Touchscreens proliferate in the modern world of mobile devices, and today, even laptops are frequently sporting these handy and versatile displays. If you want to give a touchscreen laptop a spin but the cost and complexity of a 2-in-1 doesn’t appeal to you, then you’ve still got a lot of options to choose from — so many that it can quickly cause choice paralysis when you’re shopping around online. Let us save you some time as well as money: We’ve already rounded up all the best laptop touchscreen deals that are on tap right now from all the big retailers across the web.
Today’s best touchscreen laptop deals
Acer Chromebook Spin 311 2-in-1 Laptop — $155, was $299
HP Pavilion x360 11.6 2-in-1 Laptop — $280, was $450
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 12.4 Touch Laptop — $550, was $700
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 13.5 Touch Laptop — $700, was $900
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 Laptop — $1,170, was $1,320
When it comes to cheap laptops, it doesn’t get much cheaper than an 11-inch Chromebook like the Acer Chromebook Spin 311 — but this little Chrome OS-powered machine is also a 2-in-1, making it one of the best touchscreen laptop deals on tap right now. Along with its convenient go-anywhere size and fold-flat 11.6-inch touch display, the Spin 311 sports a MediaTek octa-core mobile CPU, 4GB of DDR4 RAM, and 32GB of storage. Those are basic specs, but perfectly suitable for tasks like web browsing, document writing, and online studies. At just $155 after a discount of nearly 50%, this Chromebook deal is too good to pass up if you want a basic 2-in-1 for less than two Benjamins.
If you like the size and versatility of 11-inch 2-in-1s but prefer Windows over Chrome OS, this HP Pavilion x360 is one of the better touchscreen laptop deals out there at the moment. Its Pentium Silver processor and 4GB of memory are good enough for everyday use, but you get a larger 128GB SSD (much more than you usually get with cheap Chromebooks) for storing all your important apps and files. On top of that, this little workstation comes loaded with the newly updated Windows 11 operating system. As part of its holiday sales, Best Buy has this compact convertible on sale for just $280, saving you $170.
Microsoft has been cranking out some fantastic laptops lately, and the Surface Laptop Go is one of our newfound favorite value picks. It’s compact, with a 12.4-inch touch display, but don’t be fooled by its small footprint: That PixelSense touchscreen features a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is a definite improvement over standard 16:9 screens (and we expect this to become much more common on laptops in the coming years). Under the hood, this Surface Laptop Go packs an Intel Core i5 CPU, 8GB RAM, and a 128GB SSD, which are perfect specs for work and a nice step up if you find the mobile hardware on cheaper laptops insufficient for your needs. Best Buy’s Microsoft Surface Laptop deals let you grab this capable, compact PC for $550 and save $150.
The flagship of the Surface Laptop series is now in its fourth generation, and this new release is the best one yet by far. The Surface Laptop 4 solves many of the major complaints we had with the earlier models, offering a great user experience thanks to its excellent keyboard, a gorgeous 3:2 2,256 x 1,504 touchscreen, snappy performance, and world-class build quality. This configuration has been updated with AMD’s Ryzen 5 processor, and integrated Radeon Vega 9 graphics even allow for a little light gaming. At 13.5 inches, it’s the perfect size for taking on the go without being too small for longer work sessions. Best Buy’s touchscreen laptop deals knock $200 off, letting you score this new Surface Laptop 4 for $700 — the lowest price we’ve seen yet.
The market for 2-in-1 laptops is getting more crowded and competitive with each passing year, but in this field, one name still stands taller than the rest: the Dell XPS 13. Dell’s 13-inch ultrabook has been perhaps our favorite Windows laptop for years running now, and it only gets better with each new release. It’s most recently been updated to include Intel’s new 11th-gen Core CPUs. This one pairs a Core i5-1135G7 processor with 8GB of lightning-fast 4,267MHz DDR4 RAM to blaze through work tasks, while 256GB of solid-state storage gives you sufficient space for all your productivity software and project files. And did we mention that its 16:10 1200p screen is also a fold-flat touch display? For 1,170 after a $150 markdown, this is a great Dell XPS deal on a 2-in-1 convertible that can handle it all.
