CES is an enormous present for PC makers and laptops. Most main Windows PC manufacturers—except for Microsoft—use it because the launchpad for his or her yearly refreshes. This remained true at CES 2026, although the tone of the present was notably extra humble than up to now.
While many new laptop computer designs included Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors, the brand new AMD Ryzen AI 400 and Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 chips appeared much less standard with PC makers. Rapidly rising reminiscence costs have additionally struck worry in PC makers, and a number of other manufacturers (together with Acer, Asus, and MSI) mentioned that retail pricing gained’t be introduced till their respective laptops are nearer to launch.
On the plus facet, Intel’s new Core Ultra Series 3 CPUs appear to have PC makers excited. It was a preferred selection in new designs, lots of that are thin-and-light with guarantees of fine battery life. OLED shows additionally proceed to enhance whereas pricing falls. As a end result, the majority of laptops introduced at CES 2026 had OLED shows, and lots of quoted peak HDR brightness at 1,000 nits or extra.
I received to see all of it on the present ground and there have been some clear winners amongst them. Here are the perfect laptops at CES 2026.
Acer Swift 16 AI: The world’s largest haptic touchpad
Matthew Smith / Foundry
The Acer Swift 16 AI is the corporate’s new flagship and, to again that up, it’s packing the world’s largest haptic touchpad. It measures practically 7 inches throughout and about 4.25 inches deep, a measurement that simply surpasses most laptops in its class. And whereas haptic touchpads aren’t unusual at greater worth factors, lots of Acer’s opponents don’t provide them. It’s a disgrace as a result of haptic touchpads are freakin’ awesome.
The touchpad additionally helps stylus enter (and a stylus is included), which suggests you should utilize it to jot notes, sketch, animate, or do the rest usually supported by a digital drawing floor. Corning Gorilla Glass is used to supply additional safety for the touchpad and ship a clean floor.
Touchpad apart, the Acer Swift 16 AI has the options you’d anticipate from a flagship laptop computer. It serves up Intel Core Ultra X9 388H processors with Intel Arc built-in graphics and has a 16-inch 3K OLED touchscreen with a refresh price as much as 120Hz. Connectivity consists of twin Thunderbolt 4, HDMI, USB-A, and a microSD card slot.
Acer says the Swift 16 AI will arrive in Q1 2026. Pricing to be introduced.
Asus Zenbook Duo: The redesign we didn’t know we would have liked
Matt Smith / Foundry
The second-generation Zenbook Duo was already the perfect dual-screen laptop computer in the marketplace, but Asus discovered a number of methods to enhance on it with the most recent Zenbook Duo (mannequin quantity UX8407AA).
The latest Duo switches from an aluminum chassis to Asus’ distinctive ceraluminum. It additionally has a redesigned hinge that reduces the hole separating the 2 shows, and a brand new kickstand that appears extra elegant and operates a hair extra easily than its predecessor.
These enhancements aren’t so dramatic that last-gen Zenbook Duo customers will really feel a must improve, however they’re noticeable when the 2 are facet by facet. The diminished hole between shows is especially good.
The redesigned chassis accommodates spectacular {hardware}. The new Duo equips Intel Core Ultra X9 Series 3 processors with Intel Arc built-in graphics. It additionally has twin 14-inch 3K OLED touchscreens with as much as a 144Hz refresh price. The battery is bigger, too, increasing from 75 watt-hours to 99 watt-hours.
Pricing and availability weren’t introduced.
Asus ExpertBook Ultra: A low-key ultraportable hero
Matt Smith / Foundry
Asus’ ExpertBook Ultra most likely gained’t appeal to a lot consideration, because the Asus ExpertBook line isn’t as well-known as opponents like Lenovo’s ThinkPad—which is a disgrace as a result of the ExpertBook Ultra was arguably essentially the most spectacular ultraportable laptop computer at CES 2026.
The ExpertBook Ultra weighs lower than a kilogram (or roughly 2.2 kilos) and measures below half an inch thick. The result’s a featherlight laptop computer that’s simpler to select up and deal with than most notebooks. Yet regardless of its low weight, the ExpertBook Ultra didn’t strike me as flimsy. It felt mild but slate-like in my hand.
I additionally love the show. It’s a 14-inch 3K tandem OLED touchscreen that may hit a most HDR brightness of 1,400 nits and offers a refresh price as much as 120Hz. The show additionally has an uncommon low-gloss coat that’s extraordinarily efficient at decreasing glare. The CES present ground included loads of vibrant overhead lights, but the ExpertBook Ultra’s show was simple to make use of and suffered little or no glare.
