16:10 aspect ratio laptops are great for productivity and work. They have more vertical screen space for working with documents, browsing the web, and writing code. You can see more lines and text vertically without much scrolling.
Compared to 3:2 laptops, 16:10 laptops are great for both productivity and content consumption, making them ideal for students or anyone looking for a laptop for work by day and watching movies at night.
Here are the best 16:10 aspect ratio laptop available right now.
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The Best 16:10 Aspect Ratio Laptops Compared
Image | Product | Details | Check Price |
---|---|---|---|
Apple MacBook Air (M1, Late 2020) | Size, Resolution: 13.3-inch, 2560x1600 Processor: Apple M1 Storage: 256GB SSD RAM: 8GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 3, Headphone jack Battery Life: 18 hours Weight: 2.8 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Dell XPS 13 9310 | Size, Resolution: 13.4-inch, 1920x1200 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Storage: 512GB SSD RAM: 16GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x MicroSD, Headphone jack Battery Life: 14 hours Weight: 2.8 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Dell Inspiron 13 5310 | Size, Resolution: 13.3-inch, 1920x1200 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i5 Storage: 512GB SSD RAM: 8GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x HDMI 1.4, 1x USB-A, Headphone jack Battery Life: 11 hours Weight: 2.78 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | Size, Resolution: 13.4-inch, 1920x1200 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Storage: 512GB SSD RAM: 32GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x MicroSD, Headphone jack Battery Life: 14 hours Weight: 2.9 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
LG Gram 16 2021 | Size, Resolution: 16-inch, 2560x1600 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Storage: 1TB SSD RAM: 16GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI, 1x MicroSD, Headphone jack Battery Life: 22 hours Weight: 2.6 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Razer Book 13 | Size, Resolution: 13.4-inch, 1920x1200 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Storage: 256GB SSD RAM: 16GB Ports: 2x Thunderbolt 4, 1x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.0, 1x MicroSD, Headphone jack Battery Life: 10 hours Weight: 2.95 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Apple MacBook Pro (16-Inch, Late 2019) | Size, Resolution: 16-inch, 3072x1920 Processor: 9th Gen Intel Core i7 (up to Core i9) Storage: 512GB SSD RAM: 16GB Ports: 4x Thunderbolt 3, Headphone jack Battery Life: 11 hours Weight: 4.3 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Dell XPS 17 9710 | Size, Resolution: 17-inch, 3840x2400 Processor: 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Storage: 512GB SSD RAM: 16GB Ports: 4x Thunderbolt 3, 1x SD Card, Headphone jack Battery Life: 5 hours Weight: 5.34 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 | Size, Resolution: 12.2-inch, 1920x1200 Processor: 8th Gen Intel Core m3 Storage: 64GB eMMC RAM: 4GB Ports: 2x USB-C, 1x USB-A, 1x MicroSD, Headphone jack Battery Life: 10 hours Weight: 2.98 lbs. | Check on Amazon | |
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 6 | Size, Resolution: 16-inch, 2560x1600 Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H Storage: 1TB SSD RAM: 32GB Ports: 2x USB-C, 4x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, Gigabit Ethernet, Headphone Battery Life: 8 hours Weight: 5.4 lbs. | Check on Amazon |
The Best 16:10 Aspect Ratio Laptops – Our Picks
1. Apple MacBook Air (M1, Late 2020) – The best laptop for most people
The M1-equipped MacBook Air is the best 16:10 laptop you can buy right now, especially if you want a portable and lightweight 13-inch design. The transition to Apple’s homegrown M1 processor has given this laptop a huge performance boost, making it the best laptop money can buy right now.
We recommend going for the M1 MacBook Pro only if you’re a heavy user and do a lot of video editing. Otherwise, the MacBook Air is powerful enough to handle everything you throw at it, including occasional 4K video editing. The battery life is also excellent at 18 hours; you can push through an entire workday without a recharge.
The latest refresh also saw the Air get a new and much-improved keyboard. Onboard you get the same retina display with a 2560×1600 resolution, bright 400-nit panel, and True Tone technology to give you the best visual quality depending on your surroundings. Overall, this is an excellent and inexpensive laptop for both personal and office use.
Our TakeThe M1 MacBook Air is the best laptop for most people. It is powerful to handle most everyday tasks and even video editing while maintaining excellent battery life. Its reasonable price should please most people.
