The most demanding, hardcore users need the most powerful laptops on the planet. You probably agree. You probably think we're talking about gamers and gaming laptops.

Actually, though, we're talking about work, not play: applications such as computer-aided design (CAD), architecture, engineering, video editing and post production, 3D rendering and animation, virtual reality, and oil and gas exploration. The machines that take these jobs to job sites or conference rooms are mobile workstations—laptops in the top echelon of both CPU and GPU power to crunch through huge datasets and accelerate ultra-complex graphics.

Mobile workstations proudly wear their own brands, such as HP's ZBook and Dell's Precision families. (Lenovo's entries carry their own letter under the company's larger ThinkPad brand—the ThinkPad P series.) They can be breathtakingly expensive, but they can pay for themselves quickly as their users value the time they save. They're built for reliability, capable of running flat-out 24/7. And they're massive overkill for Word, Excel, and PowerPoint—mobile workstations are not about spreadsheet recalculations that would take most notebooks a couple of seconds, but CGI effects that would take most notebooks forever.

Table stakes for mobile workstation vendors are what are called "ISV certifications." The acronym stands for "Independent Software Vendors"—specialized software companies such as Adobe, Autodesk, Avid, PTC, Siemens PLMS, and Dassault Systemes, who work with the PC makers to guarantee that a given workstation and its graphics adapter, drivers, and other components are optimized for their apps. If you use a particular program in your job, such as Dassault's SolidWorks, look for the proper certification before buying a system.

Is a mobile workstation right for you? Frankly, for most laptop users, the answer is no. But if you work in one of the professional fields mentioned above—or if your job involves waiting for calculations or graphics processing that takes your current notebook many minutes or hours—you can justify the expense and join the elite.

Before we get to some general components and choices you'll face as you shop for a mobile workstation, let's take a look at the pros and cons of our top-rated models.

HP ZBook Studio G8

Pros	Cons
+ Gorgeous 4K touch screen	- Expensive
+ Sizzling Core i9 and RTX 3070 performance	- Relatively low RAM and storage ceilings for a workstation
+ Choice of Nvidia professional or gaming GPUs	- Mini DisplayPort or HDMI, not both
+ Colorful RGB keyboard	- WiFi 6, not 6E
+ Above-average audio
+ Only 4 pounds

The Bottom Line:

HP's ZBook Studio G8 outshines the ZBook Firefly and challenges the ZBook Fury as the top all-rounder in the company's workstation lineup.

Why We Picked It

What do you get when you cross a mobile workstation with a gaming laptop? The HP ZBook Studio G8 (starts at $1,894; $4,488 as tested) is often ordered with one of Nvidia's formerly-known-as-Quadro professional GPUs, but is also available with Nvidia gaming graphics like our test unit's GeForce RTX 3070, and its keyboard has RGB rainbow backlighting that would look at home on a deluxe gaming rig. High-frame-rate gamers won't like our Studio's 15.6-inch OLED display, which is stunning but limited to a vanilla 60Hz refresh rate, but the system adds up to a prize platform for 4K video editors or other digital content creators.

Dell Precision 5560

Pros	Cons
+ Quite thin and light for a mobile workstation	- Expensive
+ Handsome high-res 16:10 touch screen	- Short on ports (USBA and HDMI dongle included)
+ Stiff aluminum and magnesium build	- No OLED screen option
+ Thunderbolt 4 ports, SD card slot included
+ Excellent multithreaded performance for a thin workstation

Why We Picked It

If you want to chew through massive datasets or tackle colossal CGI rendering jobs with Dell's premier 15.6-inch mobile workstation, you want the Precision 7560. But what if you'd like something a little easier to carry than that 5.42-pound juggernaut? The Precision 5560 (starts at $1,839; $4,195 as tested) is based on Dell's elegant XPS 15 (9510) chassis and weighs only 4.3 pounds. It can't match the 7560's peak power—max RAM is 64GB instead of 128GB, for example—but it packs more processing cores and faster graphics than its rival the HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8. The trim Precision replaces the Firefly as our Editors' Choice winner among lightweight laptop workstations.

HP ZBook Firefly 15 G8

Pros	Cons
+ Sharp 4K screen	- A bit expensive for the performance level
+ Thin and light design	- Tops out with a quad-core processor
+ Impressive battery life
+ ISV certifications
+ Top-notch input devices and speakers
+ Available with 5G WWAN

Why We Picked It

How do you feel about a 15.6-inch, 4K-resolution display, Nvidia Quadro professional graphics, independent software vendor (ISV) certifications, and 5G connectivity in a slim, posh design? If that tickles your fancy, you'll want to check out HP's ZBook Firefly 15 G8 (starts at $1,615; $3,180 as tested). This lightweight mobile workstation is well-suited for 2D and moderate 3D work, though its quad-core Intel processor isn't a heavy lifter like the six- and eight-core chips you'll find in the thicker and heavier ZBook Fury 15 and Editors' Choice-award-winning Lenovo ThinkPad P15. But considering the extra-long battery life and svelte 3.74-pound weight of our test model, the well-made ZBook Firefly 15 G8 is a more-than-respectable performer that earns Editors' Choice honors, too, for being a rare bird indeed: a lightweight mobile workstation.

