Laptops come in all shapes and sizes, but over the past few years, the 14-inch screen size has become the Goldilocks standard. The best 14-inch laptops allow for enough size to pack in lots of performance without sacrificing too much portability. You'll need to choose wisely, however, as your options at this size range from ultra-portable laptops to those with some legitimate power inside, including models with discrete GPUs. That's something you'll rarely see in smaller laptops, including even the best 13-inch laptops.
We've tested the majority of the best 14-inch laptops throughout 2024, which involves putting these systems through rigorous performance, display, chassis, and battery testing. The result is the following recommendations, which represent some of the best laptops you can buy right now.
The best overall 14-inch laptop
Apple MacBook Pro (M4)
- Even brighter display
- Fantastic 12MP webcam
- Record-breaking performance
- Best-in-class keyboard and trackpad
- All the ports you want, now faster
- Speakers so good you'll ditch your headphones
- Still no OLED
- The 16-inch model is quite heavy
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.31 x 8.72 x 0.61 inches |
| Weight | 3.4 pounds |
| Display | 14.2-inch mini-LED XDR display, 3024 x 1964 at 120Hz |
| CPU | M4, M4 Pro, or M4 Max |
| GPU | M4, M4 Pro, or M4 Max |
The 14-inch MacBook Pro has been an astounding laptop since its original launch in 2021. Years later, the chassis hasn't changed much, but Apple keeps upping the performance capabilities of this laptop.
The 14-inch MacBook Pro really is the perfect sweet spot between the MacBook Air options and the larger 16-inch MacBook Pro. Despite the fact that you can configure it up to an insane M4 Max, it's still just 0.61 inches thick. When configured that high, it's every bit as powerful as a gaming laptop with an RTX 4060. We've just never seen graphics that strong on a laptop of this type. We tested the M4 Pro model and found the performance bump over the M3 incredibly compelling, in addition to the improved 12-megapixel webcam, brighter display, and option for the nano-texture screen.
There just isn't another 14-inch laptop this premium. It's certainly not the most affordable laptop on this list, but in the case of the M4 MacBook Pro, you truly get what you pay for.
The best budget 14-inch laptop
Asus Zenbook 14
- Excellent build quality
- Strong productivity performance
- Robust battery life
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- OLED's usual colors and contrast
- Display is only FHD+
- Keyboard switches could be tighter
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.30 x 8.67 x 0.59 inches |
| Weight | 2.82 pounds |
| Display | 14-inch OLED display, 1920 x 1200 at 60Hz |
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 7 125H |
| GPU | Intel Arc graphics |
Not everyone needs the latest tech. Nor is the latest tech always worth the extra cost. That's where the 2023 version of the Asus Zenbook 14 comes in. At $800, it's absolutely the best 14-inch laptop for the money.
Of course, if you can find plenty of inexpensive 14-inch laptops when you start perusing Amazon, some under $500. Many, however, include a weak processor, such as the Core i3-1215U, which only comes with two Performance cores. For most people, you're going to feel the sluggishness of that device fairly quickly.
It's worth spending a bit more to get a laptop that you'll actually enjoy using for many years, and the Zenbook 14 is a fantastic compromise. It gets great battery life, has a gorgeous OLED display, and is surprisingly fast with its Core Ultra 5 Series 1 processor. In fact, the jump from Series 1 to the current Series 2 chips (also known as Intel Lunar Lake), wasn't much of a performance improvement at all, instead only prolonging battery life. That's why this version of the Zenbook 14 remains such a strong buy at this price point.
The best 14-inch gaming laptop
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
- MacBook-like thinness and weight
- Gorgeous OLED display
- Redesigned charger and USB-C power delivery
- Great productivity performance
- Much cheaper than the competition
- A little behind in games
- Soldered memory
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.24 x 8.66 x 0.64 inches |
| Weight | 3.31 pounds |
| Display | 14-inch OLED display, 2880 x 1800 at 120Hz |
| CPU | Ryzen 9 8945HS |
| GPU | RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RTX 4070 |
This year's version of the ROG Zephyrus G14 was a revelation. This compact little gaming laptop has always been good, but this year it totally blew us away. The device was redesigned to be even more compact yet somehow make its price affordable. It's hard to believe that in this same year, it also gained a gorgeous OLED screen.
The category of 14-inch gaming laptops has been growing, including devices like the Razer Blade 14, notably. but the ROG Zephyrus G14 wins out as the absolute best. Not only is it priced lower, it also has a cleaner aesthetic and handles its thermals with more finesse. A few years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that a laptop of this size could be classified as a gaming laptop, but with up to a Ryzen 9 8945HS and an RTX 4070 on board, its performance in games can't be questioned.
