Top 9 Best Laptops for Artists – Reviews and Buying Guide

Best Laptops for Artists

With the evolution of technology, people discovered that they could take art to the next level. Aside from the traditional paper, they can now use their computers and laptops for drawing. Digital art has expanded its popularity and nowadays you can see digital artists ranging from amateur to traditional ones.

But to choose a suitable laptop for your artwork, you need to know how to make the choice in the first place. As an artist and possibly a student in art studies, you need a laptop that can handle programs such as Adobe Photoshop or Adobe Illustrator. Aside from that, the laptop needs to last long enough and have a smooth performance.

So, how do you pick? This guide will tell you some aspects you should look for when you want to buy a laptop for artists. We will also give you some products worth checking out. Let’s get started!


Quick Picks

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Things to Take into Account When Looking for a Laptop for Artists

Before you start searching for your dream laptop for art, it’s necessary to know what things you should consider before spending money on a drawing laptop. After all, you are probably aware that a top-notch laptop needs to have some good parts that will make your experience with it amazing. If you want it to handle your art programs, canvas size, and other aspects, you can’t go with just any laptop you find. It needs to be chosen carefully.

That being said, here are some things to pay attention to.

Display Screen Size

You need to choose a big screen that will make it much easier for you to see what you’re doing ant to identify the nuances properly. This is why the touch screen’s display size matters. Ideally, your laptop should have a 13-inch screen, or higher if possible. It should also have at least FHD resolution.

Portability

Would you like to work on your art while away from home, or just carry your laptop at school/university? Then you need to pay attention to how portable the laptop is.

If possible, look for a laptop that has a rotatable screen. This way, it can be stored just like a drawing tablet. Moreover, you should consider a lightweight laptop, so you don’t feel like you’re carrying rocks in your bag.

Performance

In terms of performance, you should search for a top-level laptop. It should be able to run smoothly, without lagging or, even worse, crashing. It would only slow you down and you’d also risk losing your progress if you don’t save the work every second.

Make sure that when you buy your laptop, you pay attention to its processor. It needs to be a good one that can keep up with your tasks. Otherwise, you’d spend more time getting angry than getting work done.

Battery Life

It should go without saying that long battery life is a must. The last thing you want is your laptop dying in the middle of your hard work, especially when you’re not at home. So, if you think you will have to spend lots of time in a place with no outlets, then check out the battery life of the laptop before buying it. It should last at least 10 hours on a full charge to make sure you are never left without battery.

OS

It’s essential to choose a laptop with a user-friendly OS. Make sure you look for something that supports Windows 10, as it’s great in terms of performance and not only. You can also look for macOS if you want better colors on your screen and multiple resolution options.

Graphics

Don’t underestimate the importance of graphics when it comes to art. If you want to meet your drawing goals, then the graphics should be good enough to help you achieve them in the first place.

That being said, if you want your art to be clear and understood properly by viewers, you will need graphics that are above average. You should be aware that choosing poor graphics is going to have a bad impact on the overall quality of your art. If you don’t want to deal with dissatisfaction, pick a laptop with high resolution and good graphics.


Best Laptops for Artists Reviews

1.LG Gram Laptop – 15.6″ IPS Touchscreen

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Features

  • Full HD IPS Touch Display
  • Windows 10 Home
  • Intel 10th Generation Core i7-1065G7 Processor
  • 8 GB RAM
  • The battery lasts up to 17 hours

Although it is on the pricier side, this laptop is ideal for an artist. In terms of performance, graphics, and battery life, it will be worth every penny.

First of all, this laptop has a great processor able to offer you amazing performance, without lagging and crashing. Despite being lightweight, the laptop will work amazingly thanks to the CPU and you will be able to work on your drawings in a smooth way.

When you want to use your laptop for art while you’re away from home, you can rely on this device – it can last up to 17 hours, so you can use it all day. The performance will be consistent, and you will not have to worry about it shutting down and making you lose all your drawing updates.

What’s more, the laptop was provided with a touchscreen, one that makes it easy for you to use the laptop through tapping, scrolling, and swiping.

Pros

  • It features a smooth and responsive touchscreen
  • It can last an entire day on one charge
  • Beautiful colors and quality thanks to the full HD IPS display
  • Lightweight construction
  • It provides smooth performance

Cons

  • It is a little expensive
  • The keyboard has a weird design

2.HP 14″ Touchscreen Home and Business Laptop Ryzen 3-3200U

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Features

  • 14” Touchscreen
  • 8GB RAM
  • 4K Output HDMI
  • 128GB M.2 SSD
  • AMD Ryzen 3 3200U Processor

Here’s a cheaper option for a good laptop for artists. This laptop can be great if you don’t need the most advanced features for your art and just want to be more casual with it. It has a good enough processor that can offer a nice performance, and it has a touchscreen too. This way, you can easily use your screen to draw if needed.

