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What is the best laptop for video editing? And the answer to this primarily depends on what you want from your computer and what type of video editing you’ll be doing on it. If you are just into light video editing, for instance, editing your mobile phone clips or editing videos for social media like youtube or Instagram content. Any new laptop under 1000 dollars, most preferably a gaming laptop, will do the trick for you. We said gaming laptops because most lists you’ll find on the internet would comprise mostly gaming laptops for video editing. That is because gaming laptops come with better processors, more RAM, and higher-end graphic cards, as modern-day gaming requires it.
But for professional video editing like 4K, you need laptops specifically engineered for video editing and graphic design purposes. And for more advanced video engineering, you have powerful workstations packed with powerful processors and GPUs that can do a hefty amount of 4K editing with ease for you. So it all depends on what you want. But generally, the best laptop for video editing is a laptop that is a good balance of processor, graphic card, and RAM.
After deciding the level of video editing you are interested in, all you have to do is go through 10 of the best video editing laptops that we have chosen for you after extensive research and testing. Let’s explore them.
Top 10 Best Laptops For Video Editing In 2023
1. Dell XPS 15 (2020) – The best video editing laptop you can buy
CPU: Intel Core i5/Core i7/Core i9
GPU: Intel UHD 630/Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti
RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB
Storage: 1TB HDD or 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch (1080p/4K/4K OLED)
Size: 13.6 x 9.1 x 0.7-inches
Weight: 4.5 pounds
Operating system: Windows 10 Pro
This laptop easily wears the crown of the best laptop for video editing. Made from aluminum and carbon fiber, the Dell XPS 15 is still lightweight, weighing only 4.5 pounds. Its 3840 x 2400 screen covers 132% of the sRGB color gamut hitting 500 nits brightness. And the cherry on the top, with dell’s premier color utility, you can tweak the color gamut, brightness, and temperature of your laptop. It comes in two models; the UHD+ model also offers touch, while the FHD+ model is non-touch. And good to mention here that dell has now fixed its biggest problem and moved its webcam from the bottom bezel to the top.
With its Intel Core i7-10750H processor and Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti Max-Q GPU, the Xps 15 is a fast and sharp laptop. And for even sharper performance, you can now supplement it with an external GBU through its Thunderbolt 3 port. The battery life is good, if not excellent. On our tests, it lasted just over 8 hours, which is decent for a 4K laptop but could have been better. It also comes with an SD card slot and 64GB RAM and up to 1 TB storage capacity. Along with that, Dell Xps 15 4K capabilities make it the best computer for video editing and an ideal choice for content creators and students alike.
2. MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) – The best Mac for video editing
CPU: Intel Core i7/Core i9
GPU: AMD Radeon 5300M/5500M
RAM: 16GB/32GB
Storage: 512GB/1TB/2TB SSD
Display: 16-inch (3072 x 1920)
Size: 14.1 x 9.7 x 0.6 inches
Weight: 4.3 pounds
Operating System: macOS
With Apple’s incredible trackpad and Mac OS, Apple MacBook has become an industry standard for many editors and designers. It’s one of the fastest laptops out there. It comes with a speedy Intel Core i9 CPU and a powerful AMD Radeon Pro 5500M GPU, 64 GB RAM, an 8TB SSD, and a gorgeous, sharp display. Even if you keep the specs at a basic level, it doesn’t let you down even with larger edits and complex after-effects comes with a horizontal touch screen above its keyboard, which adapts to, and its sensitivity changes depending on what app you are using, so you don’t have to leave the full screen while doing edits. While during video editing, the laptop’s track vibrates and alerts you when using different apps elements.
MacBook Pro weighs only 4.3 pounds, and it’s 0.6 inches thick. And comes with a 6-speaker onboard sound system with force-canceling woofers, which offers incredible audio with beefier bass that’s half an octave deeper. The battery life is also incredible at 11 hours. With a professional graphics card from AMD, essential for graphic designing, and one of the fastest processors, MacBook Pro is undoubtedly the best laptop for graphic design and filmmaking.
