Created: 10/23/2019
Updated: 02/26/2021 20:12:52 Share:
Author of the article: Bogdan Shevchuk
*Review of the best according to the editors of expertology.ru. About the selection criteria. This material is subjective in nature, does not constitute advertising and does not serve as a purchase guide. Before purchasing, consultation with a specialist is required.
Graphics processing, especially when it comes to 3D or high-resolution video, places increased demands on computer hardware. Until relatively recently, portable computers could not cope with such tasks by definition. Now there are high-performance laptops that are practically in no way inferior to top-end desktop graphics stations. The Expertology editors have prepared for you a mini-review of the most worthy, according to our experts, laptop models for working with graphics in 2019.
No. 10 – HP PAVILION 14-ce2019ur
Price: 36,000 rubles
HP PAVILION 14-ce2019ur is equipped with a 14-inch anti-glare screen that can be used comfortably in any lighting conditions. The matrix is made using IPS technology, and therefore is capable of displaying colors close to natural. The storage device is a 256 GB SSD disk, which guarantees quick launch of programs and fast functioning of the OS as a whole.
The laptop looks stylish, which is very important for designers. It has an all-metal body and minimal bezels near the screen. The disadvantages include only 4 GB of RAM, but if this is too critical, you can install an additional bracket.
HP PAVILION 14-ce2019ur
No. 9 – Xiaomi RedmiBook 14″
Price: 39,990 rubles
The popular model of the famous developer continues to rank the best laptops for graphic design. For how much it costs, the technical parameters here are quite powerful. Take, for example, the Intel Core i5 8265 processor, which, coupled with 8 GB of RAM, is sufficient for working in Photoshop and other photo editors. The presence of an SSD disk with a capacity of 512 GB is also pleasing. You can save dozens of projects on it. If desired, they can be transferred to a flash drive, fortunately there is a USB port.
The 14-inch screen may seem small to some, but it makes up for its size with wide viewing angles and natural color reproduction. As for the disadvantages, we include the impossibility of an upgrade, so you shouldn’t even think about installing a second stick of RAM or another SSD.
Xiaomi RedmiBook 14
Macbook Air for video editing
The last section will be of particular interest to those who want to use this laptop for video editing. It’s difficult for me to give advice for professionals in this field, but if you want to create short videos, trim videos, make gluing, add simple special effects or work with video in at least 4K format, then the MacBook Air will definitely not let you down. The Final Cut Pro editing program will work stably and is unlikely to let you down. For example, this video was created from 4K video stitches and the program worked stably all this time. I didn’t even turn it off specifically for several days to check if it would somehow affect the speed of work in other programs. My conclusion is that the laptop worked equally stably both before installation and after the program was launched. My Windows laptop definitely couldn’t afford this, despite the fact that it had a geforce video card installed and 8 gigabytes of RAM.
No. 7 – Lenovo IdeaPad S540-15IML
Price: 57,000 rubles
The main trump card of the model is the 15.6-inch screen made using IPS technology. In reviews, users note its wide viewing angles, as well as adequate color reproduction with accurate display of shades. The downside is that it has a glossy finish, so when exposed to sunlight, the display may glare.
In terms of hardware, everything is in order - Intel Core i5 10210U processor, 512 GB SSD, 12 GB of RAM. This set is enough to solve any problem. You can work on a laptop even at night, next to a sleeping person - the cooling system makes minimal noise. The device is assembled with high quality, the hinge looks especially reliable, tightly fixing the screen in any position. All this makes the model an excellent option in terms of price-quality ratio.
Lenovo IdeaPad S540-15IML
Top Laptops for Graphic Design and Video Editing
Apple MacBook Pro 15 2019
Mobile workstation from the Apple company: very powerful, beautiful and expensive. It costs about 140,000 rubles (depending on the modification), but is capable of solving almost any professional problem. The powerful Intel Core i7 processor with a frequency of 2600 MHz will handle any application for working with graphics or video editing. The professional AMD Radeon Pro 555X video card is designed for 3D modeling, although it can also handle computer games. 16 GB of RAM is sufficient for all occasions, and a 256 GB SSD is capable of storing all the necessary information (although, of course, you won’t be able to play around with it too much). The bright 15.4-inch display with a resolution of 2880×1800 pixels produces a picture unattainable by most competitors. The only drawback of this beauty is the price.
Price: ₽ 137,000
MSI P65 Creator 9SE
Laptops from the Taiwanese company MSI have always been distinguished by a very good price-quality ratio. So you can be sure: if they ask 160,000 rubles for a car, then it’s worth it. The laptop is indeed stuffed with the latest technology: it has a powerful processor from the Intel Core i7 or i9 line (depending on the configuration) and a fast discrete graphics card NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 with 6 GB of video memory. The 15.6-inch display produces a vibrant, bright picture in a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. A minimum of 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD is enough for current tasks and for storing applications and a small multimedia collection.
