Best Kaby Lake Laptops for Performance and Portability

Laptops that feature Intel’s Kaby Lake processors began to hit the market this past fall, with seventh-generation Core i processors bumping up its speed compared to its predecessor, Skylake. It also features lower battery drain in contrast to the previous generation.

While Microsoft has yet to produce devices running the newest Intel processor, other vendors are now offering Kaby Lake laptops. Here are the best Kaby Lake laptops to buy right now.

HP ProBook 450 G4

The HP ProBook 450 saw robust sales in the first quarter of this year, aided by its top-of-the-line features, including Intel Core i7 processors. HP built this Kaby Lake laptop with productivity, performance and security in mind.

The ProBook 450 boasts an impressive 15.6-inch diagonal screen with a new gravity black LCD cover and an aluminum reinforced keyboard. Under the hood, it packs the Intel Core i7-7500U Intel HD Graphics 620 clocked at 2.7 GHz, or up to 3.5 GHz with Intel Turbo Boost technology. It also includes the Intel HD Graphics 620 and NVIDIA GeForce 930MX (2 GB DDR3 dedicated, switchable).

Dell XPS 13 Touch

The Dell XPS 13 Touch may be the smallest 13-inch laptop in the world, but it packs a punch. It features the world’s first virtually borderless InfinityEdge display and the latest Intel processors. The InfinityEdge display squeezes a13-inch display in an 11-inch frame to maximize screen space with a bezel that’s only 5.2 mm thin and weighing in at just 2.7 pounds.

Other features include a 60WHr integrated battery, 1535 802.11ac 2×2 WiFi and Bluetooth 4.1, an IGZO IPS panel that provides a wide viewing angle of up to 170°, 400 nit brightness, a color gamut of 72% and a contrast ratio of 1000:1, and a boatload of ports and slots. For $1,699.99, you can purchase the Touch, Silver, and Rose Gold options.

Dell Alienware 13, 15, & 17

The 13-inch Alienware ships with either a Core i5-7300HQ or a Core i7-7700HQ. Both are quad-core processors with 6MB of onboard cache that sit alongside up to 32GB of RAM and and a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of RAM.

Meanwhile, the Alienware 15 has the quad-core Intel i7-7820HK with 8MB of cache and a max Turbo Boost speed of 4.4GHz. It ships with the Radeon RX 470 which boasts 8GB of GDDR5 and 8GB GeForce GTX 1070.

The Alienware 17, as you might expect, packs the most impressive specs on this list. It includes a full GeForce GTX 1080 with 8GB of GDDR5X memory. It also offers 4K displays (3840 x 2160p) and 3TB storage.

If you’re interested in other laptops, check out our wide collection of guides.

Acer Aspire E

The Aspire E is Acer’s best-selling Kaby Lake laptop in the first quarter of this year. It features Intel’s Core i5 Kaby Lake processors, faster wireless networking, high-speed DDR4 system memory, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950M1 (GDDR5) 1 graphics, and support for the new reversible USB Type-C1 standard. Plus, the laptop can stay powered for up to 12 hours.

The Aspire E also boasts added enhancements that serve up an even richer media experience for users with additions like Acer TrueHarmony technology providing richer audio, while Acer ExaColor offers consistent color accuracy.

Asus ZenBook 3

The Asus ZenBook 3 ships with Core i7 processors and a 12.5-inch display. It weighs in at 2 pounds and is just 0.47 inches thick. Its cooling system consists of copper-alloy heat pipe and liquid-crystal-polymer fan. Its IPS-type full HD Display has a 178-degree viewing angle encased in Corning Gorilla Glass 4 for maximum protection.

This laptop runs Windows 10 Home and features a built-in fingerprint sensor for enhanced security and one-touch login using Windows Hello. The laptop ships with four separate Harman Kardon speakers and a four-channel amplifier for high-quality surround sound audio.

the ZenBook 3 also includes 8GB of  RAM, 256GB SSD, 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.0, 1x USB 3.1 Type C, and 1.2MP Webcam. Its 40Whr Li-Polymer battery provides up to 9 hours of battery life and charges your device to 60% in roughly 50 minutes.

Lenovo ThinkPad T470S

The ThinkPad T470S is Lenovo’s top-selling Kaby Lake notebook in the first quarter of this year, featuring either Core i5 or i7 Kaby Lake processors. It weighs 2.9 pounds and measures 0.74 inches thick. The ThinkPad T470S allows you to navigate through apps smoothly thanks to the responsiveness and efficiency of 7th generation Intel Core processors.

MSI GT72VR Dominator Pro-448

The MSI GT72VR Dominator Pro-448 is among the powerful gaming laptops featuring Kaby Lake chips. It has a 17.3-inch 120Hz, 5ms, full HD and anti-glare display with a wide viewing angle and 1920x1080p resolution. The Windows 10 laptop packs NVIDIA’s GTX 1070 8G GDDR5.

Under the hood, 16GB (8GB x2) DDR4 2400MHz RAM and a 256GB M.2 Sata hard drive with 1TB 7200rpm can be found. Its special features include Cooler Boost 4, Steel Series full-color backlight keyboard, True Color Technology, Nahimic 2 Virtual Surround Sound and Killer DoubleShot Pro.

ASUS ROG Strix

The ROG Strix GL502VS boasts of the latest-generation NVIDIA GTX 1070 8GB graphics card, an Intel Core i7-7700HQ processor, 16GB DDR4 2400MHz RAM, a 128GB SATA III SSD + 1TB HDD, and 15.6-inch FHD 1920×1080 120 Hz G-SYNC Display with wide viewing angles. Other features include the triple-copper thermal module and triple cooling fans for increased CPU and GPU performance. Its powerful 4 cell Li-ion battery is rated 76WHrs.

Gigabyte Aero

Last but definitely not the least is the Gigabyte Aero 14Wv7-OG4, a 14-inch gaming laptop with a QHD IPS display and a 2560×1440 that features wide viewing angles. It is powered by the 7th Gen Intel Quad Core i7-7700HQ clocked at 2.8-3.8GHz powering a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 storage. It has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

Other features of the Gigabyte Aero include an auto-adjusting backlit keyboard with individual macro keys, USB 3.1 Type-C, HDMI 2.0, XSplit Gamecaster + Broadcaster, system gauges, fan tweaks, and the TriDef SmartCam.

If you think we’ve missed something in the list, drop us a comment below!

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