As laptops get thinner and lighter, there tend to be some things that get sacrificed along the way. The best premium laptops we see these days are often tiny and only have Thunderbolt 4 ports in order to save space inside the chassis, for example. Another thing that’s fallen by the wayside over the years is the inclusion of number pads, which many of those best laptops don’t have.
Those dedicated number keys can be hugely important if you work with numbers. All the keys are easily accessible in one position, so number-crunching becomes a lot more efficient and convenient. These days, you have to look to 15- or 17-inch laptops if you want a number pad, since 13-inch laptops are very small. But even then, there are a ton of laptops out there that don’t have a number pad.
XDA-Developers VIDEO OF THE DAYIf you’re having trouble finding laptops that include a number pad, we’ve rounded up the best ones you can buy right now. Let’s get into it.
HP’s Spectre lineup is home to some of the very best laptops you can buy, but if you want with a number pad, the Spectre x360 15 is your only option. Even the recent x360 16 doesn’t have it, but thankfully, there’s a lot to love with the 15-inch model.
Starting with performance, the Spectre x360 15 is packing Intel’s 11th-generation Core i7-1165G7 processor. This is a 15W CPU with four cores, eight threads and boost speeds up to 4.7GHz. It also includes integrated Iris Xe graphics with 96 execution units, so it can handle some light GPU workloads, too. There are newer processors on the way, but this is still great and, for now, it’s the latest you can buy. In addition to this, you get 16GB of RAM and a 512GB SSD accelerated by 32GB of Intel Optane memory. This is the only configuration available at writing time on HP’s website, though there should be others.
This model is also packing a great display. It’s a 15.6-inch IPS panel, as you’d expect, and it comes in the 16:9 aspect ratio with a very sharp 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. Since this is a convertible laptop, that display also supports touch and pen input, and you can use the laptop like an oversized tablet if you want to.
A downside of this laptop is that it still comes with a 720p webcam, something we’ve seen HP move away from with some of its more recent laptops. That camera won’t give you great quality for video calls and meetings, but it should be serviceable in a pinch. It also supports Windows Hello facial recognition, and on that note, there’s also a fingerprint reader built-in.
Design-wise, the HP Spectre x360 15 is everything you’ve come to expect of the Spectre family. It uses a dual-tone design with black surfaces and copper-colored accents (the Poseidon Blue model seems to be unavailable right now), and you also see the classic angular edges and cut-off corners that Spectre laptops often have. As we’ve mentioned, a full-size number pad is included on the keyboard, too. Being a 15-inch aluminum convertible, the Spectre x360 15 isn’t very light, starting at 4.23lbs, but you should still be able to carry it with you without much of an issue.
Finally, for ports, the Spectre x360 15 includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. It’s a solid setup overall that covers all basic needs, even if ports aren’t as abundant as on some larger laptops. One of the Thunderbolt ports is also in one of the cut-off corners, so you can more easily plug in a cable coming from either side of the laptop.
This is still one of the best laptops out there, and if you want a laptop that includes a number pad, you can’t go wrong with this one.
Laptop with number pads don’t often have a ton of overlap with thin-and-light laptops, but the 15-inch Galaxy Book Pro that does both, and it’s actually a fantastic device. It’s got an ultra-thin design, a great display, and other high-end specs that make it a solid machine.
In terms of performance, the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro isn’t too far off from the Spectre x360 15 we just mentioned. It’s packing Intel’s 11th-generation Core processors, and you get to choose between the Core i5-1135G7 and the Core i7-1165G7, both of which have four cores and eight threads, though the Core i7 is obviously faster. The Core i5 variant comes with 8GB of RAM, while the Core i7 variant doubles that to 16GB, so that’s a pretty significant upgrade if you choose to take it. For storage, both models include a 512GB SSD, which is solid enough for most users.
