The best touchscreen laptops have helped evolve the laptop scene and changed the way we use laptops. What was once a unique feature has transitioned as a standard on a lot of portables now. This isn’t surprising as interacting with a laptop can be more entertaining, pleasurable, and seamless with the touchscreen capability.
It’s not only the touchscreen functionality that you are getting here with these laptops. Most of the best touchscreen laptops in the market come with a 2-in-1 form factor to provide them with a lot more versatility- not to mention value compared to their traditional counterparts. Indeed, it isn’t to say that they are focussing more on style than substance. The best touchscreen laptops also deliver the kind of portability and performance expected from the best laptops.
The touchscreen laptops aren’t going away anytime soon. Whether you are a fan of the Chrome operating system or prefer Windows 10 operating system, you will be able to find something that will suit your needs as both are touchscreen compatible. We have reviewed everything on this list so that you are good enough to make it to your top touchscreen laptops list.
Table of Contents
Top 10 Touch Screen Laptop UK
1. HP Spectre x360
HP Spectre x360 is the best touch screen laptop of 2020. Its faceted corners and gem-cut edges will make your jaw drop to the floor. It sports a vivid 1080p, 13.3-inch display with slim bezels. For tablet use, you can fold it back.
Artists should have no problem while crafting their masterpieces on this sleek Ultrabook as the drawing is responsive with the included HP Active stylus. The HP Spectre x360 offers a fantastic keyboard and all-day battery life along with its display. You can check out the 15-inch version if you want a large canvas to work with.
Features
- Weight: 2.7 pounds
- Size: 12.7 × 7.7 × 0.7 inches
- Display: 13.3 inch, 4K or 1080p
- Storage: 256 GB or 512 GB or 1 TB
- RAM: 8 GB/ 16 GB
- GPU: Intel Iris Plus
- CPU: Core i5/ Core i7
2. Microsoft Surface Pro 6
Its colourful and bright 2736 × 1824 pixels, 12.3 inches display is a big reason for the Microsoft Surface Pro 6 being the best detachable touch screen laptop. The Microsoft Surface Pro 6’s touch screen panel will reward your eyes with lucid and saturated images, whether touching up photographs or binging Netflix shows. Being detachable, it is an excellent travel companion if you want to work on the go. You can use it as a drafting table by tilting the display with the kickstand on the back.
Moreover, the company has addressed the most significant issues faced with last year’s Surface Pro. The new model extends its predecessor’s battery life by more than two hours, + its new quad-core CPU offers massive improvements to performance. It also doesn’t look stale, thanks to its familiar design and a slick new black colour variant.
Features
- Weight: 2.4 pounds (including keyboard)
- Size: 11.5 × 7.9 × 0.3 inches
- Display: 2736 × 1824 pixels, 12.3 inches
- Storage: Up to 1 TB SSD
- RAM: 8 GB/ 16 GB
- GPU: Intel UHD 620
- CPU: Up to Intel Core i7
3. Google Pixelbook Go
This touch screen laptop is an excellent example of what laptops running the Chrome Operating System can offer. With a starting price of $649, one gets a superior battery life, a vivid and bright display, premium, and slim chassis. Talking about performance, it can also go toe-to-toe with Windows 10 laptops.
It is not a perfect machine, as its speakers are weak, and the keyboard is shallow.
Suggestion: You can check out Asus Chromebook Flip C434 or Google’s Pixelbook if you desire a 2-in-1 laptop.
Features
- Weight- 2.3 pounds (including keyboard)
- Size- 12.2 × 8.1 × 0.5 inches
- Display- 1080 p or 4K implies 13.3 inches.
- RAM- 8 GB or 16 GB
- Storage- 512 GB or 256 GB or 1 TB
- GPU- Intel HD 615
- CPU- Intel Core m3 or Core i5 or Core i7
4. Dell XPS 13
This late 2019 version of XPS 13 is similar to the previous model but now comes with 10th Gen processors. The 6-core i7 CPU offers a significant boost in performance over the 8th Generation processors.
It has a gorgeous 13.3-inch Infinity Edge display with practically 0 bezels.
Suggestion: Opt for the 1080 p model if you want a long battery life. The reason being that the 4K version lasts around eight hours on a charge- a decent below-average result.