Dell Precision 5470

Pros	Cons
+ Thin and light 14" design	- Lackluster workstation performance
+ All-day battery life	- Adapter required for common ports
+ Great-looking, high-res 16:10 touch screen
+ Up to 4TB of storage

Why We Picked It

When you need more power than an ordinary business laptop has to offer, a mobile workstation is the answer, pairing a potent processor and ample RAM with a professional GPU with independent software vendor (ISV) certification for specialized apps like computer-aided design (CAD), engineering, or CGI rendering and content creation. The Dell Precision 5470 (starts at $1,929; $3,378 as tested) packs workstation power into a 14-inch design that's far more portable than most rivals. It doesn't have all the muscle of the most elite systems, but it's the smartest 14-inch machine we've seen, giving you a workstation that's almost an ultraportable.

HP ZBook Fury 15 G8

Pros	Cons
+ Beautiful 4K DreamColor display	- Sky-high price when fully loaded
+ Scorching Core i9 processor	- Ultra-expensive GPU fails to impress
+ Up to 128GB of RAM and 8TB of storage	- WiFi 6, not 6E
+ Available ECC memory
+ Great serviceability and security

Why We Picked It

We pride ourselves on our painstaking performance benchmark tests, but benchmarks aren't everything. The HP ZBook Fury 15 G8 (starts at $2,369; $5,750 as tested) is a spectacularly fast and powerful mobile workstation, ready to rip through the most demanding jobs in 3D rendering or CGI, computer-aided design (CAD), or data science, but its fellow 15.6-inch flagships—the recently reviewed Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 and Dell Precision 7560—were a few ticks faster still in most of our measurements. Any of the three is an awesome choice for crunching giant datasets or creating amazing virtual reality (VR) worlds, but the HP earns our Editors' Choice award because of its sleek design and dazzling DreamColor display.

HP ZBook Power G8

Pros	Cons
+ Potent CPU choices and PCI Express Gen 4 SSD	- Gets expensive quickly
+ Comfy keyboard	- Screen falls short of HP's DreamColor panels
+ USB4/Thunderbolt 4 port	- No SD or microSD card slot
+ Strong security and remote access software	- No Xeon processor or ECC memory option
+ Tile support

Why We Picked It

Our current Editors' Choice honoree among mobile workstations is the Lenovo ThinkPad P15 (the P15 Gen 2 is now in our review pipeline), but not all engineering and tech college students or small-office architects can afford such a powerhouse. The HP ZBook Power G8 is a 15.6-inch laptop that starts at $1,899 ($4,013 as tested). It's more for 2D design than 3D CGI rendering or virtual reality creation—its Nvidia RTX A2000 is only the graphics chipmaker's fourth fastest professional GPU—and it doesn't offer the Intel Xeon processors, error-correcting-code (ECC) memory, or dazzling DreamColor screens of HP's best ZBooks. But the Power still packs plenty of muscle for crunching large datasets, and has enough winning features to snare an Editors' Choice award of its own for entry-level mobile workstations.

Dell Precision 7560

Pros	Cons
+ Punchy performance for demanding ISV apps	- Expensive
+ Handsome 4K display	- Slightly awkward keyboard layout
+ Scads of config options including epic memory and storage	- No OLED screen option
+ Plenty of Ports
+ WiFi 6E and optional 5G LTE

Why We Picked It

Like the recently reviewed Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 and not-yet-reviewed HP ZBook Fury 15 G8, the Dell Precision 7560 (starts at $2,449) is a flagship 15.6-inch mobile workstation, built to tackle the toughest jobs in computer-aided design (CAD), 3D rendering or CGI, and scientific and engineering analysis. Even at a steep $4,866, our test unit is one rung from the top of the ladder, with only one-quarter the maximum memory, one-sixth the maximum storage, and an 11th Generation Intel Core i7 instead of Core i9 or Xeon processor plus Nvidia's RTX A4000 instead of A5000 professional GPU. But it's a formidable performer and a fine system to have in your corner when there's difficult work to be done.

