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These are the best midrange laptops | NOW

You want a laptop for work at home or school and you want the device to be fast, but you don’t have to run heavy programs such as video editors or games on it. Which device is the best to buy? Together with the editors of BestGetest and Tweakers, NU.nl went looking for the answer and arrived at Lenovo Yoga Slim 7.

This is a shortened version of a more extensive test on BestGetest. You can read a full investigation of that the best midrange laptops.

A good work laptop is certainly not cheap and that is why we have higher expectations of these models than of the best budget laptops† The build quality must withstand heavy-handed use, there must be sufficient connections and the touchpad and keyboard must work fine and accurately. These are things that are regularly saved on cheaper laptops, but for this price the manufacturers have no excuse.

To get an idea of ​​what’s under the hood, we use specific measurement software to see how fast the processor, the SSD and the working memory really are. In addition, we will of course take a closer look at the display, with specialized devices that check the grayscale, color fidelity, brightness and much more. This is how we find out whether a screen is really good. Finally, of course, the battery is also put on the rack.




The best choice: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 13ACN5

  • Price: 899 euro
  • Advantages: Beautiful 2560×1600 screen, fast processor, competitively priced
  • Cons: Glossy instead of matte screen, only USB-C connections available

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 is a thin laptop with a 13.3-inch screen that has a resolution of 2560×1600. This resolution and the small size together provide an above-average sharp image, something we don’t often see for this price. It is a pity that the screen is glossy, which can be disturbing if it is very bright in your environment.

The battery life is reasonable but not exceptional, with an average of nine hours before the battery is empty. On the other hand, a screen like this also consumes more energy, which makes the battery life very acceptable to us.

If we look at the performance, we see that this is definitely a fast laptop. This is largely due to the Ryzen processor, but the working memory of 16 GB also helps. The fact that the laptop also has 512 GB of storage space is of course also a bonus. The disadvantage is that you cannot expand this memory.

The housing is made of aluminum, which makes for a thin but sturdy machine. Please note that we only find USB-C connections on the side, so you will probably need an adapter cable or dock.




Cheaper alternative: Acer Swift 3

  • Price: 699 euro
  • Advantages: Low weight, matte Full HD screen, good battery life
  • Cons: Casing could be sturdier, not the best image quality

The Acer Swift 3 is a lot smoother than many of its competitors in this price range, partly due to the eight processor cores. The working memory of 16 GB and the storage space of 512 GB are not bad and the end result is a laptop that offers a lot of speed for its money.

In addition, at 1.2 kilograms, this is a particularly light laptop, with a housing that is partly made of plastic. That’s nice if you have to take the thing with you all day, but not so nice when you press hard on the keyboard or the touchpad and notice that the entire housing gives way. You will also find the usual USB connections, including a multifunctional USB-C connection and HDMI 2.0. There is a fingerprint scanner, but unfortunately no card reader.

The screen is basically fine, with a Full HD resolution of 1920×1080. In addition, it features a matte coating that minimizes reflections. It is a pity that the maximum brightness is slightly less than we had hoped and the screen cannot display the full color spectrum of the sRGB standard. Many cheaper laptops can’t do that either, but in this price category we see that possibility more and more.

In short, the Acer Swift 3 is a particularly smooth laptop for its price range, with a low weight and strong battery. It is recommended for the user who prefers to take his laptop everywhere.

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