Features
- Weight- 2.7 pounds
- Size- 11.9 × 7.8 × 0.5 inches
- Display- 1080 p or 4K, 13.3 inch
- Storage- 256 GB or 512 GB or 2 TB or 1 TB
- RAM- 4 GB or 16 GB or 8 GB
- GPU- Intel UHD 620
- CPU- Intel Core i3 or Intel Core i7 or Intel Core i5
5. Microsoft Surface Go
The Microsoft Surface Go is the best touch screen laptop for content creators on a budget. It is the best secondary travel laptop in the market right now- all credits to its super lightweight chassis. But the real highlight of this laptop is it’s 1800 × 1200, 10-inch display, which is more detailed, colourful, and brighter than most displays we find on premium laptops.
Realistically, the Microsoft Surface Go’s Pentium Gold 4415Y CPU won’t deliver enough power to run Photoshop, but it will do the trick for light photo and video editing and streaming content.
Features
- Weight- 1.7 pounds
- Size- 9.7 × 6.9 × 0.3 inches
- Battery Life- 6 hours
- Storage- 128 GB
- RAM- 8 GB
- GPU- Intel HD Graphics 615
- CPU- Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y
- Display- 1800 × 1200 p, 10 inch
6. Microsoft Surface Pro 7
The Microsoft Surface Pro line has always been an excellent choice for excellent 22-in-1 touchscreen models. This laptop adds some much-awaited features to the line that make it more ready and suitable for today’s business world. This is your top option if you want the best Windows 10 tablet. It is especially ideal for mobile professionals who desire a Windows 10 tablet.
It comes with a 12.3-inch Ultra HD touchscreen with various processor choices, up to a 10th generation Intel Core i7 chip for fast performance. You can also choose up to 1 TB of SSD storage and up to 16 GB of RAM, which implies that this slim laptop can become as powerful as you want.
Features
- Display- 12.3-inch display
- Battery- 10.5 hours
- Accompanied with a USB-C Port- something which the Pro 6 was lacking
- Equipped with a MicroSDXC card reader, surface type cover, ports for surface connect, a headphone jack, a USB-A port
7. Microsoft Surface Go 2
The Microsoft Surface Go 2 improves on the affordable 2-in-1 in many ways- most notably, it increased the battery life to 10 hours and came with a larger 10.5-inch touchscreen. It is suitable for professionals and students who don’t need to get a Surface Pro.
At the base price, it is the most affordable Surface device that the brand offers, and it is well within a broader range of budgets. It is perfect for those who can’t justify or don’t need to buy a Surface Pro. It also comes equipped with a USB-C connection for the fastest and latest data connection. There is also a MicroSD card reader and a Surface Connect Port.
Features
- Battery Life- 10 hours
- Display- 10.5-inch touchscreen
- Weight- 1.2 pounds
- RAM- 4 GB/ 8 GB
- Storage- Up to 128 GB SSD
8. Dell XPS 15
One of the best touchscreen laptops to hit the streets in 2020 is the Dell XPS 15. Combining light chassis and staggering power in a stylish thin, this touchscreen laptop doesn’t hold back when talking about the internals and consists of features that improve the overall computing experience.
Among those unique features are an excellent trackpad, impressive speakers, a remarkably comfortable keyboard, and a gorgeous bright display with 500 nits of brightness. The Dell XPS 15 is highly suitable for those looking for the best touchscreen laptop as it has got a responsive, incredible, and highly accurate touchscreen- not to mention, which is pleasurable to use.
Features
- Storage- 256 GB- 2 TB M.2 PCie NVMe
- Display- 15.6 inch
- RAM- 8 GB – 64 GB
- GPU- Intel Ultra HD Graphics i.e. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti
- CPU- 10th Generation Intel Core i5 or Intel Core i7
9. Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition
Razer Blade has designed its best gaming laptop. It has turned it into a mobile creative workstation touting a jaw-dropping performance that meets designers, photographers, and videographers’ standards. This laptop rocks an amazing 4K display with the touchscreen model on hand, giving video editors lots of space to work on while editing on the go and creating incredibly sharp content.
Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition is the best touchscreen laptop for you if a seamless and fast workflow is of utmost importance in your day to day life.
Features
- Storage- 1 TB SSD
- Display- 15.6 inches OLED 4K Touchscreen 60 HZ, factory calibrated
- RAM- 32 GB
- GPU or Graphics- NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Studio Edition- NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q
- CPU- Eighth generation Intel Core i7 — 8750 H
10. Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 is more accessible than ever to more people, specifically fans of AMD’s latest graphics cards and processors- all thanks to the debut of AMD Ryzen processor in the company’s laptop line.