The display on the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is also great. It’s a 15.6-inch panel and it comes in Full HD (1920 x 1080) resolution, but what’s great about it is that it’s an AMOLED panel. That means you get true blacks, vivid colors, and very high contrast ratios. Usually, AMOLED displays are reserved for very expensive laptops, so it’s great to see it in this more affordable package and a more down-to-earth resolution. That said, some might have liked to see a slightly sharper panel at this size, but this is definitely serviceable, and being an AMOLED panel makes up for it in my opinion.
Unfortunately, we’re looking at yet another 720p camera here, and that’s something you’ll be seeing a lot on this list. The quality won’t be the best, but it should do the job if you only take video calls every now and then and not very often. It also doesn’t support Windows Hello facial recognition, but you can use your fingerprint to unlock your PC if you want a more convenient way to do it.
What’s truly impressive about the Galaxy Book Pro is just how thin and light it is. For a 15.6-inch laptop, being just 11.68mm thin is super impressive, and it weighs just 2.31lbs, too. It’s especially great to see that getting to that thin-and-light design didn’t require sacrificing the number pad, which is still available here. The Galaxy Book Pro is available in two colors: Mystic Silver (silver exterior with a white interior) and Mystic Blue (blue exterior and a black interior), both of which look great in their own right.
Finally, the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro has a somewhat limited supply of ports, but nothing you shouldn’t expect for something this thin. You get one Thunderbolt 4 ports, one USB Type-A port, and one standard USB Type-C port. There’s no HDMI, which is a bummer, but at least Thunderbolt 4 support makes it easy to plug in high-resolution external monitors.
While it makes some obvious sacrifices to get to its compact size, the Samsung Galaxy Book Pro is still one of the best laptops you can buy that has a number pad, and one of the best laptops in general.
While we’re on the topic of lightweight laptops with number pads, the LG gram 17 is another fantastic option. There aren’t many 17-inch laptops out there that try to be lightweight, but that’s the whole identity of the gram 17, and it does it incredibly well.
For performance, the LG gram 17 is another one packing Intel’s 15W processors from the 11th-generation. In this case, you can get it with an Intel Core i7-1195G7, which is a slightly more powerful processor with four cores, eight threads, and boost speeds up to 5GHz. It also includes Iris Xe graphics for some light GPU workloads. Aside from that, it comes with up to 16GB of RAM and 2TB of SSD storage, though there are a few different models you can find at different retailers.
The LG gram 17 also has one of the best displays we’ve seen yet. It’s a 17-inch panel, but it comes in the tall 16:10 aspect ratio, which is a big deal. In addition to being a large screen, this taller aspect ratio makes room for things like more rows on an Excel spreadsheet or more UI elements in some apps that have more complex interfaces. It’s great for productivity, and it should go along well with the included number pad. On top of that, this is a sharp display at Quad HD+ (2560 x 1600) resolution, so it can make even better use of that available space.
One area where the gram 17 doesn’t stand out, unfortunately, is its webcam, which is yet another 720p camera. It won’t be impressive if you’re using it often, but it should get the job done if you need it in a pinch. There’s also no Windows Hello facial recognition, but you do get a fingerprint reader if you need biometric authentication.
Moving on to the design, the LG gram 17 is another impressive laptop for how lightweight it is. For a 17-inch laptop featuring a large 80Whr battery, it’s hard to believe that the whole laptop weighs just under 3lbs, making it one of the lightest 17-inch laptops you’ll find anywhere. It’s also under 18mm thin, which is great, too. As for looks, the gram 17 comes in silver, white, or black color options, but finding them all can be tough, and it will affect the specs you can get.
Rounding things out with ports, you get a very good setup here. Two Thunderbolt 4 ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader make this a great laptop in terms of connectivity.
You can buy the LG gram 17 in black with a 1TB SSD below, or check out a white model with a 2TB SSD at Best Buy. Other models might be available elsewhere.
Even among business laptops, it’s not always guaranteed you’ll find something with a number pad. but Lenovo’s ThinkPad lineup has something for you. The ThinkPad T15 is one of the company’s most popular laptops, and it includes a number pad along with all the iconic ThinkPad features users love.
