Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
Laptops generally lack the shiny wonderment of newer devices like, say, smartwatches, but 2015 has been a fairly eventful year for portable PCs. We've witnessed the rise of fully rotatable hinges, the introduction of Intel's new Skylake chips and the first 4K convertible.
Indeed, productivity tablets are still some way off making the laptop obsolete, as we'll see demonstrated in this list of the past year's best clamshells and convertibles.
10. Asus Transformer Book Flip TP300LA
2015 saw the arrival of loads of laptops with a 360-degree rotating hinge, but there was a problem: most of the good ones cost anywhere between £600 and £1,400.
Enter the Transformer Book Flip TP300LA, a £339.99 convertible that draws enough strength from its Intel Core i5 5200U chip and 6GB of RAM to handle everything from word processing to video editing. It covers all the connectivity bases as well, sporting one full-size HDMI, one USB 2.0 and two USB 3.0 ports along with an SD card reader.
As you'd expect, there are some compromises for the price. The 1366x768 resolution is low for a 13.3in device, and at 1.75kg it's a bit chunkier and heavier than its more expensive cousins. Still, the Transformer Book Flip TP300LA generally manages to strike a good balance between affordability and capability.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
9. Dell Chromebook 13
Dell's 13.3in Chromebook is distinguished from most other Chrome OS-powered laptops by two things: an unusually premium-like build quality and an enterprise focus.
For instance, the Chromebook 13 is supported by the Dell Kace K1000 range of management applications, and is compatible with the Dell SonicWall Mobile Connect VPN service. Dell is also offering firms that mass-deploy the Chromebook 13 access to its ProSupport Plus service, which includes priority access to always-available tech support and repairs, plus the aid of a technical account manager.
As for construction, the Chromebook 13 is built from materials like magnesium alloy and carbon fibre, which we'd expect to see on a laptop that costs much more than £484.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
8. HP EliteBook Folio 1020 G1
This is far from a perfect laptop: battery life is disappointing, the inclusion of a touchscreen is questionable and it costs over £1,700. However, HP has loaded it with enough security features to please all but most the most paranoid enterprise user.
In addition to a fingerprint scanner and a Trusted Platform Module microprocessor attached to the Intel CPU, the EliteBook Folio 1020 benefits from Windows 10 Pro's Device Guard and BitLocker encryption tools. HP's excellent Client Security application also comes pre-installed, allowing easy management of enrolled fingerprints, SSD encryption and the secure deletion of files.
Combined with an ultra-light 1.21kg chassis, this is a very suitable choice for mobile, security-minded business users - provided they take the charging cable with them.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
7. MacBook Pro
A new Retina display and upgraded processors (2.5GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 or 2.7GHz dual-core Intel Core i7) were always on the cards for Apple's 2015 MacBook Pro update, but it was the new Force Touch trackpad that stole the show.
Powered by Apple's questionably named Taptic Engine, Force Touch differentiates between a soft and hard tap, allowing new ways of interacting with OS X based on the intensity of a finger tap. A hard tap can, for instance, rename a file or folder instead of selecting it or instantly add events to a Calendar date, while holding down on the trackpad with varying degrees of force allows zooming in and out in Maps or gradually adjusting the fast-forward and rewind speeds in QuickTime.
It's an optional but innovative addition, and little surprise that Force Touch was deemed worthy of adapting into the iPhone 6S' 3D Touch feature later in the year.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
6. Asus Transformer Book Chi T300
Yes, this 2-in-1 detachable is as much of a tablet as it is a laptop, but the sheer quality of the keyboard - as well as the fact that it adds only 8.9mm of bulk - means that the Transformer Book Chi T300 reaches its full potential when used in a traditional clamshell configuration.
The Broadwell-era Intel Intel Core M-5Y71 processor enables a silent, fanless design while providing enough power for everyday jobs, especially when paired with the generous 8GB RAM option. The display is also on par with much more expensive devices, being available in QHD and FHD varieties and capable of very bright, vivid colours.