Unfortunately, you might want to skip this if you search for fresh features such as ‘too many ports.’ This model is more powerful than its previous models and has the most extended battery life in its class. And, of course, it is the lightest and the thinnest touchscreen laptop in the market. It is a worthy contender if portability and longevity matter most to you.
Features
- Storage- 128 GB- 1 TB
- Display- 13.5 inch (2256 × 1504) to 2496 × 1664 (15 inch) PixelSense Display
- RAM- 8 GB to 32 GB
- GPU- AMD Radeon Vega 9- RX Vega 11, Intel Iris Plus Graphics
- CPU- AMD Ryzen 5 3580 U- 7 3780 U, 10th Intel Gen Intel Core i5-i7
Touch Screen Laptop UK Buying Guide
First of all, let’s get started with some terminology- A touchscreen laptop is overlaid on the panel element, has a conducive digitizing layer that allows for swiping, pinching, or tapping input. A capacitive touch input detects where you have touched with your fingers by using your skin’s conductivity.
Types of Touchscreen laptops
The tendency toward touch support will vary depending on the specific kind of laptop you are looking at. Let’s have a look into the significant types of touchscreen laptops.
Budget Clamshells
Most low-cost machines that are straight-up laptops will not support touchscreen, but you will run across the occasional exception. A touchscreen should be seen as a pleasant surprise in under $500 machines.
Business and Mainstream Clamshells
The most varied mix of non-touch VS touch models can be found in this category. Here is a fraught between touch VS non-touch models in the same system line. For example- 4K touch panel in the latest Dell XPS 13 VS 1920 × 1200 non-touch panel.
2-in-1 detachable and convertibles
All 2-in-1 machines will support touchscreens by their very nature. When you are using a 360° rotating 2-in-1 in tablet or tent mode, touch input is essential as you don’t have access to the keyboard. Likewise, in a detachable 2-in-1: You can remove the keyboard, and all you are left for input is a stylus or your tapping fingers. Of course, a key differentiator here is whether the 2-in-1 additionally supports the stylus and whether it costs extra or is included. A high-profile example of the latter is the Microsoft Surface devices that mandate ninety-nine dollars to complement Surface Pen stylus.
Gaming Laptops
Most gaming laptops have fifteen to seventeen-inch screens, and very few of them support touchscreen. PC users don’t have much use for touchscreen input, and implementing it would somewhat reduce what an often already-challenged battery is.
Giant-screen machines
It is rare to find a laptop with a giant seventeen-inch display screen with a touchscreen. Touch-panel implementations at that size are not cost-effective and pricey. They are also not very practical: As we have already said, many touchscreen laptops are 2-in-1, and a seventeen-inch tablet would be pretty unwieldy. A rare recent seventeen-inch touchscreen model is the 2020 Dell XPS 17.
Chromebooks
Touchscreen inputs did not feature in the early Chromebooks, but we see them in more new models. With the emergence of 2-in-1 convertible Chromebooks, the touchscreen is becoming more common in this line. The Chrome operating system itself is not optimized or intended for touchscreen.
Apple MacBook
No current MacBook laptop or MacBook computer supports touchscreen input unless you count the thin Touch Bar on MacBook Pro models. Similar to the Chrome operating system, the Mac operating system isn’t optimized for touch. Therefore, full touchscreen display remains the province of Apple’s iPads or iPhones.
Do you even need a touchscreen laptop?
Consider the following factors before you go all in, thinking that it’s given that having a touchscreen is a good thing.
Consider battery drain
Typically, a touchscreen reduces battery life compared to an identical non-touch screen in the same line. The system has to keep power fed to the digitizing layer, which will always be on, waiting for your stylus tip or fingertip to tap. Touchscreen in a given laptop line that offers non-touch options also tends to be higher-brightness, higher-resolution, or higher-end screens that consume more power to start with the touch-aspect regardless.
Will you use it?
Before insisting on a touch panel, think about how you play or work, day today. Jabbing a touchscreen with a finger might not afford the precision or utility you need for operations if your main PC activity is mincing through fine-celled spreadsheets. On the other hand, the touchscreen can be a delight if you spend eighty per cent of your time tapping from YouTube to YouTube videos.
You will also be reaching from keyboard to screen to use a touchscreen panel to clash your workflow on a clamshell machine. Alternately, consider a 2-in-1 that can prop up in tent mode or A-frame. You will often be tapping at music and movie playback controls in the display or poking frantically at YouTube thumbnails which tapping the screen requires less reaching and makes more sense.
