Best rugged laptops

The thinnest and lightest ultrabook Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G6 ABP in an anodized aluminum case is addressed to the business segment of users and entrepreneurs. It will also serve as an excellent everyday solution if you plan to carry the laptop with you on a regular basis.

The model belongs to the category of laptops with a 14-inch screen. The proportions of the display are slightly stretched in width (16:10), and the resolution of the displayed image is 1920x1200 pixels. The display has enough brightness to work in bright light, but its color rendering is modest - 45% of the NTSC color model. For video communication, the laptop has a Full HD webcam with a mechanical shutter and a microphone noise reduction system. The model’s data protection complex includes a fingerprint scanner, a TPM hardware encryption module, and a Kensington anti-theft lock.

The internal “filling” of the laptop is imprisoned in a 1.4-kilogram body with protection from all sorts of adversity according to the MIL-STD-810H standard. Plus, the model boasts a spill-resistant keyboard with white backlit buttons. The Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G6 ABP is equipped with a Ryzen 5 7530U processor (6 Zen3 cores, 12 threads), integrated Redeon Vega 7 graphics, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM, and 512 GB M.2 SSD storage. The amount of memory on board the laptop can be increased at your discretion. Power to the electronic components of the device is supplied from a 45 Wh rechargeable battery with support for fast charging (from zero to 50% in 30 minutes).

Of course, you shouldn't consider a laptop for gaming. It is suitable for office work and simple home tasks. The device’s connections consist of HDMI v 2.1, a quartet of USB ports, a gigabit LAN connector, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth v 5.1 communication modules. Additional convenience is provided by the built-in card reader for SD cards. The model rests on three pillars - balanced functionality, fashionable appearance and adequate cost.

The Vivobook family from Asus is proudly called everyday laptops with the dimensions of ultrabooks. Indeed, the K3405VF model under review with a 14-inch screen is assembled in a compact case with a thickness of 19 mm and a weight of only 1.4 kg.

The laptop received basic shock protection according to the requirements of the American military standard MIL-STD-810H. The model is said to have undergone 12 stringent methods and 26 rigorous testing procedures. Which ones? The manufacturer is silent. However, the laptop is still stronger than most competitors in its class. In the daily rhythm of use with regular carrying of a laptop, there is a much greater chance of protecting the model from accidental damage.

The Asus VivoBook 14X K3405VF is equipped with a classic 14-inch diagonal IPS screen with Full HD resolution (1920x1080 pixels) and a standard refresh rate of 60 Hz. The display of the model is designed for office work and undemanding consumption of media content. It will be difficult for him to cope with more serious tasks due to the modest color gamut (about 45% of the NTSC space). However, the line also contains advanced modifications of laptops with OLED displays.

The model is powered by a 12-core Intel Core i5-13500H processor, which supports processing up to 16 data streams overnight. The board has 16 GB DDR4-3200 RAM, and a separate slot is used to expand the amount of RAM. For storage, the user receives an NVMe SSD disk with a capacity of 512 GB. The hardware of the laptop will cope with office tasks and cope with the launch of gaming hits of past years - largely thanks to the basic discrete graphics NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2050. Add here the ErgoSense keyboard, easy to type, modern communications like Wi-Fi 6E - in fact, we have the optimal solution. A balanced and durable laptop from the category of “top for your money”.

The emphasis in the HP ProBook line of laptops is on convenience, reliability and data protection. All this is harmoniously combined in the 450 G10 model, armed with a 15.6-inch IPS screen, balanced hardware components and all the necessary communications.

The laptop has a Full HD screen with traditional 16:9 aspect ratio (1920x1080 pixels). The display has a refresh rate of 60 Hz, a peak brightness threshold of 250 cd/m², and color rendering is 45% NTSC - nothing outstanding, but not downright bad either. The laptop's keyboard is full-size, with a separate Num block and pleasant white backlighting of the buttons. In addition , the keyboard boasts moisture protection - accidentally spilled liquids on it will not harm the laptop.

The configuration of the HP ProBook 450 G10 is very vigorous - a 10-core 12-thread Intel Core i5-1335U chip, entry-level discrete graphics GeForce RTX 2050, 16 GB of DDR4-3200 RAM and a 512 GB SSD M.2 data drive. The laptop solves casual and office tasks without the slightest hitch, and if desired, it will also work for undemanding games of yesteryear.

