The table below provides a comparison of the most popular small laptops currently on the market. We have collated full technical specifications as well as details of screen size, weight and price in order to provide a broad selection of small laptops from major manufacturers in one place. Hopefully, this means you won’t need to spend hours checking tens of different websites to make sure you get a laptop of the size and spec you’re looking for. Another benefit is that we only include the most popular laptops from the most reputable manufacturers, ensuring that you are not forced to scroll through a long list of sub-par models in order to get to the option you want.
Manufacturer Image Model Screen Size Weight Price Description
Apple 
13-inch MacBook Air 13.3" 1.35 kg (2.96 pounds) From £999 See website
Apple 
11-inch MacBook Air 11.6" 1.08 kg (2.38 pounds) From £849 See website
Asus 
ZENBOOK™ Prime UX31A 13.3" 1.3kg From £1479 Intel® Core™ i7-3517U 1.9GHz Turbo boost to 3.0GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-3317U 1.7GHz Turbo boost to 2.6GHz
DDR3 1600MHz 4GB (on board)
Asus 
ZENBOOK™ Prime UX21A 11.6" 1.1kg From £908.35 Intel® Core™ i7-3517U 1.9GHz Turbo boost to 3.0GHz
Intel® Core™ i5-3317U 1.7GHz Turbo boost to 2.6GHz
DDR3 1600MHz 4GB (on board)
Dell 
XPS 13 13.3" 1.36kg From £929 Intel® Core™ i7-2637M processor (1.70 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.80 GHz)
Operating System English Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Display 13.3" Hi-Def (720p) True Life WLED Display with Skype-Certified 1.3MP Hi-Def Webcam
Memory2 4GB2 Single Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz
Hard Drive 256GB Solid State Hard Drive
Video Card Intel HD Graphics 3000
Hewlett Packard Spectre XT Ultrabook™ 13.3" 1.39kg
• 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i5-3317U processor
• 4GB memory
• 128 GB solid-state drive
• 33,8 cm (13,3"") HD LED-backlit BrightView Display
• Intel® HD Graphics
• Finished in natural silver, magnesium base with soft-touch paint, aluminum cover
• 1 year, pick-up and return, parts and labour
• Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HD Webcam & Microphone
• Battery life of up to 7 hours
Hewlett Packard ENVY Sleekbook 6-1006ea 15.6" 2.2kg
• AMD Dual-Core A6-4455M APU processor
• 6GB memory
• 500 GB SATA (5400 rpm)
• 39,6 cm (15.6") HD BrightView LED-backlit (1366 x 768) Display
• AMD Radeon HD 7500G Discrete-Class Graphics
• Finished in Midnight black, metal finish
• 1 year, pick-up and return, parts and labour
• Featuring Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, HD Webcam & Microphone
• Battery life of up to 9 hours
Lenovo ThinkPad X131e 11.6" 1.36 kg £359.99
Lenovo IdeaPad S206 11.6" HD display 2.9 lbs £349.99 Up to AMD Dual Core C-60 processor
Up to Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
11.6" HD display
Starting at 2.9 lbs
Up to 4 hours battery life
Up to 2GB DD3 memory
Up to 500GB HDD Storage
S206 Tech Specs
Lenovo IdeaPad U310 Ultrabook™ 13.3" HD widescreen 1.8 kg £599.99 Incredibly thin
Up to 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7
Up to Windows® 7 Ultimate
Lenovo Enhanced Experience 3 for Windows® 7
13.3" HD widescreen
Starting at 1.8 KG
Up to 7 hours' battery life
Up to 500GB HDD, Up to 32GB optional SSD
Up to 4GB
Micro-Star International X-Slim 13” 1.4kg (w/4cell battery) • Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
• AMD E-Series APU Processors
• 13” 16:9 Wide Screen Display
• Advanced Power Saving Technology
• The Very Best Expression of Slim Aesthetic
• Unique, Ultra-chic Diamond-pattern Surface Finishing
• HDMI (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) Output
• Build-In High Resolution Mega Pixels Webcam
• 802.11b / g/n Wireless Lan with Bluetooth (optional)
Micro-Star International X-Slim X460 14" HD 1.98kg DDR3, 1066/1333MHz, 2 Memory Slots, Up to 8GB Memory Support
ntel® HD Graphics 3000
Graphics VRAM N/A
HDD (GB) 500GB SATA 5400rpm
DVD Super Multi
Samsung 305U 11.6" Ultraportable Notebook
11.6" 1.21kg AMD Dual Core Processor E-450 (1.65GHz, 1MB L2 Cache)
AMD Radeon™ Graphics (Int. Graphic)
4GB DDR3 System Memory at 1333MHz (4GB x 1)
Samsung 350U 12.5" Ultra Portable Notebook
12.5" 1.4kg Intel Core i3 380 Processor
Intel® HD Graphics 3000
4GB DDR3 System Memory at 1333MHz (4GB x 1)
Toshiba Satellite Z830 Ultrabook 13.3" 1.1kg 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i3-2367M processor for Ultrabook™
128 GB
4,096 (2,048 onboard + 2,048) MB
DDR3 RAM (1,333 MHz)
When it comes to figuring out what a small laptop is there are two main figures to be borne in mind: screen size and weight. Screen size is important because it not only affects the amount of space a laptop takes up in a bag but it will almost inevitably influence the footprint of a laptop on a desk. The larger the screen the larger and heavier the base of the laptop will need to be in order to keep it stable. Weight is also important, however, as we assume that those who are searching for small laptops are also hoping to find a laptop that is extremely portable. It’d be no good to you to find a laptop with a 10″ screen that weighs 5 kilos – you want something you can easily carry around with you day to day.
The metric we have not included, however, is the one that would perhaps provide the most precise estimate of how large a laptop is – its dimensions. Many manufacturers like to play up how thin a laptop is by prodiving measurements of every side of the laptop. We’ve assumed, however, that people looking for small laptops are not necessarily looking for thin laptops. Many of the laptops below are ultra thin that is not in itself the reason they’ve been selected as this does not necessarily make them smaller or more portable.