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Transcript
00:00Not sure if I've got enough laptops here. All right. Hey guys, I'm Tom the tech chap
00:03And if you're after a new premium thin and light aka ultrabook kind of laptop then well
00:10You've clicked on the right video. These are 10 of my top picks right now
00:14But if you think I've missed any great options then share your recommendations in the comments below as well
00:18And if you do enjoy the video, I like and subscribe would be lovely. Let's start with this guy the Dell XPS 13
00:26That was dangerous the Dell XPS 13 plus I'm gonna have to move these laptops now
00:31This is getting silly and it's just like the regular XPS 13
00:34But with slightly better overall specs a bigger battery better camera and speakers and well most obviously we have this crazy
00:42Futuristic iRobot esque design. What do you think now?
00:46Not everyone is a fan of this design and the no gap keyboard and also there is no visible edge to the touchpad
00:52you can just have to
00:54Well feel your way around and when it stops moving the cursor you've gone too far
00:57We've also got this capacitive touch bar at the top for the function row and particularly in this platinum ice color
01:04I think it's one of the most stunning looking laptops
01:07I've ever seen and this almost bezel less
01:1016 by 10 display is a real highlight and there are actually three screen options
01:14We get full HD LCD non touch 3k OLED touch or be at 100 nits less bright than the others or a full
01:224k LCD touchscreen
01:24I've got the OLED model here because well
01:26It's kind of hard to go back to regular LCDs after you've enjoyed the deep inky blacks and rich colors
01:32Another cliche terms of an OLED or we need an AMOLED which I'll come to later on the Samsung laptop
01:37It's a beautiful screen
01:38And actually I think the 3k resolution you get with this OLED option is the best balance of sharpness and battery life
01:45So that would be my pick although it does add to the price a little bit
01:48It's also pretty powerful given its size with Intel's latest 12th generation P series of chips
01:53So in terms of performance, they're significantly better than last year's you series
01:57But still not quite up there with the more power hungry H series and that's together with up to 32 gigs of RAM and 2 terabytes
02:04Of storage so the XPS 13 plus starts at about 1200 pounds
02:09Which puts it pretty much right up against the new MacBook Air M2
02:12Although once you spec this with 16 gigs of RAM and maybe that OLED screen we're looking at around
02:181500 so it can get quite pricey and if you're not fussed on some of these upgrades or more likely you just don't like the
02:23Design then the regular XPS 13 or the 2-in-1 could also be worth looking at
02:28Okay, moving on and love or hate Apple
02:31You've got to admit their laptops are bloody good, especially since they introduced the M1 last year
02:36And now we've got the M2 in this guy the MacBook Air M2
02:40So this just came out but it's not as revolutionary as the 2020 M1 Air
02:45Which is still on sale for about 250 pounds less than this and I reckon is still the better value option if you just want
02:52A good all-round MacBook
02:53However, if you fancy a leaner meaner faster and all-around better MacBook Air with its M2 chip thinner bezels much improved webcam
03:01We get MagSafe and of course most importantly some fancy color options this
03:061250 pound MacBook Air M2 is
03:09Arguably the best thin and light laptop in the world. You might disagree
03:14I would still say the base air is better in terms of value for money
03:18But if you want a premium Mac experience and you don't want the heavier more powerful and arguably better MacBook Pro 14
03:25Then this is the laptop for you
03:27it is quite expensive especially when you start upping the specs if you go to 16 gigs of RAM and
03:32512 storage and actually importantly the 512 storage is double the speed of the base
03:37256 then you're looking at about
03:391600 1650 which is getting frustratingly close to the MacBook Pro 14
03:44But then again, this will last you an awful long time and it is just a joy to use
03:49So that's the MacBook but moving on this video has in its title thin and light probably I haven't written it yet
03:56But you can't have a thin and light laptop video without including
03:59LG gram laptops and I've got two of the brand spanking new ones
04:03We've got the 16 that one's the wrong way around and the 17
04:07It does also come in smaller size options, which are also cheaper
04:10but these are the ones that LG sent for review and actually I think the bigger ones are kind of
04:16More interesting because the whole point of these grams is that you can get a big screen in a thin and light form factor
04:22Which you can't really get elsewhere. I mean just look at this 17-inch screen
04:261.35 kilograms 16 inch
04:291.2 which is lighter than the 1.24 kilogram XPS 13 plus and again
04:35That's significantly bigger screen. Now the compromise with these has always been the material this sort of magnesium alloy
04:41They use it's a bit plasticky feeling that hasn't changed much
04:45but what has changed with these new
04:472022 models is we get the latest 12th generation Intel P series of chips
04:51and so while these may not be the best looking or the most
04:55Premium feeling ultrabooks if you're carrying it around all day and weight is really important to you
05:00You want solid performance with the latest hardware and also as I say you want the options for bigger screens
05:05Well, this could be right up your alley check this out as well. It's the LG view plus
05:10They actually sent it along with the grams here. And while there is normally a stand that you get in the box
05:15I'm just trying to demonstrate this quickly
05:17It is essentially a external screen that they'll give you for free if you buy one of these
05:23From LG's website normally cost you about three hundred pounds three hundred fifty dollars. That is a very cool setup
05:28I like that and obviously it powers it through the USB C here as well
05:31So considering these LG grams are on the pricier side
05:35You're definitely paying a premium for that sort of thin and lightweight
05:38Nuss if you can get it with this plus view chucked in for free, then it makes it a lot more tempting
05:45Alternatively, have a look at this the new Samsung Galaxy Book 2 Pro
05:49It comes in both 13 and 15 inch versions starting at 999 or 1099 respectively here in the UK
05:55Which is not too bad at all
05:57There are also 5g versions of this and there's a flippy twisty 2-in-1 Pro 360 if you need a touchscreen tablet experience
06:04It doesn't quite beat the grams on weight for the similar size model, but it's very close
06:10This is still one of the thinnest and lightest laptops you can buy
06:13I've got a 15-inch model here with this gorgeous AMOLED screen. But can you guess what my one criticism is gonna be?
