If you’re in the business of being a small business, there’s an excellent chance that, unless your small business involves, say, trading colourfully painted rocks for goods, you’re going to need some kind of computer.
And, given the nature of most small businesses, you’re going to need some kind of portable computer. Yes, a tablet might suffice for some things, but to prompt productivity to heady new heights, you simply cannot beat a laptop.
What should you look for in a laptop for a small business?
Exactly what kind of laptop you need, what size, what processing power, what graphics capability and any other bells and whistles, all depends on the nature of your work and, as ever, your budget, so there’s a bit to work out before simply pointing at a box online or instore and parting with a chunk of change.
Weight may also be a consideration if you travel a lot, and to that exact end, if you also find yourself stuck in a Travel Inn overnight quite often, you might want to also look at what entertainment options it features, too.
But, what any laptop for any small business will definitely require, however, is solid connectivity to keep you secure and stable online, and perhaps also to allow the laptop to hook up to external monitors and additional kit to let it become the powerful beating heart of a home office set-up.
With all these things in mind, I’ve spent the last month or so living with five laptops that I selected based on price, power, performance and sheer portability. If you need to boost your business productivity, lap ’em up…
Best laptops for small businesses at a glance:
- Best for making ‘light’ work: MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo A1MG - £1,299, Currys
- Best for finger-prodding productivity: Acer Swift Go SFG14-71T-519L - £799, Currys
- Best for big screen business: Acer Swift Edge - £1,299, Currys
- Best for peerless performance for price: Asus ZenBook 14 (UX3405) - £1,400, John Lewis
- Best for next-gen portable PCing: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 - £4,389, Lenovo
MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo A1MG
Best for: Making ‘light’ work
Doing business in a compact, comfortably conveyable way, with excellent connectivity, the MSI Prestige 13 is the ideal laptop for the savvy small business owner out and about. Weighing a ludicrously light at 990g, thanks to its magnesium-aluminium chassis, just because it is light in form doesn’t mean it’s light on features and function. Indeed, powered by a 16-core Intel Core Ultra 7 processor, this Prestige is furiously fast and unerringly efficient, and comes packing 32GB of memory and a whole 1TB of storage.
Screen-wise, you get 13.3-inches of OLED deliciousness, with a Quad HD+ resolution (2880 x 1800) for pin-sharp detail of any kind of content, while the 6:10 screen aspect ratio makes it particularly adept for studying documents and spreadsheets, and if your line of business involved photo editing, then you’ll appreciate the integrated Intel Arc graphics.
When it comes to connectivity, the Prestige utterly excels, with Intel Killer Wi-Fi 7, 2.5G ethernet and Bluetooth 5.4 keeping you wirelessly linked to the working world, and dual Thunderbolt 4 ports and an HDMI letting you merge this little laptop with multiple 4K monitors as the heart of a home workstation.
A Full HD webcam with shutter, 2x 2W speakers and 3x microphone array mean video calls and conferencing are in the bag, and a fingerprint reader keeps all your essential info safe from prying eyes, vital if you're prone to working in public spaces and wandering off to order coffee.
An exceptional laptop for the price, the MSI Prestige 13 AI Evo A1MG is a lightweight heavyweight that pulses with performance power for whatever your business. And, yes, it's good for gaming after office hours too.
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
- Screen size: 13.3-inch 16:10
- Screen resolution: Quad HD+ (2880 x 1800)
- Memory: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB
Buy now £1299.00, Currys
Acer Swift Go SFG14-71T-519L
Best for: Finger-prodding productivity
I’ve picked this particular Acer Swift for several solid reasons. Firstly, it packs a processing punch thanks to its 13th Gen, 12-core Intel Core i5 processor (3.5GHz/4.7GHz). Next, it has an excellent array of ports, including 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB 3.1, 1x HDMI 2.1, meaning it connects effortlessly to practically anything you need it to. That’s without mentioning the fact that its stunning WUXGA (1920 x 1200p) 14-inch display is of the touchscreen variety, making it perfect for productivity.
Running on Windows 11 Home, you get 8GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, the former perhaps not seeming that capacious, but expandable via microSD card, while wireless connectivity speed and stability are assured due to the inclusion of Killer AX WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1.
For clear and crisp video calls and conferencing the Swift Go features a 5MP Quad HD webcam and an integrated microphone, while stereo speakers, complete with DTS Audio, handle what you hear with aplomb.
Fingerprint security keeps those keen on industrial espionage at bay, and then we come to the penultimate reason why I selected this particular Swift: it weighs just 1.32kg, which for a 14-inch touchscreen laptop spouting this kind of spec is lighter than a business-doing bird.
So, you’re wondering, if that was the penultimate reason, what’s my final reason for swooping on the Acer Swift Go SFG14-71T-519L? The price; at an English pound under £800, it’s an absolute bargain.
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Processor: Intel Core i5 13th Gen 13500H
- Screen size: 14-inch
- Screen resolution: WUXGA (1920 x 1200p)
- Memory: 8GB
- Storage: 512GB
Buy now £799.00, Currys
Acer Swift Edge
Best for: Big screen business
My second pick from the House of Acer, if the Swift Go is too small for you in terms of both physical size and storage, then up the ante and give yourself the enterprise edge with, well, just that, the Swift Edge. Featuring a zippy 8-core, 16-thread AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, clocking 3.3GHz (5.1GHz boost) to give your work ample oomph, here you get some 16GB of memory and a more than ample 1TB of storage.
On the screen side, you get a nicely sizable 16-inch OLED display with a 3.2K resolution, making it better than Full HD while not quite up there with 4K, but ultra-sharp all the same, there’s also a refresh rate of 120Hz which is perfect if your business involves fast moving graphics… or gaming.