Chromebook?
Think about the Android factor, as we mentioned earlier that the Chrome operating system is not optimized for touchscreen. Touch is only marginally useful on a Chromebook unless yours is a 2-in-1, or you mean to use plenty of Android applications. A touchscreen is almost essential for Android stuff. Working with these applications with a keyboard or a touchpad can lead to frustration as these are designed to work on tablets and smartphones.
Are you good with glossy?
Most touchscreens have a glossy facing that extends both the bezels and its screen. Matte-finish touchscreens are uncommon. The seamless bezel prevents interruption of your swipe and tap activity near the screen’s periphery and allows for side-in swipes. It’s okay if you like glossy screens, which can enhance the panel’s perceived vividness. Keep a lens cleaning cloth handy as the screens of this kind are prone to smudging, and they tend to be afflicted glare under harsh indoor lighting or outdoors more than matte panels are.
Weight and thickness
Implementing a touch layer on display imply a bit of additional circuitry and material. It’s minimal, but know that a touch VS a non-touch laptop will levy a penalty on both fronts- all things being equal.
Your Pen? Stylus Considerations
Pen support requires a touch-capable screen separate from the simple pinch, swipe, and tap actions on the screen. If handwritten note-taking or sketching is part of how you work, you will want to investigate the pen options available in a given touchscreen laptop.
Typically, it’s just the 2-in-1 touchscreen laptops that will offer them. Stylus types range from an active pen, which supports pressure sensitivity, has click buttons on the pen, and has a built-in battery to a simple passive stick, that is essentially a better and more accurate surrogate for your fingertip.
Top of the line is real digital pens that are powered by their internal battery. Pens of this kind will include a digital ‘eraser’ on the top, angle detection, pressure-sensitivity detection, and click buttons. An example is the Microsoft Surface Pen that works with its line of detachable laptops.
Also, investigate the pen storage scheme if you go this route. A convertible or laptop stylus is easy to leave behind or lose in your bag if it doesn’t have a niche to tuck into. Some 2-in-1 and laptop makers employ a magnetic clip that provides a plastic bracket that may insert into a USB port or stick the pen onto the unit’s side.
Windows Ink (an update of Windows 10 that was launched in 2016) can also be a good reason to investigate a given touchscreen laptop’s stylus capabilities. With Ink’s introduction came support for Screen Sketch, Sketchpad, and Sticky Notes with the operating system. You can have Cortana interpret relevant information from your scribbles, such as phone numbers and email addresses, and make them actionable and can scrawl on virtual Post-It notes. Screen Sketch allows you to annotate onscreen images freehand, great for UI developers, designers or others who work with graphical elements that need feedback. In contrast, Sketchpad will enable you to do freeform drawing with necessary tools. Other pen-enabled applications appear in the Windows Ink Workspace, a pen-centric panel that pop-ups with an icon in your taskbar.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
What is a touchscreen laptop?
A touchscreen laptop is the one with a touch-enabled display, as found on tablets and smartphones. That’s easy to understand, so here are a few different types of touchscreen laptops to choose from.
Some models use a classic folding design. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 2 is an excellent example as it just happens to have a touch-enabled display. Flexible laptops such as Lenovo’s Yoga range can easily rotate on a hinge up to 360°. Therefore, you can use this touchscreen laptop as a tablet by propping its display in several positions or flipping it over.
This line’s most versatile option is the laptop-tablet hybrid with a detachable keyboard, which is often sold separately. It allows you to switch between using your device as a standalone tablet or as a regular laptop. Famous examples of hybrid laptops include the Google Pixel Slate and the Microsoft Surface Pro.
There are a few more unusual touchscreen laptops. For instance, the dual touchscreen Lenovo Yoga Book- but the radical designs like that are yet to take off.
There are numerous terms to refer to several types of touchscreen laptops to add to the confusion. You might see them referred to as convertible laptops, hybrid laptops, 2-in-1 laptops, or tablet laptops.
What do you think- Is a touchscreen laptop better as compared to a tablet?
A touchscreen laptop can easily carry all of it- switching between tablet and laptop modes depending on the task at hand or running Windows applications that won’t work on an iOS or Android tablet. The internal components are also powerful (unless you refer to the most expensive Apple IPad Pro).
However, a tablet has a longer battery life and usually is cheaper and lighter. Consider a tablet with an optional keyboard attachment if portability is your priority.