How to choose a touchscreen laptop
Touch displays are hardly bleeding-edge technology in 2021, and both laptops and some all-in-one desktops are increasingly sporting these panels. There are even a few gaming laptops with touch displays (although they’re still pretty rare); the only place you won’t find touchscreens is on MacBooks. For whatever reason, Apple — usually no stranger to innovation — has declined to add touch displays to its iconic laptops. That, unfortunately, means that MacOS fans are out of luck in terms of touchscreen laptop deals, but if you’re happy with Windows or Chrome OS, you’ve got plenty to choose from.
Before you dive into any of these touchscreen laptop sales in search of a new machine, however, you should do some pre-shopping research and planning. First, set a budget. There are plenty of good touchscreen laptops out there today, so don’t assume you have to spend a huge premium to get this feature. There are even some very affordable 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop deals if you want a convertible. The cheapest, and some of the best 2-in-1 laptops, are still Chromebooks, but you can find some budget-friendly Windows models, too.
Your budget will be the obvious limiting factor for what features and specs you get, but before you worry about bells and whistles like fold-flat displays or higher screen resolutions, remember that the hardware under the hood is what counts the most. The CPU and RAM, in particular, are the components that actually perform the computing tasks you need a PC to do. In general, we recommend the latest 10th- and 11th-gen Intel Core processors, as well as AMD Ryzen CPUs, along with at least 8GB of RAM. Those are solid specs for basic work tasks and general everyday use.
If you’re on a really tight budget or really only need a laptop, then Chromebook deals are probably a better bet than Windows machines. Chrome OS software is largely cloud-based and less of a resource hog than other operating systems. Mobile CPUs (such as Celeron, Pentium, AMD A-series, and MediaTek) along with 4GB and pared-down flash storage are common on Chromebooks and are OK so long as you understand that these computers aren’t made for anything other than basic use. If that’s all you need, though, then there will be plenty of touchscreen laptop deals in this bracket.
If you can stretch your budget, then stronger hardware is always going to translate to better performance as well as additional future-proofing. Intel Core i5, i7, and even i9 processors, as well as AMD Ryzen 5, 7, and 9 CPUs, are what we recommend, and 16GB RAM is arguably the sweet spot when it comes to memory. You’ll also find larger 512GB to 1TB solid-state drives once you move past the $600 to $700 price range for touchscreen laptop deals, entering the upper echelon of the best touchscreen laptops.
Moving past the $1,000 mark gets you into the high-end touchscreen laptop sales, where you’ll find some of our own favorite models like the Dell XPS, HP Spectre, and Lenovo ThinkPad X series of ultrabooks and 2-in-1s. These typically boast better displays and improved build quality over their competitors, and you will pay a premium for that. Some, like the Dell XPS 15, may even sport discrete Nvidia GeForce GPUs, making them suitable for gaming and for graphically demanding jobs like video rendering. Core i7, Core i9, Ryzen 7, and Ryzen 9 CPUs paired with 16GB to 32GB of RAM are what you should look for at these prices.
If the sky’s the limit and you want one of the best laptops on the shelves, then it’s time to start looking for value-added features beyond simple hardware upgrades (as important as they are). Consider upgrading to a QHD or 4K touch display, for example, and you’ll see at least a few of those when shopping through touchscreen laptop sales from top brands like Dell and HP. The aforementioned Dell XPS and HP Spectre lines often feature these Ultra HD panels, to name just two. Some other extras to look for are included stylus pens or even completely detachable keyboards, as in the case of certain Microsoft Surface models.
Finally, a note on size: Touchscreen laptop deals range in size from 11-inch Chromebooks to beefy 17-inch desktop replacements, so pay attention to weight and dimensions when shopping. Chances are good that you already have a laptop size you feel comfortable with, but if you find standard 15.6-inch screens too bulky, now might be a fine time to move down to 14 or even 13 inches. Some makers like Microsoft and Acer have also been introducing smaller laptops with 3:2 screens (instead of the standard 16:9 aspect ratio), giving you more vertical screen real estate that is great for productivity.
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