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Smartphones and tablets have spoiled us: Touch screens may be a tech staple, but not every laptop has one—and not every laptop that does fits every user's needs. That's where we come in. Since PCMag established PC Labs more than 40 years ago, we've reviewed many thousands of laptops. Our expert analysts and editors, with collective centuries of experience, apply rigorous, repeatable tests to every model we review. We use industry-standard software to assess CPU and graphics performance, display quality, and battery life. In our reviews, we also evaluate key aspects such as design, ruggedness, usability, bundled software, and value. Our current pick for the best touch-screen laptop overall is the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406), but we stand behind all our recommendations for narrower use cases and different budgets. Read on for all our tested, vetted picks, plus advice on how to shop for the best touch-screen laptop.
Our Top Tested Picks
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (2023)
Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (Q420)
Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (16-inch)
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (Intel)
HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)
Dell XPS 16 (9640)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
The Best Touch-Screen Laptop Deals This Week*
- Dell Inspiron 16 7640 Intel Ultra 7 1TB 16" 2-in-1 Laptop — $849.99 (List Price $1,149.99)
- Dell Inspiron 14 7440 Intel 5 512GB SSD 14" 2-in-1 Laptop — $549.99 (List Price $749.99)
- Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Intel 5 512GB SSD 14" 2-in-1 Laptop — $609.99 (List Price $819.99)
- Lenovo Yoga 7 Ryzen 7 1TB SSD 16GB RAM 16" 2-in-1 Laptop — $904.99 (List Price $1,089.99)
- HP Envy x360 Intel Ultra 7 512GB SSD 16GB RAM 16" 2-in-1 Laptop — $799.99 (List Price $1,109.99)
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Best Overall Touch-Screen Laptop
Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Touch (UM3406)
- Peppy performance
- High value
- Long battery life
- Lots of ports for its size
- Just a 1200p display
- No WWAN option or SD card slot
- Face login only—no fingerprint reader
The latest in Asus' overflowing Zenbook 14 OLED family skimps a bit on the screen resolution but delivers impressive power, battery life, and convenience for $850.
Best Budget Touch-Screen Laptop
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
- Competitive performance from updated CPU
- Stylish, colorful design
- Quality build and comfortable keyboard
- Reasonably priced
- Swappable SSD and chassis parts for longevity
- Less-than-1080p display with nonstandard resolution
- Updated (but still ho-hum) webcam
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 doesn't reinvent the original, but some minor upgrades and a new CPU put this affordable, stylish notebook back among your best budget options for 2022.
Best Touch-Screen Business Laptop
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 (2023)
- Decent performance and long battery life
- World-class keyboard
- Slim and light, yet plenty of ports
- Handsome 16:10 aspect ratio display
- No SD or microSD card slot
- Premium price
- 4K screen options gone
With the most recent (Gen 12) model omitting the touch screen for now, last year's ThinkPad X1 Carbon business laptop is still for sale and practically unbeatable (even by its successor's standards).
Best Ultraportable Touch-Screen Laptop
Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (Q420)
- Snappy 13th Gen Core i7 CPU
- Attractive price
- Super-slim, premium design
- Vibrant 120Hz OLED touch screen
- Long battery life
- Decent port selection for its size
- Lacks discrete GPU found in alternative 14X model
- Only a 512GB SSD
The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED Q420 model is more of a general productivity ultraportable than a creator machine, but its sharp build, quick CPU, and brilliant OLED display are the best deal for $1,000.
Best Touch-Screen Creator Laptop
Lenovo Slim Pro 9i (16-inch)
- Powerful performance
- Excellent 16-inch, 165Hz mini-LED display
- Versatile port selection
- Long battery life
- Durable all-aluminum build
- Limited configuration choices
- Hefty at nearly 5 pounds
- Reflective display
Lenovo's 16-inch Slim Pro 9i is a formidable desktop replacement laptop and an excellent big-screen choice for content creators and editing professionals.
Best Overall Touch-Screen Detachable 2-in-1
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 (Intel)
- Impressive performance and battery life
- Outstanding cameras
- Sleek design, with inking-friendly 3:2 screen
- Two Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C) ports
- User-upgradable storage
- Essential accessories still not included
- No more headphone jack
- 5G only available with SQ3 processor
- High starting price
Microsoft’s Surface Pro 9 is its most polished yet, with unmatched performance, helpful features, and long battery life among high-end 2-in-1 detachable Windows tablets.