06:2116 by 9 it's not the end of the world
06:22But this is actually in the minority now as most laptops come with the taller 16 by 10 aspect ratio
06:29So it just feels a little bit smaller and more cramped than some of the others
06:32But it's probably not a deal-breaker really and there is a lot going for this
06:35We get the latest 12th gen Intel P series inside as I say an AMOLED screen, although still only 1080p
06:42There isn't a high-resolution option also only 60 Hertz
06:44So the AMOLED stands out the rest a bit meh
06:47But arguably this combines the more premium aesthetic of say the XPS with the lightweight chassis of the gram and the starting price of a
06:54Thousand pounds isn't too ridiculous
06:57So that's the Galaxy Book 2 Pro very thin and light. This next laptop is
07:03Well, not so thin and light
07:05It's the new Asus Swift 3
07:07but I wanted to include it because actually it's one of the more powerful and more affordable laptops out there and
07:15We get a gorgeous screen the Swift 3 comes with Intel's 12th gen H series of processors
07:21Which are a good deal more powerful in the P series you'll find in a lot of these new ultra thin and lights
07:25So that's better for photo editing or having tons of Chrome tabs open
07:29Maybe even a little bit of gaming although there isn't a dedicated GPU
07:32But as well as some beefy hardware on the inside the screen is a real standout
07:37It's a 14 inch 16 by 10 quad HD OLED display
07:41Which in my book is exactly what you'd want for a laptop like this
07:44We got a couple of full-size USB a's we get a couple of Thunderbolts as well and also a full-size HDMI
07:51No SD card reader there, which is a bit of a shame. That's thing
07:54That's the only thing I would have liked to have seen but the screens gorgeous
07:56It's got some good performance and it's also a bit more affordable than these other options
08:00This starts at 800 pounds for the i5 the i7 is a thousand
08:04Although if you do want a slightly more premium slightly fancier design then it's worth looking at aces Swift 5 lineup
08:11Now from a sir to a soos. This is one of my favorite ultra books so far this year. It's the Zenbook s13 OLED
08:18It's the only AMD powered laptop in my top 10 and it's also one of the first to come with the new Ryzen 7
08:246000 series
08:25I've got the 6800 you in here which trades blows with Intel's 12th gen p-series in CPU benchmarks
08:32But this is significantly more powerful in the graphics department and somehow they squeezed all that into this
08:37Absolutely tiny chassis the weighs just one kilogram or 2.2 pounds
08:43Only the 13-inch LG gram weighs less and that's only by like 35 grams. This is incredibly thin and light
08:50It really is you're not gonna feel this in your backpack at all
08:52And that's together with a stunning quad HD OLED screen 16 gigs of RAM 1 terabyte storage and for that spec
08:59We're looking at 1300 pounds, which makes it relatively good value
09:03I mean, I would buy just because it's got the Star Trek communicator on it
09:07I mean, sorry the Asus logo, but no
09:09This is definitely one of the best laptops I've used this year and I'll leave a link at the end if you want to watch
09:13my full review of this
09:15Next up. I want to talk about this
09:18Well, I don't actually have it with me it's the new Huawei MateBook X Pro the new 2022 version
09:24I've not been hands-on with it myself just yet
09:26But I've been a big fan of Huawei laptops for quite a few years now and this updated X Pro gives us a slight redesign
09:31We have this new ink blue color. It weighs just 1.26 kilograms
09:35So similar to the XPS 13 and we get this gorgeous
09:3914.2 inch quad HD OLED and 90 Hertz
09:43Touchscreen which makes it the first laptop in my top 10 to have a higher refresh rate
09:48Which I am a big fan of although
09:50This square a 3 by 2 aspect ratio may not be everyone's cup of tea as you get bigger black bars when watching movies
09:56We also now get the newer 12th
09:58GMP series chips as well as 16 gigs of RAM and the 1 terabyte SSD as standard which I guess goes some way to explain
10:05The fairly high price. So the MateBook X Pro is definitely one of the more luxury ultrabooks out there
10:11It's quite pricey, but it is very nice. And if you're wondering, are there any issues with buying Huawei laptops?
