The Best Laptop For Drawing And Animation: Top Picks for Creators

The choice for a good Laptop For Drawing And Animation will depend on your your needs, requirements and budget. With the many available options, it is not easy to choose the best one.

In this article, we will consider some key features and specifications you need to look at to ensure you end up with a good laptop. These factors include the budget range, portability requirements, touchscreen capability, color accuracy, screen size, resolution, processing power, Graphics Card availability, storage space and RAM.

Top Picks for Different Needs

1. HP Spectre: Best Overall
2. Dell XPS 15: best laptop for artists
3. Microsoft Surface Pro 7: best 2 in 1
4. Apple MacBook Pro 14: best Macbook
5. Asus ZenBook Duo: High-end laptops
6. Lenovo Flex FHD: Best budget
7. Microsoft Surface Book 2: Best Tablet
8. Acer Aspire 5 – cheap laptop under 500$

HP Spectre: Best Overall Laptop for Drawing and Animation

1. Screen: 13 inches
2. Resolution: 1920×1200 / 3840×2400 (4k)
3. Storage: 256 GB
4. Battery life: up to 13 hours
5. RAM: 8 GB
6. Processor: Intel Core i7
7. Backlit Keyboard
8. Stylus Pen
9. Fingerprint Reader

The HP Spectre ×360 leads in our review today because it doesn’t only have a gorgeous design, this drawing laptops possess every single thing you need as a digital artist. Its 2-in-1 design makes it easy to convert it into a tablet. The 360˚ screen also allows you to flip it to whichever angle you like offering you the best drawing position. 

The hardware design is an advantage because the backlit keyboard allows you to work even in the dark, and it also has a touch screen, which enables you to work on your projects even faster.

Another plus for the HP Spectre ×360 is that it has Windows ink and it also comes with a stylus pen which is intuitive giving you a quality experience.

Dell XPS 15: best laptop for artists

1. Screen: 15.6 inches
2. Screen Aspect Ratio: 16:10
3. Resolution Options: 1920×1200 / 3840×2400 resolution – 4k
4. Storage Space: 512 GB
5. Battery life: up to8 hours
6. RAM: 8 GB /16 GB / 32 GB / 64 GB
7. GPU: NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti  GPU.
8. Processor: Intel Core i5

Apple MacBook has for a while been the best laptop for most professional tasks including drawing and animation. However, if you are looking for the best MacBook alternative that packs similar power and features but runs on Windows, then the Dell XPS 15 is your best pick.

First, the laptop has a metallic combined with carbon fiber look that makes it both sturdy and sleek at the same time. This look is complemented by thin bezels around the large 15.6-inch screen.

When it comes to the screen, you can choose between 2 options in terms of resolution and whether you prefer a touch or non-touch option. You will have 1080 p resolution and a 4k alternative resolution.

The Dell XPS 15 does not only look great but also packs great firepower to get the job done. It comes with Core 15 and Core i7 processor options to choose from. You have 4 GB up to 16 GB RAM options that are premium and good enough for most tasks. Additionally, you have an integrated NVIDIA RTX 3050 Ti GPU.

This is a premium laptop and has a premium price tag to match it. However, you will not regret getting this laptop thanks to its great look and powerful performance.

Microsoft Surface Pro 7: best 2 in 1 laptop

1. Screen: 12.3″ Touch-Screen
2. Resolution: ‎‎2736 x 1824 pixels
3. Storage: 256GB SSD
4. Battery life: up to 10.5 hours,
5. RAM: 8 / 16 GB
6. Processor: 10th Gen Intel Core i5

If you are not sure whether to go for a tablet or laptop, the Microsoft Surface Pro 7 is a good alternative with both laptop and tablet mode. It even comes with a sensitive touch screen and stylus just like most tablets.

The screen is large enough for comfortable use at 12.3 inches in size with Touch-Screen sensitivity plus 2736 x 1824 pixels HD resolution. Despite its size, this laptop is lightweight and ergonomically designed for easy portability.

