Best laptops for travel this holiday season
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Looking to find the best laptop for travel? From vacation travel to daily commutes, some days you need to improvise your perfect gaming setup or maintain a high-functioning mobile workspace. With slimmer measurements and lighter weights than the competition, travel laptops are designed to keep you in action and protect your data wherever life takes you.
However, not all budgets and routines are the same. That means shopping for the perfect option can be a little more complicated than just price and processor. To get you ready for the road, we’ll take a look at a few of the easiest ways you can make the most of shopping and highlight some of the best travel laptop options from HP.
Be sure to check out our HP Holiday Gift Guide for deals on tech gifts and more this season. You’ll find everything from budget-friendly and family gifts to tech stocking stuffers and this year’s top holiday gifts. With our holiday gifts guide, you’re sure to find something for anyone – and at any price point, whether it’s desktops, laptops, printers, PC accessories, gaming gear, and more.
How to choose the best laptop for travel
Since every routine is different, you should start out with a few priorities. Do you need performance hardware to run demanding software? Focus on memory and processing power. Like to play the latest games? You’ll want to add graphics and display options to your list of priorities. Or if mobility is your number one goal, skip ahead to weight and dimensions.
The importance of portability and weight
Of course, mobility is key for any travel scenario. That means spending at least part of your time thinking about your preferred laptop’s weight out of the box and how much it measures. Weight and measurements both impact your carrying capacity, while battery life and recharge time factor into how long you can use your laptop between charging sessions.
Display size is an important detail to consider when thinking about size. Ask yourself, how much screen space do you need to enjoy using your laptop? Sometimes the easiest way to streamline your routine for travel is to go small. Remember the display measurement on most laptops is taken at the diagonal, so you’ll need to check its full product dimensions for exact information.
Durability and build quality
Though danger may not be lurking around every corner, travel does expose your laptop hardware to greater risk and wear from use. There’s also the possibility of physical damage from bumps and falls, especially if you aren’t able to keep your device with you at all times. Some laptops have more protection than others against these kinds of situations.
Worried about contact with liquids? We all have to stay hydrated and sometimes work or fun may take us closer to the water, so look for spill-resistant keyboards to reduce the risk of exposure. For more confidence during general use, look for models with a strong hinge and a more rugged exterior - especially if you want to maximize portability with a convertible laptop.
Connectivity and mixed-use features
If you travel with a large collection of peripherals or need to stay connected in a pinch, connectivity is another important feature to bear in mind. Bluetooth and WiFi are relatively common on laptops, but that’s not all you have to remember. If you work with older peripherals, make sure you have access to the appropriate connections (HDMI, USB-A).
For mixed-use and long-haul scenarios, there are some other things you may want to keep in mind. In particular, a touch screen or convertible form factor can provide more ways to use your device effectively while on the go. Backlit keyboards can also be useful if you have to work in a low-light environment, especially during air travel or when working from a shared space.
Top travel laptop recommendations
Now, which laptop to choose? Let’s break down some of the most common price ranges for travel laptops and the features you can expect at each. Then we’ll provide an HP travel laptop for each price range with a thorough inventory of important features, so you can hone in on the product that best matches your routine and hardware needs.
Entry-level travel laptop options
At entry level, the best laptop for travel will focus on vacation and commuter-friendly features and an accessible price point. Whether you’re all about gaming and streaming, or work and collaboration, you can find a variety of travel-ready options from HP at affordable prices. Need a little more hardware under the hood? Just add on a few upgrades during checkout.
Victus by HP Gaming Laptop (15z-fb100): Best entry-level travel laptop
Key hardware specifications
- Processor: AMD Ryzen™ 5 7535HS (Base)
- Display: 15.6" diagonal, FHD (1,920 x 1,080) (Base)
- Graphics: NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2050 Laptop GPU (Base)
- Memory: Up to 16GB DDR5-4800 SDRAM
- Storage: Up to 1TB PCIe® NVMe™ TLC M.2 SSD
- Weight: 5.06 lbs
- Dimensions: 14.09 x 10.04 x 0.93"
- Battery recharge time: approximately 50% in 30 minutes
Mid-range travel laptop options
At a mid-range price point, travel laptops typically favor a balanced blend of portability features and robust hardware options during configuration. You may also find some mid-range options with a larger display and even more robust security add-ons, like a fingerprint sensor or optional upgrades to standard protection software.