More than that, it’s lightweight and compact, making it a good choice for students who have to carry it to classes very often. You can’t go wrong with it.

Pros

  • It is lightweight
  • It offers a nice and smooth performance
  • It is more on the budget side
  • The screen is an energy-efficient LED backlight one

Cons

  • It is an older laptop, and there is no warranty package for it

3.New HP Pavilion 2-in-1 15.6″ HD Touchscreen Laptop

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Features

  • 8GB RAM
  • 15.6” HD touchscreen
  • 8th Generation Intel i5-8265U
  • 512GB SSD

This laptop could be a true blessing, especially for artists. With the 8th generation Intel Core processor, you can rest assured it won’t lack the great performance you’re looking for. If you need to multitask, it can deal with having more windows and apps open and will not lag, nor crash. This already sounds like heaven.

What makes it truly amazing though is the new hourglass design with the 360-degree hinge. Through it, you can open your laptop and prepare it for whatever you need. Nothing will be in your way when you have to draw.

Pros

  • Easy to work on it thanks to the hourglass design
  • Fast performance
  • It does not lag
  • It is very sturdy
  • It is lightweight

Cons

  • After a while, you may deal with a 90B error regarding the cooling fan not working properly

4.HP Envy X360, 15.6″ FHD IPS Touchscreen, 2019 Flagship 2 in 1 Laptop

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Features

  • AMD Ryzen 5 2500U
  • 15.6” full HD IPS Touchscreen
  • Windows 10 Home
  • 8GB RAM
  • 2GB PCle SSD

HP knows how to make amazing laptops, and this one is living proof of that. The device comes with a touchscreen, one that is very responsive to your touch. The design is very sleek and setting up the laptop is an easy process.

What’s more, the performance is outstanding. The product comes with amazing graphics, ideal for your drawings. Moreover, thanks to the processor, the laptop can work very fast, even if you’re using more intensive programs or you’re multitasking. It’s hard to be disappointed in this product with so many benefits.

You can get this laptop with or without a stylus pen.

Pros

  • Amazing performance
  • The graphics are great
  • The touchscreen is responsive
  • It has a large enough screen

Cons

  • The battery life is not that long

5.Dell Inspiron 14 5491 14-inch 2in1 Convertible Touchscreen FHD Laptop

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Features

  • Windows 10 Home 64-bit English
  • 14.0” FHD LED-backlit touch display
  • 8GB RAM
  • 512GB SSD

Do you want to be able to see the screen from multiple angles? Then this laptop can help you achieve this. The device is a very flexible and portable one, which you can use just the way you want to. For drawing, it is amazing as aside from the flexibility, it also offers you great visuals thanks to the full HD display.

In addition, the construction is very strong, as it’s made from aluminum palm rest. The design is very beautiful and sleek and it’s easy to fall in love with it.

The keyboard is backlit, making it perfect when you want to use it with the lights off while seeing what you’re typing.

Pros

  • It is very flexible and allows you to use it from multiple angles
  • It has a compact design
  • Strong construction
  • It looks very nice
  • It features a full HD display with amazing quality and colors

Cons

  • The battery doesn’t last too long
  • You have to sign out of Windows 10 S mode – otherwise, you can only use Microsoft products

6.HP Envy 13-inch Touchscreen Laptop with Fingerprint Reader

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Features

  • 8GB RAM
  • Windows 10 Home
  • 256GB SSD Storage
  • Fingerprint reader
  • 13-inch touchscreen laptop
  • Intel(R) Core (TM) i7-1065G7 Processor

Whenever you’re inspired to draw, this laptop will help you achieve some incredible pieces of artwork. The display is a 13-inch one, large enough to be able to see some nice colors and observe the lines of your drawing properly.

For people who want something environmentally friendly, this is the laptop to go with. It has low halogen and mercury-free display backlights. In addition, it has an arsenic-free display glass.

In order to maintain the health of the laptop, there is BIOS Recovery and Protection. As a result, the PC will be regularly checked, and thus protected from potential unauthorized access. It helps secure local storage too, and if there were any boot-up issues, it will allow the laptop to recover.

The processor is a very good one that allows for fast and smooth performance, no matter what. You should be able to draw without fearing lagging or crashes.

Pros

  • It is environmentally friendly
  • The display is a very good one and it comes with a touchscreen
  • It has an all-in-one keyboard for easy navigation
  • It comes with a speedy processor that improves performance
  • The battery life is very good as the laptop can last up to 10 hours and 45 minutes

Cons

  • The touchscreen is not always responsive

7.Lenovo Flex 14 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop

No products found.

