The best laptops for drawing

In fact, the Surface Pro 9 is more accurately classified as a tablet than a laptop, as it runs Windows 11, which lets you use desktop apps on a small screen. On the other hand, if you attach the optional Type Cover keyboard, you actually have a great thin and light laptop. Of course an iPad can achieve this too, but we didn't include them in this article because they can't run desktop apps.

We found that Windows 11 runs quickly and the screen provides a great drawing experience when using the Surface Slim Pen 2. Whether you choose to use the Type Cover or not, the sturdy stand offers enough support to keep the device upright when drawing at a desk. You can also use this handheld device for drawing on your lap. We recommend the optional keyboard as we find it difficult to use Windows by touch alone.

Graphite, Sapphire, Forest and original Platinum are among the colors offered, and the keyboard matches these colors. Note that the stylus is available separately, as with the Surface Laptop Studio 2 mentioned above.

We believe the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is an excellent choice for sketching if you have a Chromebook. More importantly for sketching, it has a beautiful screen. It's fast enough to run light to medium-weight apps in the cloud without a problem; people with more demanding workflows will need a bigger hitter.

The 14-inch Full HD touchscreen was great, and we especially appreciated the 16:10 aspect ratio, which gives you more space for drawing. It was also much easier to plug in a pen thanks to the USB-C port, compared to portless Chromebooks.

In addition, the laptop can be fully flipped into tablet mode, making it an ideal surface for sketching. Due to the superior build quality, this Chromebook is reasonably priced but with many high-end features.

Another high-end touchscreen device that we've found offers a great drawing experience is the Dell XPS 13 2-in-1. It has a long battery life and is incredibly light and small.

The detachable screen was our favorite feature; it provided good color and brightness, and the edge-to-edge display is great for drawing, especially with its 3:2 aspect ratio, which offers a little more vertical space than other ratios. Its dimensions, weight and size make it ideal for on-the-go use; it's among the thinnest devices on our list and weighs about the same as the Surface Pro 9.

Overall, we thought the Surface Pro provided the best experience, but this one had a longer battery life. We didn't like the keyboard though - we thought it was too flat - but sometimes compromises have to be made to be portable. Please note that a stylus is not included and must be purchased separately.

After extensive testing, we concluded that this is the best laptop Microsoft has ever produced. Its beautiful 3:2 touchscreen and excellent mechanism for placing it like an easel make it a great choice for artists.

The screen of many hybrids can be folded back to turn the laptop into a tablet. However, the Surface Laptop Studio works differently because of its split hinge that allows the screen to slide over the keyboard. If you want to use it hands-free, you can also lift it up in an easel-like posture, which we found great for drawing and eliminates the need to get a prop or use the screen flat.

When evaluating the laptop, we tested the screen brightness at 505 nits and found that the 3:2 aspect ratio made it easy to draw. Plus, the fast 120Hz frame rate eliminated annoying delays when applying digital ink, making pen support extremely fast. Note that the Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus requires a separate purchase.

Overall, the powerful 13th Gen Intel CPUs and graphics up to the Nvidia RTX 4060 in this second-gen model delighted us with performance improvements. Memory support has also been significantly increased to 64 GB. Another plus was the 12-hour battery life seen by us. While it could do with more ports, it's an excellent laptop for creative work such as drawing.

The ASUS ZenBook Duo 14 is a different kind of laptop for drawing, thanks to a dual-display design that's been upgraded to the extreme in the latest iteration. The latest Zenbook Duo features two full-size 14-inch displays, one artfully hidden behind the detachable keyboard. This is in contrast to the previous version, which had only one screen or a larger screen with a smaller display.

After evaluation, we discovered that the two touchscreens supporting a stylus allow for extremely flexible use with a variety of editing possibilities that make it well-suited to a variety of drawing tasks. The laptop has a distinctive look as well as strong build quality and strong internals.

The HP Spectre x360 16 is an aesthetically pleasing and versatile PC, thanks to a 360-degree hinge that allows the display to return to tablet mode. In tablet mode, we found it stable and reliable for drawing, and we were impressed by the 4K+ OLED display's excellent color coverage and respectable brightness of 400 nits.

We found that the Intel Core i7-1260P setup with 16GB of RAM and 1TB SSD more than handled light content creation tasks like painting. Additionally, battery life was impressive; we were able to spin a 1080p movie on the screen at half brightness for 12 hours. As for network connectivity, it has two Thunderbolt 6 ports capable of transferring data at 40 Gbps, in addition to Wi-Fi 4E, Bluetooth 5.3 and a microSD card reader.

For drawing, the notebook is pre-loaded with the HP Rechargeable MPP2.0 Slant Pen for sketching and inking assistance. When not in use, the pen is held in place by magnets on the right side of the display. Although the 60Hz refresh rate of the OLED panel makes it less fast than panels with higher refresh rates, we believe we can get used to it. Also, sensitivity at light forces is a bit on the low side of the touch scale.

HOW TO CHOOSE THE BEST LAPTOP FOR DRAWING

With our top picks, we've covered a lot of ground for you, though you'll have the final say on a few things. Budget is the most obvious, so we've selected products in a variety of price ranges. For example, the more expensive but less powerful Acer Spin Chromebook 514 is priced much differently than the powerful Surface Laptop Studio.

How often you use your laptop for sketching compared to other tasks and how portable you want it to be will probably determine which is the best option for you. The HP Spectre x360 is physically larger than most of the laptops on our list, but it offers a gorgeous, massive 16-inch OLED display with excellent quality for sketching.

When choosing a laptop for sketching, it's clear that a touchscreen is essential for drawing on the screen. We especially like laptops that can be completely transformed into a tablet just by rotating or swiping.

FAQS

Basically, you can use a graphics tablet with a laptop or PC, a tablet with a pen display or stylus, or a laptop with a touchscreen for digital sketching. While some artists find graphics tablets more tactile, the technology is not foolproof and having to coordinate your hand and screen independently while working in a creative flow can be uncomfortable. Compared to all-in-ones, they are not as portable. However, they are really reasonably priced and designed to be responsive.

The best tablets and pen displays are often the most convenient and portable tools for drawing on, but if you want something rugged and long-lasting, they can be a bit expensive and often lack the adaptability to be used for other purposes.

In contrast, when you consider the capabilities that touchscreen laptops offer, they are arguably the most adaptable for their price range.