It wasn’t too long ago that you had to be a creative professional to justify a pricey laptop with an OLED display. Plenty of mainstream and affordable laptops now come equipped with an OLED display, so more people can enjoy stellar contrast and accurate, vibrant colors.
How does an OLED panel achieve this goodness? A quick primer: The pixels in an OLED display can be completely turned off, which means the panel can produce absolute blacks and contrast ratios superior to an LCD screen (where the liquid crystal can only block some of the light). Even an LCD with local dimming can’t match an OLED’s ability to turn individual pixels on and off. OLED displays also offer a wide color range because primary colors can hit higher saturations that let the display produce more colors. Higher saturation levels lead to more vibrant colors, and with more colors on its palette, an OLED panel can create colors that are more accurate.
Another advantage? OLED displays feature thinner layers than LCD displays and don’t require a backlight, which allows for thinner and lighter laptop designs.
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You might reasonably think that an OLED is more energy-efficient than an LCD because it doesn’t need to power a backlight and can turn individual pixels completely off. We have found, however, that OLED displays tend to have a negative impact on battery life. They do offer decent battery life; you just can’t expect to get a longer runtime from an OLED laptop in addition to the higher image quality.
With a basic understanding of the advantages of an OLED laptop, let’s take a look at the best deals I see right now. I’ve included mainstream laptops that have approachable prices along with high-powered laptops that are currently selling at a discount — and a Chromebook. Yes, you can get an inexpensive Chromebook with an OLED display. The prices and discounts are valid at the time of this writing, and I’ll update this story as sales expire and new deals emerge.
Asus
This mainstream model from Asus is one of the most affordable OLED laptops selling right now. It boasts a 15.6-inch OLED display with a full HD (1,920×1,080-pixel) resolution. Based on an 11th-gen Core i5 CPU and featuring 12GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive, it has more memory and double the storage capacity that you’ll find in many laptops that cost less than $1,000. It also has both Type-A and Type-C USB ports, saving you from having to carry around an adapter. It’s a good deal at its $800 list price and an even better buy at its current sale price.
Asus
This Asus VivoBook is slightly smaller than the above unit but has a higher-resolution display and a newer, more powerful processor. The 14.5-inch OLED display has 2,880×1,800-pixel resolution. The laptop is powered by a Core i7-12700H CPU, 12GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD. The display is a 16:10 panel for more vertical space and has a 120Hz refresh rate — double that of the standard 60Hz for smoother visuals. It’s also rated for a substantial 550 nits of brightness.
Acer
Acer’s Swift 3 features a 14-inch OLED display with a crisp 2,880×1,800-pixel resolution powered by a Core i7-12700H, 16GB of RAM and integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics. In addition to the incredible contrast and color of the OLED panel, the display also features a 16:10 aspect ratio that provides more room vertically than a traditional widescreen 16:9 laptop display for more room to work and less scrolling through long web pages and documents. The laptop also supplies a roomy 1TB SSD and an all-aluminum chassis that weighs only a hair more than three pounds.
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The 13.5-inch Spectre x360 is one of CNET’s favorite two-in-one convertibles for its premium styling, light weight and long battery life. This model features a 12th-gen Core i7 CPU, 16GB of RAM and a spacious 1TB SSD. In addition to Intel Evo goodness, the 13.5-inch display is the standout here. It’s an OLED touch panel with what HP calls a 3K2K resolution — that is, 3,000×2,000 pixels. The display also has a boxy 3:2 aspect ratio, providing more vertical space than wider screens for less scrolling through web pages and documents.
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Dell’s 15-inch XPS OLED laptop isn’t necessarily geared toward gamers, but this configuration certainly can handle AAA titles with its 12th-gen Core i7-12700H CPU and GeForce RTX 3050 Ti graphics, if you keep the quality settings and resolution in check. You also get 16GB of RAM and a roomy 1TB SSD. The OLED touchscreen has a fine 3,456×2,160-pixel resolution in a 16:10 aspect ratio for more vertical space and less scrolling. It’s $500 off right now at Best Buy.
Lenovo
Did you know you could have an OLED display on a Chromebook? Lenovo’s two-in-one Chromebook Duet 5 is proof that such a thing is possible. It features a detachable, 13.5-inch OLED display with a full-HD resolution powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and boasts 4GB of RAM and 64GB of built-in storage. It’s a good value even at its full price, and right now you can pick it up for even less.