One of the fastest-growing segments of the PC market is the 2-in-1 laptop, a breed of machines that can morph from tablet to laptop and back again. They make use of touchscreen displays and, most often, active pens as well.
Microsoft kicked off the modern Windows 2-in-1 market with the original Surface in 2012, and since then Microsoft, its OEM partners, and even Chromebook makers have continued to grow the segment with increasingly high-quality options. These days, the best 2-in-1 laptops are just stunning, and these are the best ones you can buy.
At a glance
| Product | Category | Rating |
| Surface Pro 6 | Best 2-in-1 overall | 4 out of 5 |
| Surface Go | Best 2-in-1 for tablet usage | 3.5 out of 5 |
| HP Chromebook x2 | Best 2-in-1 Chromebook | 4 out of 5 |
| HP Spectre x360 13 | Best convertible 2-in-1 | 5 out of 5 |
| Microsoft Surface Book 2 | Best 15-inch 2-in-1 | 4 out of 5 |
Surface Pro 6
The best 2-in-1 overall
Why should you buy this: It’s a great tablet PC because of its thin and light form factor, and it offers a solid physical keyboard, superior pen, and outstanding performance for real productivity.
Who’s it for: Anyone who just can’t decide between a tablet and a traditional notebook
Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Pro:
Microsoft recently updated its popular 2017 Surface Pro — and reintroduced the numbering scheme — at a hardware event in October 2018. The new machine closely resembles its predecessors, adding in a new black color but retaining essentially the same outer chassis. But don’t let looks fool you, as the newest Surface Pro is a meaningful update over the Surface Pro.
First up is an upgrade to 8th-generation quad-core Intel Core-U processors, which provide a real boost in performance and a significant improvement in battery life. The new CPUs afford very good performance that’s a step up from the previous 7th-generation processors, particularly when multitasking. Battery life was also dramatically improved, and is perhaps the more important benefit from the CPU upgrade. The Surface Pro 6 now lasts as long as most Windows 10 notebooks, tablet or clamshell, and that’s a real feat
All that power and convenience doesn’t come cheap, however. While the Surface Pro starts out at a reasonable $ 900, that doesn’t include the Signature Type Cover ($ 160) and Surface Pen ($ 100), which are obligatory. That’s also for the lowest-end configuration with an Intel Core i5, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB SSD, and the Surface Pro maxes out at a pricey $ 2,300 with the Core i7-7660U, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Pro review
Microsoft Surface Go
The best 2-in-1 for tablet usage
Why should you buy this: It provides the same ability to morph into a tablet as its bigger sibling, but it’s also more comfortable in its primary role as a tablet.
Who’s it for: Anyone wants a tablet first but one that can plug in a keyboard in a pinch — and doesn’t want to spend a ton of cash
Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Go:
You can buy an iPad with around a 10-inch display, but what if iOS just doesn’t cut it for you? Maybe you need Windows 10 for the occasional productivity work, but you still want a tablet that can let you consume your media without giving you cramps. If that’s you, then you’ll want to consider the Microsoft Surface Go. It provides the same basic form factor and build quality as the Surface Pro 6 while being significantly smaller and even easier to use as a tablet.
As a detachable tablet, it has its own version of Microsoft’s excellent $ 130 Type Cover option and $ 100 Surface Pen that provide great typing and inking experiences. Best yet, the Surface Go itself is very reasonably priced, starting at $ 400 for a Pentium Gold 4415Y CPU, 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage and maxing out at $ 550 for 8GB of RAM and a fast 128GB PCIe SSD. In short, it’s cost-competitive with the iPad and runs the full Windows 10.
Performance is maybe its biggest let-down. It can keep up with productivity and media tasks but won’t win any races. The display is a standout feature, though, as a 10-inch 3:2 aspect ratio PixelSense panel at 1,800 x 1,200 (217 PPI) with excellent contrast, brightness, and colors.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Go review
HP Chromebook x2
The best 2-in-1 Chromebook
Why should you buy this: If you’re a Chrome OS fan and the Surface Book 2 makes you jealous of Windows 10 users, then the Chromebook x2 offers a compelling alternative.
Who’s it for: Anyone looking for a Chromebook 2-in-1 that makes as good a laptop as it does a tablet.
Why we picked the HP Chromebook x2:
The Windows 10 ecosystem doesn’t have a monopoly on the 2-in-1 form factor. If you haven’t bought into Windows 10 or you don’t have the cash for some of these Windows 10 machines, then you’ll likely be looking for a different option. That’s where the HP Chromebook x2 comes in.