Even considering the lack of a full-size USB port, the Transformer Book Chi T300 is one of the more attractive 2-in-1s released this year, and has become even better now that Asus is shipping it with Windows 10 pre-installed.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
5. MacBook Air
The other recipients of Apple's Force Touch tech, besides the MacBook Pro, were the new 11in and 13.3in MacBook Air models. Other than the pressure-sensitive trackpad, these updates to Apple's slimline laptop brand added upgraded Intel processors - a 1.6GHz dual-core Core i5 or a 2.2GHz dual-core Core i7 - along with Intel HD Graphics 6000 and a Thunderbolt 2 port.
Of course, these inclusions still needed to be stuffed inside a suitably skinny form factor, so while the 2015 MacBook Air variants didn't get thinner than their 2014 equivalents, they did manage to maintain the same 17mm height. They were also identically light: 1.08kg for the 11.6in model and 1.35kg for the 13.3in model.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
4. Toshiba Satellite Radius 12
The world's first 4K convertible is a big saving throw for Toshiba's rotating laptop range following the bulky and impractical Satellite Radius 15. Adopting a 3840x2160, 12.5in display, the Satellite Radius 12 is much sharper and nearly an entire kilogram lighter, the latter point particularly making it more suitable as a hybrid tablet device.
It's powerful, too, with a 6th-generation Intel Core i7-6500U and 8GB of RAM. A USB-C port has joined two USB 3.0 ports and, despite the smaller form factor compared with the Satellite Radius 15, the keyboard is still fast and comfortable to type on.
Really, though, it all comes back to that screen - a beautifully detailed, boldly colourful display that makes the Satellite Radius 12's £1,000 price seem a lot more reasonable.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
3. HP Spectre x360
After just a few months on sale, Intel's 6th-generation Skylake chips prompted HP to revamp its Spectre x360 convertible with the new processors - plus a new, darker colour scheme.
Thankfully, the new model keeps the tough, brushed aluminium unibody and huge trackpad of its immediate predecessor, and there's still a good selection of connectivity options - from a mini DisplayPort and SD card reader to a full-size HDMI and three USB 3.0 ports.
The new CPU - an Intel Core i7-6500U - helps the Spectre x360 towards some truly top-level performance; its Sunspider and Kraken benchmark scores are on par with the fastest Windows ultrabooks, and it can handle intensive tasks like 3D video playback with ease.
With a big 512GB SSD, QHD or FHD displays and Windows 10 Home pre-installed, there's very little to dislike about this rotating laptop.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
2. Lenovo Yoga 900
What the back-flipping Yoga 900 lacks in business focus, it makes up for in sheer specs: an ultra-detailed 3200x1800 13.3in display, Intel Core i5 and Core i7 chips from the 6th-generation Skylake range, up to 16GB of RAM and a lightweight 1.3kg design that nonetheless includes such premium touches as a faux leather trim and Lenovo's ‘watchband' 360-degree hinge.
This sturdy, unfurling hinge complements the low weight to ensure that the Yoga 900 is one of the few rotating convertibles where using it in a flattened, pseudo-tablet configuration doesn't feel odd or unwieldy. Still, it's a shame to let the comfortable, clicky keyboard go to waste, so we recommend the standard notebook-style setup.
The Yoga 900 is also one of the longer-lasting laptops on this list. We got just under eight hours out of it on moderate-to-heavy mixed use, and its average time of nine hours and 50 minutes in our video loop burn tests actually exceeds Lenovo's own battery life estimate of nine hours.
Top 10 best laptops of 2015: Dell XPS 13, MacBook Pro, HP Spectre x360 and more
The greatest ultrabooks and convertibles to launch this year
1. Dell XPS 13
An Intel Skylake refresh produced this late contender, which also gained a USB-C port as Dell looked to reinforce its position in the premium laptop market.
The results are, in a word, excellent - the new XPS 13 is a thin, light, good-looking, immensely powerful ultrabook with a great camera and a beautifully bright and bold UHD+ screen. This colourful display is wrapped in a ridiculously thin bezel, allowing the 13.3in XPS 13 to have the sort of dimensions you'd see on an 11in laptop.
Naturally, most attention will be drawn to the super-swift Intel Core i7 and Core i5 chips, but this is a device that excels in almost every other area as well. Only a middling battery life, shortened by the high-res touchscreen, prevented the Dell XPS 13 receiving a full five stars in our review.