10 Ultra-Portable Business Laptops To Check Out

Lightweight Laptops

Goodbye, bulky laptops for work. Leading PC makers are proving you can bring together all of the key features of a great business laptop -- security, durability, performance -- while also providing a highly portable form factor. If laptop portability is high on the wish list for your organization or customer in 2018, vendors including HP, Dell and Lenovo have plenty of ultra-portable options to choose from. We've pulled together a list of 10 leading business laptops that weigh less than three pounds, and we've ordered them from heaviest to lightest in the following slides. (Note: these are the starting weights for the laptops -- weight will vary by configuration.)

Dell Latitude 5290

Weight: 2.99 pounds

Thickness: 0.8 of an inch

Starting price: $799

Along with a lightweight design, Dell's 12.5-inch Latitude 5290 offers quad-core eighth-gen Intel processors (Core i5 or Core i7), "all-day" battery life (thanks to an up to 68WHr battery) and durability that meets a wide range of military standards.

HP EliteBook 1040 G4

Weight: 2.99 pounds

Thickness: 0.63 of an inch

Starting price: $1,399

With the latest generation of the EliteBook 1040, HP has pulled off a feat: delivering a laptop with stunning speed (thanks to its use of Intel's workstation-level H series processors), while making few compromises in other areas. The 14-inch laptop offers strong portability and performance, as well as up to 18 hours of battery life and security features such as the Sure View integrated privacy screen.

HP EliteBook 830 G5

Weight: 2.94 pounds

Thickness: 0.7 of an inch

Starting price: $1,249

The 13.3-inch EliteBook 830 G5 offers a similar aluminum-bodied premium design to higher-end EliteBook models -- along with many of the same security features -- but at a lower price point. Security capabilities include HP Sure Run, which helps to maintain and protect firewalls, along with HP's self-healing BIOS technology, Sure Start.

Lenovo ThinkPad T480s

Weight: 2.9 pounds

Thickness: 0.72 of an inch

Starting price: $1,170

Along with avoiding the heft that is common in many older generations of ThinkPad, the 14-inch T480s offers important features for business including a built-in webcam cover, an optional fingerprint reader, up to 15.6 hours of battery life and up to an eighth-gen Intel Core i7 processor.

HP EliteBook x360 1030 G2

Weight: 2.82 pounds

Thickness: 0.59 of an inch

Starting price: $1,349

The EliteBook x360 1030 G2 is a 2-in-1 notebook built with the needs of the business power user in mind. Along with a convertible 13.3-inch touch-screen display, key features include long battery life (up to 16.5 hours on a charge); dedicated keys for launching videoconferencing and other collaboration functions; and a range of work-friendly ports. Notably, HP has announced that the third-generation model of the EliteBook x360 1030 is coming soon with an even lower weight, of 2.76 pounds.

Dell Latitude 7290

Weight: 2.63 pounds

Thickness: 0.65 of an inch

Starting price: $1,049

For the 12.5-inch Latitude 7290, Dell is offering quad-core eighth-gen Intel processors, USB-C connectivity and up to 14 hours of battery life. The Latitude 7290 also includes Microsoft's Precision Touchpad, which vastly improves touchpad responsiveness over previous Latitude models.

Dell Latitude 7390

Weight: 2.59 pounds

Thickness: 0.66 of an inch

Starting price: $1,199

Along with being one of the lightest business laptops on the market, Dell's Latitude 7390 offers strong performance and battery life; a bright 13.3-inch display (with optional touch screen); Microsoft's highly responsive Precision Touchpad; facial recognition sign-in from Windows Hello; and an appealing carbon-fiber design.

Lenovo ThinkPad X280

Weight: 2.5 pounds

Thickness: 0.67 of an inch

Starting price: $1,061

Lenovo complements the light-and-thin form factor of the 12.5-inch ThinkPad X280 with eighth-gen Intel Core processors for terrific performance, military-level durability, a good selection of ports (including USB-C, USB-A and HDMI) and rapid-charging capabilities.

HP EliteBook x360 1020

Weight: 2.5 pounds

Thickness: 0.53 of an inch

Starting price: $1,449

HP's EliteBook x360 1020 impresses for being one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on the market, even though it's focused on meeting the needs of business users rather than consumers. The laptop's convertible 12.5-inch touch display goes up to 700 nits of brightness, while the laptop also offers dedicated keys for video/audio conference collaboration; HP's Sure View embedded privacy screen; ports including two USB-C connectors; and a keyboard featuring surprisingly deep keys.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, 6th Gen

Weight: 2.49 pounds

Thickness: 0.62 of an inch

Starting price: $1,367

Lenovo has managed to make the sixth-gen release of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon amazingly light and thin even with its bright 14-inch display, superb battery life (up to 15 hours on a charge) and strong performance from eighth-gen Intel Core processors. Other great features include a comfortable, quiet keyboard; a smooth-performing touchpad; USB-C mechanical side docking (for easier docking); a fingerprint reader that processes data right in the sensor module (for improved security); and a built-in webcam shutter.