Film editing, requires a laptop that is powerful enough to handle all the plugins, special effects and transitions. Here, we’ll look at the best laptops for Film Editing. Many programs exist that are commonly used for file editing. These include Adobe Premier Pro, Davinci Resolve, Vegas, just to name a few.
You need a laptop that can easily handle all these programs without having performance issues. Several factors have been taken into consideration when coming up with this list of best laptops for Film makers. Thee are performance, screen quality and size, battery life in addition to design and build quality.
First, lets talk about performance. All these editing software, are heavy on performance, especially if using several plugins and special effects. You don’t want to be in a situation where you get long hours of rendering time, in addition to unresponsiveness when editing. This is where an Intel Core i7/ Ryzen 7 comes in play. That is the minimum laptop processor listed here. With that, you are guaranteed good performance when using video editing programs.
The RAM, is an equally important specification for video editing laptops. With the right amount, you get performance boost, especially when handling large and complex films. Here, you’ll only get a minimum of 8GB RAM. This ensures that you can load video clips into your program faster and smoothly.
In recent time, a dedicated graphics card (GPU) has become increasingly important. A graphics card, either from Nvidia or AMD, helps in lightening the workload from the CPU. It reduces the rendering times, as more video editing programs start to use the GPU.
These days, an SSD has become crucial, in almost all laptops. It allows for faster opening of film editing programs, faster load times for video clips to the timeline in addition to some improvement in rendering times. Most people, have a mix of both SSD and HDD. This gives two advantages, speed and raw storage capacity.
The display quality, and size, is one of the most important features that film makers should take into consideration when buying a laptop. Speaking of the size, anywhere from 14 to 17 inches, is suitable for most people. However, this is highly subjective, so it will depend on your preference. The display quality, is however not negotiable.
You don’t want to be in a situation where the film you’ve edited looks different on most tvs and even in theaters. This is where color accuracy comes in play. The laptops listed here, have a high percentage of color accuracy, in addition to having high contrast ratio. When it comes to resolution, 1920 x 1080 is the minimum resolution.
Other important factors taken into consideration include battery life and build quality. All the laptops listed here, meet the minimum specifications, and re therefore suitable for film editing. You can find brand such as Microsoft Surface, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, MacBook, MSI, Gigabyte in addition to Razor Blade.
The Following are the Best Laptops for Film Editing (2020):
- MSI P65 Creator-1084 Laptop
- Asus ZenBook 15 Laptop
- Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch-i9-512GB – Space Gray
- Alienware M15-15.6 FHD Gaming Laptop
- Acer Predator Helios 300 Laptop
- Microsoft Surface Book 2 15 inch Laptop
- Sager NP8451 Laptop
- Razer Blade Pro 17 inch Laptop
- Lenovo Legion 15.6 inch laptop
- HP Pavilion 15.6 inch Gaming Laptop
- Alienware M17 Laptop
- Acer Predator Triton 900 Laptop
- MSI GS65 Stealth-002 Laptop
- ASUS ROG G531GT Laptop
- Gigabyte AORUS 15-WA-F74ADW Laptop
- ASUS ROG Zephyrus S Laptop
- Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED YA-9US5750SP Laptop
- Dell G7 17 Gaming Laptop
- MSI GE75 Raider-287 Laptop
- Razer Blade 15inch RTX 2080 Laptop
- HP Omen 15 Laptop
1MSI P65 Creator-1084 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750h 2. 6 - 4. 5GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6G GDDR6 |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | Uhd (3840*2160) |
| RAM | 32GB (16G*2) DDR4 2400MHz |
| Storage Space | 1 TB Flash Memory Solid State |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro |
| Ports | HDMI, USB, Ethernet |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 15.08 x 10.24 x 0.69 inches |
| Weight | 8.55 pounds |
| Pros | Performance, Display quality |
| Cons | Heavy |
2Asus ZenBook 15 Laptop
