The best laptops from CES 2020

Sure, it's just a concept for a folding tablet, but it's still cool. Not unlike Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 prototype, you've got a full pen-enabled tablet PC that you can draw or write on, but which can also be used with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse if you want. You can also fold it 90 degrees and use one half as an onscreen keyboard and the rest as your display.  

The Duet, which is similar to Microsoft's Surface Neo, is expected at the end of the year. It's all about giving you more screen real estate on the go because it's essentially like having two monitors you can fold up and put in your bag to take anywhere.   

Folding-screen laptops are cool, but small. Intel's been working on a concept with an OLED screen that unfolds into a 17.3-inch display.

With the first 1440p laptop screen and the ability to display flashy animations on its cover, as well as one of the first laptops to use the just-announced AMD mobile Ryzen 4000-series processor, the 14-inch gaming system makes quite an impression.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold, which we first saw as a prototype in May 2019, is a 13-inch OLED slate that can bend and fold into several different configurations. Lenovo calls it "dynamic and responsive," meaning that the screen content changes depending upon how it's folded or oriented. In practical terms, that means the 13-inch plastic screen can fold in half widthwise, forming what looks like a mini clamshell laptop. 

On the cover of the 13.3-inch ThinkBook Plus is a second 10.8-inch e-ink display "on which users can create illustrations and diagrams with the integrated Lenovo Precision Pen and receive essential notifications when the lid is closed allowing them to stay focused during meetings." 

Like their beefier gaming sibling, the Predator Triton 900, the Acer Concept D 7 Ezel models can flip into all the positions of a typical two-in-one, but with the added multiple points of articulation that let you position the screen floating above the keyboard and so that the keyboard is always face up, never face down, on the desk. They've also got a Wacom EMR stylus -- that's the good one that doesn't need a battery.

We'll be updating regularly throughout CES 2020, so check back!

Samsung's made its share of premium Chromebooks over the years, but nothing as swanky as its new Galaxy Chromebook. Built from aluminum and only 0.4 inch (9.9mm) thick, the $1,000, 13.3-inch two-in-one weighs just 2.2 pounds (1 kg) and features a 4K UHD-resolution AMOLED display.

One of the first Chromebooks to be verified for Project Athena -- lightweight and long battery life are two of the biggest criteria -- the Flip C436 weighs only 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg) and with slimmed-down bezels the 14-inch 2-in-1 looks sleek; it also boasts USI active pen support with 4,096 levels of pressure. And it's one of the rare Chromebooks with a fingerprint reader -- built into the power button -- for unlocking it without a password.  

The Legion Y740S is Lenovo's thinnest, lightest gaming laptop; it weighs only 4.2 pounds (1.9 kg) and is just 0.6 inch thick (14.9mm). But it's missing a discrete graphics chip, so don't throw out your heavyweight gaming laptop yet.

HP squished its flagship two-in-one's 15.6-inch display into the body of a 14-inch laptop by shaving down the display's top and bottom bezels, which allowed the PC maker to trim the rest of the aluminum chassis to give it a 90% screen-to-body ratio.

While Dell squeezed some extra screen into its ultrathin XPS 13, its new enterprise-focused Latitude 9510 got all the real perks. Available as a laptop or a two-in-one, it starts at just 3.2 pounds (1.5 kg) and its aluminum body is trimmed to the size of a 14-inch laptop, but it has a 15-inch, 400-nit full HD display with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage. Dell also claims it has the longest battery life of any 15-inch business PC, reaching up to 30 hours. Plus, it offers an option for 5G mobile wireless.

"Rugged" and "lightweight" rarely go together, but the P6 is an exception. Weighing only 2.4 pounds (1.1 kg), the slim 14-inch Acer laptop has a battery life of 23 hours and a Mil-Spec 810G- and 810F-compliant frame. 

The 13.5-inch Spin 5's new 3:2 aspect ratio screen gives you much more vertical space for working with documents and spreadsheets and makes it a little less awkward to use handheld in tablet mode. Plus, it weighs only 2.7 pounds (1.2 kilograms) and Acer includes a Wacom AES 2.0 active stylus for drawing and writing on the screen. 

Dynabook says its Portege X30L-G is the world's lightest 13.3-inch laptop with a 10th-gen Intel Core U-series processor, at 1.92 pounds (0.9 kg), while being designed to pass Mil-Spec 810G durability tests for drop, temperature, humidity and dust resistance. 

HP launched this ultralight laptop in fall 2019, but it's already gotten an update. In addition to its weight of 2.2 pounds (1kg) and option for 5G wireless, you can now equip it with HP's Sure View privacy display and Tile support for smart location tracking starting in mid-2020.

The Yoga Creator 7 appears to be a rebadged 15.6-inch Yoga C940 -- which is okay, because we really like the C940 -- but without the two-in-one's 360-degree soundbar hinge. Instead, it gains an SD card slot and a full HD display with 100% sRGB color gamut coverage and Pantone Validation. The clamshell model offers an Adobe RGB gamut. Lenovo also says it will ship with the latest Nvidia GPUs with Studio Drivers.

Samsung revealed a less expensive $830 sibling of its Galaxy Book Flex for CES 2020, slated to ship by June. (Sorry, it's "Galaxy Book Flex α" because we all use the Greek letters, right?) To hit that price, Samsung made the Pen optional, dropped Thunderbolt 3 support and shrank the battery. It also has a lower-end set of memory, storage and processor options and comes in silver rather than blue.  

See all CNET's CES 2020 coverage here.

The IdeaPad Duet is a Microsoft Surface Pro-like detachable Chromebook with a bright 400-nit, 10.1-inch FHD display. It's bundled with a full-size removable keyboard with a touchpad. The Duet even comes with a cover with a built-in kickstand when you want to work or play games or stream video hands-free and there's an optional active pen for drawing or writing on the screen. 

Not only does the Lenovo Ducati 5 look like a motorbike with its bright red racing stripe, Lenovo says the 14-inch limited-edition laptop will perform like one too, with its "lightning-fast" 10th-gen Intel Core i5 processor, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, 8GB of memory and 1TB SSD for storage. Look for it in April.

The Yoga 5G is one of the first PCs running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8cx 5G Compute Platform. It's rated at up to 24 hours of battery life, which, combined with its 2.9-pound weight (1.3kg) and bright, 400-nit display, should make this 14-inch two-in-one a great all-day work solution. If it performs.

Available in 14- and 15-inch sizes, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 seems to follow the same formula as the 14-inch Yoga S940. Like that model, these have an IR camera that works for facial recognition and is also paired with other sensors and Glance by Mirametrix attention-sensing AI software. 

The first DisplayHDR 1000 laptop display debuts in MSI's new creative-focused 17-inch laptop. That's 1,000 nits and a color gamut coverage of 100% P3 for HDR work. Whee!

If you're looking for a premium business laptop, there were a lot announced at CES 2020, but the B9450 was one certainly one of the best. It weighs less than 2 pounds, making it the lightest 14-inch laptop in its class. Its magnesium alloy chassis is tested to Mil-Spec 810G standards and it's also part of Intel's Project Athena program. But aside from all that, it has a touchpad that turns into a number pad for doing heavy number crunching and still works to control the cursor at the same time. No pricing was announced, but it's set to arrive in Q1 2020.