WORK MACHINES

17 PORTABLE POWERHOUSES RATED HEAD-TO-HEAD

While we don’t have anything like the launch of the first OLED laptops to really distinguish 2020 laptops from their predecessors, there are a number of smaller advancements that do add up to a good amount of new tech in this year’s updates. The second generation of AMD processors are showing some serious headway in raw computing power and overall efficiency – even if Intel is still ahead when it comes to laptop gaming capabilities. Of course Intel has also updated to 10th Generation CPUs, which bring with them the new Wi-Fi 6 networking specification and often some interesting features like the Project Athena certification.

Perhaps more importantly though, we’re now into the second generation of Core i9 laptops, and while these overclockable 9th generation processors ran a little too hot for most host devices, they seem to have become more balanced this time round and deliver harnessable performance bumps.

If that wasn’t enough you’ll also see the arrival of a handful of units with 300Hz monitors this year, which perhaps isn’t critical for professional ultrabooks, but is a boon for anyone who likes to do some high level gaming when they clock off.

Devices continue to make incremental reductions to overall size, meaning there’s offerings here under a centimeter thick and clamshells that weigh less than a kilogram, which is a pretty neat milestone.

The same steps are being made in processor efficiency and battery technology so that you can now get powerful laptops with full-day battery life.

It’s not even too farfetched to expect your work rig to be able to do heavy graphical work loads and carry light gaming capabilities.

Not a bad time to buy a professional laptop on the whole!