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| CPU | 8th generation Intel Core i7-8565u Quad Core Processor (8M Cache, up to 4.6 GHz) |
| GPU | GeForce GTX 1050 Max-Q |
| Display Size | 15.6 inch |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 512GB NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | HDMI, USB Type C, gigabit-class Wi-Fi 5 (802.11AC), Bluetooth 5.0 and SD Card reader |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 13.9 x 8.7 x 0.7 in |
| Weight | 3.7 lbs |
| Pros | Performance, Design, Lightweight |
| Cons | NA |
3Apple MacBook Pro 15 inch-i9-512GB – Space Gray
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| CPU | 2.3GHz 8-core Intel Core i9 |
| GPU | Radeon Pro 560X with 4GB of GDDR5 |
| Display Size | 15.4 inches |
| Display Resolution | 2880-by-1800 native resolution at 220 pixels per inch |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage Space | 512GB SSD |
| Operating System | MacOS |
| Ports | Four Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports |
| Dimensions (H x W x L) | 0.61 x 13.75 x 9.48 inches |
| Weight | 4.02 Pounds |
| Pros | Performance, Price, Lightweight, Touch Bar |
| Cons | Expensive |
4Alienware M15-15.6 FHD Gaming Laptop
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| CPU | 8th Generation Intel Core i7-8750H (6-Core, 9MB Cache, up to 4.1GHz w/ Turbo Boost) |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5 |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | Fhd (1920 x 1080) |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage Space | 128GB PCIe M.2 SSD + 1TB (+8GB SSHD) hybrid Drive |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | USB, HDMI, Audio Jack, RJ45 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14.3 x 10.8 x 0.8 inches |
| Weight | 4.85 pounds |
| Pros | Performance, Design, Build Quality |
| Cons | |
5Acer Predator Helios 300 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750H 6-Core Processor |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 Graphics with Max-Q Design & 8 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM |
| Display Size | 17.3 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Memory |
| Storage Space | 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD (2 x PCIe M.2 Slots | 1 Slot Open for Easy Upgrades) & 1 - Available Hard Drive Bay |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | 1 - USB 3.1 Type C Gen 2 port (up to 10 Gbps), 2 - USB 3.1 Gen 1 Ports, 1 - USB 3.1 Gen 2 Port (with Power-off Charging), 1 - HDMI 2.0 Port with HDCP Support, 1 - Mini Display Port 1 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 15.89 x 11.02 x 0.97 inches |
| Weight | 6.61 lbs |
| Pros | Performance, Display size, Battery life |
| Cons | Weight |
6Microsoft Surface Book 2 15 inch Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Quad Core i7 Processor |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 discrete GPU w/6GB GDDR5 |
| Display Size | 15 inches Pixel Sense |
| Display Resolution | 3260x2160 pixels |
| RAM | 16 GB LPDDR3 |
| Storage Space | 1 TB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro |
| Ports | USB-C, Audio Jack, Card Reader |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 13.5 x 9.87 x 0.9 inches |
| Weight | 4.2 pounds |
| Pros | Long battery life, Performance, Design |
| Cons | Price |
7Sager NP8451 Laptop
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| CPU | 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750H Processor (2.6GHz), 12MB Cache |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti with 6GB GDDR6 |
| Display Size | 15.6” Thin Bezel 4K UHD OLED |
| Display Resolution | 3840x2160 |
| RAM | 32GB DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 500GB SSD + 1TB HDD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | Card Reader, 1 HDMI output Port (with HDCP), 1 Mini DisplayPort 1.3 output Port, 1 DisplayPort 1.3 over USB 3.1 Gen 2 (Type-C), 3 USB 3.0 Ports, 1 USB 3.1 Gen 2 Port (Type C), 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack , 1 2-in-1 Audio Jack (Microphone / S/PDIF Optical output, 1 RJ-45 LAN |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 10.16 x 14.13 x 1.18 in |
| Weight | 5.29 lbs |
| Pros | Performance, Display Quality, Large storage capacity |
| Cons | None |
