While it’s easy to assume that a good laptop for writers must have an excellent keyboard, that is not the only requirement. Ever been out at a café or travelling to a destination working on your report or a script and the laptop runs out of battery after barely an hour’s worth of use? Or maybe you want to travel super light, but your laptop requires you carry a separate bag just because it’s so heavy and bulky. Our laptop recommendations here take care of all these issues, allowing you to be truly free.
The AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor powers the Asus Zenbook 14, a chip manufactured using the 7nm process. This feature makes the new Ryzen processors not only more powerful but also very battery efficient. Additionally, you also get 8GB of DDR4 memory and an ultra-fast 512GB NVMe drive. While you don’t get a physical num-pad, the trackpad doubles up as the num-pad, giving you the whole experience without taking a toll on the size or weight of this ultra-light laptop.
The Dell XPS 13 has been the gold standard in the ultrabook segment. The XPS 13 combines all the right elements – a long battery life, extreme portability and even a great keyboard all into one form-factor. The keyboard offers nice big keycaps that are hard to miss, with a typing experience that takes minimal effort.
Lenovo has a lineage of producing laptops with keyboards that are loved all across the business world. Usually found on the more expensive ThinkPad line, the IdeaPad Slim 3i comes packing that same keyboard, with its signature U-shaped wide keycaps. Other than that, you also get a 10th gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB RAM and ample storage in the form of a 1TB HDD and a 256GB NVMe SSD.
The Asus VivoBook S14 has the same AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor as the more expensive ZenBook 14 and comes in a sleek and thin form-factor. The 1.4mm keystroke provides a satisfying typing feel, and also a keyboard that’s easy to get used to quickly. Other specs include a 512GB NVMe drive and an empty m.2 slot for additional storage. A 3-cell 50Whr battery ensures you don’t run out of juice at the worst moment possible.