A good professional laptop that can solve any task without extra expenses.
Price: RUB 162,650
Apple MacBook Pro 13 Laptop Retina Display with True Tone Mid 2020
Modification of the 13-inch version of MacBook Pro, released in mid-2021. The small size did not prevent the installation of a fully grown Intel Core processor with a frequency of up to 2300 MHz, at least 8 GB of RAM and a solid-state drive of at least 256 GB. Intel Iris Plus Graphics 645 is responsible for graphics processing. The 13.3-inch retina display with a resolution of 2560 by 1600 pixels provides image clarity unattainable by any analogue.
This is probably still one of the most compact professional laptops in the world. With all the shortcomings common to most Apple products, it’s not at all a pity to pay 118,000 rubles for it.
Price: RUB 121,790
DELL G3 15 3590
DELL is not well known for its consumer and gaming laptops, but it does well in the market for machines for graphic design and video editing. For almost 75,000 rubles, we are offered a very interesting machine for corporate use, equipped with an Intel Core i5 9300H processor with a clock frequency of 2400 MHz, 8 gigabytes of RAM, a 512 gigabyte solid-state drive and a fresh NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti video card. A good 15.6-inch display produces a completely natural picture in a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels. A good and nice business laptop at a very reasonable price.
Price: ₽ 72,200
Notebook HP PAVILION 17-cd
This serious and reliable laptop, housed in a solid black case, costs about 70,000 rubles. Compared to other models in our selection, the amount is quite modest, but for this money they offer us a very interesting model. A processor up to an Intel Core i7 9750H at 2600 megahertz supported by 8-16 gigabytes of RAM will handle any application, and a discrete graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti MAX-Q in the top configuration) will cope with video editing, photo processing, and even with 3D modeling. There are several storage options for permanent storage of information, including a duo of hard drive and SSD. The large 17.3-inch display provides a vibrant and bright picture in a resolution of 1920 by 1080 pixels.
This machine shows that a laptop, even for complex tasks, does not have to be overly expensive.
Price: RUB 76,210
#6 – DELL Inspiron 5491 2-in-1
Price: 42,000 rubles
The DELL Inspiron 5491 2-in-1 model is at the equator of the rating of laptops for graphic design. It is made of plastic, which at first glance can be regarded as a drawback. However, due to this, the device guarantees a stable connection to Wi-Fi access points without interruptions. The laptop runs very quietly, the cooler turns on only at maximum load, thanks to the Intel Core i3 10110U processor, which practically does not heat up.
The internal structure of the device provides for the possibility of an upgrade, so the user can additionally connect another stick of RAM in pairs with the standard one with a capacity of 4 GB. The maximum capacity is 32 GB. During breaks from working on your laptop, you can watch a couple of episodes of your favorite TV series or listen to music, since the built-in speakers produce loud and detailed sound. The downside is that the screen only lasts 6 hours.
DELL Inspiron 5491 2-in-1
Best Premium Laptops for Graphics
In the second group of devices, we will look at the most “stuffed” laptops with powerful hardware; they are also the most expensive in the review. Such portable solutions easily cope with highly complex graphics tasks.
Apple MacBook Pro 15 with Retina display Mid 2019
Rating: 4.9
Let us immediately pay attention to fans of Apple technology, especially since Apple computers, almost from the very beginning, were focused on professional work with graphics. For a long time, the lion's share of printed publications in the world were mounted on the Mac, and most of the standards, formats and fonts were, to one degree or another, related to this platform. It was only relatively recently that the PC as a graphics platform “caught up” with Apple computers. Now the Apple MacBook Pro is widely used for working with raster and vector graphics, as well as for video editing of almost any complexity.
The laptop screen size is 15.4 inches diagonally, and the matrix resolution is the usual non-standard one, typical for a MacBook - 2880x1800. Retina display with a high pixel density here “works out to the fullest” all its advantages - the image is juicy, bright, contrasting, the colors are realistic, the pixels are indistinguishable. The screen coating is glossy. The overall dimensions of the laptop are 349.3x240.7x15.5mm, weight is 1.83kg. The case is metal with a minimalistic design typical for the entire series.
The computing center of the entire system is a powerful Intel Core i7 processor with six Coffee Lake cores and a frequency of 2.6 GHz. Standard RAM is DDR4 with a frequency of 2.4 GHz in a volume of 16 GB. Video subsystem options: AMD Radeon Pro 555X or Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655. The video memory capacity of the discrete card is 4GB. The hard drive is a 256GB solid-state SSD.
