The best 2-in-1 laptops offer excellent experiences in both tablet and laptop mode, giving you a device that's great for drawing, browsing or watching your favorite shows on, as well as a capable device for work and light gaming. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes—some leaning more laptop and others tablet—but all of them do a great job at both, and most come at an affordable price too.
With the latest generations of processors, memory and SSD storage, all of the best 2-in-1 laptops offer responsive performance, allowing them to boot up quickly, wake up even faster, and remain snappy and responsive no matter how many browser tabs you have open. Here are some of the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy in 2022.
- The Best 2-in-1 Laptop Overall: Lenovo Ideapad X12 Detachable
- The Best 2-in-1 Laptop for Typing: HP Spectre x360 14
- The Best Cheap 2-in-1 Laptop: Microsoft Surface Go 3
- The Best Premium 2-in-1 Laptop: Microsoft Surface Book 3
- The Best AMD 2-in-1 Laptop: HP Envy x360 13
- Best 2-in-1 Chromebook: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook
- The Best Convertible Laptop: Dell XPS 13 2-in-1
The Best 2-in-1 Laptop Overall
Great As A Tablet And A Laptop
Aping the success of Microsoft's Surface Pro line, the Lenovo Thinkpad X12 Detachable is both an excellent tablet and a capable laptop, with a detachable keyboard that makes it light and functional in both modes. It comes with a selection of Intel's 11th-generation Tiger Lake processors with Xe graphics, giving it both solid general compute performance and the ability to do some entry level gaming.
There's 16GB of fast DDR4 RAM in every configuration and at least 256GB of NVMe SSD storage for snappy operation, fast wake and boot times, and responsive applications. It supports Wi-Fi 6 for fast networking and internet connectivity, and it has a great display that's both bright and colorful.
The real selling point of this 2-in-1 is just how portable it is. At just 1.75 pounds in tablet mode, it's easy to hold for long periods of time, and that only jumps up to 2.5 pounds with the keyboard attached. Battery life edges close to 10 hours in mixed usage too, so you won't need to stay near a charging point to make the most of this excellent 2-in-1 laptop.
The best 2-in-1 Laptop for Typing
Unique Looks And A Fantastic Keyboard
HP's Spectre x360 has redefined the look and feel of modern 2-in-1 laptops in recent years. It’s not only showcasing a gorgeous "gem-cut" aesthetic with sharp, angular corners instead of the rounded protuberances of its contemporaries, but its combination of high-end CPUs within a svelte and lightweight chassis makes this a serious go-getter machine.
The latest version of this iconic laptop only builds on the legacy of its predecessors. With a very capable 11th-generation Intel Core i7 CPU at its heart, this laptop offers massive CPU performance alongside a surprisingly capable 12th-generation Intel graphics processor that is more than capable of entry level gaming.
This model comes with the option of 1080p and 4K AMOLED displays–either of which looks fantastic at 13 inches–and with its superb color accuracy, movies and games look great. The 4K option does impact battery life somewhat, though, so consider the lower-resolution screen options if you want to make the most of its efficient design.
Whichever model you opt for, there is no denying that the HP Spectre x360 is a quality laptop and tablet combination. It enjoys excellent build quality and a unique look which helps it stand out from the pack of silver clamshell designs. The keyboard is a real standout too, easily rivaling some of the best traditional laptops for typing comfort, making it possible to use this laptop for work or play for hours at a time without fatigue.
The Best Cheap 2-in-1 Laptop
A Quality Laptop And Tablet For An Affordable Price
Microsoft's Surface Go 3 is the latest edition of its entry-level Surface device, and it upgrades the experience with better performance, a better display and improved ergonomics. The result is an affordable, lightweight tablet that becomes a great little laptop when combined with the attachable Type Cover accessory. The size and ergonomics make this a great device for taking on the road when you need something super light and portable, or as a great first "real" computer for the kids.
The full Windows 11 installation gives you access to the full suite of Windows applications, making this a versatile and capable device, even if its hardware isn't super powerful. Still, what it has is more than enough for web browsing, office work and media viewing in your downtime, and the battery life will easily eclipse 10 hours, so you'll get a full day of work or school out of it without having to even look at a charger.
The Best Premium 2-in-1 Laptop
A Powerful Tablet That Transforms Into A Full-Fledged Laptop
The Surface Book 3 has a premium price tag, but what you get for your money is unbridled quality. It offers solid performance—although not cutting edge hardware—in a very robust chassis, a detachable keyboard for a lightweight and portable tablet experience, and an absolutely gorgeous display. Its keyboard is just about the best in the business too.