Performance-wise, the ThinkPad T15 Gen 2 is packing Intel’s 15W processors up to a Core i7-1185G7. That’s a quad-core, eight-thread processor, and it can boost up to 4.8GHz, in addition to featuring Iris Xe graphics. This particular processor also includes Intel vPro technology, which adds some extra security features specifically for businesses. Like most business laptops, there are plenty of configuration options available for the specs, and you can get up to a whopping 48GB of RAM (16GB soldered, 32GB slotted), plus up to a 1TB SSD. If you opt for a COre i7 processor with 16GB of onboard RAM, you can also add an optional NVIDIA GeForce MX450 GPU for a little extra graphics power.
For the display, you’re getting a 15.6-inch panel in the 16:9 aspect ratio, and the base model is a fairly standard Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel. You can upgrade this model with an optional touchscreen, or you can spring for the ultra-sharp 4K (2840 x 2160) panel, which is also brighter (600 nits) and supports Dolby Vision. This is an expensive upgrade, but it does look great, so it might be worth it. These configuration options are mostly independent of each other, so you can fine-tune the laptop to your specific needs.
Once again, the webcam here isn’t particularly impressive, and you’re getting a 720p camera that doesn’t stand out that much. The default configuration doesn’t include Windows Hello facial recognition support, but you can add it, and there’s also an optional fingerprint reader if you prefer unlocking your PC that way.
Moving on to the design, the ThinkPad T15 doesn’t win any awards for portability. It starts at 3.86lbs of weight and it’s just over 19.1mm thick, so it’s not particularly easy to carry, but it’s nothing you shouldn’t expect for a 15-inch laptop, especially when there are a lot of configuration options available. In terms of looks, it’s what you expect of a ThinkPad: It’s a black chassis with red accents and iconic features like the red TrackPoint and the mouse buttons above the touchpad. This time, there’s a number pad, too, and you can also choose to get the laptop in Storm Grey if you prefer that look. Lenovo also offers optional antimicrobial coating if you want the laptop to stay clean over time.
Finally, the Lenovo ThinkPad T15 Gen 2 has a ton of ports. You get two Thunderbolt 4 ports (one of which can be used for Lenovo’s custom mechanical docking), two USB Type-A ports, HDMI,RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. You can also add an optional SmartCard reader, and the cherry on top is optional 4G LTE support. If you need to stay connected to the internet while you’re away from home or the office, this is an important feature, and it’s great to have the option available.
It’s geared towards specific kinds of users, but this is one of the best business laptops Lenovo makes, and if you need a number pad, it’s an easy recommendation.
What if you need a laptop that’s more powerful for workloads like streaming, video editing, and other heavy-duty tasks? There are some very powerful laptops out there, but as bulky as they are, not all of them have number pads. For that, the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED might be one of your best options.
With regards to performance, the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED is a far cry from all the laptops we’ve looked at so far. It comes with Intel’s 45W processors, specifically an Intel Core i7-11800H, which is an 8-core, 16-thread CPU with boost speeds up to 4.6GHz, and one of the most powerful laptop processors you can find right now. Additionally, this model includes up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptop GPU with 8GB of memory, which is a very powerful graphics card for intensive workloads such as AI-related tasks and rendering. Additionally, it comes with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD, though you may be able to find other configurations at different retailers.
Another stunning aspect of the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED is its display. It’s a 15.6-inch panel and it comes in the typical 16:9 aspect ratio, but the rest of it is far from typical. This is OLED panel made by Samsung, and it comes in an ultra-sharp 4K (3840 x 2160) resolution. On top of that, it has a rated Delta E < 1, so it’s incredibly color accurate, it’s certified by X-Rite and Pantone Validated, and each panel is factory calibrated. It also covers 100% of DCI-P3 and supports HDR. It’s a fantastic screen for content creation and consumption, that much is undeniable.
