The Best Mini Laptops with video

We’ve collated the best Mini Laptops from around the internet for you to choose from!

Laptops are getting bigger and bigger. With Apple offering from 13 – 16 inch laptops, gone are the days of the 11 inch or, my personal fave, the beloved 12-inch MacBook. Just look at the 15-inch MacBook Air, things are trending upwards. Not to mention the unruly beast that is the Acer Predator 21x

Try lugging that around a packed city. Some people just want a smaller, more manageable laptop without giving up the performance you can get with the larger counterparts. If that’s you, then you’re in the right place. We’re going to take a look at some of the best mini laptops money can buy

The term “mini laptop” can be considered a subset of the term ultrabook. Taken one step further, mini laptops are often much, much more portable than your average laptop.

In the most extreme cases, mini laptops can be small enough to even fit in your pocket! Making them excellent companions for commutes, or as easy-to-access devices on workbenches and similar locations. For when you need the functions of a laptop (built-in-keyboard, USB ports, etc.) but want to keep things light.

The Best Mini Laptops 2023

Let’s get started and take a look at your best options for mini laptops in 2023. We’re going to split it up based on use case. The Gamer, the Content Creator and the Writer. The Writer is the everyday laptop, but Writer sounded better. Take a look and make your choice based on your needs!

Best Mini Gaming Laptop 2023 – GPD WIN Max 2 2023

Starting off right at the top, the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the bees knees, the one all the kids want, the GPD WIN Max 2. The 2022 model was the winner of our best mini laptop guide last year as well, and for good reason. A small, sleek gaming handheld console that’s a lot more laptop than you’d expect.

The lovechild between the GPD Win 4 and GMKTec GBook, you can play all of your favourite games in an unmatched chassis that can go with you everywhere. It wouldn’t look out of place in an office, at home, a coffee shop or a LAN Party. There truly is nothing else like it.

You can spec out your GPD WIN MAX 2 2023 with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U  processor with eight cores and sixteen threads running up to 5.1GHz at 30W TDP and even a discrete AMD Radeon 780M at 2,700Mhz. There’s a choice of 16GB or 32GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB or 2TB of SSD with a slot for an additional SSD. It has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 with support via a separately purchased 4G LTE module for mobile data to really take your gaming anywhere. You won’t be lacking for any power with this bad boy, it really a one-of-a-kind in the mini laptop space.

Get to know the GPD WIN Max 2 2023 a little more intimately with our review here and YouTube video above.

Best Mini Content Creation Laptop 2023 – GMKTec GBook

Okay, I hear you. You’re not entirely into gaming. Maybe you don’t need the very comfortable, built in controller of the WIN Max 2. Which is fair, gaming isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. Maybe you’re a designer, a programmer or prefer to unwind with a good movie but still want something weildy, then the GMKTec GBook is for you.

With a beautiful 4K HDR screen housed in bezels so thin you won’t realize you’re carrying a 14 inch laptop until you open it up to set your eyes upon the picturesque display. You may think you’re looking through a window you can step through, but don’t worry, that’s just the screen. This ones for the artists, the filmmakers, the designers, the creators. When you need to see every pixel of your creation, this is the screen you want to be using. With a Delta E of less than two and 100% access to the Adobe sRGB range you’ll bask in the glory of 16.7 million colours. Get the cinema-look to your movies, magazine quality for your designs wherever you are.

It’s not just pretty to look at, don’t be fooled. The GMKTec GBook is the workhorse that keeps on going. It may not have the best of the best portable specs that the WIN Max 2 has to support gaming, but the GBook won’t let you down. Sporting a 12th Gen Intel Core i5-1235U processor with 10 Cores and 12 Threads, it can run at up to 4.4GHz to blaze through a lot of what you can throw at it. To support that CPU you’ll find a healthy 16 GB of DDR5 RAM to keep all your plates spinning, no matter how many you have to juggle. On top of that you can even expand the already cavernous included 1TB SSD for all of those projects with unending reels of footage. If you want to make the best, you need the space to store the best, and the GBook has got you covered.

