Twist, Swap, See Double: These 12 Laptops Are CES 2023’s Stars

With CES drawing to a close, now in its 56th year (wow!), it’s time once again to pick favorites—in this case, which laptops impressed us the most. We naturally had to be more selective in our picks for the absolute best laptops of the show, which you can find in our broader Best of CES 2023 article.

Sometimes, though, the runners-up are just as interesting, for different reasons. We’ve seen laptops that bend every which way, models with glasses-free 3D—yes, it’s back—and even one with modular accessories that snap onto its lid. With so much intrigue and variety on display at CES, we narrowed down this rundown to a dozen laptops we saw that were special: These are the ones to watch as the new year rolls on.

HP Dragonfly Pro

Also appearing in our broader Best of CES article as the standout general-use laptop of the show, it’s important to highlight the HP Dragonfly Pro here once again. In a year far more focused on interesting designs and new form factors than usual, HP’s no-nonsense laptop for freelance professionals actually stands out for that very reason.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

This is the first CES in a while that we have not seen a Dell XPS 13 laptop, a darling of our reviewers that of late has seen some of the shine come off. This clamshell from HP fills that void quite well, with powerful hardware, a slick design, customizable macro keys, and dedicated customer support provided by device experts. This stunner may very well be the Windows laptop to beat in 2023 for freelance pros, students with demanding performance needs, and plenty of others.—Joe Osborne

Dell G15

With this model, our pick for the “best” of its category lines right up with the most interesting. Why the intrigue around this model? Largely, because truly low-cost budget gaming laptops have grown rare, so what looks like a real deal is exciting. When we first saw the colorful designs and felt the sturdy build in person, it was a pleasant surprise to learn that the G15 starts at just $849. 

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

The G15 is not the most portable laptop, but it shouldn't be any slouch on performance, either. The 2023 Dell G15 will start with a modest configuration, but even there, the component options include offerings from both Intel’s 13th Generation processor line and Nvidia's new GeForce RTX 40 series GPUs. You can scale up G15 models further if your wallet extends beyond that starting price (probably wise to get more storage), and there’s also the Dell G16 (starts at $1,499) if you have more of a midrange budget. But the low-end G15s look exciting for a solidly built chassis starting well under a grand. That can be hard to find.—Matthew Buzzi

Alienware m18

CES 2023 was home to the first wave of new 18-inch gaming laptops, a screen size seldom seen before. Alienware’s monstrous m18 is the most impressive of the 18 lot. Virtually all of these 18-inch laptops are top-end performers (more size equals more power and thermal leeway, after all), and so the m18 starts at an eye-watering $2,899. The upside is that this is one of the truest-to-form desktop replacement laptops: It can be mobile when you need it to, but really shines your desk, pushing top-end power.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

To that end, the m18 will utilize the 24-core Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, and run all the way to the top of Nvidia’s newly announced GeForce RTX 40 series GPU stack. (AMD-based configurations will come online sometime in Q2.) There will be 250 watts of CPU and GPU total system power—way more than most laptops—with a quad-fan, seven-heat-pipe, vapor-chamber design to sustain top-level performance. This is a beast for a small portion of shoppers, but if we’re picking out the most thrilling gaming laptop, it’s difficult to look past the m18, both because of its size, and because of what it is.—MB

Asus Zenbook Pro 16X

As a pro-focused Zenbook machine, the Asus Zenbook Pro 16X’s beautiful OLED screen and physical dial input are a dream for creators. But it’s the internal changes that turned our heads: In addition to the latest-generation parts from Intel and Nvidia, Asus worked with the former to create a new system-on-module (SoM) solution for the CPU and the system memory.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

With this “Supernova” SoM, the memory and processor are on the same die. This provides space savings internally for more efficient board layout— a 38% reduction in the size of the motherboard. For the engineers, that means more space for thermal solutions, which can lead to improved performance for the end user. Obviously, the performance is something we’ll need to test ourselves in order to judge if there is a practical real-world improvement, but we see the idea on paper and appreciate the innovation.—MB

Asus ProArt Studiobook 16 With 3D OLED Display

Simply put, this was one of the most eye-catching demonstrations at CES 2023 among laptops, for obvious reasons. Asus’ standout feature with the ProArt Studiobook 16 is the glasses-free 3D display that the company calls “Spatial Vision.” The 3D effect is easy to observe in person (and even shows up on camera, with a bit of trickery), with a slider that allows you to alter the intensity of the 3D effect.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

Now, the exact necessity of this feature is up for debate. A niche group of creators and designers can make daily use of a 3D screen, as it is an easier way to get the feel for the final product of a design, model, or layout while working digitally and remotely. The feature is compatible with plenty of popular 3D-adjacent applications, including Blender, SteamVR, and Unreal Engine. Outside of this, it helps that the screen is a beautiful 3.2K OLED display in its own right, and the laptop is packed with the high-end CPU and GPU options from Intel 13th Gen and Nvidia RTX 40 Series. Certainly one for deep-pocketed shoppers, but impressive nevertheless.—MB

Lenovo Yoga Book 9i

Years ago, the Yoga brand helped make 2-in-1 convertibles a laptop staple, and the new Lenovo Yoga Book 9i (Gen 8) might do the same for all-screen laptop designs. The dual-display format replaces the keyboard deck with a second 13.3-inch OLED touch screen. It's not the first attempt at this sort of dual-screen setup, but it's the best we've ever seen. This Yoga Book comes with a folio-style folding stand cover, a detachable Bluetooth keyboard, and Lenovo's Smart Pen stylus. Plus, the laptop has several genuinely thoughtful ways to make the most of its unique layout and interface. Bringing both hands to the lower screen for an eight-finger tap calls up a virtual keyboard, while sliding up with those same eight fingers opens up the bottom third of the screen as a giant touchpad.