Due to its size and relatively low-key design, it makes for a great hybrid device too. For PC gamers that also need to a laptop to work or do schoolwork on, it doesn't get better than the G14. There's a reason our reviewer, Jacob Roach, called it "damn near perfect" after testing it himself.
The best 14-inch Lenovo laptop
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x
- Solid build and attractive aesthetic
- Quite thin
- Efficient performance and battery life
- Spectacular OLED display
- Attractive pricing
- Graphics performance is disappointing
- So-so mechanical touchpad
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.80 x 8.86 x (as thin as) 0.51 inches |
| Weight | 2.82 pounds |
| Display | 14.5-inch OLED display, 2944 x 1840 at 90Hz |
| CPU | Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite X1E78100 |
| GPU | Qualcomm Adreno |
The category of Copilot+ PCs was born this year. And with it, the launch of Qualcomm's Snapdragon X chips, blowing the doors off what Intel and AMD could offer in terms of battery life at the time. While Intel's Core Ultra Series 2 chips responded in a big way, in our testing, the Yoga Slim 7x lasted for over 12 hours in web browsing. That's really solid, especially if you're coming from a much older Windows laptop.
But across the board, many of these Snapdragon X devices were fantastic, though when it comes to the best 14-inch laptops of this type, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is our favorite.
It has a gorgeous 3K resolution OLED display with a refresh rate of 90Hz. And thanks to the Snapdragon X chip, the battery really is fantastic. If you've seen a Lenovo laptop before, though, the Yoga Slim 7x doesn't look like anything too special. It's quite thin, but is otherwise fairly plain and non-offensive.
Overall, when it comes to Snapdragon X laptops, I prefer the design and 3:2 aspect ratio of the Surface Laptop 7th Edition, but it only comes in 13-inch and 15-inch sizes. As a 14-inch option, the Yoga Slim 7x comes recommended, especially given the deep discounts we've seen on it recently.
Lenovo has a few other solid 14-inch laptops, such as the ThinkPad X1 Carbon, though that has more of a niche audience in the commercial world.
The best budget 14-inch laptop for creators
Acer Swift X 14
- Excellent productivity performance
- Very good creative performance
- Spectacular OLED display
- Very good keyboard
- Solid build quality
- Competitive pricing
- Boring aesthetic
- Slightly disappointing battery life
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.7 x 9.0 x 0.70 inches |
| Weight | 3.31 pounds |
| Display | 14.5-inch OLED display, 2880 x 1800 at 120Hz |
| CPU | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H |
| GPU | RTX 4050, RTX 4060, RTX 4070 |
Many of the best 14-inch laptops come with discrete GPU options, as you've seen from some of these options so far. The Acer Swift X 14 manages to do just that, with options of the RTX 4050, RTX 4060, and RTX 4070. That adds a lot of performance to the equation, making it a solid option for editing video or doing some PC gaming on the side or on the go — all at prices that are lower than the other options on this list.
That's exactly what our reviewer, Mark Coppock, noted in his review. After admitting that it wasn't the prettiest 14-inch laptop, he remarks that it's OK "because it’s a really fast laptop with a spectacular OLED display. It’s one of the more portable laptops for doing real creative work." As Coppock says, there are cheaper 14-inch laptops out there, but not ones that can get this kind of performance.
There's an RTX 4060 configuration with 1TB of storage and an OLED screen, for example, that sells for just under $1,500. That's a lot of bang for your buck. Now, the design isn't particularly flashy, and it's a bit thicker than some of its competitors at 0.70 inches. The battery life isn't the best either. But the Acer Swift X 14 makes up for those downsides in terms of sheer performance-per-dollar value.
The best 14-inch MacBook Pro alternative
Dell XPS 14
- A momentous design
- Gorgeous OLED screen
- 120Hz across all configurations
- Excellent haptic trackpad
- Quiet, cool performance
- Comfy keyboard
- Wecam is solid
- RAM isn't upgradeable
- Touch buttons lack haptic feedback
- Limited ports
- Quite expensive
| Specification: | |
| Dimensions | 12.6 x 8.5 x 0.71 inches |
| Weight | 3.7 pounds |
| Display | 14.5-inch IPS 1920 x 1200 or OLED 3200 x 2000 at 120Hz |
| CPU | Core Ultra 7 155H |
| GPU | RTX 4050 |
The XPS 14 is a controversial laptop. There's no getting around that. But when it comes to offering a true alternative to the 14-inch MacBook Pro on the Windows side, the Dell XPS 14 has the design chops to really take up the mantle. Regardless of how you feel about the practicality of the design, it's undeniably one of the most beautiful laptop ever made, with its stark white chassis, zero-lattice keyboard, and invisible haptic feedback trackpad. The function row capacitive buttons are a nice touch of interest too, if only they didn't create hurdles in everyday use. I don't love the limited ports either.
