14 Business Laptops that Raised the Bar in 2019

By Jeffrey Schwartz

It’s a good time to be in the market for a new laptop. The systems introduced in 2019 are decidedly thinner, lighter and more secure than the models they replaced. Every model year typically gives OEMs an opportunity to add more battery life and introduce the latest in CPUs and graphics processors, and this year was no exception. But many of the latest premium devices now offer faster wireless LAN capability by supporting the new Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) standard, and other new features designed to improve productivity, content creation and entertainment.

Shipments of PCs in the third quarter grew a modest 1.1%, according to Gartner, though in the U.S. they were effectively flat (actually, a 0.3% decline). PC shipments tend to pick up in the fourth quarter, buoyed by the holiday gift-giving season, with an added boost among companies in the 11^th hour of their migrations from Windows 7 to Windows 10 before Jan. 14 when mainstream support for the latter is scheduled to end. Whether you’re in the market for yourself or for a customer looking to refresh their laptops, these 14 are all worthy of consideration.

Scroll through the gallery below for some of the best laptops of 2019.

Dell Latitude 7400 2-in-1

Dell this year completely revamped its Latitude line of laptops starting with the newly engineered 7400 convertible 2-1 PC. First previewed at last year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES), the Latitude 7400 is one-quarter smaller than its predecessor and now weighs just 3 pounds. Dell officials said they were able to shed some weight and mass from the systems by eliminating the thick bezels, almost rivaling those of the notoriously think XPS 13 panels. The Latitude 7400 is made with a new Titan Gray aluminum, has curved edges and a magnesium alloy undercover. To create the four-sided narrow bezel, the device has a drop hinge and a new thermal design footprint using material called GORE. Dell claims the new Latitude supports more than 26 hours of runtime on a single charge, when using the 78Whr battery and support for Cat 16 gigabit LTE, which will enable 1 Gbps download speeds.