HP ENVY Laptop (17t-cw000): Best mid-range travel laptop
Key hardware specifications
- Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-13700H (Base)
- Display: 17.3" diagonal FHD (1,920 x 1,080) (Base)
- Graphics: Intel Iris® Xe Graphics (Base)
- Memory: Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 MHz RAM
- Storage: 1TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
- Weight: 5.5 lbs
- Dimensions: 15.59 x 10.18 x 0.77"
- Battery recharge time: approximately 50% in 30 minutes
High-end travel laptop options
When it comes to finding a high-end on-the-go laptop, you can expect a variety of upgrades and extra travel-friendly features. The most important change is often to weight and dimensions, with the latest tech packed into more and more compact notebook builds - many options weigh under 5 lbs and measure under an inch. You can also count on boosted security.
HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Laptop (14-ef2047nr): Best high-end travel laptop
Key hardware specifications
- Processor: Intel Core i7-1355U (Standard)
- Display: 13.5" diagonal WUXGA+ (1,920 x 1,280) (Standard)
- Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics (Standard)
- Memory: 16GB LPDDR4x-4266 MHz RAM
- Storage: 1TB PCIe Gen4 NVMe TLC M.2 SSD
- Weight: 3.01 lbs
- Dimensions: 11.73 x 8.68 x 0.67"
- Battery recharge time: approximately 50% in 45 minutes
Bonus: HP Spectre Foldable (17-cs0097nr) 3-in-1 Laptop: Best new laptop for travel
Key hardware specifications
- 12th Generation Intel Core i7 processor
- Intel Iris Xe Graphics
- 16GB memory and 1TB SSD storage
- 17" diagonal 2.5K touch display
- Switch easily between laptop, extended screen, tablet, or desktop modes
- 5MP webcam
- Includes HP Rechargeable MPP2.0 Tilt Pen
- AI Privacy Alert blurs screen when someone is detected behind user
- Walk away screen lock and wake on approach
Safety and security
Even if you aren’t handling sensitive information on a regular basis, your laptop is still a focal point for bad actors who might want to access your device. At home or work you may be able to avoid unpredictable situations, but a complex commute or a hectic vacation itinerary means coming into contact with a much bigger variety of users and threat scenarios.
For business travelers, it’s especially important to keep tabs on your travel laptop’s security features and defenses against digital intrusion. Of course, you’ll want to be vigilant against in-person theft or leaving your device unattended, but that isn’t all it takes to stay secure. Keep reading to find out more about HP travel laptop security and how to use public WiFi safely.
Important security features on HP travel laptops
Fortunately, travel laptops increasingly include a variety of built-in security features so you don’t have to set things up from scratch. One of the most important new features you may want to consider is a fingerprint sensor, which usually ties access directly to your biometric information or to a combination of biometrics and manual password entry (two-factor authentication).
In addition to beefing up your login protection, you can look for webcam shutters that help protect your privacy during calls - some allow users to slide a barrier into place themselves, while touch screen travel laptop models feature a hotkey for seamless interactions. You can also find some laptops with a manual kill switch that allows users to turn off just their webcam.
Tips for keeping your data safe with public WiFi
There are also a few practical steps that travel users can take to minimize their threat exposure during travel. Though your device may prompt you to automate file sharing and network connections, this can reduce your oversight of potentially risky networks and situations. That means, connect only to verified networks and use your network settings to turn off sharing.
Frequent work or leisure travel also makes it important to consider taking advantage of a dedicated VPN (virtual private network), which protects your data on public networks. Some services may charge an installation or subscription fee, but it can be very worthwhile if you need to handle sensitive data while managing an unfamiliar itinerary.
Summary
Generally, the best on-the-go laptop maximizes portability without sacrificing hardware and security. True portability means being able to do the things you would typically do at home, while you’re on vacation or stuck on a long commute for work. That means a trim weight and measurements, but also enough hardware potential to handle work, gaming, and streaming.
From our recommendations, the Victus by HP Gaming Laptop (15z-fb100) is an affordable entry-point with great performance potential, while the HP ENVY Laptop (17t-cw000) offers a good balance of features and a bigger display. Or there’s the smallest of them all, the HP Spectre x360 2-in-1 Laptop (14-ef2047nr), a premium device with a feathery 3-lb weight.