Features

  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • 256GB NVMe SSD
  • 14” FHD Display
  • Touchscreen
  • AMD Radeon Vega 8

If you’re searching for a laptop that can last for a decent amount of time, you should take a look at this Lenovo model, because the battery life is up to 8 hours. Even better, the laptop was provided with quick recharge technology, so you can power it up pretty quickly when you need to use it away from home.

It comes with an included Active Pen, which makes it easy to draw or take notes on the screen. As such, you will not have to purchase a separate pen.

Also, with the amazing processor, you will not have to worry when it comes to performance. It will work amazingly, and lagging will not be an issue. The processor even makes it possible for you to edit videos or play games. It’s also a flexible laptop that will help you enjoy a great performance from multiple angles.

Pros

  • The screen is a full HD, quality one
  • It comes with protection to keep you safe from potential malware, viruses and anything of the sort
  • It comes with an Active Pen included
  • The processor gives a wonderful performance

Cons

  • The speakers are not too good

8.HP Pavilion x360 14″ FHD WLED Touchscreen 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop

No products found.

Features

  • 256GB SSD
  • 8GB DDR4 RAM
  • Intel Quad-Core i5-8250U
  • 14” FHD WLED Touchscreen

You definitely need something with great wireless connectivity and performance, in which case this HP Pavilion could do the job. The wireless connectivity is done through Realtek 802.11b/g/n/a/ac (2×2) and you can always enjoy the Internet speed you need.

Since you’ll need an amazing display for your artwork, this laptop will not disappoint. The quality of the display is outstanding, and the screen can also flip all the way around so you can use it in multiple positions. This makes it a very amazing and unique choice.

Furthermore, the processor offers a speedy performance so you can always finish your drawings on time, especially if you’re an art student. To help with this, it has a touchscreen, so you can draw or take notes directly on the screen.

Pros

  • It comes with a touchscreen
  • It features a high-quality display with beautiful colors
  • It has a great processor so you can enjoy a fast performance for more urgent drawing tasks
  • The screen can be flipped all the way around, thus being able to be used in multiple ways

Cons

  • The speakers and microphone are not the best

9.Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 Ultra-Thin 13.5” Touchscreen Laptop

No products found.

Features

  • 8GB RAM
  • 13.5” touchscreen
  • Intel 10th Generation Quad Core i5
  • 128GB SSD
  • Windows 10 Home

The laptop’s design may be very important for some people, and this laptop from Microsoft was made for them. The design is very elegant and clean, as the laptop is quite thin. You can choose from multiple color combinations for it as well, ending up with the one you like the most. As a plus, it is pretty lightweight – thus, you’ll be able to carry it to your classes and back home.

The battery can last very long, for up to 11.5 hours, which is just ideal for people who are away from home for long periods and need to draw. Facial recognition sign-in is included too, so you can say goodbye to memorizing a long password – you can protect your files with your face alone.

Last, but not least, as it comes with a touchscreen, you can draw directly on the screen.

Pros

  • The screen is wide enough and you can draw directly on it
  • The battery life is very long
  • Facial recognition sign-in included
  • The performance is very fast

Cons

  • It is a little expensive
  • It may overheat a lot after a while

FAQ

Q: Should I pick a laptop with a touchscreen?

Although it’s not an absolute necessity, it would still be a good idea to get a laptop that has touch screen support. It will be easy to just draw when you’re away from home, especially if you like to sketch pretty often. Not to mention that it will prevent you from having to carry a graphic tablet with you as well. Without a touch screen, you need to connect an external accessory to let you draw.

Q: Do I need a dedicated GPU?

A dedicated GPU is not a must for an artist unless you are also a gamer and want to use the same laptop for both gaming and art. If that’s the case, then you should look for at least 2GP of dedicated video memory. Otherwise, if you need it just for art and not for gaming, a regular integrated GPU should be enough.

Q: Do I have to buy an expensive laptop to draw?

Not necessarily. Although some laptops are very expensive, you can find cheaper ones too, especially if you know what configurations you need to match your requirements. Moreover, if you are looking for a portable laptop, you have chances of finding something on the budget side.


Verdict

If you’re a beginner in digital art or you’re just about to get into art studies, you may not know what laptop to get. Hopefully, this article should ease the job of finding a suitable laptop for your needs. Make sure to keep in mind all the aspects mentioned in the buying guide and take a look at the products we reviewed. This way, you have higher chances of finding your dream laptop.

Sources:

Ted Webster

Ted is an expert in the field of computers, electronics, and the latest technology.Have a question, need some help, or want to give your opinion? Drop us a comment below!

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