As much as I like an SD card slot on a laptop making it…

One of the most common usage scenarios for notebooks is the storing, viewing, sorting and editing of pictures as well as videos. A laptop for this purpose should have a very high-quality display to represent your collections as accurately as possible and obviously provide the necessary performance to ensure a productive workflow. We also use the weight as a criterion for this ranking, which should be an indicator for mobility. Other K.O. criteria are processors with a performance level compared to modern Intel Core i chips, a full-size SD reader as well as a display of at least 13-inches. You can also use the following top lists for further research:

The HDR edition of Gigabyte’s Aero 17 XB features an extremely bright and color accurate UHD panel. Unfortunately, its high resolution of 3840 x 2160 manages to bring the included GPU (GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q) to its knees quite easily and frequently. The slim and visually discreet and unobtrusive case is not just aimed at gamers but creatives as well. Thanks to its long battery life the device is even somewhat usable on-the-go despite its large 17-inch display.

Considering aforementioned large 17-inch screen its weight of 2.7 kg / 5.95 lbs is acceptable. Users in search of a device that offers a high level of performance when out and about should take note of the Aero 17. The included Thunderbolt 3 port is a nice bonus as well.

Things we did not like include the positioning of the webcam, the distribution of its ports, and its noise emissions under load. In return, the devices comes with a full-size SD card reader.

According to gaming specialist MSI the future of displays is Mini LED. This new panel technology allows OEMs to control individual areas of the display independently of one another, thereby allowing for a combination of high display brightness and high contrast ratio (local dimming) and creating the basis for true HDR playback. The MSI Creator 17 is the first notebook with a Mini LED display, and it performed exceptionally well in our tests (93 %). That said its HDR capabilities were not taken into consideration yet, something you need to keep in mind should this be of interest to you.

Other benefits of MSI’s Creator include plentiful connectivity including Thunderbolt 3, excellent system performance (10875H 8-core CPU, RTX 2080 Super Max-Q GPU, up to 64 GB of RAM, and 2x M.2 slots for NVMe SSDs), a clean business-like design, and last but not least a comparatively small footprint for a 17-inch notebook. Priced at around $4,000 the Creator 17 is definitely aimed at professional users.

What do you get if you combine brute performance with a very good display? The MSI GT76 Titan. Originally a gaming laptop the GT76 offers a combination of an Intel 10-core CPU with Nvidia’s GeForce RTX 2080 Super, up to 64 GB of RAM, and a total of 4 storage slots (3x M.2, 1x 2.5-inch) which should suffice even for the most demanding applications.

In our review, the GT76 demonstrated its raw brute levels of performance while remaining comparatively cool and quiet as long as you don’t run it at peak capabilities non-stop. Unsurprisingly for a gaming laptop its 120 Hz 4K display’s main strength were response times. In addition, it also offered a high level of brightness, a good contrast ratio, and wide color gamuts. Downsides include its weight of almost 9 lbs, which basically gags all claims of portability, as well as its poor battery life. At prices of between $4,000 and $5,000 it is certainly one of the most expensive options out there.

MSI uses the Creator moniker for a wide variety of notebooks that are aimed primarily at creative users and content creators. The MSI Creator 15 combines a high-resolution 4K 15-inch display with Intel’s 10th gen 8-core processors and high-end Nvidia GPUs. The system supports up to 32 GB of RAM and two M.2 SSDs.

In our review, the Creator 15 scored particularly well in the display category (bright, high contrast ratio, wide color gamut), its overall performance level, and its good-looking high-quality case. The price for all this? Between $2,500 and $3,500 depending on SKU.

Despite the fact that the Clevo X170SM-G-based XMG Ulltra 17 is much more modest and less pretentious than many of its competitors it cannot entirely rid itself of its gaming pedigree. The top model comes with a 10-core Intel Core i9 CPU, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU, up to 128 GB of RAM, and 4x M.2 slots, and is therefore at the bleeding edge of what is currently possible.

The Ultra 17 features a 4K display that proved itself in our review with a high brightness, good contrast ratio, and a wide color gamut. Performance is top-notch and the notebook offers a high level of customization thanks to its upgradeable RAM and storage options. Unsurprisingly, prices for this marvel of notebook engineering are fairly high. Depending on configuration the XMG Ultra 17 can set you back more than $4,000.

The Aorus 17 YA is yet another heavy gaming powerhouse combining high-end CPUs with high-end GPUs that don’t need to shy away from a comparison with desktop computers. The Aorus 17 YA may only offer a 9th gen Intel CPU and a non-Super GPU but its price is much lower than on its competitors with more recent hardware.

To summarize our review verdict: top-level performance at the price of portability (size, weight, battery life). The notebook can also get annoyingly loud. Prices start at around $2,500, our review unit with Core i9 CPU clocked in at more than $3,500.

With a weight of 2.7 kg the Aorus 17G XB can almost be considered to be portable for a high-end gaming notebook. 10th generation 8-core Intel processors paired with GeForce RTX Super Max-Q GPUs, 64 GB of RAM, and 2x M.2 PCIe SSDs ensure a high level of performance.

In our review, the Aorus 17G XB scored very well primarily thanks to its display (240 Hz, good color-space coverage, Pantone-certified), keyboard (mechanical), case, and battery life. With a battery life of more than 7 hours in our real-world Wi-Fi test the Aorus 17G XB turned out to be one of the best contenders of its class. Prices start at around $2,000 and can go up to roughly $3,000 depending on selected hardware.

Alienware has been the most purebred gaming hardware OEM for many years. The fact that their current flagship gamer, the Alienware m17 R3, can be found in this particular list is courtesy of its high scores in the display and application performance categories. Its very high level of performance is achieved through a combination of an Intel 8-core i9 CPU, a Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU, 32 GB of RAM, and up to 3x M.2 SSDs. Various display options are available, and we had the fast FHD display with a 300 Hz refresh rate in review. A 4K display is optionally available as well.

Prices for the Alienware M17 R3 start at around $2,000 and can go all the way up to more than $4,000 depending on configuration.

      Gigabyte Aero 17 HDR XB       Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon 2020-20UAS04T00       Dynabook Portege X30L-G1331       Dell Latitude 7310       Apple MacBook Pro 13 2019 i5 4TB3       Huawei MateBook X Pro 2020 i7       Acer Swift 3 SF313-52-71Y7       samsung galaxy Book Ion 13.3       Dell XPS 13 9300 Core i7-1065G7       Apple ipad Pro 12.9 2020 ❌

* … smaller is better