While its aging hardware won't blow you away, it is versatile with a fast 10th-generation Intel processor and up to 32GB of memory. If you opt for the Core i7 model, too, you get an NVIDIA GTX 1660 Ti Max-Q graphics chip, making this not only a powerful laptop for general processing tasks, but also a capable gaming machine—a real rarity in this form factor. All of that hardware powers a beautiful 3,000 x 2,000 display in the 3:2 aspect ratio, which is great for browsing vertical webpages, reading lengthy documents, and for opening up additional tracks in audio and video editing. Battery life is a trend-setting 17-hours of mixed usage, giving you all the juice you need for a full day of work or play, and then some.
As a laptop, it weighs around four pounds, which is typical of comaprably-priced ultrabooks, but when you detach the keyboard, it drops the tablet down to just 1.8 pounds—only a little heavier than the comparably-tiny Surface Go 3. That makes this a fantastic laptop that doesn’t lose any luster as a tablet. The only downside is that tablet-mode battery life isn't great, but keep the keyboard handy and it'll charge up again very quickly.
The Best AMD 2-in-1 Laptop
HP Envy x360 13
The HP Envy x360 13 is the latest generation of HP's more affordable 2-in-1s, and though it might not have the more premium look and feel of the Spectre range, it's still some of the best convertible laptop hardware you can buy—especially if you're an AMD fan.
Packing an AMD Ryzen 7 5800U (one of the best mobile processors of its generation) alongside 16GB of high-speed memory and a half terabyte of SSD storage, it is a seriously nippy machine. The eight cores make it capable of heavy multitasking, or even intensive tasks like video editing, with ease.
Battery life isn't class leading, but at well over 10 hours with mixed usage, there's enough for a full work day and then some, and the onboard Vega graphics even enable some entry-level gaming in your off-hours without switching devices.
With an effective 360-degree hinge, this Envy laptop flips into tablet mode well enough, and at 2.9 pounds, doesn't feel too hefty—although it's noticeably heavier than the detachable 2-in-1s on this list, not to mention more traditional, standalone tablets. When you turn it back into a laptop, it's a capable machine for typing too, with a comfortable keyboard housing a responsive touchpad that fits snugly into the 13-inch frame.
The HP Envy 13 isn't just a great AMD 2-in-1 laptop—it's a great 2-in-1 laptop, period. It helps to redefine what a sub $1,000 laptop can be and points to a bright future for AMD powered laptops and hybrids in the future.
Best 2-in-1 Chromebook
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook
For a supremely affordable 2-in-1 laptop that's fantastic for light work, web browsing and streaming your favorite films and shows, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook is a great option. It comes in at a lower price than any other 2-in-1 on this list, and it supports the latest versions of Chrome OS for expanded web-based functionality and better support for Android applications.
It isn't as powerful as the other 2-in-1s on this list and it can't run native Windows applications, but if you want an Android-like tablet that is also a capable laptop for typing or research, it's an excellent option. It has an HD screen which looks fantastic at this size, and it's got great color support for such an affordable device.
Unlike more traditional tablet-based 2-in-1s, like Microsoft Surface devices and the iPad, the IdeaPad Duet also comes with a keyboard right out of the box, negating the need for any additional accessory purchased. It's a little small compared to larger 2-in-1 laptops, so you might not want to write full length essays on this laptop, but you could, and if you can do without wider Windows program support, it's a super affordable way to get a capable 2-in-1 laptop.
Best Convertible Laptop
The Best Laptop; With A Tablet Mode
The Dell XPS 13 is one of the best, if not the best midrange laptop available today, and the 2-in-1 model packs all of the same great hardware in a fantastic chassis that just so happens to be able to flip into a tablet mode.
It comes with Intel's excellent 1165G7 processor, which not only offers enormous computing power for such a diminutive core count, but amazing graphics performance too. That makes this laptop great for browsing the web, office work, streaming movies and even video editing. The GPU gives you the option of some surprisingly impressive gaming ability, although you'll want to keep the resolution below the native 3,840 x 2,160 as 4K gaming is a nightmare for any laptop without a dedicated graphics chip.
Elsewhere, this build enjoys fast LPDDR4 memory and an Intel Optane-accelerated SSD for super snappy general performance and extremely fast wake times. As with all XPS 13 devices, the display on this model is absolutely gorgeous whether you're using it as a laptop or tablet, and at just 2.71 pounds, the whole device feels light and easy to hold in both modes.