3. Microsoft Surface Book 3 (15-inch) – Best Windows laptop for video editing
CPU: Quad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7-1065G7
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q
RAM: 16GB
Screen: 15.4-inch, 3240 x 2160 IPS
Storage: 256GB – 1TB SSD
Size: 13.5 x 0.9 x 9.87 inches
Weight: 7.79 lbs
Operating system: Windows 10 Home
Microsoft Surface Book 3 is the best two-in-one 15″ laptop that can be used both as a laptop and a tablet. With its electromagnetic latch that works incredibly well, you can attach or detach the tablet section to the keyboard and use it the way it pleases you.
What makes it incredible is that it comes with a stunningly sharp, vibrant, 15-inch 3240 x 2160 PixelSense display with a 1600:1 contrast ratio, and it supports pen input for even more convenient editing. With Intel Core i7 graphics and up to 1TB SSD storage capability, it is an ultimate editing device that can even handle advanced 3D gaming and can easily render after effects. The battery life is excellent, up to 17.5 hours. The MS Surface Book 3 is a brilliant video editing computer for those on the go, along with the portability it offers.
4. HP ZBook x2 – Best detachable video editing laptop
CPU: Intel Core i5/Core i7
GPU: Intel HD 620 or Nvidia Quadro M620
RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB
Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB SSD
Display: 14-inch (4K)
Size: 14.4 x 8.9 x 0.8 inches (0.6 tablet)
Weight: 4.9 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
HP Zbookx2 is an excellent editing tool and the best 4k Laptop from HP. It’s a 14-inch 4K panel with an astounding color display that HP class DreamColor display screen, and rightly so because it can show 1 billion different colors. For quick edits, you can also use the stylus, and on its matte screen, it feels like you are writing on paper, which is a worthy feature for even those looking for the best laptop for photo editing besides video.
ZBook x2 is aimed specifically at artists, engineers, designers, and other professional users. It comes with a powerful Intel Core i7 4.2GHz quad-core processor and an incredible discrete Nvidia Quadro M620 GPU with 2GB of dedicated GDDR5 and 32 GB RAM. The Zbook x2 has HP’s 3840×2160 DreamColor display. The screen covers 178 percent of the sRGB color gamut beating the average workstation average of 150 percent and beating the segment average display of 308 nits with its incredible 313 nits.
Of course, it is a touch screen and supports both Wacom’s EMR pen technology and 10-finger multitouch. However, the touch screen laptop comes with a battery life of 4 hours and 7 mins. Still, it is the best workstation laptop for video and photo editing. And with all that it offers, it can easily be considered the best laptop for artists.
5. Dell G5 15 SE (2020) – Best budget laptop for video editing
CPU: AMD Ryzen R7 4800H
GPU: AMD Radeon RX 5600M
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch (1080p, 144Hz)
Size:14.4 x 10 x 0.9 inches
Weight: 5.5 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10
Dell G5 15 SE is another dell 15-inch laptop and well-specced computer for video editing. Packed with an AMD R7 4800H CPU and AMD Radeon RX 5600M, the Dell G5 SE is ideal for beginners who are into editing videos. It comes with a 15.6-inch display covering 108% of the sRGB gamut and emits 301 nits of brightness, which blows the competitors out of the realm and performs better than an even more expansive razor blade 15.
Furthermore, when it comes to transcoding 4K video to 1080p, it surpasses the Zephyrus (6:59) and Blade 15 (10:47)quite easily, which is quite an achievement for a laptop at such a low price. Battery life is over 7 hours. Indeed it is the best laptop for video editing under $1000 that you can buy.