You’ve got all the ports you need, this is not the MacBook experince where you’re carrying dongles upon dongles for any task. You’ve got three USB-A ports, a HDMI port, the famed USB-C. Even with those full you can still charge your device. You’re sorted, out of the box.

To learn more about this beauty, take a look at our review here and YouTube video above.

Best Mini All-Round Laptop – GPD Pocket 3

I get it, I get it. You’re not a gamer and you’re not an influencer constantly churning out content, you just want something that you can easily take with you that support your needs. Maybe you’re a writer, or an artist or just want to check emails and watch YouTube on the train. This is the laptop for you.

The GPD Pocket 3 is the portable king of the list. The best-est and mini–est of all. With the smallest screen here at just 8 inches it still boasts an incredible 1900×1200 resolution ensuring pixel perfect images every time. Don’t let the size fool you, this mini machine still packs a punch. Sporting up to an i7-1195G7 with 4 cores, 8 threads and running at a maximum clock of 5GHz, you won’t be lacking for power with this one. Along with 16GB DDR4 RAM and Iris Xe graphics and a Terabyte of storage, you’re set for a long time to come.

For those who don’t need a lot of power, if you’re just writing, checking emails, watching the odd movie there is also a less powerful version sporting an Intel Pentium processor. Not as fancy as the i7 but definitely still enough to handle all of your daily tasks, and more.

Slip it into your purse to get out a few pages of your novel down, or take a look at some emails during your commute. Or have a doodle with the reversible display and the stylus. Put the device into tablet mode to make the notebook you can carry everywhere that will never run out of pages. Take a few hours to relax on a long flight, prop it up in movie mode and sit back and relax. It won’t be a mission to lug around, take it anywhere.

You’ll always be able to connect with the included 2 USB-A ports, HDMI, Ethernet and blisteringly fast and capable Thunderbolt 4 port. As if that wasn’t enough, there is a modular section of the device where you can choose what additional port you want. Be it a USB 3.2 module included, an RS-232 serial port for industry data communication or a single port KVM control module that has HDMI and USB support. The GPD Pocket 3 has you covered.

To learn more about this teeny powerhouse check out the review here, or the YouTube video above.

So you’ve got three different choices for three different people, which Mini Laptop are you choosing? If you’re still not sure take a look at last year’s choices to help make your mind.

To learn more about our other offerings and products take a look at our Knowledge Base click here

The Very Best Mini Laptops 2022

Below is a list of the best mini laptops currently available to purchase from DroiX.

Best Mini Laptop: GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD

The GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD mini laptop simply does it all! For work it crunches through highly demanding large office documents, and for gaming you can play the latest AAA Windows games.

The GPD WIN MAX 2 AMD gaming mini laptop features the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U processor with eight cores and sixteen threads running up to 4.7GHz at 28W TDP. There’s a choice of 16GB or 32GB LPDDR5 RAM and 1TB or 2TB of SSD with a slot for an additional SSD. It has WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2 with support via a separately purchased 4G LTE module for mobile data.

Underneath the removable covers transforming it from a work mini laptop into a gaming mini laptop, are gaming controls which are very comfortable to use. It features hall effect analogue sticks and trigger buttons for more accuracy and less wear and tear on components.

The GPD WIN MAX 2 mini laptop excels for gaming. It can play the latest AAA Windows games such as Overwatch 2 at high settings at a solid 60 FPS for example. Not only is a great for games, it is also a beast when it comes to emulation. You can enjoy all of the classic 8-bit and 16-bit systems right up to more recent gaming handhelds such as the Vita and more!

You can read our in-depth GPD WIN MAX 2 review here and see why we think it is the best mini laptop here.. You can learn more and buy your GPD WIN MAX 2 here.

Best Mini Laptop for day to day use: P2 Max 2022

The GPD P2 Max 2022 is a refresh of the popular best mini laptop from 2019. Created by GPD, who specialize in small-form-factor electronic devices of this nature (gaming handhelds, mini laptops, etc).

Unlike the original model, the P2 Max 2022 only comes in one variation. This variation boasts an improved processor – a Pentium N6000. 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM, and an M.2 NVMe SSD.