HP ZBook 15 G6

Pros	Cons
+ Gorgeous 4K DreamColor screen with color calibrator	- Bulky and costly
+ Beefy eight-core Xeon CPU	- Mediocre battery life
+ Room for tons of memory and storage
+ VR-ready Nvidia Quadro RTX 3000 graphics
+ Above-average audio

Why We Picked It

HP says its ZBook 15 is the world's best-selling mobile workstation. At a glance, the G6 model seen here (starts at $2,210; $4,096 as tested) doesn't look very different from the G5 we reviewed in November 2018—its aluminum chassis measures the same 1 by 14.8 by 10.4 inches and weighs the same 5.8 pounds, with the same thick bezels around the 15.6-inch screen and the same layout of ports on the sides. Under the hood, however, the ZBook 15 has acquired VR-ready graphics in the form of Nvidia's 6GB Quadro RTX 3000 and stepped up from a six-core CPU to an eight-core Intel Xeon E-2286M. Its dazzling 4K DreamColor display, which formerly offered 100 percent coverage of the AdobeRGB color gamut, now covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 space to rival the 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro. The HP G6 doesn't unseat the Lenovo ThinkPad P53 as our Editors' Choice, because it's only the second or third fastest mobile workstation we've tested. But it's a robust, beautifully engineered system and a fine choice for design, rendering, and engineering professionals.

HP ZBook Create G7

Pros	Cons
+ Potent performance	- Expensive
+ Impressive sound	- Runs hot under stress
+ Beautiful 4K OLED display	- Mini DisplayPort output, but no HDMI
+ Sleek, sturdy styling

Why We Picked It

HP's ZBook line of mobile workstations has been expanded and renamed—the flagship ZBook 15 and ZBook 17 now go by the family name "ZBook Fury." It even includes a system that isn't technically a workstation: the ZBook Create G7. The ZBook Create (starts at $2,749; $4,491 as tested) is a 15.6-inch laptop for digital content creators that has Nvidia GeForce rather than Quadro graphics and lacks independent software vendor (ISV) certifications for specialized computer-aided design, rendering, or scientific apps. Competing with elite machines like the Dell XPS 15 and the 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro, the ZBook Create is far from cheap, but it's a sleek system with blazing performance that will dazzle multimedia pros. (And, as a pandemic plus, HP says it's tested to withstand 1,000 cleanings with commonly available disinfecting wipes.)

Lenovo ThinkPad P15 Gen 2

Pros	Cons
+ Ferocious CPU and GPU performance	- Extremely expensive
+ World's best laptop keyboard	- Bulky and heavy
+ Plenty of ports	- 1080p screen is bright but not ultra-colorful
+ Ample room for expansion

Why We Picked It

After winning our Editors' Choice award for mobile workstations with the ThinkPad P15, what does Lenovo do for an encore? The ThinkPad P15 Gen 2 (starts at $1,709) serves refreshments in the form of Intel's 11th Generation CPUs, Nvidia's "Ampere"-class professional graphics, and faster PCI Express Gen 4 storage. It's heavy and very pricey—our test unit rang up at $5,382, and that's without one of the available 4K displays—but it's a first-class choice for crunching giant datasets or tackling tough 3D rendering and design jobs.

Buying Basics: Mobile Workstations

CPU and RAM. The rule of thumb here is to buy all the processing power you can afford. In the pro mobile workstation market, workstation-grade CPUs are an all-Intel world, centered around its highest-end Core mobile chips and its mobile Xeon processors.

While plenty of good gaming laptops, as long as they have a fast graphics card, can make do with a Core i5, mobile workstation shoppers should head straight for a Core i7, a Core i9, or even a Xeon, with as many cores and threads as are available. Here, you'll want to look at the specific software that you mean to run on the machine for recommendations on what grade of CPU the vendor deems ideal.

A few entry-level machines, meant more for showing finished renderings to clients (or the boss) rather than producing the renderings themselves, feature dual-core processors. But most mobile workstations rely on beefy quad-core CPUs, teamed with plenty of memory—16GB is a minimum, with 32GB not uncommon and 64GB a popular ceiling. Again, your software's suggested requirements should be your guide, but erring on the side of more here, especially for demanding applications, is a safe mistake to make. Again, let the software makers' recommendations be your guide.

Some Xeon-based systems support server-style error correcting code (ECC) memory, which can detect and fix single-bit memory errors. ECC DRAM is a mainstay in applications such as financial or scientific computing, where even the slightest internal data corruption cannot be permitted. That said, a requirement for ECC RAM is outside the mainstream for most ISV apps.

GPU and Display. As with gaming laptops, all but a handful of mobile workstations draw on the speed and strength of a dedicated or discrete graphics adapter rather than the integrated graphics built into the CPU. Nvidia's professional mobile graphics are found under the Quadro brand, just as AMD's are called Radeon Pro (formerly FirePro).

Though built to optimize different operations, mobile workstation GPUs give nothing away to consumer or gaming GPUs like Nvidia's GeForce line. In fact, Nvidia's professional mobile flagship at this writing, the VR-ready Quadro RTX 5000, has more display memory (16GB versus 11GB) than the company's top desktop gaming card, the GeForce RTX 2080 Ti($1,199.00 at NVIDIA).

