Though it’s light on extra features compared to its premium linemate, the Yoga 9i, it does have one of Lenovo’s sliding shutters for its webcam that gives you privacy when you want it. And it has a long battery life to boot at 12 hours, 45 minutes in our tests. The latest version with 13th-gen Intel processors starts at less than $1,000.
Samsung’s 16:9 big-screen two-in-one doesn’t look all too different from its predecessor, but inside is a 12th-gen Intel processor that gives it a sizable multicore performance bump. However, the other, smaller updates Samsung made to the Pro 360 improves the overall experience, making it one of the best two-in-ones available even more than a year after its release. And if you have other Galaxy devices, this is absolutely the two-in-one to get. Well, other than this year’s larger 16-inch version at least..
The Surface Pro continues to hit all the right notes if you’re looking for a do-it-all Windows tablet that doubles as a Windows laptop. Microsoft recently updated it for the Surface Pro 9, but little has changed beyond a processor upgrade from 11th-gen Intel Core processors to 12th-gen chips as well as an option for a Microsoft SQ 3 processor with 5G wireless. If you were contemplating a Pro 8, it’s still around but now with a lower price, and we recommend it for most people instead of the Surface Pro 9.
The Lenovo Duet Chromebook (aka Chromebook Duet 3) is an awesome little 11-inch ChromeOS tablet with a detachable keyboard and touchpad. Its small size and performance aren’t ideal for full-time use. But the Chromebook Duet 3 is a good pick if you’re looking for an affordable ultraportable device to get some work done on the go, sketch or jot down notes in class, or do simple stuff like email, web browsing, gaming, reading and streaming video.
Acer had one of the best Chromebooks available in 2021 with the Spin 713, and now it’s repeated that success with the Chromebook Spin 714. The premium two-in-one doesn’t stray far from its predecessor in terms of what it offers — sturdy design, nice-looking display, strong performance and long battery life — but Acer did make some changes to keep it competitive, like including a USI pen that stores and charges in the 714’s body. There are less expensive options, but if you want a Chromebook that’ll last for years, this is it. Keep an eye out for a sale on this one: Its normal price is $729, but can oftentimes be found on sale for less than $600.
Gaming laptops with 16-inch screens are common enough. What’s unusual is finding one with a 360-degree hinge to become a foldable two-in-one that can be a laptop, a tablet and a couple of things in between. Add another level of ingenuity and you’ve got the ability to plug in a more-powerful external GPU for even better performance. It’s expensive, to be sure, but the unique design and features as well as solid performance make it stand out.
The HP Spectre x360 16 doesn’t have “pro” in its name, but it deserves to. It’s not a business laptop, so you won’t find an Intel vPro processor or IT management features. However, its premium features, beautiful OLED display, good looks and speedy performance are just about perfect for anyone looking for a versatile laptop with an awesome work-play-and-create design.
The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computer-like devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both those objective and subjective judgments.
How we test computers
The review process for laptops, desktops, tablets and other computer-like devices consists of two parts: performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and extensive hands-on use by our expert reviewers. This includes evaluating a device’s aesthetics, ergonomics and features. A final review verdict is a combination of both those objective and subjective judgments.
The list of benchmarking software we use changes over time as the devices we test evolve. The most important core tests we’re currently running on every compatible computer include: Primate Labs Geekbench 5, Cinebench R23, PCMark 10 and 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra.
A more detailed description of each benchmark and how we use it can be found in our How We Test Computers page.
We run a battery of performance tests, and in the individual product reviews you’ll see more meaningful performance results than the ones we present here. In reviews, we provide apples-to-apples results — products from the same pool that you’re trying to choose from, with similar prices and configurations — rather than the fruit salad sampling of results here. However, this group does give you an idea of how varied in performance and battery life the category can be, depending on price and size.
Primate Labs Geekbench 5: We run both single-core and multicore CPU tests, and either the Vulcan (Windows) or Metal (MacOS) Compute test. On Android, Apple devices and Chromebooks, we run the CPU tests and the Compute test. Geekbench’s CPU tests measure the performance of a mixed workload.
Geekbench 5 (multicore) scores
Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 9067Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch) 8378Microsoft Surface Pro 8 5257Acer Chromebook Spin 714 4369Lenovo Duet Chromebook 1741
Battery life test: For all computers with a battery, we change the settings to keep the system from going to sleep or hibernating, disable pop-ups and notifications that may interfere with the test, and set screen brightness and volume (output to earbuds) to 50%. We then stream a looped, custom YouTube video over Wi-Fi in Chrome and use a timer app to track how long the system remains active.
Online streaming battery drain test (minutes)
Acer Chromebook Spin 714 818Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch) 765Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro 360 735Microsoft Surface Pro 8 524Lenovo Duet Chromebook 490
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Source: CNET