Best Overall Touch-Screen Convertible 2-in-1 Laptop
HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)
- Gorgeous OLED touch screen
- Impressive productivity performance
- Lengthy battery life
- Elegant design
- World-class webcam
- Expensive when fully loaded
- No SD/microSD card slot or cellular internet
- No HDMI port (two USB-C docks included)
- No internal pen storage
The latest iteration of HP's 14-inch, OLED-screened Spectre x360 holds onto its reign as a top-tier laptop/tablet hybrid, especially for frequent video callers.
Best Big (16-Inch) Touch-Screen Laptop
Dell XPS 16 (9640)
- Sleek, slim aesthetic and inputs
- Brilliant 4K OLED touch screen
- High performance from Intel Core Ultra 7 and GeForce RTX 4070
- Impressive battery life
- Expensive
- Not all design changes are improvements
- USB-C ports only (though USB-A and HDMI adapter provided)
A slick new look and cutting-edge components make Dell's XPS 16 a dream for Windows-bound creative pros and power users—as long as they have the cash for its premium features and build quality.
Best Touch-Screen Laptop for Pen-Based Input
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2
- Convertible touch screen becomes drafting tablet
- Latest Intel and Nvidia silicon
- Dedicated neural chip for local AI
- 120Hz screen refresh rate
- Added USB-A and microSD
- Long battery life
- Cleverly located, charging magnetic stylus holder
- Surface Pen still sold separately
- Expensive
- Just-okay Adobe RGB and DCI-P3 color coverage
- AI boosts only Windows Studio Effects, for now
Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 significantly ramps up the performance with modern parts and dedicated AI processing—all while maintaining the unique pull-forward touch-screen design.
Best Overall Touch-Screen Chromebook
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
- Sturdy 2-in-1 design mixes durability, flexibility
- Above-average ChromeOS performance
- Crisp display with touch and pen support
- Backlit keyboard
- Decent variety of ports
- Budget-feeling plastic construction
- Merely average battery life
- Stylus pen not included
Lenovo's Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is an affordable 2-in-1 that showcases the Chromebook Plus generation with speedy performance and flashy features at a reasonable price.
At PCMag, we test hundreds of computers a year, many with touch screens, many without. Based on our in-labs testing and deep-dive reviews, we've compiled the best touch-equipped machines that have passed through our hands. Below, let's run through the basics of laptop touch screens and why you might (or might not) want one.
Touch Screens 101: The Basics
First of all, some terminology. In most cases, a touch-screen-equipped laptop has a conductive digitizing layer, overlaid on the panel element, that allows for tap, pinch, or swipe input. Most modern laptops make use of what's known as capacitive touch input, in which the over-screen layer detects where you've touched with one or more fingers using the conductivity of your skin. This layer is typically a grid of ultra-fine wires or a film; it needs to be subtle or translucent enough to not interfere with viewability.
That electrical aspect explains why touch screens don't work if you're wearing gloves. This is in contrast to the resistive touch technology you might see in other implementations of touch screens, in which the upper layer covering the screen flexes. When you write or tap on a resistive screen, that upper layer closes a circuit with another layer beneath it. (Having to press a little to, say, sign your name on a screen is an earmark of resistive touch.)
Back to capacitive, though. The capacitive touch layer maps your finger or pen input to coordinates on the screen that determine the position of your touch. Also detected are parameters such as tap speed, whether you've tapped versus swiped, or if you've executed a multi-finger touch gesture. Note that tap pressure sensitivity is not a parameter that is typically detected through simple finger touch, though certain touch implementations and stylus pens might transmit that. More on those later.
A few panels use an infrared X/Y axis-mapping technology, in which sensors in the bezel cross-reference an interruption of their beams at a specific intersecting screen location, but the employment of this tech in laptops is rare. It's usually seen only in cases where the panel is very large or uses a display technology that is not available in a variant that can accept capacitive touch (or is cost-prohibitive).
Note that the screens in a given laptop family may come with options for touch and non-touch versions. This is the case with some mainstream and business-oriented clamshell laptops, especially ones in model lines that sell in lots of subtly different retail configurations, or that have many tweakable configuration options when sold directly. When looking at one of these machines, be cognizant of whether the particular screen or screen option you are looking at supports touch.
