The best video editing laptops in 2018: make your footage sing

Looking to buy a new laptop for video editing? You're in the right place. Our expert team have analysed all the options right now, and curated this handy list to help you choose the right model for your skills and budget. (Prefer a desktop? Take a look at the best video editing computers elsewhere on the site.)

Having the right video editing software and hardware can make a world of difference. After all, choose the wrong tools and you'll waste hours in post-production wrestling with erratic touchpads, squinting at pixelated images and drumming your fingers as your work slowly exports. No one wants that.

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In this guide, we'll help you pick the right video editing laptop for you, no matter your budget or skill level. As well as our pick of the best overall machines, we'll show you the best budget video editing laptops (under £500/$500) and our favourite mid-range options (£1,000/$1,000) too. Whether you're a Mac fan or a Windows wizard, we've got you covered. Read on for our pick of the best video-editing laptops out there...

It might not surprise you to see Apple's most powerful laptop ever at the top of our list. The eye-catching Touch Bar may have attracted all the headlines on release, but it's the remarkable power, immaculate 13.3-inch Retina 2,560 x 1,600 resolution display and vast trackpad that make it the best for video editing.

Featuring a minimum of 8GB Ram and 256GB solid-state drive, even the entry-level MacBook Pro will be easily fast enough to deal with most editing tasks at a phenomenal lick. Its rich-sounding speakers also stand out for extra praise - handy if you're trying to nail the dialogue and ambient sounds on your latest creation.

Mac devotees will nod sagely when we say that the software available on Apple computers is the ideal companion for post-production. So if you've never used a Mac before, now might be the time to start.

Read our sister site TechRadar's MacBook Pro with Touch Bar review

Last year's Windows 10-based Dell XPS 15 is quite exceptional and pushes the MacBook very close to the title. It's a wonderful-to-use piece of kit in every department.

The beautiful combination of 4K 3840x2160 resolution InfinityEdge display (the bezel is barely there) and top-of-the-range graphics card will make your footage sing as you chop and cut. The Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 card is powered by 4GB of video RAM, which doubles that of the MacBook. The graphic capabilities of this beast of a PC top anything else in this price range.

There's a Kaby Lake processor and 8GB of RAM as standard under the hood, but you can pay extra to ramp up the RAM to a roaring 16GB. Rapid.

Read TechRadar's full Dell XPS 15 review

You don't need to be in the film industry to know that the sequel is rarely as good as the original. But quite unlike Jaws, Speed and The Exorcist, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a definite improvement on the first generation.

In fact, the Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a mere whisker away from toppling the XPS 15 for best Windows laptop for video editing. But when it comes to 2-in-1 laptop-tablet hybrids, there are none finer. Give the 15-inch screen a tug and it satisfyingly detaches from the keyboard, enabling you to use it as a huge tablet. Handy if you have a work in progress that you want to pass around a table. But, coming with the Surface Pen stylus, it also means you can get more control using the touchscreen for seamless video edits.

Study the Surface Book's spec sheet and it impresses at every line. The 3,240 x 2,160 resolution display is sharper than the majority of laptops on the market (including every MacBook in existence) and 4K footage will look just how you imagined it. The presence of the GPU and Nvidia GeForce chipset gives it yet a further boost in the graphics department, while the stacks of RAM and state-of-the-art Intel processor (all configurable) make it a processing monster.

If the words of praise keep getting drowned out by volume of the price tag, then the original Surface Book is still available and would still make a more than competent companion to any video editor. You have to settle for a 13.5-inch screen, but the savings can reach as much as a grand.

Read our full Microsoft Surface Book 2 review

Despite Apple's reputation for great expense, you don't have to pay top dollar for the sleek, powerful pleasure of owning one of its machines. The super-slim 13-inch MacBook Air makes for a brilliant sub-£1,000/$1,000 video editing machine.

The processor speed has just been upgraded to 1.8GHz and the default RAM has been boosted to 8GB instead – meaning silky smooth processing and fast exporting. It's a noticeably more powerful laptop than previous Air iterations. It has more ports than most MacBooks, featuring two USB 3.0 ports, a Thunderbolt 2 and a full-sized SDcard slot.

In addition to its price tag, the MacBook Air's portability make it attractive to many creative professionals. The battery life is epic and at a lightweight 1.35kg on the scales, it's svelte enough to carry around with you without feeling too burdened. Ideal if you want to work away from the office.

Read TechRadar's full MacBook Air review

The Lenovo Yoga 720 hits a real sweet spot between price tag and capabilities. It may not quite have the power or street smarts of the premium machines from Apple, Microsoft or Dell, but there's much to like - including the smaller impact it will have on your bank balance.

It manages to offer a full HD 15-inch display for somewhere close to a grand, if not under. And with a Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card as standard, you'll have the ability to experiment with effects not alien to those more powerful machines. It lacks none of the elite finish either, with the aluminium casing and backlit keyboard common to more expensive laptops.

We do rather rue the lack of an HDMI out port. If you like to instantly transmit your work in progress to a bigger screen then you'll need to find another way of going about it. But as far as compromises go, it feels like a small one. You still get an accurate touchscreen for fingertip control of your footage and sufficient processing power for frustration-free use.

Read TechRadar's Yoga 720 review

It isn't easy to find a decently specced laptop with a large screen and still get change from £500/$500. But that trusty stalwart HP has somehow managed to produce a cheap laptop that isn't a disaster zone.

This isn't one for the pros, but if you're a beginner or keen amateur learning the ropes of video editing, the Pavilion is a good choice. Even the entry-level models have loads of storage for rolls of footage, and a little extra cash can get you more RAM, a better Intel processor or a full HD display.

Read TechRadar's Pavilion 15 review

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