- Breathtaking performance
- Amazing battery life
- Great keyboard
- Silent
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
2. Dell XPS 13 9310 – Windows alternative
The Dell XPS 13 has been the best Windows Ultrabook for quite some time now. It excels in performance, build quality, and battery life. In 2020, Dell refreshed the XPS 13 with a more compact chassis and a larger display with a taller 16:10 aspect ratio, making it more comfortable to daily drive and work with documents and web browsing.
The 11th Gen Intel processors bring a huge leap in CPU and graphics performance while promising better battery life. We recommend the Core i7 model with 16GB of RAM if you want the best possible performance. Its integrated GPU can handle 4K editing and animation and even play certain AAA games. You also get Wi-Fi 6 and Thunderbolt 4 for faster connectivity.
The standard 13.4-inch, 1920×1200 display is the best for most people. It’s color-accurate and brighter at 500nits, making it excellent for use in bright environments. Dell also offers the XPS 13 in a 4K OLED display, but the 4K resolution is pointless on such a small screen unless you’re a professional content creator.
Our TakeThe Dell XPS 13 9310 has everything you need in a premium Ultrabook: excellent performance, sharp and colorful display, a comfortable keyboard, and great battery life. Its lightweight body makes it great to carry around at work or school.
- Great overall performance
- Excellent battery life
- Great keyboard
- Slim, attractive chassis
- USB-C charging
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
3. Dell Inspiron 13 5310 – Incredible performance at a reasonable price
The Dell Inspiron 13 5310 offers all the features that make an Ultrabook great without the premium price. It’s a great choice if you don’t want to spend a lot of money on a 16:10 laptop. The Inspiron 13 5310 is based on the Intel EVO platform, meaning you’re going to get the best possible mobile experience.
At its core, the Inspiron 13 5310 comes with an 11th Gen Intel Core i5 processor with 8GB RAM and 512GB of NVMe storage. It can handle everyday tasks without any issues, and you get a good mix of new and old ports, something missing in the Dell XPS 13 and MacBook Air. In addition, its 11-hour battery life and sub-3-pound body make it a perfect laptop for everyday carry.
There’s more. The Inspiron 13 5310 has a sharp 1920×1200, 16:10 display with 300nits and an Anti-Glare coating to reduce reflections when working in brighter environments. Opening the lid lifts the backlit keyboard at an angle for a comfortable typing experience and better cooling. It’s an overall great laptop with a lot of value on offer for the price.
Our TakeThe Dell Inspiron 13 5310 is an amazing laptop with great performance, good battery life, excellent keyboard, and attractive pricing. It’s proof that you don’t have to spend upwards of a grand to get a decent laptop for everyday use.
- Excellent performance for everyday basic use
- Brilliant keyboard
- Great selection of ports
- Solid metal build quality
- USB-C charging
- Basic design
4. Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 – A Premium 2-in-1 laptop with a 16:10 aspect ratio
The Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 is an excellent 16:10 laptop with a 360-degree hinge. It’s a great option if you’re looking for a premium Ultrabook that you can also use as a tablet. You can use it as a standard laptop for work or fold it into a tablet or tent and stand mode for watching movies.
Like the standard Dell XPS 13, this 2-in-1 model has a well-made and lightweight chassis, solid battery life, and a reliable keyboard. Its 11th-Gen Intel CPU is powerful enough for productivity and offers better graphics performance to handle photo and video editing workflows.
The display is a 13.4-inch touchscreen with a 16:10 aspect ratio and 1920×1200 resolution. It offers more screen space for working with documents and web browsing and stylus pen support to use it in tablet mode easily. If you’re a photographer or content creator, you’ll benefit more from the super-bright 500-nit panel, HDR 400 support, and a wider DCI-P3 color gamut that breathes life into your creative work.
Our TakeThe Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 has an outstanding display, faster performance, and amazing build quality. It can flip into a tablet, tent, and stand mode to adapt to your workflow. Sure, it is an expensive 2-in-1 laptop, but you can’t argue the quality and value you get in this flexible laptop.
- Fast Intel 11th Gen CPUs
- Bright and colorful display
- Solid build quality
- USB-C charging
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
5. LG Gram 16 2021 – Best lightweight 16-inch laptop
Most 16-inch laptops weigh upwards of three pounds, but the LG Gram 16 is a different case. It stands out from the list of 16-inch laptops as the only option that weighs less than three pounds. Its 2.6-pound body is even lighter than most 13-inch Ultrabooks in the market.