6. Acer ConceptD 7 – Best laptop for color grading
CPU: Hexa-core Intel Core i7
GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080
RAM: 32GB
Screen:15.6-inch, 3840 x 2160 (UHD) IPS
Storage: 1TB SSD
Size: 14.11 x 10.04 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 4.63 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
ConceptD7 comes with the latest Intel Hexa-core i7, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 GPU, and up to 32GB RAM. ConceptD7 is specifically fine-tuned for creative pros with demanding 2D and 3D tasks such as image and video editing, graphic design, and online content creation.
The highlight of the ConceptD 7’s 400-nit, 4K display. Its UHD 4K covers 100 % of the Adobe RGB gamut with a color accuracy of delta F<2, making it ideal for color grading. Whether you are working with HD or UHD 4K, the performance is outstanding.
Another interesting thing about this laptop is its cooling fan design, which Acer says is inspired by silent owl wings. The three fans are indeed quiet, which makes the laptop’s audio clearer and distortion-free. Battery life is almost 7 hours.
7. MSI Creator 17 – Best Laptop for color accuracy
CPU: 10th-generation Intel Core i9 Processor
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER with Max-Q
RAM: 64GB
Screen: 17.3″ UHD (3840×2160), MiniLED, HDR 1000, 60Hz, IPS-Level
Storage: 512GB – 2TB NVMe SSD
Size: 10.21 x 15.59 x 0.8 inches
Weight: 10.38 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
The best laptops for video editors offer accurate and true-to-life colors, making the MSI Creator 17 an ideal choice. This is because it is the first laptop to feature a mini LED display, offering incredibly vivid and bright image quality that will make anyone’s videos look their best.
Packed with the new 10th generation Intel Core processors and Nvidia’s RTX graphics card – the incredibly powerful and best graphics card for video editing, the Creator 17 is targeted toward creative professionals, as the name indicates. That means no matter whether you are video editing, graphic designing, or editing your high-res images; The MSIcreator 17 handles it with ease.
Tuned for Nvidia Studio, this laptop comes with the right mix of specs for the best possible editing experience. The MSI creator 17 is the first laptop with a mini LED display of 100 nits of brightness that gives its users incredible visuals and colors. It comes with 16 GB memory and 2TB storage capability. Its battery life is around 7 hours. Overall, it’s a slim aluminum-designed laptop that’s light and capable and ideal for video editing and content creators on the go.
8. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme – Best laptop for 4K video editing
CPU: Intel Core i5/Core i7
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti
RAM: 8GB/16GB/32GB/64GB
Storage: 256GB/512GB/1TB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch (1080p/4K)
Size: 14.2 x 9.7 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 4 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10 Pro
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme comes with an 8th Gen Intel Core i9 CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4GB GPU, and 64GB of RAM, which makes it an excellent choice for video editing. It is Lenovo’s first 15-inch laptop with a discrete graphics card. And it is ideal for content creators on the go as the laptop meets 12 MIL-STD-810G standards and can withgo any weather conditions. The laptop also supports Intel vPro, dTPM encryption, a fingerprint reader, and comes with an optional Smart Card reader. Additionally, it has an optional IR camera so that you can sign in to your laptop with Windows Hello facial recognition. All this makes it an ideal and almost perfect laptop for business professionals and content creators.
With the ThinkPad X1 Extreme, Lenovo has certainly made a statement to Dell and Apple that it’s not going to let the XPS 15 and MacBook Pro own the 15-inch laptop segment. In this segment, it is certainly the best Lenovo laptop, and The only department where the laptop lags behind its rivals is its battery life, which is only 6 hours with 4K video. Besides that, the ThinkPad X1 Extreme’s display is very bright, Reaching 384 nits, which is well above the category average of 367 nits. And when it comes to saturation, the Lenovo Thinkpad X1 extreme’s display covers 163% of sRGB, leaving behind even the more expensive 16-inch Macbook Pro and the 15-inch HP Spectre x360. If not the fastest laptop overall, it is certainly one of the fastest laptops out there. And indeed, the best laptop for video editing is from Lenovo.
9. Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition – The most powerful video editing laptop
CPU: 8th Gen Intel Core i7-8750H
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Max-Q – NVIDIA Quadro RTX 5000 Studio Edition
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 512GB/1TB SSD
Display: 15.6″ OLED 4K Touch 60Hz, factory calibrated
Size: 13.98 x 9.25 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 4.83 pounds (2.19kg)
Operating System: Windows 10
Where regular razor blade 15, one of the best gaming laptops, was specifically designed for gamers. This laptop is no doubt specifically engineered for videographers, video editors, and graphic designers. It rocks a formidable, powerful RTX Quadro professional GPU and a gorgeous 4K display.
At 4.83 pounds and dimensions of 13.98 x 9.25 x 0.70 inches (355 x 235 x 17.8mm), its slightly heavier than its rival Apple Pro 15, but when it comes to connectivity, it beats its rival outright with a 3 full-size USB 3.2 ports, a Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) port, HDMI port, along with a headphone jack and proprietary power connector, and a Mini DisplayPort.
According to Razer, the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition offers“Retina shattering accuracy,” a 4K screen at 3,840 x 2,160, which is better than its rival 15-inch MacBook Pro’s 2,880 x 1,800 retina display. Besides, the screen is OLED, which offers exceptional color vibrancy and stunning contrast ratios. Also, it’s a touchscreen with a 100% DCI color gamut.
The best workstation laptop can run a 1080p looped video at 50% brightness, for about 5 hours and 28 minutes, which is good for a powerful computer like this. Though it’s less than Apple MacBook Pro but still good for such a powerful laptop. The thermal handling of the Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition is very impressive, it keeps the powerful components cool with being loud and blasting hot air. All these features make it the best laptop for video editing and a worthy choice for creative professionals despite its high price.
10. Asus ZenBook Pro 15 – The most innovative video editing laptop
CPU: Intel Core i7/Core i9
GPU: Intel UHD 630or Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti
RAM: 16GB
Storage: 512GB SSD
Display: 15.6-inch (4K)
Size: 14.4 x 9.9 x 0.7 inches
Weight: 4.2 pounds
Operating System: Windows 10 Home
Asus ZenBook Pro 15 is a 4K laptop with 16GB DDR4 RAM, an Intel Core i9 processor, and an Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti GPU, all in a lightweight and beautiful chassis. One of the laptop’s most interesting features is its second display screen, its display pad built into its touchpad. This feature really enhances your multitasking when you are editing videos or playing games and comes with several built-in apps, including Numpad, a calculator, and a music player.
Other than its sexy design, the laptop comes with a 4K display that recreates a whopping 141 percent of the sRGB color gamut, which is well above the 111-percent premium laptop average. At the same time, it manages an above-average 74% on Adobe RGB, and its display averages 330. Its battery life is 4 hours and 23 minutes.
With all the advanced specs and beautiful ergonomics that it offers, this user-friendly laptop is indeed the best laptop for video editing that you can buy at a price just above 1000$ only.
Important features to look for when buying the best laptop for video editing
The graphics card, RAM, and processor are an important considerations when buying the best laptop for video editing. But it’s not the only criteria, as usually thought to be. There are also a few other factors that need to be considered when looking for the best laptop for video editing. Let us explain them in a sequence along with our recommendations for you.
Processor (CPU)
Video is more processor intensive than the graphics card, and your processor must back your graphics card well. When working with 1080p, an i5 processor would do the job for you, but since we are not farther away from when 4K will be the norm, we recommend that when buying your best laptop for video editing, you should go for an i7processor and above and take a futuristic approach. It would also be ideal to look for the recommended processor for the specific programs you’ll use. Still, generally, Premiere Pro, Avid, and FCPX all have the recommended specs required.
Graphics card (GPU)
A graphic card transitions your footage from data into pixels: the faster the GPU, the faster the transition, and hence the faster the editing process. Many companies produce graphic cards, but the two companies that stand out and you should most probably opt for are NVIDIA and AMD Graphics.