Unlike similar laptops, the design philosophy behind the P2 Max is not to be some powerhouse does-it-all workstation. Rather, the focus is on providing a stylish, lightweight laptop for the casual user to manage emails, write articles, and perform general computing tasks throughout the day. Without adding too much heft to their daily carry (you can just slip it in your bag without noticing much).

The real centrepiece of the P2 Max 2022 is it’s large touch-screen display. Clocking in at a sizable 8.9 inches, and boasting a very high resolution of 2560x1600p, a brightness of 300nits, and a pixels-per-inch rating of 340 PPI. The visual quality granted by this laptop is extremely high compared to its contemporaries.

This large display does make it a tad less portable, but at the end of the day, compromises have to be made.

Being larger overall however, the GPD P2 Max 2022 features a deceptively comfortable chiclet-style keyboard. Which, unlike other smaller keyboards, is comfortable enough to type on for extended periods of time. The button layout is a little unusual however and takes some getting used to (still QWERTY, but with some punctuation being in odd places to maximize space).

The P2 Max 2022 also features a fairly standard selection of interfaces, including a Micro-HDMI port. Sadly however, it lacks a built-in microSD card reader, so you’ll need to purchase a dedicated USB reader for that functionality.

Overall, the P2 Max is definitely contender for one of the best mini laptop for day to day use on the market today.

Learn a little bit more about the P2 Max 2022 in our GPD P2 Max 2022 Review – or click the video above to watch it here!

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Runner Up Best Mini Laptop for work: GPD Pocket 3

The GPD Pocket 3 is the latest iteration in the second of GPD‘s two primary product lines. The GPD Pocket family.

It takes a stark departure from the previous models by discarding the “portability at all costs” mantra, and instead adopting a slightly more utilitarian approach. With an appearance and feature-set very similar to that of the GPD Micro PC, and One Netbook’s A1 mini laptop.

The GPD Pocket 3 also comes in two variants!

The first of these being the “base” model, featuring an Intel Pentium N6000 processor (also seen in the P2 Max 2022), 8GB of LPDDRR4x RAM, and 512GB of NVMe storage.

The second model, denoted as the “high-end” one, features a significantly more powerful i7-1195G7 processor, as well as 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM (that is also clocked at a higher frequency), and a 1TB NVMe SSD.

Circling back to the “Utilitarian” comment earlier, the GPD Pocket 3 features a good selection of interfaces. Including an ethernet jack, full-sized HDMI, and even a Thunderbolt 4 USB Type-C port (for eGPU compatibility, among other things).

The number of interfaces can be FURTHER expanded via the “modular interface system”. Via a screw-fastened port in the rear of device, users can connect one of (currently) three modules. An extra USB Type-A port for general functionality. A KVM port with USB and HDMI inputs to allow the GPD Pocket 3 to act as a point of access for servers. And an RS232 port as a more “low-spec, industrial” variant of the KVM port.

Another highlight of the device is it’s display. Capable of rotating 180 degrees on its X-axis, then folding back down over the keyboard. Turning the GPD Pocket 3 into a chunky tablet PC of sorts.

To learn more about one of the best mini laptops, check out our GPD Pocket 3 review!

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Honourable Mention Mini Laptop: GPD WIN MAX 2021

The GPD WIN Max 2021 is a refresh of GPD‘s WIN MAX gaming laptop that was released in the middle of 2020. This refresh made its way to the general public in the latter quarter of 2021. So while it’s technically a last-year model, it’s comparable to the P2 Max 2022 and GPD Pocket 3 in its release window.

The focus of the GPD WIN MAX 2021 is to provide a comprehensive gaming laptop experience that is also comfortable enough to use as a daily driver. Boasting a large size, powerful cooling and many useful functions that are appreciable by gamers-on-the-go.

So despite being on our list of the best mini laptop, the GPD WIN MAX 2021 is comparable to a gaming laptop more than anything.

Power-wise, the GPD WIN MAX 2021 is the strongest on our list. Featuring an Intel i7-1195G7 processor, 16GB of LPDDR4x RAM (clocked at an impressive 4266MHz) and a 1TB NVMe SSD.