Additionally, you will be able to run even more powerful software for both drawing and animation with ease thanks to its powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i5 and large 8 and 16 GB RAM options.

This laptop has a long battery life of about 10 hours and a high resolution for the clarity of your images. Although it doesn’t come with a stylus pen, you can get a surface pen separate and get a flawless drawing experience.

That’s not all, this drawing laptop has durable hardware to last you many years and it is also light so you can carry it wherever you go comfortably.

Asus ZenBook Duo: High-end laptops drawing and animation

The Asus Zenbook Pro comes in as the second best. For both beginner and pro artists, the Asus Zenbook gives the Apple MacBook Air especially when it comes to screen size and storage space.

First of all, it comes with a large 15.6-inch touch screen with crisp and clear 4K resolution. It doubles the RAM as the Apple MacBook Air at 16 GB. Additionally, the laptop comes with the most modern processor from Intel which is Intel Core i7-9750H quad-core processor, to ensure it does not lag and can multitask with ease.

For file storage, it comes with 1 TB storage space twice as much as the top pick. Unfortunately, just as its features almost double that of Apple laptops, the price too is almost twice the Apple MacBook Air.

Although it is a top pick for an art laptop, you can get more economical picks that will be enough for all your work without overspending.

Apple MacBook Pro 14 – Best Apple Laptop

Apple MacBook Pro 14 is a popular premium-level tablet for both professionals and beginners in the creative industry.

First of all the body and build of the laptop are sturdy and strong making it durable and difficult to damage. The design is sleek and classy featuring thin bezels around the front screen.

One thing that stands out is the mouse trackpad. This laptop has one of the best mice in the industry that is both comfortable and perfectly positioned on the laptop’s body.

The keyboard is ergonomically designed with enough space to place your hands. Additionally, it is backlit making it look classy and attractive.

Apart from gaming, this laptop has been greatly improved to handle any task that you might throw at it. First of all the screen is large at 14.2 inches in size with a unique 16:10 Aspect ratio and unmatched color accuracy.

Screen resolution is high crisp and clear at 3024 x 1964 resolution with brightness levels of 1000 to 1600 nits. This ensures that your screen is still clear and visible even in high-light surroundings.

The screen color accuracy is perfect and one of the best you can get. A 1080-pixel webcam speaks for itself not to mention the crisp clear speakers that are unmatched.

Graphic design and animation require a powerful processor and RAM to avoid lags while multitasking or rendering. This laptop matches up quite well with an M1 Pro chip and an 8‑core CPU. RAM comes at 16 GB which is perfect.

To add to the power, the Apple MacBook Pro 14 also comes with a 14-core Graphic Processing unit that is a welcome boost to the functionality of the laptop. Although the laptop is relatively expensive, it is surely worth its price and will not disappoint.

Apple MacBook Air – Best Laptop for Animation

The Apple iPad Air is one of the most professional devices you will find in the market. Although the 13-inch size screen is smaller than most similar-priced laptops, it has a unique Retina display technology only found on Apple laptops. This unique technology makes the screen clear and vivid better than any other devices in this review.

Additionally, it has a very high 2560×1600 pixels screen resolution making the display near perfect. You will be able to see your art in true and vivid color making it ideal for professional level production.

Apart from the great display, the laptop applies modern Apple M1 processor chip technology that is 3 times faster than their previous processor which was also not at all bad. But the M1 is better. Add this to 8 GB RAM and you get a very fast laptop that does not lag even on multi-tasking.

You can choose between 256 GB storage and 512 GB which are both large enough for artists. Unfortunately, the Laptop does not come cheap compared to other brands. The laptop also lacks a memory card slot that would come in handy when transferring files or upgrading space.

Lenovo Flex FHD: Best budget

The 2021 Lenovo Flex 14” 2-in-1 FHD Convertible Touchscreen Laptop has been identified as one of the best laptops for artists due to its clarity, great display, flexibility, and sharpness when it comes to precision in artistic works.