Keeping you wirelessly connected is AX WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1, while physical ports include 2x SB Type-C with DisplayPort and Power Delivery, 2x USB 3.2, 1x HDMI 2.1, microSD slot, and, of course, a 3.5mm jack, so capable of playing nice with all your essential office accessories.
A built-in mic, Quad HD 1440p webcam and dual stereo speakers take care of video calls and conferencing, and a fingerprint scanner and Kensington security lock slot guard all your small business secrets like a tenacious bulldog.
All of which is pretty damn impressive in a laptop costing 100 new pence under £1300, but what’s really amazing is that, thanks to a magnesium-aluminium chassis and some cunning component jiggery pokey, the Acer Swift Edge with its 16-inch display weighs just 1.23kg, which is less than the 14-inch Swift Go. Go figure.
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7840U
- Screen size: 16-inch
- Screen resolution: 3.2K (3200 x 2000p)
- Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 1TB
Buy now £1299.00, Currys
Asus ZenBook 14 (UX3405)
Best for: Peerless performance for price
Freshly launched, this is the ZenBook 14 from Asus (specifically, the UX3405) and, I have to say, it’s an absolute stunner.
A 14-incher that feels all the more spacious for its 16:10 aspect ratio, this all-new ZenBook is supermodel slim at 14.9mm thin and weighs in at 1.2kg, yet manages to be crammed full of all the latest tech.
Starting with the heart of the matter, here we find the very latest 16-core Intel Core Ultra 9 processor, complete with integrated NPU AI engine, clocking speeds up to 5.1GHz to make light work of any tasks you set it. On the graphics side, you get Intel Arc so no worries there, either. Memory comes 32GB strong and storage is a whopping 1TB, too, so performance power ‘grunt’ and speed in absolute spades.
When it comes to the display, there’s an ultra-vivid 3K Lumina OLED, coated in Corning Gorilla Glass, complete with a 120Hz refresh rate and adaptive sync to ensure you’re always seeing the right rate. With an 87 per cent screen-to-body ratio, even if you think a 14-inch laptop is too small for your small business needs, I urge you to try and look one right in the face in the wilds of John Lewis or Currys.
Super-linear speakers tuned by Harman Kardon with Smart Amplifier and ASUS Audio Booster handle the sound side of things, and to ensure you look and sound your best on video calls and conferences, there’s an AI-enhanced webcam that can blur your background, detect and correct your gaze so that you always appear to be making direct eye-contact, detect movement and follow you around accordingly. It can even automatically reduce image noise to upgrade the state of your online fizzog from fuzzy to crystal clear. Add to this an array microphone and all your video conference and calls are sorted.
Connection-wise, the natty ZenBook comes with solid Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 to ensure you’re always hooked up over the ether, and 1x USB 3.2, 2x Thunderbolt 4, and 1 x HDMI 2.1 ports to integrate into a full office set-up.
What’s more a true go-anywhere laptop, the ZenBook has been tested to US MIL-STD 810H military-grade standards, so it can resist extremes of temperature and even survive a drop, so if your small business sees a bit of rough and tumble out in the field, the Asus can roll with the punches.
An incredible little lappy that delivers power and performance that goes above and beyond, the new Asus ZenBook 14 is an essential asset for any small business.
- OS: Windows 11 Home
- Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9
- Screen size: 14-inch
- Screen resolution: 2.8K
- Memory: 32GB
- Storage: 1TB
Buy now £1400.00, John Lewis
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16
Best for: Next-gen portable PCing
Those of you who have already glanced at the price tag of Lenovo’s undeniably sexy-looking ThinkPad X1 Fold might already be reeling in shock, clutching at your wallet for dear financial life, but bear with me, for this is no ordinary laptop.
Okay, obviously, it’s a folder. By this I mean that this latest iteration of the all-display Lenovo opens like the petals of a futuristic flower to unveil its stunning 16.3-inch OLED 2560 x 2024-pixel, anti-smudge, touchscreen screen, which is simply stunning to behold. Also, operating in portrait, landscape, book, tablet and laptop modes, it’s ideal for any kind of small business portable computing needs, whether quietly writing up reports or dazzling a whole boardroom full of ponytailed executives with your hi-res presentation.
With 16GB of memory and up to 512GB of storage, the whole showy shebang is run by a 12th Generation Intel Core i5-1230U processor, with E-cores clocking up to 3.30GHz and P-cores up to 4.40GHz (a Core i7 option is also available), and integrated Intel Iris Xe Graphics looking after the action side of things.
Coming bundled with the Levono Precision Pen for those who need to nail the fine detail, there’s also an optional ThinkPad Bluetooth TrackPoint Keyboard & Stand available, as typing anything of heft using the virtual keyboard might prove a bit of an effort after a while. However, if you’re happy with your fingers and are only making notes, the display is supremely responsive.
Featuring WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1, wireless connections are strong and stable, and ports comprise 2x USB-C Thunderbolt 4 (40Gbps), 1x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps), with an optional Nano SIM slot.
When it comes to comms, there’s a 5MP RGB & infrared webcam, 4x microphones with Dolby Voice for crystal clear communication, and 3x speakers, so those web calls and conferences will be clean and crisp.
Remarkably light, to boot, at 1.28kg thanks to its aluminium chassis, the ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 is also incredibly tough, having been tested to US Department of Defense's MIL-STD 810H standards.
A spectacular hybrid laptop, at a spectacular price, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 is the small business person’s best friend.
- OS: Window 11 Home
- Processor: 12th Generation Intel Core i5 1230U
- Screen size: 16.3-inches
- Screen resolution: 2560 x 2024
- Memory: 16GB
- Storage: 256GB
Buy now £4389.00, Lenovo