But in my own time with this laptop, I found myself able to get used to the unorthodox design elements overtime. I'll probably never love not having real function keys, but it was something I could at least familiarize myself with over a couple of weeks.
And if you can get past those negatives like I was, bringing the RTX 4050 to a design like the XPS 14 feels awesome. That doesn't make it the most powerful laptop in the world, but it opens possibilities in terms of what you can do with this laptop. And again, more than that, it's the most stunning 14-inch laptop you can buy — and it doesn't perform half bad either.
What to consider
14-inch laptops are incredibly multi-faceted devices, so picking one out involves carefully considering your own needs. Performance, chassis size, storage and RAM capacity, ports, and display quality are all things to consider.
Who are 14-inch laptops good for?
As the most balanced screen size, there's a wide variety of demographics and use cases that 14-inch laptops are good for. If you intend to sit in front of your laptop all day, whether for work or school, it's a good screen size that gives some additional real estate over a 13-inch laptop.
It's also a great size for aspiring content creators. Lots of the laptops below include options with more powerful CPUs and discrete GPUs, meaning they'll be solid starting places for video editing, photo editing, gaming, and more. Larger 16-inch laptops with even more powerful components take this a step further, but they are often quite expensive by comparison.
Why choose a 14-inch laptop instead of a 13-inch laptop?
An inch difference in screen size doesn't sound like a lot. But remember, screen is measured diagonally, meaning the difference in overall footprint can be more than you might think. These days, 13-inch laptops tend to be highly portable and rarely include high-performance parts such as discrete GPUs. That includes laptops such as the MacBook Air 13-inch, Surface Laptop 7th Edition 13-inch, or Dell XPS 13.
If you're primarily buying a laptop to travel with or use at coffee shops, those options might be better. That's not to say 14-inch laptops can't be thin, but the smaller footprint of 13-inch laptops (and sometimes lower prices) make them ideal to take on the go.
Can 14-inch laptops play PC games?
Absolutely. In the past few years, we've seen a surge of new 14-inch gaming laptops that include everything you'd expect from a high-end gaming laptop, including a high refresh rate screen, great thermals, powerful GPUs inside, and all the gaming aesthetics you might expect. We've included the best 14-inch gaming laptop down below, but there are plenty more to choose from, including the Razer Blade 14 and Alienware x14.
How we tested
Every laptop we review gets a full suite of testing. That includes lots of hands-on time with the device to get an overall feel for how it fits into a workflow, as well as specific hardware testing that stresses different components. Our performance testing includes the latest benchmarks such as Cinebench R24, 3DMark, Geekbench 6, and PCMark 10. We also run the system through some real application testing to see how the performance plays out, such as video encoding in Handbrake, video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro, and specific PC games. We test systems in different performance profiles, as well as on battery versus plugged in.
We also run a few battery tests on the device to see how long it lasts, including a basic video loop, a web browser macro, and the most intense, a rundown on multi-core Cinebench R24. That way, we have the entire range of how long a laptop can lasts depending on what applications are running. Lastly, we always test the laptop's display with a Spyder colorimeter, which provides tests the performance of the display, providing data on the contrast, color gamut, color accuracy, and brightness of a screen.
Beyond those quantifiable tests, we also try out the webcam, the speakers, keyboard, trackpad, and much more. All of these factors play into our picks for the best 14-inch laptops.
Why trust us?
Laptops reviews are primarily conducted and written by senior editor Luke Larsen, lead reporter Jacob Roach, and longtime laptop review contributor Mark Coppock. Each of us has been testing hardware for many years, some of us well over a decade. Because of that, we also have over a decade of hardware testing data to draw from, allowing us to judge the latest releases in light of historical context. Together, we are the laptop review team at Digital Trends, and between the three of us, we've tested a lot of laptops.
Unlike some outlets, we don't just review the cream of the crop either. Our approach is to test as many laptops as we can each year, in a diverse variety of categories, sizes, and use cases. That way, we can provide the most dependable and helpful recommendations, even for people who might have different needs and preferences than ours.
There will always be biases and subjectivity in product reviews, but we try as best we can to provide honest and trustworthy buying advice that will actually help you find the right laptop for you. We know that means it isn't always the flashiest, most high-end laptop either. That's why you'll find options among the best 14-inch laptops below that include most affordable options, including those from previous generations.