The ExpertBook Ultra additionally presents as much as Intel Core Ultra X9 Series 3 processors with Intel Arc built-in graphics, a 70 watt-hour battery, and twin Thunderbolt 4 ports. Pricing stays to be introduced.
Asus Zenbook A16: A Qualcomm-powered fantastic thing about a laptop computer
Matt Smith / Foundry
The Asus Zenbook A16 is my decide for essentially the most stunning laptop computer at CES 2026. It has a chassis coated in Asus’ distinctive ceraluminum, an aluminum-ceramic materials with a novel texture. The ceraluminum used within the Zenbook A16 additionally accommodates magnesium-aluminum alloy, a preferred super-light materials. The laptop computer weighs in at a hair over 2.6 kilos, which is extremely mild for a 16-inch machine.
That’s not the one motive the Zenbook A16 stands out. It’s additionally considered one of only a handful of recent laptops to make use of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon X2 Elite Extreme chip. The X2 Elite Extreme has 18 CPU cores, an 80 TOPs NPU, and improved built-in graphics. Other options embody a big touchpad, 16-inch 3K 120Hz OLED show, as much as 21 hours of battery life, and a 130-watt USB-C energy adapter.
The Zenbook A16’s pricing and availability are nonetheless below wraps.
Dell XPS 14 and 16: A return to kind
Matthew Smith / Foundry
XPS is again! And it’s not just a change of name. The new XPS 14 and XPS 16 abandon the controversial capacitive contact perform row and return to good, old style bodily keys.
The new Dell XPS laptops go all-in on Intel {hardware}. They use Intel Core Ultra Series 3 processors and depend on Intel Arc built-in graphics. There’s a renewed concentrate on measurement and portability, as the brand new fashions measure below 0.6 inches thick. The XPS 14 is available in at 3 kilos whereas the XPS 16 suggestions the scales at 3.6 kilos.
Dell can even provide a tandem OLED panel. If different tandem OLED shows are any information, the panel will provide a good enhance in brightness and a few acquire in colour efficiency. However, Dell can even promote an LCD panel, claiming that the laptop computer will provide best-in-class battery life when outfitted with the LCD choice—as much as 27 hours of battery life in use, or over 40 hours in video playback. (We’ll have to check for ourselves.)
Unlike another laptops on this listing, you don’t have to attend for the Dell XPS 14/16. They’re accessible now. The XPS 14 begins at $2,049.99 and the XPS 16 begins at $2,199.99. The launch fashions are higher-end configurations; Dell says inexpensive configs are deliberate for later this 12 months.
Dell additionally introduced it’ll carry again the XPS 13 and confirmed an early model at CES, although it didn’t enable pictures. That laptop computer’s precise specs stay below wraps till later this 12 months.
HyperX Omen Max 16: New identify, extra energy
Matt Smith / Foundry
HP introduced its personal model shakeup at CES 2026: The firm is shifting its gaming laptops below HyperX, the gaming peripheral model owned by HP. However, HP couldn’t carry itself to half with Omen, one other model it acquired when it purchased gaming PC maker Voodoo all the way in which again in 2006. As a end result, HP’s latest high-end gaming laptop computer is known as the HyperX Omen Max 16.
Branding shenanigans apart, it seems to be spectacular. The Omen Max 16 can deal with as much as 300 watts of whole system energy, a 50-watt acquire over the prior era. More energy typically results in extra efficiency, and that energy is distributed as much as Nvidia’s RTX 5090 graphics card and Intel’s Core Ultra 200HX processor. This is prone to place the Omen Max 16 among the many quickest gaming laptops offered this 12 months, although we’ll need to assessment the laptop computer in full to make certain.
Though the Omen Max 16 has the HyperX brand on the lid, it seems to be slightly just like prior Omen laptops—which isn’t a foul factor. Omen laptops have a tendency in direction of a easy however refined design with minimalist badging and a great port choice. All of this stays current on the Omen Max 16. The laptop computer additionally has a 16-inch 2560×1600 240Hz OLED show.
One factor not current, although, is the worth. It’ll be revealed nearer to the laptop computer’s launch in spring of 2026.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition: More repairable design
Matt Smith / Foundry
The super-thin Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon is now on its 14th era (and now I really feel outdated since I bear in mind the CES the place Lenovo launched the primary one). This time round, although, Lenovo is doing greater than updating the chassis to accommodate a brand new era of silicon—the laptop computer is totally redesigned with a brand new Space Frame construct for cramming in additional {hardware} whereas additionally making it simpler to restore.
