It has only been a few months since the release of the HP Spectre x360, which claimed to be the thinnest laptop in the world at the time of its release. Since then, there have already been at least two notable claims to the name of “World’s thinnest laptop”. Before we begin I’m just going to let you know that neither of these two claims are held by an Apple product.
Don’t get me wrong, MacBooks are still impressive, but these claimants are much thinner while also touting their own sleek designs. However, it should be noted that some of these laptops sacrificed a bit more than the others in order to be called the “world’s thinnest laptop”. The three laptops we will be looking at in particular are the HP Spectre x360, the Acer Swift 7, and the Lenovo Yoga Book.
HP Spectre x360
As mentioned earlier, the HP Spectre was the title holder to the claim of world’s thinnest laptop back in October of last year. The Spectre x360 is an extremely impressive device, and it is capable of flipping into a large tablet which is great if you ever have the sudden urge to binge watch all of your favorite shows on Netflix.
The impressiveness of the Spectre does not come from its thinnest alone. The spectre is more than just a gimmick laptop which was created solely to be the thinnest laptop in the world, the Spectre x360 actually hosts some pretty impressive specs, such as:
• Up to 16 Gigabytes RAM
• Intel Core i5 or i7
• 4K Display
• Choice of Intel or NVIDIA graphics card (depending on model)
• Choice between 256 or 512 GB SSD
• Up to 15 Hour Battery Life
Acer Swift 7
The next contender for the throne of world’s thinnest laptop was the Acer Swift 7. However, unlike the Spectre x360, the Swift 7 does sacrifice some power in order to be the thinnest laptop on the market. Perhaps the most notable instance of these reductions is the limits placed on the Swift 7’s storage.
Laptops have never been known for their customization, but the Acer Swift 7 doesn’t give you any options related to RAM or SSD memory storage space. If you’re getting an Acer Swift at the time of this article’s publishing, you will only be capable of getting a model with 256 GB SSD, so if you need a laptop rental with more storage space consider the Spectre x360 or a different laptop. Besides the 256 GB SSD, the Swift 7 also has:
• Intel Core i5-7Y54 Processor
• 8 GB RAM
• 13.3 inch full HD display
• Up to 9 Hour Battery Life
Even though the Acer Swift 7 sacrificed some hardware in order to become the world’s thinnest laptop, it did succeed in becoming the world’s thinnest laptop and many still consider it to be the title holder.
Lenovo Yoga Book
The final, reluctant claimant to the title of world’s thinnest laptop is the Lenovo Yoga Book. If you already own, or know about the Yoga Book, at this point you’re probably saying “but the Yoga Book is a tablet, not a laptop!”, and you’re kind of right, it’s a 2-in-1 like the Microsoft Surface Pro.
When compared to other tablets the Yoga Book is great, and while the keyboard doesn’t detach, it can pivot a full 360° to easily convert it to tablet mode. However, it can be easy to mistake this device for something you would mainly use as your laptop, but here are some specs that you can look at which you can use to form an opinion of the device around:
• Intel Atom x5-Z8550 Processor
• 4 GB RAM
• 64 GB
• Up to 13 Hour Battery Life
• Halo Keyboard/Drawing Pad
• Windows or Android OS compatible
This is the only device where the list of specs needs a little bit of a further explanation. If you are worried about storage, the 64 GB of storage can be expanded an additional 128 gigabytes through a microSD card slot. The halo keyboard is just like a normal keyboard, but instead of physical keys you can press, the characters light up for the mode the keyboard is currently on, either keyboard mode or drawing pad mode. The drawing pad is another unique feature to the Yoga Book, which lets people express their inner artistic desires by drawing images through a touchscreen stylus onto where the keyboard normally is, which is a pretty neat feature. If you ever find yourself needing an art related laptop rental, the thinnest “laptop” in the world is a valid choice.
Conclusion
Spec wise, the HP Spectre x360 outperforms both the Acer Swift 7, and the Lenovo Yoga Book. However, the HP Spectre x360 and the Acer Swift 7 are both extremely similar,and while the Yoga Book is outperformed when compared to these two devices, it does bring some unique and interesting features to the table, even if it is more tablet than laptop. If you only need a thin but sleek looking laptop for an event, you can always go with a netbook rental if you’re not into the 2-in-1 tablet thing, but so far everyone’s doing it!
Want to share this story on social media? Use these hashtags! #AcerSwift7 #HPSpectre #LaptopRentals #YogaBook