Monday, August 17, 2020
When you're buying a new laptop, the majority of the selection in front of you will be powered by Intel processors or a combination of Intel processors and NVIDIA dedicated graphics. AMD's Ryzen APU doesn't find its way into nearly as many, and that's a shame because overall, an AMD powered laptop represents an excellent value package, especially on laptops without dedicated graphics. If it's one of the best laptops with AMD Ryzen you seek, you've come to the right place.
Top pick
HP Envy x360
Staff favorite
When going for an Envy x360 with AMD power, you get a choice between two. There's 13- and 15-inch models that, spec-wise, are basically the same, aside from their physical size. There are Ryzen 3, Ryzen 5, and Ryzen 7 4000 series APUs to choose from, providing excellent CPU and graphics power. Being an x360, it's a fully convertible laptop backed up by fast SSD storage, 8GB of RAM (which is upgradeable on the 15-inch), and a great-looking touch display with pen support for work and play.
Best Gaming
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14
The Zephyrus G14 is one of the first batches of Ryzen 4000 series laptops to hit the market, and the range-topper boasts an 8-core Ryzen 9 4900HS, NVIDIA RTX 2060, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB PCIe SSD. That's all backed by a 120Hz 1080p display, a slim, sleek chassis, and even an LED panel on the lid for you to add some flair. This is one of the most exciting gaming laptops of 2020.
Budget gaming
ASUS TUF A15
With Ryzen generally allowing for a lower price, it means gaming laptops can add more powerful GPUs and still keep the cost down. The ASUS TUF A15 isn't the thinnest or lightest gaming laptop around, but inside it packs an 8-core Ryzen 7 4800H and an NVIDIA RTX 2060 for under $1,000. You also get a 512GB SSD and a blazing fast 144Hz display.
Ryzen Surface
Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 15
While a little pricey, the new Surface Laptop 3 is the first from Microsoft with AMD Ryzen. The customized chip inside has an additional GPU core over other Ryzen laptops, and retains staples like the high-resolution 3:2 ratio display with pen support, and the incredible design and build quality. It's available with either a Ryzen 5 or a Ryzen 7, with Vega 9 and Vega 11 graphics, respectively.
Actually insane
Origin PC EON15-X
The EON15-X is a beastly Ryzen 9 powered laptop from Origin PC. Oh, but that's not the new laptop Ryzen 9, no, this is the full-fat, 12-core, 105W TDP desktop Ryzen 9. All in a reasonably slim laptop. Absolutely insane, right? It may still weigh 6lbs, but it's packing a 144Hz display, 32GB of RAM, and an RTX 2070. You can get other versions with lower-tier Ryzen chips, but honestly, why would you?
European bargain
Huawei MateBook D 2020
The 2020 version of the MateBook D (also sold in a virtually identical form as the Honor MagicBook) is a mild upgrade over its superb predecessor, with a second-gen Ryzen mobile APU and a 14-inch display. But that's no bad thing because it's still one of the best budget laptops you can buy if you're in Europe. The sleek, all-metal body looks stunning, and there's even biometrics built into the power button now.
Budget Convertible
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14
If you ignore the average quality display, what you have here is an extremely powerful yet affordable convertible laptop. With 6-core AMD Ryzen 5 4000 series APUs on tap, you get good CPU and GPU performance, and this is paired with a great keyboard and all-day battery life. It's well built, has 16GB of RAM, fast storage, and even comes with an active pen included for some digital inking action.
Budget Performance
Acer Swift 3
The Acer Swift 3 is another laptop with an average quality display, but that more than makes up for it elsewhere. In this case, you'll find a Ryzen 7 4700U inside with eight cores and a powerful integrated GPU that can better the performance of some of NVIDIA's entry-level dedicated chips. The design and build are solid, the price is attractive, and it even gets decent battery life.
If we had to choose...
Ryzen powered laptops often slip under the radar, but the truth is there are some fantastic laptops out there powered by AMD. Currently, we'd happily recommend the HP Envy x360 to anyone specifically looking for a Ryzen laptop, and, frankly, anyone who wasn't that bothered with what's inside. It looks great; it's beautifully made, powerful, and quite affordable given the package it presents.
Gamers are well represented, whether that's towards the budget end of the spectrum with something such as the excellent ASUS TUF A15 or the more advanced, and ludicrous, Origin EON15-X with its full-fat, desktop Ryzen chips inside. You can't help but be impressed!
Budget buyers aren't left out either, with excellent laptops like the Huawei MateBook D delivering equal performance to much more expensive laptops, but at a price more agreeable to budget buyers, perhaps even for education or general home use with the kids.
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