8Razer Blade Pro 17 inch Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-7820HK 2.90 GHz with Turbo Boost Technology up to 3.90 GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5X VRAM, Intel HD Graphics 630 |
| Display Size | 17.3 inches |
| Display Resolution | 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) |
| RAM | 32 GB |
| Storage Space | 512GB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | USB, HDMI, Ethernet |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 11 x 16.7 x 0.9 in |
| Weight | 7.7 lbs |
| Pros | Performance, Large Display |
| Cons | Heavy |
9Lenovo Legion 15.6 inch laptop
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| CPU | 9th Generation Intel Core i7-9750H Hexa-Core Processor 2.8GHz (up to 3.80GHz) 6MB Cache |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Graphics |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 512GB SSD+1TB HDD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | 2 x USB 3.0, 1 x USB 2.0, 1 x USB 3.0 (Type-C), 1 x MiniDP , 1 x HDMI, 1 x Combination Audio Jack, 1 x RJ-45, 2 x 2W Harman Certified Speakers with Dolby Audio Premium |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 15" x 10.4" x 1.0" |
| Weight | 5.29 lbs |
| Pros | Performance, Display Quality, Build quality |
| Cons | Heavy |
10HP Pavilion 15.6 inch Gaming Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Mobil Quad-Core i5-8300H 2.3GHz up to 4GHz, 8MB cache. |
| GPU | GTX 1050 Ti with 4GB GDDR5 |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 8GB DDr4-2666 SDRAM |
| Storage Space | 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive |
| Operating System | Window 10 |
| Ports | 1 USB 3.1 Type-C Gen 1 (Data transfer only, up to 5 Gb/s); 3 USB 3.1 Gen 1 (1 HP Sleep and Charge); 1 HDMI 2.0; 1 RJ-45; 1 headphone/microphone combo |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14.37 x 10.1 x 1 inches |
| Weight | 4.85 pounds |
| Pros | Good performance |
| Cons | Quite Heavy |
11Alienware M17 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i9-8950HK (6-Core, 12MB Cache, Overclocking up to 5.0GHz) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 8GB GDDR6 with Max-Q Design |
| Display Size | 17.3 inches, 400 nits, Srgb 100% Color Gamut |
| Display Resolution | UHD (3840 x 2160) |
| RAM | 64GB DDR4-2666MHz, 2x32GB |
| Storage Space | 4TB (2TB PCIe M.2 NVMe SSD Plus 2TB SATA SSD Upgrade |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | RJ-45, HDMI, Type A, Thunderbolt, Mini Display, Headphone, Mic |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 0.727"(18.5 mm. ) D: 11.52"(292.5 mm.) W: 16.1"(410 mm.) |
| Weight | 5.79 Lbs.(2.63 Kgs.) |
| Pros | Outstanding Performace, Lighweight design |
| Cons | Expensive |
12Acer Predator Triton 900 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750h 6-Core Processor (Up to 4. 5GHz) |
| GPU | NVidia GeForce RTX 2080 graphics with 8 GB of dedicated GDDR6 VRAM |
| Display Size | 17. 3 inches |
| Display Resolution | Ultra HD (3840 x 2160) |
| RAM | 32GB DDR4 2666MHz Memory |
| Storage Space | 1TB PCIe NVMe SSD in RAID 0 configuration (2 x 512GB) |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | 1 - Thunderbolt 3 (Full USB 3. 1 Type C) Port, 1 - USB Type-C port USB 3. 1 supporting DisplayPort over USB Type-C, 2 - USB 3. 1 Gen 1 Ports, 1 - HDMI 2. 0 Port with HDCP Support, 1 - Display Port 1 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 16.85 x 11.94 x 0.94 inches |
| Weight | 17.95 pounds |
| Pros | Ultimate performance |
| Cons | Very Heavy |
13MSI GS65 Stealth-002 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-8750H 2. 2 - 4. 1GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX2070 8G Max-Q GDDR6 w/ New Ray Tracing Technology |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 32GB (16G*2) DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | USB, HDMI, Ethernet |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 15.08 x 10.24 x 1.16 in |
| Weight | 4.19 lbs |
| Pros | Performance |
| Cons | None |
14ASUS ROG G531GT Laptop
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| CPU | 2.6 gigahertz Intel 9th Generation Core i7-9750H |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage Space | 512GB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | 3 x USB 3.0, 1 x HDMI, NO Webcam, NO Optical Drive, 1 x headphone combo jack |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14.8 x 10.31 x 1.03 in |