Some of this laptop’s fundamental features include; an AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Processor with a base frequency that can go up to 3.7 GHz when used with the Intel Turbo Boost technology, AMD Integrated graphics, 20GB RAM, a fourteen-inch 2-in-1 convertible touchscreen screen FHD (1920*1080 – touch screen can flip over at a 360 degrees angle while adjusting resolution), an active pen that one can use to directly write notes or draw on the screen and a storage capacity of 512GB.

Artists can draw directly on the screen hence offering them an opportunity to feel as if they are working with a blank canvas. Furthermore, the Lenovo Flex 5 has a battery life of up to ten hours and can charge 80% of its full capacity in one hour With these features, the 2021 Lenovo Flex 14” 2-in-1 FHD Convertible Touchscreen Laptop offers artists services similar to the 16 MacBook Pro, only at a much cheaper price ($800).

Microsoft Surface Book 2

Microsoft Surface Book 2 is another laptop that is good for digital art. This drawing laptop has a high resolution of 3140 ×2160 which is ideal for your artistic projects. If you’re looking for an upgrade, Microsoft Surface Book 2 might be the best drawing laptop for you.

This 2-in-1 beast has a multi-touch functionality that is highly responsive to help you create high-quality drawings and the good news is it comes with a Surface pen.

You can go wrong on many things but you can’t go wrong with a Core i7 processor that gives you room to run multiple programs at the same time. Microsoft Surface Book 2 is a good choice if all you’re looking for is nothing less than top-quality images.

Acer Aspire 5 – best cheap laptop for drawing under 500$

• Screen Size: 15.6 inches
• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 Pixels
• GPU: AMD Radeon Graphics
• RAM: ‎8 GB
• Storage: 128 GB SSD
• Processor: AMD Ryzen Quad-Core Processor
• Operating System: Windows 11 Home in S Mode
• Backlit Keyboard
• Battery Life: 11 hours

Acer Aspire features a modern and slim build that is easy to carry around. It is also lightweight and features a long ‎11 Hours battery life which is more than a full 8-hour working day. This means that you will be able to use it outdoors or away from the office without issues.

For the display, you will have a large 15.6-inch screen size with Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution. This resolution together with the dedicated AMD Radeon Graphics GPU makes sure you view your work in a rich and colorful display.

You will have a number of RAM options to choose from but we recommend the 8 GB option if on a budget. You can choose the 4 GB RAM if you intend to use the computer for Photo editing but avoid it for the best experience with video editing software.

Overall the AMD Ryzen 3 7320U Quad-Core Processor is only as good as the RAM you use it with. For a premium experience that will even edit 4K videos, we recommend the 16 GB option.

Best Laptop Features for Creative Work

When choosing a good laptop for drawing and animation, the processor, RAM, graphics card availability, and storage are some of the most important considerations. A drawing laptop requires less power compared to one targeted for animation work.

An animation laptop requires an Intel Core i5 processor or higher and a minimum of 16 GB RAM especially if you need it for 3D work. Additionally, you need a large storage space to save the large animation and render file sizes. For the best experience, we recommend an SSD hard drive instead of an HDD. It is significantly faster and more silent.

For a drawing laptop, an Intel Core i3 processor or higher will work perfectly. You can use 4GB RAM but for the best experience, we recommend 8 GB or higher. This will enable you to use complex applications including Photoshop. An SSD harddrive is recommended although it does not have to be too big because PSD files are relatively small.

You need to consider the overall price and analyze it against your requirements for the laptops. Animation laptops are more powerful than regular drawing laptops and will be slightly more expensive than less powerful ones. Compare the different specifications and prices from different reviews on this site.

There are many versions of laptops that you can choose for your work. Some of the top brands include Dell, Acer, Microsoft, and many more. All the ones I have mentioned run on a Windows PC operating system. You must therefore ensure the Software version you intend to use is compatible with Windows.

Apple has not been left behind. They provide alternatives to the MacBook laptop line. These offer more powerful specifications compared to their Windows counterparts. They are also more expensive in comparison. Apple Laptops are recommended for professional animators who are not limited by budgets.

Frequently Asked Questions