Physical connection interfaces are distributed along the side edges of the model’s body: two full-size USB ports, a couple of USB type C, HDMI version 2.1, an Ethernet connector with a data exchange capacity of 1 Gbit/s. Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth v 5.3 modules are responsible for the laptop’s wireless communications. The model also has a fingerprint scanner. As for autonomy, according to the passport, the laptop stays afloat for up to 13 hours in light load mode. In half an hour, the device’s battery can be charged halfway, and for this it is supposed to use the USB type C port with charging via the Power Delivery protocol.

The fashionable business laptop MSI Prestige 14 Evo B13M was created on the basis of the Intel Evo platform, which optimizes the operation of the device and applications at the hardware and software level. And this is by no means the only significant advantage of the laptop.

An interesting feature of the laptop is that the lid opens 180°. Moreover, in the standard opening version, the lower part of the screen slightly raises the laptop above the table surface to ensure better air circulation. The display resolution is not quite standard - 1920x1200 pixels, and the refresh rate is quite ordinary (60 Hz). A separate line on the screen indicates the improved color gamut - 100% sRGB scheme.

In terms of hardware, the model acquired a powerful 14-core processor based on the Intel Raptor Lake (13th Gen) hybrid architecture. This is a Core i7-13700H chipset with support for 20 threads and clock speeds ranging from 1.8 GHz to 5 GHz. The processor is supported by 16 GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1 TB SSD storage. There was no room for a slot for a second drive in the slender body of the model. The laptop will handle any office applications, graphics and video processing programs, and will allow you to run undemanding games (for example, Counter Strike 2). In general, the model is focused on performing standard tasks and typical workloads.

Since the laptop is positioned as a business tool, important attention is paid to security. The device has a fingerprint sensor and a face scanner, as well as a Full HD webcam with a shutter. The model's additional assets include a card reader, Wi-Fi 6E, two Thunderbolt v4 ports, and even stereo speakers with DTS audio decoders. The laptop case is slightly soiled and weighs 1.49 kg. A capacious battery was placed inside the laptop, providing up to 16 hours of autonomy. And in exactly one hour, the energy reserves in the battery cells are replenished by 80%. On top, all this is flavored with MIL-STD-810 case protection, so that you can take your laptop with you to the office, travel, or business meetings without the slightest fear.

Laptops from the Asus TUF Gaming league are assembled in durable metal-plastic cases that are certified according to the MIL-STD-810G standard and can be used to work in adverse conditions. Model FA507NU is exactly like this.

The laptop has everything a gamer needs: an 8-core 16-thread Ryzen 7 7735HS processor based on Zen3+ Rembrandt R architecture, a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 4050 video card with 6 GB of GDDR6 video memory, 16 GB of the fastest DDR5-4800 RAM. Data is supposed to be stored in a 512 GB M.2 SSD drive. By the way, the memory of the model is expandable. The hot dust of the “iron” components is cooled by an effective cooling system of heat pipes and a pair of fans. Asus TUF Gaming A15 (2023) FA507NU produces consistently high fps in modern gaming industry projects when gaming at high graphics settings in Full HD resolution.

The screen of the model stretches diagonally by 15.6 inches. The backing for it was an IPS matrix with Full HD resolution and accurate color reproduction (100% coverage of the sRGB space). Moreover, the display supports a refresh rate of 144 Hz, which is important for dynamic games. The only thing the screen lacks is a higher peak brightness threshold. To match the display, the laptop has high-quality speakers with Dolby Atmos. The gaming ins and outs of the laptop are emphasized by a comfortable keyboard with RGB backlighting.

On board the Asus TUF Gaming A15 (2023) FA507NU there are two USB A ports, a couple of USB type C (including one USB4), an HDMI v 2.1 connector, and a gigabit LAN port. Wireless communication with the World Wide Web is provided by a Wi-Fi 6 controller. Models and a webcam for video communication were delivered. Finally, a powerful 90 Wh battery with support for fast charging (from zero to half in 30 minutes) was packed into the rugged case of the laptop. The laptop is definitely a competitive solution among entry-to-mid-range gaming models.