The smaller footprint of 14-inch laptops makes them ideal for use on the go or in school. But if you need a machine capable of handling more demanding workloads, the best laptops in this size category are the Apple MacBook Pro or Razer Blade 14. These machines can handle any PC gaming, content creation, and professional productivity tasks you throw at them, but they come at a premium in price and size.

Shop Compact 14 Inch Laptops: Perfect for Work & Travel

More affordable options include the Acer Swift Go 14, which offers excellent value for students and anyone looking for a small, lightweight ultraportable. It is configurable with Intel’s latest Meteor Lake CPUs and can support up to 32GB of RAM. Storage is also available up to 2TB. Its display can be configured with an FHD+ IPS or a 2.8k OLED panel. The latter looks sharp and has a 120Hz refresh rate, but it can’t get as bright to combat glare, and it has a high-frequency flicker that could bother people sensitive to it.

Shop Compact 14 Inch Laptops is another premium option, offering a unique design and impressive performance for business buyers. Other notable options include the Asus Zenbook OLED Q425 for its spectacular OLED display, solid build quality, and excellent battery life for its cost, but it lacks the performance of some other competitors. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16, on the other hand, offers a novel foldable design with surprisingly good functionality, but it is aimed at a niche audience.