In terms of communications, this model only supports wireless connections via Wi-Fi standards 802.11ac or 802.11b, as well as Bluetooth versions 4.1 or 5.0. A lithium-polymer battery with a capacity of 83.6 Wh ensures battery life of the laptop for up to 10 hours.
With all the obvious advantages of this laptop, there is a feature that is worth warning about. The cooling system works with a bias towards maximum acoustic comfort for the user. Accordingly, its active part does not turn on until the last moment, which means the laptop can become noticeably warm. In this case, this is not a drawback, but a subtle calculation, and high heating does not pose any danger.
A detailed analysis of technical characteristics can be found here.
Advantages
- brand.
- Retina display – flawless image;
- exceptional quality of materials and workmanship;
- performance;
- autonomy;
- all the advantages of Apple in terms of ergonomics;
- Apple's signature sleek design.
Flaws
- Apple's characteristic minimalism of interfaces.
MSI GT75 Titan 9SG
Rating: 4.8
The review continues with a super-powerful solution from the Taiwanese company MSI. Titan 9SG is positioned as a gaming device, and everything about it has just such a bias. And all the gaming advantages directly resonate with the requirements for comfortable work with graphics of any complexity.
Let's immediately focus on perhaps the only obvious, albeit inevitable, drawback of this model - dimensions and weight. The laptop dimensions are 428x314x58mm, weight without packaging is 4.56kg. But for operational work with the most complex and voluminous graphics in the field, any worthy alternative will have generally similar dimensions.
The remaining characteristics of the laptop in the configuration recommended by our experts are already impressive in a good way. The 17.3-inch screen is equipped with a high-quality IPS matrix with a resolution of 4K 3840×2160. In combination with a powerful NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 video card with 8GB of memory, this combination allows you to fully work with the most complex 3D graphics, including in dynamics, working out the smallest details. There are modifications with a TN matrix and lower resolution, but Expertology does not recommend this configuration for the intended tasks.
The top-end Intel Core i9 8950HK central processor with six Coffee Lake cores at 2.9 GHz will ensure not only lightning-fast operation of the device as a whole, but also fast rendering during video editing - one of the most painful problems in any post-production. The RAM here is also organized at the highest level - the standard installation provides 32GB DDR4 with the ability to expand up to 64GB using four working slots.
The impressive dimensions of the laptop in this case have a secondary benefit - the developers have equipped this model with an impressive set of interfaces: five USB 3.1 Type A ports, one Mini DisplayPort and HDMI each, audio inputs and outputs, Thunderbolt3 and S/PDIF interfaces. Connection to networks is carried out both wired - via a gigabit network card, and wirelessly via a Wi-Fi radio module of the 802.11ac standard. Wireless connection of peripherals – via Bluetooth 5.0.
Given the high power consumption, it is obvious that there will be increased demands on the laptop battery. The model developers foresaw this point and equipped the laptop with a high-capacity 90Wh battery.
Advantages
- large screen;
- 4K resolution;
- exceptional power and performance;
- relatively high autonomy;
- all the aesthetic advantages of a gaming laptop;
Flaws
- oversized and heavy.
DELL XPS 15 7590
Rating: 4.7
The review of the best laptops for graphics according to Expertology concludes with another successful development from DELL Corporation. This model has a smaller screen than the previous one, but it is disproportionately smaller in size with similar performance characteristics.
The dimensions of the laptop are 357x235x17mm. Screen diagonal - 15.6. There are different options for equipping the matrix here. IPS matrix – two resolution options – FullHD 1920×1080 or 4K 3840×2160. But the most interesting thing here is that the developers have provided for a possible modification with a matrix of the latest OLED technology. Such a matrix is much more expensive than IPS, not to mention TN, but in the premium segment the price of a laptop is not in first place in importance.
As for electronics, everything in this model is at its best, if we consider the top premium configuration. This is a powerful Core i9 9980HK processor with 8 Coffee Lake cores and a frequency of 2.6 GHz. The standard factory capacity of RAM is 16GB with expansion potential up to 64GB on two slots. The graphics are handled by a discrete NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 card with 4GB of video memory. This stellar composition of components is crowned by a high-speed solid-state drive SSD with a capacity of 1TB.
The autonomy indicator of this model is also high - a lithium-ion battery with an incredible capacity of 8083 mAh ensures continuous operation on a single charge for up to 9 hours. The laptop itself can serve as a source of power for peripherals - one of the two USB 3.1 Gen 1 ports supports PowerShare technology, and the Thunderbolt 3 port supports Power Delivery.
