Touchscreen laptops on test

Buy a laptop you’ll love with our guide to the best executive machines money can buy

G amers have their powerhouse rigs, designers their all-in-one workstations, but for most of us a premium laptop is our ideal PC. Thin, light and crafted from high-end materials, they’re both functional tools and objects of desire, built to work whenever and wherever, but also to look the part when we’re out in public. A premium laptop tells people that you’re not just a drone with a corporate laptop or an average Joe with a budget computer, but someone who demands the best. It’s the computing equivalent of travelling business class.

The standard has been set over the last decade by two devices. Apple’s MacBook Air defined the Ultrabook form factor and created the demand for thin-and-light metallic laptops. Microsoft’s Surface Pro, meanwhile, redefined the 2-in-1 convertible, creating the high-end tablet with clip-on keyboard format that other manufacturers have rushed to copy. Thanks to the Surface Pro, the premium laptops we see today aren’t just thin and light, but powerful, versatile and equipped to work with more natural forms of input.

Touch isn’t quite ubiquitous on premium Windows laptops, but it’s getting there. Whether you’re taking notes, sketching diagrams or roughing out designs, styluses have become useful. Touch is no longer a novelty but a tool.

Which premium laptop is the most premium of all? To find out, we’ve rounded up 11 of the most exciting, beautiful, powerful and versatile laptops available today, all of which support touch inputs. Read on, and prepare to inflict some serious damage to your bank balance.