This 2-in-1 Chromebook is just as well-built as any of the 2-in-1s on this list, and it provides very good performance thanks to a 7th-gen Intel Core m3 processor that’s more than fast enough for the lightweight Chrome OS. 4GB of RAM and 32GB of storage are enough to keep Google’s operating system humming — all for just $ 600. You’ll also enjoy a 12.3-inch display at a high 2,400 x 1,600 (235 PPI) resolution and in the same productivity-friendly 3:2 aspect ratio as the Surface devices on our list. Brightness, contrast, and colors are all excellent, meaning that the Chromebook x2 can serve as both a fast productivity device and a great media consumption tablet.
The Chromebook x2 isn’t exactly an inexpensive Chromebook, but it’s still the second-least expensive notebook on this particular list. If you’re looking for a Chrome OS machine and don’t want to give up a great build quality, an innovative design, and great performance and battery life, then the Chromebook x2 should be on your short list.
Read our full HP Chromebook x2 review
HP Spectre x360 13
The best for use as a notebook
Why should you buy this: It’s fast, has great battery life, offers a lovely display, and swivels around into multiple modes.
Who’s it for: Anyone looking for a 2-in-1 that works best as a laptop.
Why we picked the HP Spectre x360 13:
We picked the 2019 HP Spectre x360 13 because it offers the best combination of performance, battery life, display quality, and price, among a very loaded field. We had already rated the Spectre x360 13 as one of the best laptops you can buy for the last several years, and the latest “gem-cut” refresh introduced a new angular design that’s both gorgeous and functional.
The Spectre x360 uses the latest Whiskey Lake 8th-gen Intel Core processors, quad-core CPUs that are fast and efficient. And, HP built in a new Intel low-power display that allows for impressive battery life for media consumption and productivity tasks — in our testing of the newest Spectre x360 13, it managed a whopping 17.5 hours looping a local video. A slighter thicker chassis provides improved thermals, as well.
The best thing about today’s 360-degree convertible 2-in-1s is that they work as well as traditional notebooks as their inflexible clamshell cousins, and the Spectre x360 13 is the best evidence of that. The Surface Pro might be a better tablet replacement, but the Spectre x360 is nearly perfect.
Read our full HP Spectre x360 13 review
Microsoft Surface Book 2
The best large 2-in-1
Why should you buy this: It’s a solid performer for just about any productivity task, but converts to a tablet for on-the-go use.
Who’s it for: Business and creative professionals with money to spend on the best
Why we picked the Surface Book 2:
If money is no object, then Microsoft’s Surface Book 2 15-inch reigns supreme as the best overall 2-in-1 choice among large devices. Microsoft introduced he original Surface Book in October 2015, which was eons ago in computer time, but the design was so forward-looking that Microsoft saw no need to change it significantly in the new model. However, it expanded the line by introducing a 15-inch version — it’s not only the best large 2-in-1, but it’s also one of the best laptops, period.
The Surface Book’s claim to fame has always been its display that can be popped off the keyboard base to become a surprisingly thin, light, and powerful tablet. The keyboard base is more of a dock containing an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 discrete graphics and housing most of the combination’s total 90 watt-hour battery capacity.
Also, the Surface Book 2 introduced Intel’s eighth-generation Intel Core processors, specifically the Core i7-8650U quad-core CPU. It also comes with 16GB of RAM in all of its configurations, and up to a 1TB SSD can be selected. You’ll pay for all that power, starting at $ 2,500 for a 256GB SSD, and ramping up to $ 3,300 for a full 1TB of storage. Its power supply limits it from full-on gaming prowess, but it’s great for advanced applications like AutoCAD and Adobe Premier.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Book 2 review
Should you buy now or wait?
There’s never been a better time to buy a 2-in-1. The market is full of great options, and we’re convinced that the machines we’ve listed here will serve you well for years to come. Performance, battery life, displays, and connectivity are all top-notch, and these flexible machines will handle everything you need them to do now and well into the future.
And there’s not much coming anytime soon to give you pause. Intel has just released it’s eighth-generation Core processors, and any machines — like the Microsoft Surface Pro — that don’t already have the newest processors likely won’t be getting them until well into 2018.
How we test
We spend a tremendous amount of time reviewing notebooks of all shapes and sizes — and that’s saying something today, when notebooks come in so many shapes, sizes, and configurations. To make sure our recommendations provide real value to our readers, we live with the machines for a time and use them in writing our reviews, to make sure we can assess how they’ll work for real users.
But we do have a method to our madness in conducting these reviews, and you can look behind the scenes here. Hopefully, it will be obvious that our reviews are real labors of love — or hate, depending on the notebook — and therefore you can at least recognize that we don’t arrive at our conclusions without some serious consideration.
Editors’ Recommendations