| Weight | 5.29 pounds |
| Pros | Performance |
| Cons | Heavy |
15Gigabyte AORUS 15-WA-F74ADW Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750h (2.6Ghz-4.5GHz) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 GDDR6 6GB |
| Display Size | 15.6" Thin Bezel |
| Display Resolution | 1920x1080 IPS |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 512GB Intel 760P SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | HDMI, USB, Mini Display Port, LAN |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14.2 x 9.68 x 0.96 inch |
| Weight | 14.2 x 9.68 x 0.96 inch |
| Pros | Performance, Design, Build Quality |
| Cons | NA |
16ASUS ROG Zephyrus S Laptop
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| CPU | 8Th generation Intel Core i7 8750H (up to 3.9GHz) |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 *(with Max Q technology) |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | Full HD 1920 x 1080 pixels 144Hz |
| RAM | 16GB 2666Hz DDR4 |
| Storage Space | 512GB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | USBs, HDMI, Mini Display Port, Audio Jack, Ethernet |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14.17 x 10.55 x 0.62 inches |
| Weight | 4.6 lb |
| Pros | Ultra Slim, Good Performance, Design |
| Cons | None |
17Gigabyte AERO 15 OLED YA-9US5750SP Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i9-9980hk (2.4Ghz-5.0GHz) |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with MAX-Q |
| Display Size | 15.6" 0.11 inch ultra-thin bezel |
| Display Resolution | UHD 3840x2160 |
| RAM | 64GB DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | M.2 NVMe PCIe 1TB Intel 760P SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 Pro |
| Ports | Intel Thunderbolt 3 | Killer Ethernet E2600/ Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650, Bluetooth V5.0 + LE | HDMI2.0 | mini-DP 1.4 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 14 x 9.8 x 0.8 inch |
| Weight | 4.4 pounds |
| Pros | Good performance, Outstanding design, Quality display, Thin and lightweight |
| Cons | Quite Expensive |
18Dell G7 17 Gaming Laptop
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| CPU | 9th Gen Intel Core i7-9750h (12MB Cache, up to 4. 5 GHz, 6 Cores) |
| GPU | Nvidia GTX 1660 Ti 6G GDDR5 Video Graphics |
| Display Size | 17. 3 inches |
| Display Resolution | Fhd (1920 x 1080) |
| RAM | 16GB DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe solid state Drive |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | USB, HDMI, Audio Jack, RJ45 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 11.7 x 15.91 x 0.98 inches |
| Weight | 7.28 pounds |
| Pros | Performance |
| Cons | Quite heavy |
19MSI GE75 Raider-287 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750h 2.6 - 4.5GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce RTX2060 6G GDDR6 |
| Display Size | 17.3 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 16GB (16G*1) DDR4 2666MHz |
| Storage Space | 512GB NVMe SSD |
| Operating System | Windows |
| Ports | HDMI, USB, RJ-45 |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 15.6 x 10.6 x 1.1 inches |
| Weight | 5.73 pounds |
| Pros | Performance, Large display |
| Cons | None |
20Razer Blade 15inch RTX 2080 Laptop
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| CPU | 9th Gen Intel Core i7 9750H 6 core processor w/ 2.6GHz/4.5GHz (base/max turbo) |
| GPU | NVIDIA Geforce 2080 RTX Max-Q |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 16GB |
| Storage Space | 512GB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | HDMI, USB |
| Dimensions (L x H x W) | 13.98 x 0.7 x 9.25 in |
| Weight | 4.74 pounds |
| Pros | Performance, Display Quality |
| Cons | None |
21HP Omen 15 Laptop
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| CPU | Intel Core i7-9750h Processor, 6-Core, 2.6GHz up to 4.5GHz |
| GPU | NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti (6 GB GDDR5 dedicated) |
| Display Size | 15.6 inches |
| Display Resolution | 1920 x 1080 pixels |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage Space | 256GB SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 10 |
| Ports | SD Card Reader, USBs, HDMI, RJ-45, Audio Jack |
| Dimensions (L x W x H) | 10.35 x 14.17 x 0.98 in |
| Weight | 5 lbs |
| Pros | Good performance |
| Cons | Storage capacity |