11 Best Video Editing Laptop in 2022: Top Picks + Buying Guide

Gone are the days of massive PC workstations and editing studios- well, almost gone.

With new-gen laptops, you can easily trim, render, and edit videos and photos anywhere you need. And that is the biggest advantage of having a video editing laptop –  portability.

A video editing workstation with a Microsoft Studio or an iMac might be superb, but you’re bound to a desk. That’s why we are a big advocate of spending $3k on the best video editing laptop instead of $4k on a desktop video editing setup. You get similar power in a much smaller and portable form factor.

Upgradability further strengthens the case of video editing laptops. And it’s not like you’ll need instant upgrades. The video editing laptops we have in this guide are juiced up with enough specs to be relevant and powerful for 2-3 years.  

Now, whether you want a budget laptop for video editing or the best 4K laptop, be ready to spend the big bucks because these laptops won’t come cheap. 

Here is our list of the best laptops for video editing. We’ve kept it versatile and tried our best to answer a burning question, ‘what is the best laptop for video editing?’

11 Best Laptops For Video Editing

1. Lenovo ThinkPad P17 Mobile Workstation

Best Lenovo Laptop for Video Editing

Feature Highlights

• Purpose-built Intel Xeon processor
• Intel vPro CPU
• Anti-Glare UHD IPS display
• 8GB dedicated GPU RAM
• 720p IR camera with ThinkShutter
• Fingerprint reader
• Clickpad style touchpad

Lenovo’s Mobile Workstation is a good laptop for video editing, packing quite powerful hardware in a plain plastic frame. Both its CPU and GPU are built for heavy-duty editing tasks, and they do it well, to be honest.

This 17-inch, 4K laptop has 64GB of RAM. That’s about as much RAM as you would find in the best gaming laptops. For us, that answers whether this laptop can handle rendering and transcoding or not.

Then there is a massive 1TB SSD and 2 NVMe M.2 ports for additional SSD installation as well.

In short, apart from the appearance, there’s very little to not like about this laptop.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Xeon W-10855M
• GPU: NVIDIA Quadro RTX 4000 with Max-Q
• RAM: 64GB DDR4 RAM
• Storage: 1TB PCIe SSD
• Battery Life: 7 Hours

Price: Around $4000 On Amazon | Starting From $2999 On Lenovo

2. HP Spectre X360 13T

HP’s Best 4K Video Editing Laptop

Feature Highlights

• 4K OLED touchscreen display
• HP Brightview technology
• Edge-to-edge display screen
• Quad-core 11th generation Intel processor
• Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C ports
• HP Fast Charge

The HP Spectre X360 is one of the best laptops for video editing in a 2-in-1 convertible design. The 360-degree hinges, 4K OLED touchscreen, and stylus support are hard to find with these specs at this price.

Some might render the 13.3-inch display as too little for a video editing laptop, but we think it’s more than decent considering it’s a 4K display with 400 nits brightness and an anti-reflective panel.

The AI-Powered Iris Xe Graphics do fall slightly short of its competition, but the 16GB of RAM is a big help. And in tablet mode, editing becomes a breeze with the highly precise stylus.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1165G7
• GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 RAM
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Battery Life: 10 Hours

Price: Around $1500 On Amazon | $1600 On Newegg | $1520 On HP

3. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 4

Lenovo’s Future-Proof Powerhouse

Feature Highlights

• Octa-Core 11th generation processor
• 4GB dedicated GPU memory
• WQXGA display screen
• Thunderbolt 4 ports
• 1080p webcam- with Windows Hello support
• HDMI port

Lenovo’s X1 series has been playing catchup to HP’s XPS series, and the X1 Extreme Gen 4 might be their home run. 

Lenovo beefed up this laptop with an 11th generation i7 processor, an NVIDIA RTX 3050 graphics card, and 64GB DDR4 RAM. If that doesn’t make this one of the best laptops for video editing, we don’t know what will.

We feel that the WQXGA display should’ve been 4K or 3K but seeing the 2TB storage option, with 4 PCIe slots for further expansion, it’s clear that Lenovo prioritizes power over appearance.