The 16-inch screen combined with a 16:10 aspect ratio is great for productivity and watching movies. The biggest advantage over other 16-inch laptops is that you can throw the Gram in a bag and work on the go. The 11th Gen Intel processor makes this laptop as powerful as any premium Ultrabook today. It’s also EVO certified to provide the best mobile experience, including fast and responsive performance, vivid display, and longer battery life.
Onboard you get a full-size keyboard with a Numpad and backlighting. There is a good mix of ports here, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, full-size HDMI, and micro-SD card slot. These features position the LG Gram 16 as a perfect laptop for productivity, whether at home or on the go.
Our TakeThe LG Gram 16 offers a large, taller display for work and watching content with the weight of a 13-inch Ultrabook. It’s great for those who want a productivity laptop that you can take with you anywhere you go.
- Incredibly lightweight
- Large, high-quality display
- Excellent battery life
- Great port offering
- USB-C charging
- The glossy screen is susceptible to screen glare
6. Razer Book 13 – A beautiful and powerful business laptop
If you love Razer gaming laptops and want something you can use for everyday tasks, productivity, and work, you’ll want to consider the new Razer Book 13. With a 16:10 display, ultra-compact design, and faster CPU, the Book 13 is positioned for productivity and regular laptop users.
The Book 13 has a premium design and high-quality build, made from CNC anodized aluminum. It weighs a little over three pounds, making it the perfect mobile workstation for on-the-go productivity. You also get a good selection of ports, including Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, HDMI 2.0, and a microSD slot.
The laptop is powered by the latest Intel processors. It is also based on the Intel EVO platform, which means you’ll get excellent computing performance with near-instant responsiveness and great battery life. The base model has a Core i5-1135G7 processor, but we recommend the middle model with a faster Core i7-1165G7 processor, 16GB RAM, and 256GB NVMe storage for the best multitasking performance.
Our TakeRazer Book 13 takes on the Dell XPS 13 with unrivaled, premium looks, a good mix of ports, an RGB keyboard, and great performance. It’s the best 16:10 laptop for productivity and business.
- Top-notch performance
- Vibrant 16:10 display
- Excellent build quality
- A beautiful and comfortable per-key RGB keyboard
- Plenty of ports
- Webcam quality could be better
7. Apple MacBook Pro (16-Inch, Late 2019) – An excellent choice for Mac power users
The 16-inch MacBook Pro hasn’t received an upgrade for almost two years now, but it is still one of the best laptops you can buy for creative tasks and demanding workloads. Combining a 9th Gen Intel Core i7 processor (upgradable to Core i9) with an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M dedicated GPU (upgradable Radeon Pro 5500M), this laptop has everything you need to blast through 4K video editing, animation, working with multiple audio tracks, and more.
The 16:10 aspect ratio gives you an extra 10 to 12 percent vertical screen space to better organize your program monitor and timelines during video production. The display is sharp and bright at 500nits and covers a wider DCI-P3 color gamut for crisp and vibrant colors.
The magic keyboard is comfortable to use compared to its previously derided butterfly keyboard. It also has an excellent battery life, solid build quality, and four Thunderbolt 3 ports to connect faster external drives, high-resolution monitors, charge the laptop, and more.
Our TakeApple’s 16-inch MacBook Pro is a high-end laptop for power users and creative pros. It offers breathtaking performance, amazing battery life, and a premium build quality with a super comfortable keyboard.
- Incredibly powerful
- Larger, immersive display
- Excellent audio
- Great build quality
- Four Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Heavy
- No USB-A, SD card reader, and HDMI ports
8. Dell XPS 17 9710 – An excellent choice for Windows power users
The Dell XPS 17 9710 is the best alternative to the MacBook Pro 16-inch for Windows power users. Unlike the Mac, the XPS 17 9710 features new high-performance 11th Gen Intel processors and 30-series Nvidia graphics cards to power the most demanding creative workflows.
It comes with four Thunderbolt 4 ports and a full-size SD card reader to transfer photos and videos from your camera. The build quality is outstanding, and you also get a room-filling pair of speakers and a large, comfortable keyboard.
The XPS 17 9710 comes with a larger 17-inch display with a 3840×2400 resolution, 500nits, and accurate color reproduction. You also get touch input support here, something not available on the Mac. However, this is an expensive laptop only suited for professional content creators. If you just want to edit photos, you’ll be better off with the cheaper M1 MacBook Pro.