10:16No, I wouldn't recommend the phones because you can't access the Google Play Store, but the laptops are good to go. There's no issues
10:23Okay, number eight. Let's go back to Asus for this guy
10:26The ZenBook 14 Pro Duo OLED and it's all about that screen
10:31Well screens the main display is a 14 and a half inch quad HD OLED
10:37120 Hertz display which makes it feel incredibly fast to use and as usual the OLED screen really pops
10:42But then we have this second screen pad
10:45Which is great for multitasking and it just gives you that bigger screen laptop experience on a relatively smaller laptop
10:51Not only that but this also packs in the beefiest specs of any laptop in my top 10 with Intel's 12th
10:58Gen H series processors up to an i9 and also dedicated graphics in the form of the RTX 3050 Ti
11:05And that's squeezed into a chassis. That's just 17.9 mil thick and weighs 1.7 kilograms
11:11So it is a bit heavier than most laptops at this size, but the trade-off is you're getting significantly better performance
11:17Okay, number nine. We're almost there. You're doing very well
11:20But I do want to show you well not show you tell you about another laptop the Lenovo Yoga slim
11:267i Pro X which is a heck of a name sadly
11:30I don't have a review sample with me here just yet
11:33But it is worth a look because right now on Lenovo's website the base model with a 12th Gen H series i5
11:39512 storage 16 gigs of RAM and a stunning 14 and a half inch 3k
11:44120 Hertz display is under a thousand pounds, which makes it pretty crazy value for money
11:49You can also spec it with a dedicated GTX 1650 or an RTX 3050 for more graphical grunt and together with that
11:57120 Hertz screen makes it quite a nice casual gaming laptop. It looks good
12:01We get 100 watt fast charging and it's still reasonably lightweight at just 1.45 kilograms
12:07So the yoga slim 7i Pro X is a really good all-rounder and definitely want a shortlist
12:12Okay, number 10, and I know some of you're gonna roll your eyes at this
12:15But I think this is worth mentioning. It's the iPad air or Pro
12:19I've got the Pro 12 9 here with a magic keyboard now
12:23I will say that I still don't think iPads can be full laptop replacements even with iPad OS 16
12:29Which keeps being delayed actually, but I'm running the beta on here
12:31It's still not quite up there, but there are advantages to this firstly the App Store great for productivity apps and video streaming
12:38I mean I use my laptop to watch videos and movies when I travel so being able to download them in their native apps is
12:43Really useful the magic keyboard is lovely to type on and if you combine it with the Apple pencil
12:49This is one of the best devices for an artist or a creator
12:52The Thunderbolt 3 port lets you transfer files relatively easily. Plus, of course, we get the Apple ecosystem
12:58I don't know about you, but I can't live without airdrop, but it does raise another question
13:02Which should you buy between these two because they're roughly similar prices
13:06Although it can get a bit complicated if you go for the new gen 5 air and pair with the keyboard
13:11That's a bit cheaper
13:12But then the Pro is more expensive and also depends what spec you go of this
13:15I would say bottom line for essentials if you just need a laptop. Well, it makes sense to get the laptop
13:21I think the MacBook Air M1
13:22Right now is still probably the best all-around laptop
13:25You can buy for the money and of course with student teacher discounts
13:28You can get it even cheaper
13:29But if you are gonna use the touchscreen if you are gonna use the App Store and you want a really good travel companion
13:35Then I would still highly recommend this setup, but it's lovely
13:38I use it all the time
13:39Although is a shame that the new iPad OS 16 which I'm running the beta version of here does have some nice new features
13:45But still no desktop class applications
13:48I guess that makes them so because people then would just stop buying this
13:51Also bear in mind that new iPad Pros are expected probably in October or November
13:55So if you are gonna shell out over a grand for this class setup, maybe worth waiting a few weeks
14:01So hopefully that was helpful
14:02and if you do fancy checking out any of these I'll leave links in the description below and as I say if you've got any
14:07Of the great recommendations leave a comment and for more laptop reviews and well just more of me
14:12Don't forget to hit that subscribe button and I'll see you next time right here
14:17On the tech chat that was terrible
14:21You