So, although you won’t be able to edit in 4K, things like rendering, encoding, and final editing will happen more quickly than on plenty of other video editing laptops.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-11850H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
• RAM: 64GB DDR4
• Storage: 2TB PCIe NVMe SSD
• Battery Life: 8 Hours

Price: Around $2680 On Amazon | $3175 On Lenovo 

4. Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel

A Unique Video Editing Laptop With Plenty Of Power

Feature Highlights

• Six-way folding design
• Dual-screen hinges
• 4K UHD display
• Corning Gorilla Glass 6 IPS panel
• Delta E<2- best color reproduction
• Dual-fan cooling system

If you have a knack for buying unique devices, you’ll enjoy this Acer laptop for video editing. But, if your focus is performance and performance alone, you’ll love the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel.

PANTONE validation and Adobe 100% sRGB gamut ensure you enjoy lifelike color accuracy and recreate it just as well in the final edit. Combine that with the 4K UHD IPS display panel, and you have a laptop with the most accurate color recreation abilities.

Although the 350nits is a bit low, the display is still bright enough to work easily under heavy light.

The only thing it lacks is future-proofing. An 11th generation processor and this creator’s beasts would’ve been our top pick. Even though it falls to third place, it’s still one of the best laptops for video editing.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10750H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
• Battery Life: 10 Hours

Price: Around $2500 On Amazon | $2500 On Newegg | $3509 On Newegg

5. ASUS ZenBook Pro Duo 15

Best Video Editing Laptop With a Dual-Screen 

Feature Highlights

• 4K OLED touchscreen display
• Tilting ScreenPad Plus
• SIX functionalities in ScreenPad
• 133% sRGB color gamut
• 70% Blue light reduction

The obvious talking point about the Zenbook Pro Duo is the design. The new tilting screen pad with the ScreenXpert 2.0 software enhances productivity as well as brings an unseen form factor to the market.

Ok, it’s not as effective as the Acer ConceptD 7 Ezel, but it brings new options and we love ASUS for that. The only thing we don’t like about the design is that there’s no palm rest. The second display + the keyboard and the trackpad leave no area to rest your palms.

Now while you work at a proper table, using the dual-screen laptop is no problem. But having to use it on the go will stir up some accidental clicks and the lot.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Battery Life: 5 Hours

Price: Around $2300 On Amazon | $2570 On Newegg | $3200 On Walmart

6. Alienware m15 R4

Best Laptop for Video Editing and Gaming

Feature Highlights

• Windows 11 compatible + free upgrade
• 3rd generation Tensor Cores
• Supports THREE M.2 SSDs at once
• 8GB dedicated graphics card RAM
• Killer Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.1

As long as it has the right hardware, a decent gaming laptop will work perfectly as a video editing laptop, provided you are okay with the aggressive design of course. 

The Alienware m15 R4 certainly has the right hardware to be one of the best laptops for video editing.

With Amazon chalking off $300, it’s a sweet 2-in-1 deal on a gaming and video editing laptop. When it comes to the specs, the m15 beats some of the best video editing laptops in terms of GPU, RAM, and storage. But, the display is a bit of a let-down.

The 300Hz 1080p display is decent, but it cannot match the gamut range and color reproduction abilities of a 4K OLED display or even a WQXGA display. So, it is a trade-off between hardware and display, and we aren’t too sure if we would make it or not.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD
• Battery Life: 3 Hours

Price: Around $2100 On Amazon | $2950 On Newegg | $2500 On Walmart

7. ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 OLED

Best Budget Laptop For Video Editing

Feature Highlights

• Intel Evo Platform
• Excellent OLED display
• Windows 11 compatible
• Thunderbolt 4, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.0
• Blazing quick DDR4X RAM
• HDMI and USB Type-C ports

The list might have you worried about the extravagant prices of video editing laptops, but there are some budget picks in here too, with low-end hardware.

The ASUS ZenBook Flip 13 is a great budget video editing laptop that will work equally well as your daily driver. With features like long battery life, a durable and lightweight aluminum build, and massive storage, the Flip 13 is a great 2-in-1 video editing laptop. 

The Intel Iris Xe Graphics is the only thing you have to compromise with. Apart from that, the 11th gen Intel EVO processor with help from DDR4X 16GB RAM handles everything pretty well.