(Credit: John Burek)

But it's the wireless Bluetooth keyboard that makes the Yoga Book more than just a neat party trick of a laptop. The keyboard can magnetically attach above the bottom screen for a true laptop-style experience with tactile keys. It can also be used separately, with the Yoga Book becoming a pair of side-by-side or stacked displays, a pseudo-multi-monitor setup on the go. Or, since it is a Yoga convertible, you can fold the displays around into tent or tablet modes, and use the included pen to take notes or annotate screenshots.

These accessories all come standard, and the Yoga Book 9i's Intel 13th Gen Core i7 U-Series processor and Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics mean it's no slouch for genuine productivity work. The displays are top-notch, too, with 2.8K native resolution, 100% DCI-P3 color coverage coverage, 400 nits of peak brightness, and Dolby Vision HDR support. All of that should well justify the $2,099 launch price this June.—Brian Westover

Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Twist

The coolest part of CES is the wealth of genuinely experimental product designs—only some of which ever really take flight. One such design we'd like to see soar is the Lenovo ThinkBook Plus Twist, a 13.3-inch business laptop with an OLED display, and a second 12-inch color E Ink display on the reverse lid. With a center-post hinge that allows horizontal rotation between the front and back displays, the Twist lets you use OLED for most of your PC work, but gives you the option to switch to E Ink whenever you want to save battery, rest your eyes from bright screens, or just use the 2-in-1 machine as an ereader or notepad for a while.

(Credit: John Burek)

Outfitted with a 13th Gen Intel CPU and a full-size keyboard, the compact laptop is perfect for getting work done on the road—it's just the right size for an airline tray table—but the versatility offered by the dual display is the real winner here. It transforms the Twist into much more than a convertible laptop, and makes a bet on a new design that we hope pays off.—BW

Lenovo ThinkBook 16p Gen 4

Lenovo's latest small-business laptop that takes a new spin on filling niche needs is the ThinkBook 16p Gen 4. The laptop uses modular accessories that magnetically connect to a docking strip, called Magic Bay, along the upper face of the screen lid. Using a combination of magnets and pogo pins, these modules let you add a 4K webcam, a video light to use with the regular laptop camera, or a WAN module that can double as a standalone hotspot for other gadgets, too, when undocked.

(Credit: John Burek)

With Intel 13th Gen processors and Nvidia GeForce RTX laptop graphics, the ThinkBook 16p Gen 4 was already a contender for our favorite business laptop at CES, but the added capabilities of Magic Bay seal the deal.—BW

LG Gram Ultraslim

This one's all about being as light as possible…period. LG is no stranger to crashing through expectations around laptop weight at a given screen size. (Its LG Gram 17, at just under 3 pounds for a 17-inch laptop, is eternally mind-blowing.) Tack on another cool outlier: the 2023 LG Gram Ultraslim. At 2.2 pounds, it makes even a MacBook Air feel a bit portly. The thing is, though, it's a 15.6-inch laptop; a 13-inch MacBook Air is small-screen by comparison. Plus, the chassis feels rigid and looks great. It's a superbly mobile clamshell notebook that feels like a paper notebook in your hand.—John A. Burek

MSI Prestige 13 Evo

(Credit: John Burek)

Why does this trim, attractive ultralight clamshell from MSI make it to our interest list? It's about what's inside: a 75-watt-hour battery. The battery-to-body proportions of this machine could make it a favorite of long-haul business travelers; we'll see how it shapes up after we test it in our labs. (MSI claims a 15-hour rated battery life.)

But this competitor to premium machines like the Dell XPS 13 has some other standout elements. These include support for P-series 13th Gen Core processors, a rated 400 nits of screen brightness, an extra-large touchpad for the laptop size, and some full-size ports around the edges that keep you from needing to babysit a collection of oft-misplaced dongles or converter cables. Prestige 13 Evo models should start at $1,099 when it launches in February.—JAB

Gigabyte Aero 14 OLED (2023)

(Credit: John Burek)

Want HX-series “Raptor Lake” silicon in a trim laptop, along with the option for a GeForce RTX 4050? The 2023 rev of the Aero 14 gets you that impressive performance potential…and then adds a 2,880-by-1,800-pixel OLED display (with a 90Hz refresh rate), which looks simply glorious.

This isn't as light or sleek as the preceding MSI Prestige model, measuring 0.67 inches thick and around 3.3 pounds. Still, getting that RTX 4050 and a Core i7-13700HX in a machine of this kind could turn this into an ideal work-and-light-playtime tool. Plus, we went ga-ga over the contrasting white keys and bronzed/rose gold keyboard deck, and the glass-faced touchpad with Aero branding on it. We also appreciate how Gigabyte wisely moved some of the ports (HDMI, one of the USBs) to the back edge of the laptop for cleaner attachment of items like an external display.—JAB

HP 14-Inch Eco Edition

Plenty of PC OEMs are now touting their sustainability cred, providing compostable packaging, eliminating the plastic bags that hold cables, and replacing wire twist ties with paper sleeves. And post-consumer plastics and metals are finding their way into the chassis of modern laptops more and more. But how about cooking oil? HP's using a quantity of the stuff in the plastics of this mainstream laptop.

(Credit: Kyle Cobian)

HP says the body employs 50% recycled aluminum in its lid, and 50% post-consumer recycled plastics in its keycaps. A 13th Gen Intel processor, up to 1TB of SSD storage, and up to 16GB of memory comprise the core components, and you can choose between models with full HD or QHD panels, both 16:10. The Eco aspect may sound gimmicky, but HP's also rolling out an all-in-one PC with coffee grounds as a material used in the bezel plastic, and you can see the specs. Wake up and smell the trend.—JAB