Advantages
- power and performance;
- quite compact;
- OLED matrix as an option;
- 4K resolution;
- terabyte SSD disk;
- metal case;
- capacious battery.
Flaws
- No obvious disadvantages were found.
No. 5 – Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5″ 2019
Price: 40,000 rubles
Another relatively inexpensive but good laptop from a popular brand. It wins comparison with its competitors due to its autonomy - 10 hours of screen operation on a single charge. This will definitely be enough for you to last a whole working day away from a power outlet. The laptop is very compact - 292x202x13 mm, so you can easily stuff it into a backpack or bag.
The keyboard here is good, users report that it is convenient to type text with, so your messages to customers and clients will be written with a minimum of errors. The 12.5-inch IPS panel cannot boast of anything special, but it is suitable for working in graphic editors due to its relatively accurate color rendition. The owners do not report any significant shortcomings. For its price, this is one of the best solutions on the market.
Xiaomi Mi Notebook Air 12.5
No. 4 – MSI Modern 14 A10M
Price: 69,000 rubles
Unlike budget laptops, the MSI Modern 14 A10M is a future-proof model. Its design allows the owner to easily replace RAM or an SSD drive. Although, at the moment, the user is unlikely to have such a need - 8 GB of memory with a frequency of 2666 MHz and a 512 GB drive are quite enough even for a design professional.
Another advantage over inexpensive models is the adequate touchpad, which reliably recognizes touches with two and three fingers. Separately, owners praise the powerful Wi-Fi module, which does not lose connection with 5 GHz access points. Yes, this laptop is not a cheap pleasure, but if you buy it, you won’t have any problems for a long time.
MSI Modern 14 A10M
No. 3 – ASUS ZenBook 14
Price: 65,000 rubles
ASUS ZenBook 14 is equipped with a durable metal case, which not only affects the appearance of the device, but also allows us to talk about reliability. Despite this, the model weighs only 1.1 kg. Inside the frame there is a 3700 mAh battery that can provide 14 hours of screen operation, which is one of the best results for the money. A webcam with support for facial recognition technology is responsible for the security of the owner's data, so you don't have to constantly enter a password.
The 14-inch IPS screen has simply gorgeous color reproduction; on it you can easily distinguish any shades. We also note the speakers that produce surround and loud sound. The fly in the ointment is the touchpad, which often shakes. However, if you prefer to use a mouse, this will not matter to you, so you can safely look for the nearest store where you can buy Zenbook.
ASUS ZenBook 14
No. 2 – Apple MacBook Air 13
Price: 64,000 rubles
If you're tired of solutions with weak hinges and wobbly throttles, take a closer look at Apple's brainchild. There are no complaints about the assembly - all the elements fit neatly and reliably. The Air prefix in the name perfectly describes the main advantage of the model – its compactness. Due to its dimensions of 325x227x17 mm, the device can be easily installed on a small coffee table and carried in a bag or backpack.
There are no complaints about the screen - it has a good reserve of brightness, as well as accurate color rendition. Only the resolution of 1400 by 900 pixels can upset, but at 13.3 inches diagonal it looks sane, without graininess. In terms of technical characteristics, the model is in perfect order - 8 GB of RAM, an SSD drive, so you can work in Photoshop with your favorite playlist running in the browser in the background.
Apple MacBook Air 13
Is it worth buying a MacBook about a designer?
Why would a designer need a laptop with a 15″ screen, much less a 13″ one, is an open question. Working on such a small screen is not very convenient. Because of this alone, I would not recommend such laptops for graphics work.
Well, okay, size is still a matter of taste. The screen itself is, of course, excellent - IPS matrix with good color rendition.
On the other hand, you need to understand that these laptops are not designed for any heavy graphics work. The MacBook Pro 13″, which is supposed to have weak processors and a poor graphics card, looks pretty sad in terms of power. This laptop can be recommended as an ultra-light option for checking email and viewing pictures while traveling.
The MacBook Pro 15″ already inspires some respect in terms of its hardware. It offers the most powerful laptop processors available today and even has a discrete graphics card. Radeon Pro 450 and even 460 don't promise great performance, but they're all better than Intel HD. With this set you can already work with 3D graphics.
Bottom line, it's definitely worth buying a new MacBook Pro if:
- You want a laptop that is as light and thin as possible.
- An excellent quality 13 or 15″ screen is required.
- Your workflow doesn't require a powerful graphics card.
- The laptop must be Apple.
- You are ready to pay a lot of money for all this.
You don't need to buy a MacBook Pro if:
- You need a laptop with a 17″ screen.
- A powerful video card is required to work with 3D.
- Are you going to work in 3ds Max or other programs that do not have versions for Mac OS?
- Looking for a reasonable power/price combination.