The keyboard isn’t full-sized but there is a virtual Numpad on the trackpad. There are plenty of ports too, with a notable absence of the 3.5mm audio jack.

Fun Fact: The ZenBook Flip 13 is the first laptop to remove the headphone jack. We hope it stays the only one.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1165G7
• GPU: Intel Iris Xe Graphics
• RAM: 16GB DDR4X
• Storage: 1TB NVMe M.2 SSD
• Battery Life: 11 Hours

Price: Around $1200 On Amazon | $1550 On Newegg | $2084 On Walmart

8. Dell G15 5510

Great Budget Video Editing & Gaming Laptop

Feature Highlights

• WVA Anti-Glare display
• Dynamic Performance Mode
• Dedicated 6GB GDDR6 GPU RAM
• Alienware Command Centre
• 120Hz display with DLSS
• Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.1

The great thing about gaming laptops is that even a budget gaming laptop can have the NVIDIA 30 Series GPU. And by cutting costs with a sub-par display screen, Dell fits in a tank of a GPU that powers through tasks like gaming and extensive photo/video editing.

Users can customize how and where the laptop focuses its powers with Alienware Command Centre and Dynamic Performance Mode. So, the performance levels can be increased as needed.

All-in-all, that powerhouse of a GPU is the only exciting thing about this budget laptop for video editing. Other minor features like Nahimic 3D sound and Game Shift Technology are more exciting for gamers than editors.

Still, for around $1400, this is exceptional gaming and video editing combo.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i7-10870H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD
• Battery Life: 3 Hours

Price: Around $1400 On Amazon | $1970 On Newegg | $1580 On Walmart

9. Lenovo Legion 5 15 Gaming Laptop

Best Budget Laptop for Video Editing with AMD Ryzen Processor

Feature Highlights

• AMD + NVIDIA combo
• Octa-Core processor
• 100% sRGB color gamut
• Coldfront 3.0
• Legion AI Engine
• 4-zone RGB TrueStrike Keyboard

Although AMD processors aren’t the first choice of content creators and video editors, we feel like they are getting better. The new Ryzen 7 and Ryzen 9 series is certainly giving Intel a headache due to their cheap cost and decent performance levels.

With the Lenovo Legion 5, Lenovo set a great base to build a budget gaming laptop series. But, the power of AMD Ryzen 7 along with NVIDIA’s RTX 30 series GPU has been a revelation for tasks other than gaming. 

Even some of the premium video editing laptops won’t have a GPU as powerful as the RTX 3050 Ti. And at this price, it seems crazy, but here it is.

So, if you love AMD-powered laptops, there are few better than this one for video editing and gaming.

Tech Specs

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
• RAM: 16GB DDR4
• Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
• Battery Life: 8 Hours

Price: Around $1050 On Amazon | $1280 On Newegg | $1670 On Walmart

10. Apple MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021)

Best Laptop For 4K Video Editing

Feature Highlights

• P3 color gamut
• 1000 nits bright Liquid Retina XDR display
• 1080p Facetime camera
• Six-speakers audio set-up
• Thunderbolt 4
• Touch ID

This $2500 MacBook is worth every penny for video editors, music producers, and content creators. The 10-core CPU and 16-Core GPU blows its competition out of the water.

Its latest Apple M1 Pro chip handles simple web-browsing to 8K video transcoding as if it’s nothing. Where other machines will start growling, this beast of a laptop won’t budge.

Did You Know: Latest Apple M1 chips have been optimized for the best video editing software like Final Cut Pro and Cinema 4D.

Then there’s the XDR Liquid Retina display with a contrast ratio of 1,000,000:1 providing vivid and unbelievable visuals. Then there’s the 17-hour battery life that feels too good to be true, but it is.

In short, this is the best mac for video editing, and it would’ve been our top pick if it wasn’t for Dell XPS 17 9710. 