It also comes with tiny bezels on the sides and top, and that comes with a very unfortunate downside: There’s no webcam above the display. Instead, you get a camera built into the keyboard base, which, on top of being an average 720p camera, is in a terrible position, so it’s pointing up to your face from below. This is one of the worst setups for a webcam, and you’ll really want to check out our best webcams list if you need one. There’s also no Windows Hello facial recognition, but you get a fingerprint sensor for that purpose.
Gigabyte is better known as a gaming brand. and while the Aero 15 OLED is more geared towards creators, the gaming roots are still here. The lid has a design that kind of gives away its gaming influence, and the keyboard is RGB backlit, but it’s actually done in a relatively subtle way, so it’s not obnoxious or anything. You can make it look fairly professional if you want to. As you’d probably expect for a powerful laptop like this, it’s not very light, with weight starting at 5.07lbs. It’s also 21.5mm thick, so it’s not easy to fit in any regular laptop sleeve.
One thing that the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED does exceedingly well is the ports. You have everything you could want here, and then some: one Thunderbolt 4 port, three USB Type-A ports, HDMI 2.1, mini DisplayPort 1.4, RJ45 Ethernet (2.5Gbps), a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. There’s pretty much nothing else you could ask for here, so this is an absolutely fantastic setup that truly makes great use of this large chassis.
You can buy it below or check out other configurations at Adorama, which includes some last-gen models.
If you want a powerful laptop but you’re more into gaming, the MSI Raider GE76 is probably the laptop you want. It’s just as powerful (or even more so) than the laptop we just looked at, but this one is more tailored to gamers in a few ways.
Performance-wise, it’s pretty much what you’d expect. It comes with an Intel Core i7-11800H processor, though some models may come with a Core i9 instead. As we’ve already mentioned, that’s a 45W CPU with 8 cores, 16 threads, and boost speeds up to 4.6GHz. It also comes with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with a whopping 155W of power, making this one of the most powerful laptop variants of the RTX 3080. This model also includes 16GB of GGDR6 memory, which is very impressive. In addition to that, this model comes with 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. We’d be remiss to ignore that there’s a new version of this laptop with 12th-generation processors coming soon, but it’s not widely available just yet. It may be a good idea to hold out a little longer.
Because gamers often need quick reflexes, the MSI Raider GE76 comes with a Full HD (1920 x 1080) display with an extra-smooth 360Hz refresh rate. That’s about as good as it gets if you need as many frames as possible coming your way. It also has a 3ms response time, so the time between you pressing a button and something happening on screen is also greatly reduced.
Perhaps surprisingly, the MSI Raider GE76 has one of the better webcams out of any laptop on this list. It’s a 1080p webcam, which makes it suitable for video calls and even game streaming, if that’s something you plan to do. Unfortunately, there’s no Windows Hello support, whether that’s with facial recognition or a fingerprint reader.
If the performance didn’t make it obvious, the design of the Raider GE76 makes it absolutely blatant that this is a gaming laptop. It’s got an RGB backlit keyboard, but there’s also an RGB lightbar at the front, on the keyboard deck, which adds a lot of flair to your setup. Beyond that, the fact that it’s over 27mm thick and weighs 6.39lbs also makes it obvious this isn’t a laptop you can take with you anywhere easily. It’s quite heavy, but you can take it to a friend’s house or something for a gaming session.
Similar to the Gigabyte Aero 15, this laptop also has plenty of connectivity options, and in fact, it has even more of them. You get one Thunderbolt 4 port, one standard USB Type-C port, three USB Type-A ports, HDMI, mini DisplayPort, RJ45 Ethernet, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader. There isn’t much more you could ask for here, so we can safely say this is a terrific port setup.
Want a laptop with a number pad without spending a lot? The aptly called HP Laptop 15t is a great option if you’re looking for something affordable but still quite capable. It gives you a few configuration options, too, so you can make it even better if your budget can accommodate it, but we’ll focus on the entry-level since that probably interests you more if you’re on a budget.