Our TakeThe Dell XPS 17 9710 is a big and powerful laptop ideal for graphical-intensive workflows. It has powerful hardware, a sharp and vibrant 16:10 display, and great overall build quality. It’s an expensive laptop but well worth the price if you want to breeze through 4K video editing and more demanding graphical tasks.
- Outstanding performance
- Large and colorful display
- Sleek, attractive design
- Excellent audio
- Heavy
- No USB-A and HDMI ports
9. Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 – An inexpensive option for students
The Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 is an ideal option for students and anyone who spends most of the time browsing the web. Chromebooks are less expensive than standard laptops and can do almost anything a regular laptop can do. The Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 offers faster computing performance for browsing the web, reading email, and editing documents.
The 16:10 screen makes it an even better option for students and office users. It has a 1920×1200 resolution, which is very sharp at 12.2 inches, allowing you to spend a lot of time staring at the screen without straining your eyes. There is also a built-in stylus pen for sketching, taking notes, and more.
Chrome OS does not require much power, so the Intel Core m3 is more than enough to power you through most everyday tasks. You can open upwards of 20 tabs without lag or a dip in performance. You get 4GB RAM and 64GB for storage, which you can upgrade to 128GB if you want to store a lot of photos and videos.
Our TakeThe Samsung Chromebook Plus V2 is an inexpensive option for students and anyone looking for a laptop to browse, work on documents, and watch movies. It has a flexible 2-in-1 design and a sharp 16:10 display that’s comfortable to use.
- Flexible 2-in-1 design
- USB-C connectivity
- Sharp display
- Dual cameras
- Included stylus pen
- Not lightweight
10. Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 6 – Gaming laptop with a QHD 165Hz display
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro Gen 6 offers impeccable gaming performance from its AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 GPU. It comes with a four-zone RGB backlit keyboard, powerful built-in speakers, and up to eight hours of battery life. You get a pretty decent selection of ports, including HDMI 2.1, USB-C, USB-A, Ethernet, and headphone jack.
The display is perfectly tuned to provide a smooth and responsive gaming experience. It’s a 16-inch screen with a QHD (2560×1600) resolution and 16:10 aspect ratio, which shows more of your game surroundings than standard 16:9 screens.
But the star of the show here is the 165Hz refresh rate with 3ms response time and FreeSync and G-Sync support, which combine to make your gameplay feel more fluid and responsive. It’s an expensive machine, but that’s the price you have to pay to blast through AAA games.
Our TakeThe Lenovo Legion 5 Pro has excellent hardware to provide smooth and responsive mobile gaming. The QHD, 165Hz display is just the best combination for powerful gaming without being too demanding on the CPU.
- Killer AMD and Nvidia performance
- Smooth and responsive display
- VRR support
- RGB-backlit keyboard
- Wi-Fi 6
- Bulky
Choosing the Best 16:10 Aspect Ratio Laptops – Buying Guide
Here are the things to consider when looking to buy a 16:10 aspect ratio laptop.
Processor
Picking the right CPU is important when choosing a CPU. You don’t have to spring for a Core i7 if you just want to read emails, work on documents, and browse the web. A Core i5 or Ryzen 5 (4000 and 5000 series) is excellent for everyday basic use. However, if you’re a power user or want to edit photos and videos on your laptop, a Core i7 and Ryzen 7 is the best pick for you.
The new 11th Gen Intel processors brought a huge leap in CPU and GPU performance. You can edit 4K videos using the integrated graphics and play some AAA games, albeit at low settings. Most of the new laptops with 11th Gen Intel processors are EVO certified, which means they offer the best mobile experience: snappy performance, long battery life, responsiveness, and vivid display.
RAM and Storage
8GB RAM and 256GB SSD is the base configuration for most laptops. It’s great for light usage and everyday computing. But we recommend upgrading to 16GB if you can for the best multitasking experience because Windows and Chrome will quickly eat through your 8GB. If your budget only allows 8GB, make sure the memory can be upgraded down the road.
Resolution
The display is the most important factor on a laptop, and one of the things that determines a good display is the resolution. A 1920×1200 resolution is a good baseline for a 16:10 laptop. Since most laptops have smaller displays (13-inch to 14-inch), 1200p is enough for the image to look good and sharp.
If you want an even sharper display and crisp text, we recommend a 2560×1600 resolution, equivalent to a 1440p display in a standard 16:9 laptop. The advantage of having a sharper display not only makes your images and text clearer, but you can also spend a lot of time staring at the display without straining your eyes.
