The best 2-in-1 laptop 2021: find the best convertible laptop for your needs

Thanks to the best 2-in-1 laptops, you can go from a full day of productive and creative work to unwinding down with a show in seconds. These nifty portables have changed the way we use portables by adopting a versatile 2-in-1 design that gives users several form factors or use mode in a single device, often alongside touchscreen capabilities. 

The best 2-in-1 laptops are a boon to professionals and casual users alike, as many of them are fitted with the best processors, the best graphics cards, and speedy RAM to handle demanding tasks. They’ll let you effortlessly go from doing your work using the traditional laptop form to taking down notes or planning your week in tablet form to watching Disney+ or Netflix in tent mode. That’s without ever switching or needing several devices, which means that you could potentially be saving money as well. 

With HP, Lenovo and Dell laptops sitting at the top of the pile, the best 2-in-1 laptops rank with the best laptops available today. From the best Windows portables to the best Chromebooks, here are our choices for 2021.

HP Elite Dragonfly

(Image credit: HP)

1. HP Elite Dragonfly

For the traveling professional

CPU: 8th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 | RAM: 8GB - 16GB | Screen: 13.3" diagonal Full HD touch display – Full HD touch Sure View display | Storage: 256 GB SSD

Impeccable design
Excellent battery life
Pretty expensive

As far as 2-in-1 laptops go, the HP Elite Dragonfly tops our list with its combination of portability and power. It’s also one of the most beautiful business laptops we've tested in a long time, touting a thin and light design – complete with incredible speakers, a sublime keyboard and the optional 550 nit 4K display – that’s absolutely hard to contend with. This hybrid gets our coveted five-star rating, which already says a lot as we don’t give that out lightly. And, did we mention it also boasts an excellent battery life, which gets you a long way when working on-the-go?

Read the full review: HP Elite Dragonfly

HP Spectre x360 (2021)

(Image credit: HP)

2. HP Spectre x360 (2021)

A brilliant update

CPU: 11th-gen Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 – Iris Xe | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.3" diagonal, FHD (1920 x 1080) OLED touch – 13.3" diagonal, 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) OLED touch | Storage: 256 GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD – 2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD

Gorgeous design
Excellent battery life
Great performance for day-to-day work
Fans can get noisy
Pricey

The flagship HP Spectre x360 (2021) is the newest in the flagship product line and continues the tradition of pairing elegance and premium design with the newest in specs for a 2-in-1 laptop that’s as much substance as it is style. This gorgeous Windows laptop comes with the new 11th-gen Intel CPU and enough battery life to get you through a long day at work. While it does come with a price tag to match and its 2-in-1 factor can be bulky for those making use of its tablet mode, not to mention that it can get loud, it’s a stunning laptop with excellent performance.

Read the full review: HP Spectre x360 (2021)

Lenovo Yoga 9i

(Image credit: Lenovo)

3. Lenovo Yoga 9i

Powerful, stylish 2-in-1 that can go the distance

CPU : 11th Generation Intel Core i3 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: up to 16 GB LPDDR4X | Screen: 14.0" FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, glossy with Dolby Vision – 14.0" UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, HDR 400 | Storage: up to 1 TB PCIe SSD

Outstanding battery life
Garaged stylus
Expensive

If you want a high-performance 2-in-1 laptop that will keep going long after its rivals have given up, the Intel Evo-certified Lenovo Yoga 9i is the best 2-in-1 laptop for you. The price of entry here isn’t what you would categorize as cheap, but given the power, battery life, and premium features like the rechargeable Lenovo Active Pen and its reasonably-quick pen charging dock built-in on the laptop, it’s actually quite reasonably priced. This means that you’re getting a lot of value for paying just a bit more.

Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga 9i

Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook

(Image credit: Lenovo)

4. Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook

Everything that netbooks should have been

CPU: MediaTek Helio P60T Processor | Graphics: ARM G72 MP3 800GHz | RAM: 4 GB LPDDR4X | Screen: 10.1" FHD (1920 x 1200) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, 400 nits | Storage: Storage: 64 GB eMMC

Lightweight and portable
Long battery life
Very affordable
Tiny keyboard and finicky trackpad
Charger and headphones share a single port

Is it a Chromebook or is it a tablet? Well, luckily, you won’t have to decide. True to its name, this Chromebook delivers two form factors in one, while utilizing the versatility of the Chrome OS and setting you back much less than many of the top Windows tablets out there. Of course, true to its Chromebook nature, its battery packs an incredibly long life of almost 22 hours – you could pull an all-nighter, work through the day and mid-afternoon, and you’ll still pass out before it runs out of juice. For this price, sacrifices have to be made, naturally – the keyboard is tiny, the trackpad isn’t as reliable, and the charger and headphones share one port. However, if budget is your top priority, this is definitely among the best 2-in-1 laptops in 2021.

Read the full review: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook 

Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020)

(Image credit: Dell)

5. Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020)

One of the best Windows laptops around

CPU: 10th Generation Intel Core i3 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus | RAM: up to 16GB 4267MHz LPDDR4x | Screen: 13.4-in. touch display | Storage: up to 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD

Great display
Fantastic battery life
Expensive

The Dell XPS line has been upping the ante in the world of portables since launching, and that hasn’t changed. It may now have penetrated the premium game, forcing its budget-conscious fans to look for cheaper alternatives, but that higher price tag hasn’t changed the fact that these are some of the best laptops in the world, with the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020) touting more versatility thanks to its hybrid design. We love this laptop so much, we’d get it just for the pleasure of using it. But, if that price is holding you back, let us assure you: this is worth paying extra for.

Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 (2020) 

Acer Spin 5 (2020)

(Image credit: Acer)

6. Acer Spin 5 (2020)

A fantastic 2-in-1 laptop

CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 13.5" (2256 x 1504) 3:2 touchscreen display | Storage: 256GB – 512GB SSD

Fantastic battery life
3:2 display perfect for note-taking
Feature rich stylus included
3:2 display not ideal for 16:9 video
Bloatware includes desktop pop-up ads

A great feature set definitely adds a lot of value, and if you’re looking for the best 2-in-1 laptops, that’s one thing to keep an eye out for. It’s that combined with its affordability that makes the Acer Spin 5 (2020) a terrific candidate. This 2-in-1 laptop isn’t just versatile due to its form factors and fantastic battery life. It also comes with a 3:2 display and a feature-rich stylus that together give it that extra advantage for students and professional over its rivals: an easy and seamless note-taking experience. If you’re one of those folks who have a contempt for typing up notes in class, this old-school approach might just seal the deal.

Read the full review: Acer Spin 5 (2020)

Lenovo ThinkBook 14S Yoga

(Image credit: Lenovo)

7. Lenovo ThinkBook 14S Yoga

An excellent 2-in-1

CPU: 11th Gen Intel Core i5 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: up to 24 GB DDR4 3200MHz | Screen: 14.0” FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, glossy, touchscreen, 300 nits | Storage: up to 1TB PCIe SSD

Great performance
Garaged stylus 
Battery life is just OK

Lenovo’s latest release, the ThinkBook 14S Yoga, is a solid and affordable convertible that comes with some great features and a terrific performance – not to mention that coveted 2-in-1 design and a garaged pen, which doesn’t come standard on every hybrid. There’s a lot to love here, starting with its great price-to-performance ratio, even though admittedly, it isn’t perfect. That battery life, for example, is no match to the competition. Still, this is among the best 2-in-1 laptops out there.

Read the full review: Lenovo Thinkpad 14S Yoga

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable

(Image credit: Lenovo)

8. Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable

Putting the Microsoft Surface Pro on notice

CPU: 11th Generation Intel Core i3 – i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics | RAM: 8GB – 16GB | Screen: 12.3" FHD+ (1920 x 1280) IPS, anti-reflective touchscreen, 400 nits | Storage: 256GB – 1TB PCIe SSD

Lightweight
Good performance
Excellent battery life
Limited Ports
Terrible Speakers

Business laptops are a dime a dozen, but once in a while, you get one that’s just a little more special than the others. The Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable is a more versatile option, touting a detachable, portfolio-style keyboard that allows its users to seamlessly go from full tablet to full traditional laptop in seconds. Of course, as it is still a business laptop, it comes with a host of business-centric features, from robust security to a surprisingly long battery life.

Read the full review: Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable

Lenovo Yoga C940

(Image credit: Lenovo)

9. Lenovo Yoga C940

The Lenovo Yoga is back and it means business

CPU: up to 10th-generation Intel Core i7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics | RAM: up to 16GB | Screen: 14” FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS, touchscreen, glossy, 400 nits –14" UHD (3840 x 2160) IPS, touchscreen, glossy, HDR 400, 500 nits | Storage: up to 2TB SSD PCIe

Excellent design
Great performance
Comfy keyboard
Expensive
Battery life

The Lenovo Yoga C940 is a stunning laptop. It’s clear Lenovo spared no expense in its design, making a gorgeous looking portable. But, it also comes with plenty of power under the hood. Rounding the experience is a comfortable keyboard, a rotating soundbar with 2 additional speakers, touch pen as well as a TrueBlock Privacy Shutter. While it’s not a perfect computer – the battery life is not quite up to par – it more than holds its own against the competition, with Lenovo offering a stylish and powerful Ultrabook that’s perfect for any digital nomad.

Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga C940

Microsoft Surface Book 3

(Image credit: Microsoft)

10. Microsoft Surface Book 3

An extremely premium piece of kit

CPU: 10th Gen Intel Core i5-1035G7 – i7-1065G7 | Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics – NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti with Max-Q Design | RAM: 8GB – 32GB 3733Mhz LPDDR4x | Screen: 13.5-inch 3000 x 2000 (267 PPI) – 15-inch 3240 x 2160 (260 PPI) PixelSense Display | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, or 2TB PCIe SSD

Beautiful design
Comfortable keyboard
Gorgeous screen
Weak U-series processor
Tiny trackpad
Lackluster speakers

In many ways, the Surface Book 3 is an example of just how far the best laptops have come in just a few short years. It has an extremely premium piece of kit – with one of the best displays we’ve used in a laptop, a keyboard that will put the MacBook Pro’s new Magic Keyboards to shame, and a hybrid design with a removable screen. This follow-up to the outstanding Surface Book 2 is truly one of the best 2-in-1 laptops 2021 has to offer. Unfortunately, it’s held back by a weaker processor (next to its rivals), lacklust speakers and a high price tag. Still, it’s an excellent portable, if you’ve got the money for it and don’t.

Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Book 3

Gabe Carey and Bill Thomas have also contributed to this article

Images Credit: TechRadar

With the best 2-in-1 laptops, you'll often be taking them out and about thanks to their versatility and portability, so it's always a good idea to get them insured against accidental damage and theft. If you're in the UK, then you can shop around and compare contents insurance to keep your gadgets, including laptops, protected.



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