RAM (Memory)
When you start working with graphics and start editing videos, RAM is the place where your computer places all the temporary files. The larger the RAM, the more space for these temporary files and the smoother and faster your computer works. Again for 1080p edits, only 8 GB RAM would be sufficient, but if you want real-time playback without dropped frames, an increased RAM of a minimum of 16GB is the way to go.
Hard Drive (Storage)
Your hard drive is where your programs are stored on your computer. And the faster your hard drive, the faster it will open your editing software and export your footage. That is why we recommend SSD hard drives because they are faster and less prone to failure than fusion drives and HDDs. And the size of the hard drive also matters. You can normally opt for external drives later on whenever you need them. Still, since editing videos, especially 4K editing, requires lots of space, we recommend that you at least go 500 GB or higher to save yourself from the hassle of carrying external hard drives. It is also recommended to check the laptop’s SD card slot since you’ll be dumping videos and audio from cards.
Battery life
Since video editing software can drain the battery fairly quickly, it is important to consider battery life and check power adopters before choosing the unit. Moreover, If you are a content creator and filmmaker, there is a great chance that you’ll be carrying your laptop along with you; in that case, you’ll need longer battery life to keep up with your work. Also, the battery life depends on your display screen, generally larger screens and 4k display drains the battery quickly. So you’ll have to look for the trade-off.
Audio: All sorts of video editing include some kind of audio handling, and you will certainly need your laptop to have good audio support for neat and clean audio. So, it is always better to check the audio quality of the laptop before buying it.
Note – There are tons of options now to customize your laptop in any way to ensure that it handles all your video editing needs. You can increase RAM, replace a better graphic card, and even upgrade your processor. But there are certain things that you have to stick to and are usually ignored by many when looking for a laptop, but they can really limit you in the long run. So let’s talk about them.
Monitor Screen Size and Resolution
Screen size is something people don’t give much importance to when buying the best laptop for video editing, but it is certainly one critical component to consider. Because it’s something, you can’t change like other parts.
Larger screen laptops generally come with powerful CPUs and Video cards, offer better resolution than the smaller screens, and hence are more expensive. But choosing screen size solely depends on your preferences and way of use. Some would find smaller ones zoomed in beyond workable and prefer larger 17″ screens easy to work with. Some would want to go for smaller 12″ screens because of the more portability they offer. It all cuts down to what you prefer. But we believe that 15-inch laptops are the ideal balance between power, portability, and a comfortable screen.
The screen resolution is of utmost importance because brighter screens with better colors allow you to see more details and highly affect your work. Some laptops come with extra features like anti-glare screens. These screens are layered with special materials that act as a reflecting accessory against the sun’s rays. These screens provide an extra benefit to Vloggers and people on the move.
Operating System
There has been a long and indecisive battle between Mac and Windows laptops on which one is good for video editing, ever since Apple stepped into the market. So, we won’t get into that debate. We’d only talk about the important things to consider before associating yourself with one system.
And the basic thing to consider is that if you choose Mac, you’ll have to stick to the Apple ecosystem, including Apple software and Apple hardware, as it is more of a closed ecosystem. However, Mac is famous among artists for its art-focused applications; for instance, the Final Cut Pro suite-the most efficient 4k Video Editing tool comes from Mac.
But still, if you choose Windows, you get an option of more compatibility both in terms of software, as the windows software pool is gigantic, and hardware as Microsoft licenses windows OS to many other manufacturers like Dell that manufactures their own hardware. You get a multitude of excellent editing software, like Adobe Premiere Pro, for instance.
So, it all comes down to your preferences. You can’t go wrong with either of the two.
Final Words
We have in detail explained all the important considerations for choosing the best video editing laptop. And we are quite certain that after reading them you can easily choose the best one for you from among the laptops that we have reviewed for you. These are all the best in their respective category, and if you know what level of video editing you are interested in, you can easily choose the right one for you now. Best of luck!
