Best mobile workstations 2020: the most powerful laptops for businesses

The best mobile workstations combine the portability of a laptop with the raw power of a desktop PC. On top of being the best business laptops, they are also capable of handling intensive tasks such as video editing and rendering.

Now that processors and graphics cards are getting smaller and slimmer, we’re now getting more powerful portables with thinner and more portable designs. This means that many of the best mobile workstations can be thinner and lighter than ever without compromising on performance or build quality. However, all that also comes at a cost, which is why it’s so important to carefully choose the best mobile workstation for your needs.

Solid, reliable and powerful, the best mobile workstations must also be future proof and can help you with your work for years to come without forcing you to blow your budget. Thanks to our price comparison tool, we can help take the sting out of the price tag by helping you find the very best prices for these excellent mobile workstations.

If you'd prefer a best desktop workstation roundup, or if you're interested in a business laptop that isn't necessarily a workstation, we've got you covered as well. 

• For a more WASD-centric alternative, here is the best gaming laptop

Best mobile workstations at a glance

1. MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)
2. MacBook Pro 15-inch with Touch Bar
3. Razer Blade Studio Edition
4. HP ZBook 17 G3
5. HP ZBook Studio G3
6. HP Spectre Pro 13 G1
7. Lenovo ThinkPad P40 Yoga
8. Dell Precision 7720
9. Lenovo ThinkPad T460s

As thin, light and sleek as ever, the MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019) doesn’t actually feel like a 16-inch behemoth.This laptop will feel just as compact as the 15-inch MacBook Pros that preceded it and perhaps more than any other 16-inch laptops out there. Though it is a behemoth when it comes to power. Touting a 9th-generation Intel Core processor and an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M or 5500M graphics card, as well as up to 64GB of memory, there’s nothing this mobile workstation can't do. And, without a doubt, it will get through all your intensive workflow without breaking a sweat. If that isn’t enough, it also has incredible speakers for all your entertainment needs, and a much improved keyboard so you can type all day without fatiguing.

Read the full review: MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

You can configure the MacBook Pro 2018 to match your needs and budget.

Apple's most powerful laptop ever is also the best workstation laptop in 2018. It comes with the innovative Touch Bar that makes certain tasks much easier, but it's the powerful innards that really impress us with this mobile workstation. It features up to 32GB of RAM and a super-fast solid state hard drive, and comes with Intel's latest and most powerful processors. You can configure the MacBook Pro 2018 to match your needs and budget, and it all comes in Apple's trademark gorgeous design. If you're looking for the best mobile workstation that combines design and power, then this is a brilliant choice. As long as you have the budget.

 Read the full review: MacBook Pro (15-inch, mid-2018) review

Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition was designed with photographers, video editors and even game designers in mind.

While the regular Razer Blade laptop is famously a gaming laptop – one of the best, in fact, Razer has taken its sheer power and turned the whole thing into one of the best mobile workstations for creatives. There’s zero doubt that this laptop was designed with photographers, video editors and even game designers in mind, as it rocks powerful graphics cards and a gorgeous, factory-calibrated 4K display. Not unlike its gaming counterpart, you’ll be paying a pretty penny, especially for its souped up configuration with the Quadro RTX 5000 graphics card. However, if a fast and seamless workflow is of utmost importance in your day to day, this laptop certainly pays for itself.

Read the full review: Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition

HP ZBook 17 G3 is still very much a best-in-class.

HP's mobile workstation Ultrabook has already reached its third generation but the last one is still very much a best-in-class especially when it comes to sheer value for money. It is one of the cheapest workstations on the market to offer a professional dedicated graphics card, and the most affordable business laptop to come with a whopping half-decade warranty. HP opted for a 14-inch diagonal which may well hit a sweet spot for some.

Read the full review: HP ZBook 14 G2

HP ZBook Studio G3 is the perfect combination of brains and beauty.

HP calls it the perfect combination of brains and beauty and it is kind of hard to disagree. The G3 is essentially a mobile workstation that has been squeezed in an Ultrabook form factor. A 4K monitor adorns it and there's plenty of oomph under the hood. It is actually the only device known to us that comes with a Xeon CPU. Add in extensive ISV certification, a super-long warranty and MLD-STD 810G certification and you have a very attractive candidate.

Read the full review: HP ZBook Studio G3

The HP Spectre Pro 13 G1 is a formidable mobile workstation.

Despite being just over 10mm thick and weighing just over 1.16Kg, the HP Spectre Pro 13 G1 manages to pack a proper Core i7 CPU with a full HD 13.3-inch display, a massive 4-cell 38Whr battery and three USB Type C connectors. 

This makes it a formidable mobile workstation that offers plenty of power for even the most demanding of tasks. If you want a laptop that offers similar performance to your work desktop PC, then this brilliant machine is definitely worth considering. Its  3 Year Next Business Day onsite warranty also means if something goes wrong with the device, you can quickly get it fixed without missing out on work.

Lenovo ThinkPad P40 Yoga set the standard when it comes to convertible or 2-in-1 designs.

Lenovo hails this model as the world's first multi-mode workstation, one that manages to combine power and creativity thanks to a 360-degree hinge that has, to some extent, set the standard when it comes to convertible or 2-in-1 designs. What's more, it is one of the very rare laptops to come with built-in Wacom Active ES pen technology, capable of delivering 2048 levels of pen pressure sensitivity and tilt recognition.

Dell Precision 7720 is brilliant for photo and video editing.

As with most of Dell's laptops you can configure the Precision 7720 to meet your needs, which makes it one of the best workstation laptops in the world. By boosting the processor, screen and GPU of this laptop (compared to its base model) you'll get an excellent laptop for heavy-duty work. The 17-inch screen (which can be upgraded to 4K), is brilliant for photo and video editing, but it does mean that it's a bit larger and heavier than other machines in this list. It's also pricey, especially if you configure it with the latest components, but it remains a brilliant 

Lenovo ThinkPad T460s is a great choice if you're looking for an accomplished and affordable workstation laptop.

The ThinkPad T-series is a no-nonsense design with a focus on robustness over style. Even so, the T460s' 18.8mm thickness is within 1mm of the MacBook, and it's actually lighter at 1.4kg. It's not as powerful as some of the workstation laptops in this list, but it's not as expensive either, which makes it a great choice if you're looking for an accomplished workstation laptop for less hardcore workloads, while also keeping to a budget.

Read the full review: Lenovo ThinkPad T460s

• Want more choices? Check out our list of the best laptops.