The 3 Best 2-In-1 Laptops - Fall 2024

The best 2-in-1 laptop we've tested is the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024). This convertible laptop is compact and lightweight, and it feels remarkably well-built, sporting a full-aluminum chassis. It has a sharp 120Hz OLED display, a spacious keyboard, and an easy-to-use haptic touchpad. The display supports pen input, although depending on the region you purchase the laptop, you may or may not get a stylus included. You get a decent port selection, including one USB-A and two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s. Its Intel Core Ultra CPUs perform well and can easily handle general productivity tasks and more demanding workloads like photo editing and programming. The battery lasts around eleven hours of light use, so you can make it easily through the day on a single charge.

If you prefer a tablet with a detachable keyboard form factor, check out the Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition (2024). This type of 2-in-1 is better if you mainly use the device as a tablet, as you can detach the keyboard to make the device easier to hold and pop it back on when you need to type something out. This 2024 model has several upgrades, including a 1440p webcam, Wi-Fi 7, and a new Flex keyboard that you can use even when detached from the device, giving you more flexibility to position the tablet to your liking. The keyboard is still a separate purchase, though, and it isn't exactly cheap, so make sure to factor it into the total cost. Unlike the HP, this device runs on an ARM-based Snapdragon processor. Performance is great, but since most Windows programs don't run natively on ARM, you must ensure that the apps you use are compatible or can run well enough through emulation.

Our mid-range pick is the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (2024). This 2-in-1 convertible feels very well built for the price, and like its predecessors, it has a compact design that makes it easy to carry around. It provides a great user experience and sports a colorful FHD+ display, a comfortable keyboard, and an excellent 1440p webcam. The display gets bright enough to combat glare in well-lit settings, and since this is a convertible laptop, you can flip the screen around and use it as a tablet. There's pen input support if you want to take handwritten notes or draw, but unlike the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022) we tested, you must buy the stylus separately, and there isn't a place to dock the pen for transport. Ports include two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.

As for performance, the base model with an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U and 8GB of RAM performs well and can easily handle general productivity tasks like web browsing and text processing. Acer had announced more powerful configurations with Core Ultra 7 CPUs, but you'll have to wait a bit as they aren't available yet. Battery life is great at around 10 hours of light use, enough to get you through a typical school or workday, and the laptop charges over USB-C, so you don't have to carry around a proprietary charger. Unfortunately, there's no fingerprint sensor or facial recognition camera for added security or quick logins, which isn't all that surprising for a Chromebook. Lastly, if you're new to Chromebooks, make sure that you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app because most applications that run on Windows and macOS lack Chrome OS support.

The best 2-in-1 budget laptop we've tested is the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021), a Chrome OS 2-in-1 tablet. This is a great device for media consumption, thanks to its gorgeous OLED display. It's sharp, bright, and colorful, and like all OLEDs, it displays deep, inky blacks, giving you an amazing dark room viewing experience. Like Microsoft's popular Surface Pro tablets, you can detach the keyboard to make it easier to hold and pop it back on when you need to type something out. The battery lasts around eight hours of video playback or 10 hours of light use, and it charges over USB-C, so you don't have to deal with a proprietary charger.

Unfortunately, while the speakers get reasonably loud, they don't have much bass and sound unnatural, so you're better off using headphones if you want the best audio experience. Wireless headphones, to be exact, because this device doesn't have a 3.5mm headphone jack and doesn't come with a USB-C audio adapter. The keyboard comes with the device, so you don't have to spend extra; however, it feels rather uncomfortable to type on because the keys require a fair amount of force to actuate, and the layout feels cramped. Another downside is the touchpad; it's small and sometimes unresponsive to inputs.