Tech Specs

• CPU: Apple M1 Pro Chip (10-Core)
• GPU: Integrated Apple GPU (16-Core)
• RAM: 16GB RAM
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Battery Life: 16 Hours

Price: Around $2500 On Amazon | $2500 On BestBuy | $2500 On Walmart

11. Dell XPS 17 9710

Our Pick As the Best Laptop for Video Editing

Feature Highlights

• 11th generation Octa-Core processor
• UHD+ display with 921,000 pixels
• EyeSafe technology
• AI Acceleration with RTX 30 series
• Built-in Alexa
• Waves Nx 3D Audio

Choosing the best video editing laptop between the Apple MacBook 14-inch (2021) and Dell XPS 17 9710 wasn’t easy. In the end, the bigger screen size and the easy upgradability of XPS 17 took the W for Dell.

But, you have to pay the price of choosing the bigger screen size though. Only at Amazon is the XPS 17 9710 available for around $2800. The original price for these specs lands at over $3000.

Then again, there’s the future-proofing with the 11th generation processor and Windows 11 upgrade. So, we’ll stand by our decision and suggest the Dell XPS 17 9710 over the 14-inch MacBook 2021.

Tech Specs

• CPU: Intel Core i9-11900H
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060
• RAM: 32GB DDR4
• Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
• Battery Life: 12 Hours

Price: Around $2750 On Amazon | $3700 On Newegg | $2800 On Dell

Recommended Hardware For The Best Video Editing Laptop

The best video editing laptop has to live up to the expectations and standards. There are a lot of factors that combine to make a good video laptop and that’s what we’ll be discussing here. A short and to-the-point buyer’s guide for the best video editing laptops.

CPU

First and foremost, you need to consider the processor of the laptop.

If you have the money, go for the Intel Core i7 or i9 laptop. A 10th or 11th-generation i7 laptop can handle video editing with power to spare. AMD Ryzen 7 or Ryzen 9 processors have similar power if you are interested in an AMD setup. But, Intel is the better option out of the two.

Of course, there’s the latest Apple M1 Chip that even beats the Intel i9.

GPU

Next up is the part that will do the heavy lifting.

NVIDIA has the best GPUs for heavy-duty tasks, whether it’s gaming, video editing, or crypto mining. So, if you want a good video editing laptop, get one that has an NVIDIA GPU.

The GTX Series is for budget users and the RTX Series has premium powers, especially the RTX 30 Series. To take the cake, choose a laptop that has dedicated GPU RAM, like the Alienware m15 R4.

RAM & Storage

For a video editing laptop, RAM is just as important as the GPU. Higher RAM means higher processing speeds and better multitasking. It also means your editing experience is smoother and the final cuts transcode quickly.

Anything lower than 16GBs is just not worth it. If you want to run the best video editing software, you need at least 16GB of RAM.

Similarly, storage is important too. 4K videos will take up a lot of space and a bigger SSD will also help increase the overall performance. 1TB is the ideal number, but 512GB isn’t too shabby either. There’s absolutely no room for an HDD, an SSD is a must.

These 3 are the most important factors for us. Others like display resolution and battery life can be worked around, but if you miss any of these 3, you’re stuck with an underpowered video editing laptop.

As for good design and durable build, we feel these things are implied when it comes to a $2000 to $4000 laptop.

Is a laptop or a desktop better for video editing?

A few years back, we would pick a desktop as the better choice for video editing with our eyes closed. But now the range of video editing laptops on offer is just as good as a desktop, if not better.

So, to answer this question, you only have to consider two things, whether you prefer portability or upgradeability.

A good laptop for video editing will offer portability, whereas a PC will allow easy hardware upgradeability for years to come. Although many laptops now also offer easy upgradeability. But even with upgrades, a laptop will only last a maximum of 3 years before the hardware is too outdated to run the best video editing software.

In the end, it’s a matter of preference and usage. If you only need a device for light video editing, maybe as a freelancer, a laptop will be just fine. But, if you are interested in a career as a professional video editor and will be developing a studio, nothing beats a desktop workstation.

Conclusion

So, what is the best laptop for video editing? We already told you about our top picks, it’s time for you to share yours in the comments section.

We found you budget video editing laptops, 2-in-1 video editing laptops, and even some gaming laptops that make good video editing laptops. This list is as versatile as it gets, and we hope you find your best video editing laptop here.

FAQs