The Apple MacBook Air comes with a 2560×1600 resolution and has one of the best displays you can get on a laptop. However, you won’t go wrong with any of the Ultrabooks with a 1200p resolution.
If you’re a professional photographer or content creator, it makes sense to go for a 4K (3840×2400) display. However, we recommend 4K resolution on 15-inch or bigger laptops. That’s because 4K comes 200% scaled on smaller laptops, which results in big icons and gives a little room to organize your desktop. Dropping the scaling to 100% makes the content very small and unreadable.
The Dell XPS 17 9710 has a large 17-inch screen with a 3840×2400 resolution, the perfect combination for content creation work.
Color Gamut
Like resolution, color reproduction is also important when choosing a display. Generally, you want at least 100% coverage of the sRGB color gamut. sRGB is the most used color space on the web, so if you’re buying a laptop for personal use or editing content for the web, 100% sRGB coverage should be good for you.
If you’re buying a laptop for professional creative work, you should look for a wide color gamut such as AdobeRGB and DCI-P3. Wide color gamut can display more vivid colors and lifelike hues leading to high color accuracy.
The MacBook and Dell XPS range cover a wider DCI-P3 color gamut, making them ideal for content creation and color-grading work.
Brightness
A higher screen brightness (measured in nits) is better as it allows you to use the laptop in bright-lit rooms and outdoors. We recommend at least 300nits of brightness (and a matte display, if possible) for a better experience. Glossy screens reflect a lot of ambient light, so you’ll need an even brighter display like 500nits for the best experience outdoors.
Some laptops such as the MacBook Air and Dell XPS range offer upwards of 400nits of brightness, but they are also pricey. The Dell XPS particularly has 500nits of brightness, which is perfect for a glossy screen.
Refresh rate
If you’re a gamer, the refresh rate is one of the features to consider for the best gaming experience. Refresh rate refers to how many times a display refresh to display an image. A higher refresh rate is better; it makes the display feel smooth and more responsive.
A 60Hz refresh rate is excellent for productivity laptops, but you’ll want a higher refresh rate for gaming laptops. The sweet spot for a gaming laptop is a 120Hz or 165Hz refresh rate. With a 16-inch screen, QHD (2560×1600) resolution, and 165Hz refresh rate, the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is the best 16:10 gaming laptop you can buy today.
Battery life
Unlike desktops, laptops are designed to be used unplugged. You want a laptop that can last almost a day, especially for students. However, it’s difficult to recommend a definite battery capacity like 55Wh because laptops come in different sizes, resolutions, and hardware.
The best choice is to check for a reviewer who has tested the specific configuration of the laptop for accurate results. Generally, we recommend over 11 hours of battery for the best experience. If you want peace of mind, look for a laptop with an Intel EVO certification. These laptops have been tested to provide over nine hours of real-usage battery life, along with battery quick charge support.
Keyboard
The keyboard is another feature that you can’t evaluate from the spec sheet alone. It would be best if you watched reviews for a first-hand experience. Generally, we recommend a keyboard with excellent feedback and spacing. Also, any laptop you’re buying in 2021 should have a backlit keyboard. A backlit keyboard lets you use the laptop in dark or poorly-lit environments.
Dell and Lenovo make the best keyboards for laptops. The new magic keyboards for MacBooks are also much better and comfortable than the previous generations. In addition to a good keyboard, we also recommend a glass trackpad with Windows Precision drivers.
The Best 16:10 Aspect Ratio Laptops – Frequently Asked Questions
Which Aspect Ratio Is Best for Laptops?
Most laptops today come with either 16:9, 16:10, or 3:2 aspect ratios. Which one is best depends on your needs. A 16:9 aspect ratio is excellent for consuming content, while 3:2 is ideal for working with documents and browsing the web. On the other hand, a 16:10 aspect ratio offers the best for both worlds; it’s great for both content consumption and work.
Why Do Laptops Use 16:10?
Laptops use a 16:10 aspect ratio because it offers more vertical screen real estate for working with documents, browsing the web, and coding. As a result, they are more suited for productivity and work than standard 16:9 laptops.
What Is the Difference Between 16:9 and 16:10 Aspect Ratio?
A 16:10 aspect ratio is taller than a 16:9 aspect ratio. For instance, an Excel sheet will display more lines and rows in a 16:10 screen than on a 16:9.