There are two central attractions to the GPD P2 Max. The first being it’s 8-inch display with a resolution of 1280x800p. While decently sized, the bezels are admittedly on the large-side.

The second point of attraction is the built-in-gaming controls. With face buttons, analogue sticks and shoulder/trigger buttons built into the system, there is no need to purchase a separate controller in order to game with the unit. There’s also a hardware switch that turns the gamepad functionality into that of a keyboard/mouse – allowing you to move the mouse cursor with the joystick, among other changes.

Much like the Pocket 3, the selection of interfaces on the WIN MAX 2021 is also excellent. With multiple USB ports (including one Thunderbolt Type-C, allowing for eGPU compatability), a full-sized HDMI port, and an RJ45 ethernet jack!.

There is also a variant of the GPD WIN MAX 2021 that featured an AMD Ryzen 7 4800U APU at the heart of the system. While marginally cheaper, this model was delayed a couple of months due to manufacturing difficulties and currently- to our knowledge – is already “end-of-life” (any stock you can find now is the last of its kind).

The AMD variant is very slightly cheaper than the Intel variant, but replaces the Thunderbolt USB-C port with a regular USB-C port. In all other factors (processor/graphics performance aside), it is identical to the Intel variant.

To learn about the different versions of the WIN MAX 2021, we encourage you to check out our GPD WIN MAX 2021 review, and our GPD WIN MAX 2021 AMD review!

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Best Industry Mini Laptop: GPD Micro PC

The GPD Micro PC is GPD’s attempt at creating a more “technician-friendly” best mini laptop. Gone are the sleek, smooth curves commonly seen, replaced by an overall bulkier, utilitarian design.

The name of the game for the GPD Micro PC is “compatibility”. This mini laptop is jam packed with interfaces for something so small. Owing to it’s identity as a technicians best friend. On top of the regular smattering of USB ports seen on most mini laptops, the GPD Pocket 3 also features a full-sized HDMI port, and even a gigabit RJ45 ethernet switch.

The GPD Micro PC originally featured an Intel Celeron N4100 processor, but received a refresh about a year and a half later featuring the very slightly more powerful N4120 CPU. Both models boast high energy efficiency, but rather low performance. Making the Micro PC poor for intensive tasks, but fine for simple ones like word processing.

A silver lining however is that this mini laptop does feature LPDDR4 RAM – 8GB to be exact. And an SSD that can be upgraded

Among other models, the GPD Micro PC is also substantially lower-cost, thanks to the plastic shell and the lower-specification processor.

All-in-all, this is one of the best mini laptop one can find if they’re looking for a cheap, low-cost computer to put on their workbench, or use for other practical purposes.

You can learn more and buy the GPD Micro PC here.

GPD Pocket 2 – M3 Edition

The GPD Pocket 2 is the second member of GPD’s flagship “Pocket” series’ of mini laptops. Much like most of GPD’s product line, the intent behind the GPD Pocket 2 is to provide a device that “end-to-end premium mobile computing needs of business professionals”.

Releasing in late-2018/early-2019, the GPD Pocket 2 was a noticeable upgrade over the original pocket model in many ways. Featuring a much slimmer design overall, as well as improved performance.

The GPD Pocket 2 features an M3-8100y processor. This dual-core CPU runs at an impressive frequencies of up to 3.4GHz when under load, but defaults to a much more modest 1.10GHz as a method of saving power and extending battery life when not needed. Also included is 8GB of dual-channel LPDDR3 RAM, and a 256GB SSD.

Previously, there was a slightly lower specification model featuring an Intel Celeron 3965Y CPU. This was discontinued however for reasons currently unknown.

True to its name, the GPD Pocket 2 is one of the few devices to comfortably fit in a relatively “normal” sized pocket (no cargo pants or huge jackets required here!). The increased thinness over its predecessor greatly aids this, making it the best mini laptop around with regards to portability.

Additionally, the Celeron processor makes this mini laptop highly energy-efficient, with a TDP of approximately 6 watts, you can generally expect around 5-8 hours of lifetime with light usage.

Overall, the GPD Pocket 2 is an interesting – if a little outdated – option for a portable PC. For those who need the flexibility of a PC without adding too much to their daily-carry.