What are the things that you should look for while purchasing a touchscreen laptop?
The few things that you would like to consider while shopping for a touchscreen laptop are-
Display size
A smaller display will be the best choice if you are looking for a portable device. A larger screen will suit you better if you work at a desk all day long.
Stylus
It is also essential to check if your chosen model comes with a stylus, or you have to use the one that’s sold separately (depending on how you want to use your laptop).
Brightness level
An adequate level of brightness ensures that your laptop is comfortable using well-lit conditions as you will be tapping and looking at it all day.
Contrast ratio
A reasonable contrast ratio ensures that the tones and colours appear vividly on your touchscreen laptop display screen.
How much should you ideally spend on a touchscreen laptop?
Generally, touchscreen laptops are more expensive than tablets- the cheapest ones in our list come in at more than 1000 pounds. The good news for you is that all our picks are available in several configurations- so if you do not require masses of storage or a super-powerful CPU, you can buy your selected model for a much lower price than shown.
Do touchscreen laptops use more battery as compared to other traditional laptops?
They practically can, but this question is trickier than it seems mere. All sorts of laptop display settings, especially screen brightness, can drain your battery.
Touchscreen laptops use a superficial capacitive layer on their display to detect user’s fingers, which hardly uses any electricity. However, more features are’ watching’ for touch inputs that can quickly drain battery life over time. This is due to the complexity of touchscreen laptops that has grown over the years. Touch-enabled laptops tend to use their batteries faster than their traditional counterparts models without a touchscreen for various reasons.
Tip- Disabling the touchscreen won’t make a difference!
Most touchscreen laptops set the screen to ignore all touches, otherwise or accidental, but the features that drain the battery are still there.
The primary and real reason why the touchscreen laptops tend to get worse battery life than their traditional counterparts is that they are limited to higher resolution configurations, such as the Dell XPS 13. A 4K Screen feature is the primary battery sucker, rather than the touchscreen addition.
Are the touchscreen laptops good for activities such as drawing?
Finally, a model-specific question to answer!
Some touchscreen laptops are perfect for drawing, while others are horrible at it. It would help if you went for a 2-in-1 model that’s stylus compatible with something like the Surface Pen (as in the case of Lenovo Yoga models and Microsoft’s Surface models, etc.).
Next, you need to look carefully at the reviews and check if they find that particular laptop good for drawing and sketching.
Tip- The touchscreen laptop isn’t probably the right choice as a drawing surface if the display cannot lay completely flat.
Does Apple have a touchscreen laptop?
Short Answer
Yes, if you count iPad Pro as one.
Long Answer: It is technically a tablet, but there have been significant developments to make it laptop-like, especially with the new iPad operating system (OS).
Apple isn’t particularly interested in manufacturing the MacBook with touchscreens at this time. The reason being that Apple designers don’t like this specific idea. However, they introduced a feature called Sidecar on Mac operating system Catalina. Sidecar lets you bring your MacBook and iPad together by offering easy-sharing. This effectively turns your MacBook into a touch screen system with seamless usage via your fingers or the Apple Pencil. This feature is excellent for drawing, but there are many more other apps available too.
Are all 2-in-1 laptops’ touchscreen laptops’?
When the manufacturers of a particular laptop call it a ‘2-in-1’, they mean that it can be converted to a tablet. They require a touchscreen because they do double duty as a tablet and are touchscreen laptops by default. You can easily convert a 2-in-1 by sliding the keyboard off or folding the screen back in most cases. A few examples are the Microsoft Surface Book, HP Spectre 360x, and Lenovo Yoga.
Some clamshell laptops also have touchscreens, such as some iterations of the Dell XPS 13 and the Surface Laptop 2.
Conclusion
You may be wondering which touch screen laptop you should buy. The answer is dependent on what you are hoping for a touch screen laptop to accomplish for you and who you are. For instance, if you are an artist, you will want to keep an eye on touch screen laptops to keep up with your erratic drawing strokes and have an active and comfortable stylus.
You will also want to make sure that you are satisfied with the display’s screen resolution and colour coverage and make file transferring a smooth experience to ensure that your touch screen laptop has a sufficient number of ports. If you are a power user who wants the productivity boost that the touch screen laptops provide, you might keep an eye on the touch screen laptops that don’t die too quickly and are power-efficient while ploughing away with your work other essential tasks.
The other aspects that you should consider aside from the touchscreen display are-
- Graphics chip
- Storage
- RAM
- CPU
- Screen Resolution