The Space Frame is so named as a result of it’s meant to unencumber area. To try this, the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition (in addition to its sibling, the ThinkPad X1 2-in-1) has a brand new mainboard that’s constructed to permit element placement on each side of the PCB. Space Frame can be extra modular and permits simpler alternative of USB ports, battery, keyboard, audio system, and followers.
Don’t get too excited, although. I requested a Lenovo rep if customers will be capable of make the most of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s repairability at house and the reply, for now, is… principally no. While the Space Frame will make repairs simpler, Lenovo has no plans to promote particular parts (like USB ports) to finish customers for house restore. The focus is as a substitute on serviceability for enterprise purchasers with ThinkPad fleets.
Space Frame apart, the ThinkPad X1 Carbon Aura Edition is a high-end laptop computer with Intel Core Ultra X7 Series 3 processors, Intel Arc built-in graphics, and a 10-megapixel digital camera.
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 14 Aura Edition will arrive in March 2026 at $1,999. The ThinkPad X1 2-in-1 Gen 11 Aura Edition will arrive in March 2026 at $2,149.
Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable: Please, take my cash
Matt Smith / Foundry
Last 12 months, Lenovo confirmed off a rollable OLED laptop concept that might roll out its OLED panel to extend the laptop computer’s vertical show area. (It’s now accessible and even won a PCWorld Editors’ Choice award). Now, Lenovo has turned that concept on its facet with the Lenovo Legion Pro Rollable. It can develop from a 16-inch widescreen OLED show to a 21-inch or 24-inch ultrawide show.
The primary thought is similar to Lenovo’s prior rollable OLED endeavors. The Legion Pro Rollable has a versatile OLED panel paired with motors that develop or retract the show. However, as a substitute of increasing upward, the show now expands each left and proper.
It’s a terrific piece of eye sweet, to make certain, but additionally seems to be extraordinarily purposeful. Laptops have at all times been sure by the easy bodily actuality {that a} bigger show requires a bigger chassis, which suggests big-screen laptops are gigantic. (Acer’s Predator 21X—the one ultrawide laptop computer ever offered—was 22 inches vast and weighed virtually 19 kilos.)
Of course, the Legion Pro Rollable is only a idea for now. I’d wager Lenovo will find yourself promoting it—or one thing prefer it—however I additionally anticipate it’ll be slightly costly. (The ThinkBook Plus Rollable was $3,299 at MSRP.)
Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition: Firing on all cylinders
Matt Smith / Foundry
Most of the laptops on this listing have a specific energy, gimmick, or angle, however the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition takes a unique method. It tries to do all the pieces without delay.
This 16-inch machine is filled with high-end {hardware}, together with as much as Intel Core Ultra 9 Series 3 processors and as much as Nvidia RTX 5070 cellular graphics. That’s paired with a 3.2K tandem OLED show that may ship as much as 1,600 nits of brightness and is VESA HDR True Black 1000 licensed. The combo of high-end Intel processors, RTX graphics, and a top-shelf tandem OLED show ought to make the Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition a powerhouse in each video games and artistic skilled workflows.
But that’s not all. Like the Acer Swift 16 AI, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition has a big touchpad with stylus help that can be utilized as a drawing floor. It’s suitable with Lenovo’s Yoga Pen Gen 2. The laptop computer additionally has a six-speaker sound system (Lenovo’s Yoga Pro laptops typically have best-in-class sound high quality), Thunderbolt 4, and USB-A ports with 10Gbps knowledge charges.
Lenovo says the Yoga Pro 9i Aura Edition might be accessible in Q2 2026 beginning at $1,899.99.
MSI Raider 16 Max HX: Serious gaming efficiency and high-end HDR
Matthew Smith / Foundry
MSI has an extended historical past of going all-out with its gaming laptops, and the Raider 16 Max HX retains that popularity alive. Though it’s a 16-inch machine, MSI says it’s the world’s first gaming laptop computer able to dealing with as much as 300 watts of whole system energy. (The aforementioned HyperX Omen Max 16 can even ship that a lot energy, by the way in which.) A 400-watt energy brick will feed the laptop computer.
The majority of that energy (as much as 175 watts) is delivered to the laptop computer’s Nvidia RTX 5080 or RTX 5090 GPU. The the rest (as much as 125 watts) flows to the Intel Core Ultra 200HX processor.
Higher energy draw results in hotter thermals, so MSI says the Max HX has a sophisticated “Cooler Boost Trinity with Intra Flow” cooling system. It consists of three followers, six warmth pipes, and 5 vents. The laptop computer can even present quick access to its RAM and storage for upgrades. A 16-inch 2.5K 240Hz OLED show with VESA DisplayHDR True Black certification rounds out the specs.
MSI says the laptop computer’s worth and availability might be revealed at a later date.