For example, a laptop might offer a choice of a 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) touch screen or a 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) display without touch support. Or you might find both touch and non-touch options available at 1080p. Attention to detail matters here.
Which Laptops Have Touch Screens?
Depending on the specific kind of laptop you're looking at, the tendency toward touch support will vary. Let's dig into the major types.
BUDGET CLAMSHELLS. Most low-cost machines that are straight-up laptops (that is, models that do not have 2-in-1-type hinges or tablet modes) will not have touch screens, but you'll run across the occasional exception. In under-$500 machines, a touch screen should be seen as a pleasant surprise, not a given. Exception: 2-in-1s, more about which in a moment. (For more, see our picks for the best budget laptops.)
MAINSTREAM AND BUSINESS CLAMSHELLS. You'll see the most varied mix of touch and non-touch models here. This is the category most likely to be fraught with touch versus non-touch models in the same system family. You may be able to specify one or the other type of screen at the time of purchase, or different configurations in the same line may feature different screen types. Look for this, especially in product lines like Lenovo's ThinkPad or Dell's XPS. (For more, see our picks for the best business laptops.)
2-IN-1 CONVERTIBLES AND DETACHABLES. By their very nature, all 2-in-1 machines will have touch screens. When you're using a 360-degree rotating 2-in-1 in tent or tablet mode, you don't have access to the keyboard, so touch input is essential in those modes. Likewise in a detachable 2-in-1: Remove the keyboard, and all you're left with for input is your tapping fingers or a stylus, Indeed, a key differentiator here is whether the 2-in-1 additionally supports stylus input, and if so, whether the stylus is included or costs extra. A high-profile example of the latter is the Microsoft Surface devices, which mandate $100 or more for their complementing Surface Pen stylus. (For more, see our picks for the best convertible laptops.)
GAMING LAPTOPS. Most gaming laptops have 15-inch, 16-inch, 17-inch, or 18-inch screens, and very few of these offer touch input. PC gamers don't have much use for touch input (PC games aren't written to support it), and implementing a touch screen would reduce what is an often already-challenged battery. (For more, see our picks for the best gaming laptops.)
GIANT-SCREEN MACHINES. It's rare to see a laptop of any stripe with a 17-inch or 18-inch display that supports touch input. Touch-panel implementations at that size are pricey and simply not cost-effective. They're also not very practical: As we said, many touch-screen laptops are 2-in-1s, and a 17-inch (or bigger) tablet would be mighty unwieldy. (See our favorite 17-inch and 18-inch laptops.)
CHROMEBOOKS. Touch screens did not feature in early Chromebook models, but we're seeing them in more and more new ones. With the emergence of 2-in-1 convertible Chromebooks (most are 360-degree-rotating designs, though a few feature detachable displays), touch is becoming more common in this class, especially as support for Android apps has become the norm on these machines. (For more, see our picks for the best Chromebooks.)
APPLE MACBOOKS. Sorry! No Mac desktop or MacBook laptop supports touch screen input unless you count the thin Touch Bar touch strip forward of the keyboard on a few legacy, now-discontinued MacBook Pro models. (The Touch Bar is merely a contextual shortcut strip that adapts to the program at hand.) The macOS operating system isn't optimized for touch. In the Apple sphere, full-touch displays are reserved for the company's iPhones and iPads.
What Are the Disadvantages of Touch-Screen Laptops?
You might think it's a given that having a touch screen is a good thing if you can get one. But you'll want to consider a few factors before going all in.
CONSIDER BATTERY DRAIN. All else being equal, a touch screen will reduce your battery life versus an identical non-touch screen in the same system. That's because the system has to keep a trickle of power fed to the digitizing layer, which will be always on, waiting for your fingertip or stylus tip to tap. That said, we emphasize "all else being equal": The battery factor is seldom an apples-to-apples comparison, because touch screens in a given laptop line that also offers non-touch options also tend to be higher-end, higher-resolution, or higher-brightness screens that, by their nature, consume more power to start with—the touch aspect regardless.
WILL YOU ACTUALLY USE IT? Think about how you work or play, day to day, before insisting on a touch panel. If your main PC activity is mincing through fine-celled spreadsheets, jabbing a touch screen with a finger might not afford the precision or utility you need for operations. If you spend most of your time tapping through YouTube videos, on the other hand, touch can be a delight.