A couple of mobile workstations that emphasize light weight and portability have 14-inch screens, but most measure either 15.6 or 17.3 inches diagonally. Some vendors offer both full-size and thin-and-light 15.6-inch models (the Lenovo ThinkPad P52 versus P52s, for example, or HP ZBook 15 G5 versus ZBook Studio x360 G5), the latter trading expandability for easy transport. Full HD or 1080p (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) resolution is a minimum, with 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) resolution a popular choice for graphics or animation work with room for onscreen toolbars and menus—or for 4K video editing.

Color management—making sure that what you see on screen exactly matches a finished product—is often important for the kinds of tasks expected of a high-end mobile workstation. Screens such as HP's factory-calibrated DreamColor displays come with software that lets you choose the Internet's sRGB, print's Adobe RGB, or cinema's DCI-P3 palettes or color spaces. Some Lenovo systems go further by having Pantone color calibrators on board: You select a white point (typically D65 for photography or D50 for prepress and graphic design) and gamma (tone response) value, then close the lid, which puts the screen against a palm-rest sensor. A few seconds later, an audible tone indicates that the calibrator has done its work.

Storage and Extras. Mobile workstation owners work with massive data files, so mobile workstations need ample storage. That typically means one or two M.2 solid-state drives teamed with one or two hard drives, totaling as much as 3TB or 4TB (at least for larger 17.3-inch models, which will have more room in the chassis for such a spread).

For still more storage capacity, nowadays we don't consider a workstation worthy of the name unless it has at least one Thunderbolt 3 port for high-speed connection to external drives and RAID arrays, as well as single or multiple high-resolution displays. If Thunderbolt 3's daisy-chaining connectivity is too much of an investment for you, a growing number of desktop docking stations use the technology to provide one-plug access to ports aplenty.

Finally, take note of the touch pad located in the palm rest south of the space bar. Many CAD and other workstation apps make use of three mouse buttons, so it's worth checking to see whether a system has a middle button instead of only the usual two.

The Major Players

As we mentioned earlier on, HP, Dell, and Lenovo are the big dogs in the mobile workstation market. Don't confuse the companies' high-end business systems with workstations; although the term "workstation" has a generic meaning, and a simple connotation of a "PC for work," in the professional applications world it has a very specific meaning along the lines we've discussed: a high-end Core or Xeon CPU, a workstation-class Quadro or Radeon Pro graphics chipset, and ISV certification. As a result, you'll want to look specifically at the three vendors' ZBook (HP), Precision (Dell), and ThinkPad P (Lenovo) selections when comparison shopping. One other player, MSI, has also made modest inroads into mobile workstations with its MSI W series laptops; take a look at them as well.

Take note of an up-and-coming concept in the workstation world: a more generic GPU driver that is built around maximizing compatibility with creative apps. Nvidia is already doing this with its Nvidia Studio Driver, which works on both GeForce and Quadro GPUs. The driver doesn't offer guaranteed compatibility like an ISV certification, but it's tested against creative software from popular vendors. (A list of apps is published on the driver download page.) We're seeing an emerging class of workstation-like Studio laptops hitting the market.

Note that almost all workstation machines are traditional clamshells, but HP has experimented with workstation convertibles with its ZBook X2 (a detachable-screen model) and ZBook x360 (rotating 2-in-1) models, respectively. These are both worth checking out, as well, in the event that their unique-among-workstation designs mesh with what you do.

Don't need quite as much power as these workstation beasts deliver? Also check out our roundup of the top business laptops and our overall roundup of the best laptops.

• The Best For Mobile Workstation Users
  Dell Precision 5530
  $1,139.00 at Dell Technologies

  See It
• The Best For Scientists, Multimedia Content Creators
  Lenovo ThinkPad P53
  $1,449.99 at Amazon

  See It
• The Best For Users Seeking ISV App Power, Ray-Tracing
  MSI WS75
  $3,499.00 at Amazon

  See It
• The Best For CAD, CAM, Engineering, VR Content Creation
  Dell Precision 7730
  $1,633.93 at Dell Technologies

  See It
• The Best For Architects, Engineers; Pro-Grade ISV Workloads
  HP ZBook 17 G5
  $1,699.00 at HP

  See It
• The Best For Engineers, Animators, Video Editors
  Lenovo ThinkPad P1
  $2,695.71 at Amazon

  See It
• The Best For Desk-Bound Architects, Engineers
  Lenovo ThinkPad P72
  $1,649.00 at Amazon

  See It
• The Best For Style-Conscious Content Creators
  Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition
  $3,999.99 at Razer

  See It
• The Best For CAD Users, Engineers, Scientists; Frequent Presenters
  HP ZBook Studio x360 G5
  $2,764.74 at HP

  See It