Best 2-in-1 laptops in 2026

Lenovo's Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has been one of the best convertibles for years, and the Gen 11 Aura Edition brings Intel's newer Core Ultra Series 3 (Panther Lake) chip. In the UK and Ireland it is mainly sold as one well-specified model with a Core Ultra 7 355, 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD, which keeps choosing simple.

The 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen runs at 120Hz and is rated at 500 nits for normal use, so it suits photo editing as well as Netflix. Flip it into tent or tablet mode and the Yoga Pen listed by Lenovo as a supplied accessory is easy to keep to hand for notes or sketching.

Ports are better than on many thin laptops: two Thunderbolt 4, a full-size USB-A and HDMI. The 70 Wh battery is paired with Lenovo's claim of up to 24.5 hours of local video playback.

The weaknesses are price, a reflective glossy screen and the lack of an SD card slot. Lenovo has also gone for the mid-range Core Ultra 7 355 rather than an X-series chip, so it is not built for gaming or heavy video work. Note that some versions may ship without a charger.

The Surface Pro remains the benchmark for Windows tablets. The 12th Edition 13-inch model, launched in June 2026, moves to Qualcomm's Snapdragon X2 Plus or X2 Elite chips, which Microsoft says bring a big jump in graphics speed, and their 80 TOPS NPU makes light work of Copilot+ features.

The 13-inch screen is sharp at 2880 x 1920 and runs at 120Hz; you can choose a standard LCD or a richer OLED. The 3:2 shape is taller than most laptops, which is great for documents and reading. Microsoft claims up to 15.5 hours of local video playback, though active web browsing is rated at 11.5 hours.

The important caveat is what you actually get. Like every Surface Pro, the 895 g tablet is sold on its own: the Pro Flex Keyboard and Slim Pen are optional extras, and together they add a substantial amount to the cost. The kickstand works brilliantly on a desk or train table but is wobbly on your knees, where a convertible like the Yoga is much better.

As it uses an Arm chip, check that any specialist apps or games you rely on are supported.

The 12-inch Surface Pro, refreshed with a Snapdragon X2 Plus chip and on sale from mid-October 2026, is the Surface for people who mainly want a tablet. At 686 g it is markedly lighter than the 13-inch model, and the 12-inch 3:2 screen is a comfortable size for reading, handwritten notes and video.

Microsoft has made some sensible design choices: the Slim Pen clips magnetically to the back of the tablet, where it also charges, and the matching 12-inch keyboard is a simpler, cheaper design than the 13-inch Flex Keyboard. Microsoft rates battery life at up to 15.5 hours of video and 13 hours of active browsing.

The screen is the main step down from its bigger sibling. It is a 90Hz LCD with 2196 x 1464 resolution and 500 nits brightness, which looks fine but lacks the contrast of OLED. The 6-core X2 Plus is plenty for office work and streaming, but heavier multitasking will feel slower.

As with all Surface Pros, the price on the shelf is for the tablet alone. Budget for the keyboard if you want to use it as a laptop.

The Yoga 7 2-in-1 14 Gen 10 is the convertible we would point most people towards if the Yoga 9i is too expensive. It is a 2025 model, which works in your favour now: it is widely discounted while still offering a very modern spec.

The highlight is the 14-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate. Lenovo rates it at 500 nits for normal use and 1,100 nits for HDR highlights, so films look vivid, and it should feel smooth when scrolling or writing with a pen. The aluminium body feels solid and the 360-degree hinge is firm.

Inside, Intel's Lunar Lake Core Ultra chips are efficient, and Lenovo pairs the 70 Wh battery with a claim of up to 24 hours of video playback on the 2.8K OLED model. Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 7 are welcome at this price.

Compromises are modest. The pen is supported and sticks to the lid magnetically but is not in the box, so budget for one. Memory is soldered, so buy at least 16GB.

Most 2-in-1s are 13 or 14 inches, so the OmniBook X Flip 16 fills a useful gap. HP offers it with a 16-inch 2.8K OLED touchscreen at 120Hz, giving you a big, rich canvas for drawing, photo editing or watching films in tent mode, and cheaper versions use a 1920 x 1200 IPS panel.

HP's listing for the as0007ni model shows a 68 Wh battery with a claim of up to 15 hours 45 minutes, which is generous for a 16-inch screen. The Intel version uses the efficient Core Ultra 7 chip with a 47 TOPS NPU, and the ports include Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, HDMI 2.1 and a headphone jack.

There are trade-offs. At a starting weight of 1.88 kg it is far too heavy to hold like a tablet for long, so think of it as a laptop you can occasionally fold flat for sketching or use as a touchscreen stand. There is no SD card slot, and a pen is not bundled with every model, so check the listing before you buy.

A cheaper AMD Ryzen AI 5 340 version exists, but it uses a lower-resolution screen; we think the OLED Intel model is worth the extra if you draw or edit photos.

ASUS aims the ProArt PZ14 squarely at illustrators, photographers and video editors who want a large OLED tablet that runs full Windows. It uses the fastest Snapdragon X2 Elite chip, with 18 cores and an NPU rated at up to 80 TOPS, which should suit creative apps well.

The 14-inch 3K OLED is the star: 144Hz, 500 nits typical brightness and pen input make drawing feel responsive. Despite the screen size, ASUS lists the tablet at just 0.79 kg, and a 75 Wh battery supports ASUS's claim of up to 22 hours of video playback.

The catches are price and clarity over what is included. ASUS says bundled accessories, including the stylus and the detachable Bluetooth keyboard, vary by country, so check the exact UK or Irish listing before you buy. With the keyboard and stand attached the whole kit weighs considerably more than the tablet alone.

There are only two USB4 ports, and it is not built for gaming. For everyday notes the Surface Pro is cheaper, but for serious creative work the PZ14 is the one to get.