Also, consider the ergonomic aspects. To use a touch panel much, you'll be reaching from keyboard to screen, which can clash with your workflow on a clamshell machine. So make sure that kind of reaching jibes with your day-to-day usage. Alternately, if you'll often be tapping at music- and movie-playback controls on the screen or poking frenetically at YouTube thumbnails, consider a 2-in-1 that you can prop up in A-frame or tent mode, in which tapping the screen makes more sense and requires less reaching.
ARE YOU GOOD WITH GLOSSY? Most touch screens have a glossy facing that extends across both the screen and its bezels (the borders surrounding the screen). Matte-finish touch screens are uncommon. The seamless bezel coverage allows for side-in swipes and prevents interruption of your tap and swipe activity near the screen's periphery. That's fine if you like glossy screens, and they can enhance the perceived vividness of the panel. But know that screens of this kind are more prone to smudging, and they tend to be afflicted by glare outdoors or under harsh indoor lighting more than matte panels are. Keep a lens cleaning cloth handy.
THICKNESS AND WEIGHT. Implementing a touch layer on the screen's face means a bit of additional material and circuitry. It's minimal, but know that a touch versus a non-touch laptop will levy a slight penalty on both fronts—again, all things being equal.
Can You Use a Stylus on Your Touch Screen?
Separate from simple tap, swipe, and pinch actions on the screen, pen support requires a touch-capable screen. If sketching or handwritten note-taking are part of how you work, you'll want to investigate the pen options available in a given touch-screen laptop.
Usually, it's just the 2-in-1s that will offer them. Stylus types range from a simple passive stick, which is essentially a more precise surrogate for your fingertip, to an active pen, which has a built-in battery and will have click buttons on the pen and possibly support for pressure sensitivity.
Top of the line are true digital pens, which are active—meaning, they are powered by their internal battery. Pens of this kind will include click buttons, pressure-sensitivity detection, angle detection, and possibly a digital "eraser" on the top. A prime example of the latter is Microsoft's Surface Pen we mentioned earlier, which works with the company's line of detachable laptops.
If you go this route, also investigate the pen storage scheme. A laptop or convertible stylus is easy to lose in your bag or leave behind if it doesn't have a niche to tuck into. Some laptop and 2-in-1 makers employ a magnetic virtual "clip" that sticks the pen onto the side of the unit (the Surfaces are known for that), or in a few cases, provide a plastic bracket that may insert into a USB port. (Fortunately, we haven't seen one of those in a new model in a while.)
Windows Ink, which was introduced in a 2016 update to Windows 10, can also be a compelling reason to investigate the stylus capabilities of a given touch-enabled laptop. With the introduction of Ink came support for Sticky Notes, Sketchpad, and Screen Sketch within the OS. With Sticky Notes, you can scrawl on virtual Post-It notes and have Cortana interpret relevant information from your scribbles, such as email addresses and phone numbers, and make them actionable. Sketchpad lets you do freeform drawing with basic tools. In contrast, Screen Sketch lets you annotate onscreen images freehand, which is great for UI designers, developers, or others who work with graphical elements that need feedback. Other pen-enabled apps appear in the Windows Ink Workspace, a pen-centric panel that you can pop up with an icon in your taskbar.
Which Brand Is Best for a Touch-Screen Laptop?
There's no single answer to that question, as the "best" machine for you depends on your specific needs and budget. That said, Asus, Dell, HP, and Lenovo, among other PC OEMs, have touch-screen models, but sometimes touch-screen panels and non-touch ones are offered in different configurations of the same machine, in the same family. Make sure you know what you're getting (or not getting) when you buy. Also, as mentioned, Apple is the one brand to not expect a touch-screen from; all of its MacBooks use non-touch panels.
Ready to Buy the Right Touch-Screen Laptop for You?
That's where our reviews come in. Our rankings here line up our current-favorite clamshells, detachables, rotating 2-in-1s, and Chromebooks that support touch. Note that if you find one you like and decide to order from an e-tailer, we strongly recommend that you double-check that the specific model you're looking at (especially if it's a configurable clamshell) does include the touch-screen option.
In the case of a few models in our ranking, the specific model may support a touch-screen option, but we may have reviewed a non-touch version, and our online pricing links may point to that. Bear that in mind if you click through to an e-tailer: Be sure to check specifically for the presence of a touch panel in the model you are considering.