Starting with performance, the Dell Inspiron 15 covers all the basics quite well. It starts with an Intel Core i5-1135G7, which is a quad-core, eight-thread processor that can boost up to 4.2GHz and supports Intel Iris Xe graphics. You get the option to add NVIDIA GeForce MX350 graphics if you want to, or upgrade to a Core i7 (in which case you can’t get dedicated graphics). It also has 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD for storage at the base level, and you can upgrade from there if you want to.
The display is one of the downfalls of this laptop, at least in its base configuration, and this is one area where we do recommend paying a bit extra. The base model comes with a 15.6-inch display and HD (1366 x 768) resolution, which isn’t great. Upgrading to a Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel costs $50 at writing time, and it’s definitely a worthwhile upgrade. This improved panel is also brighter (300 nits versus 250 nits), so there’s that too.
A downside of this laptop is that it has a standard 720p HD webcam, which isn’t very good. That shouldn’t surprise you considering most of the more expensive laptops on this list have the same problem, but it’s still unfortunate, On top of that, there’s no Windows Hello support of any kind here, which is a bummer.
Design-wise, the Dell Inspiron 15 also doesn’t stand out that much, but it does have the benefit of coming in a handful of different colors. You can get it in black, silver, dark grey (seen above), and gold with a silver interior, if you want something of a dual-tone look. Having choices is always nice, so these four options are welcome. The laptop is also just under 20mm thick and weighs a little under 4lbs, which is about what you’d expect of a cheap 15-inch laptop.
Finally, in terms of ports, there’s a decent setup here. You get a USB Type-C port, two USB Type-A ports, RJ45 Ethernet (1Gbps), HDMI, a headphone jack, and a full-size SD card reader, so you have most of the basics covered. It’s not a cutting-edge laptop, but it covers most of the basics, and at this price, we couldn’t ask for much more.
Finally, if you’re not interested in a Windows laptop right now, it can be hard to find a Chromebook that has a number pad. But the ASUS Chromebook Flip C536 stands out in a good way and includes these additional keys while also being a solid convertible laptop.
The ASUS Chromebook Flip C536 is powered by an Intel Core i3-1115G4 processor, which has two cores, four threads, and speeds up to 4.1GHz. It’s not as high-end as many of the other laptops here, but this is still a solid processor, and with Chrome OS being a lightweight operating system, it should work very well here. In addition to this, you get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage, so you have a pretty good combination of specs for a Chromebook.
The display is also quite good for this price. It’s a 15.6-inch Full HD (1920 x 1080) panel so it looks decently sharp and gets the job done well. Also, this is a convertible laptop, so the screen supports touch and you can rotate it all around to use it as a tablet. There’s also pen support if you want to buy a USI pen separately.
To no one’s surprise, the webcam isn’t particularly good here, and it’s yet another 720p camera. There’s also no form of biometric authentication supported on this laptop. Facial recognition with an IR camera wouldn’t be supported by Chrome OS, but there’s no fingerprint reader, either.
Turning over to the design, the ASUS Chromebook Flip C536 actually looks quite good. It has a white exterior and a black interior, which makes for a cool dual-tone effect and gives it some personality. It also meets MIL-STD-810H standards for durability, and it’s about 18.5mm thick. It’s a bit heavy, though, at 4.3lbs, but that’s not too bad for a 15-inch convertible.
As for ports, the ASUS Chromebook Flip C536 comes with a decent supply of ports. There are two USB Type-C ports, one USB Type-A port, HDMI, and a microSD card reader. The lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack is a bit odd, but whether that’s a problem or not may vary from person to person.
And those are some of the best laptops you can buy right now that have a number pad. You may notice that this list is quite different from any of our other lists of best laptops, and that’s largely because number pads are quite hard to find these days, as we’ve mentioned. We chose the HP Spectre x360 15 for the top spot because it has pretty much everything we love about the HP Spectre series, including its versatility and premium design, along with high-end specs and, of course, the number pad.
Every laptop on this list is fantastic, though. I’m personally drawn to the more powerful laptops like the MSI Raider GE76 and the Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED, but there’s something for everyone here.