Buying guide: The best convertible and 2-in-1 notebooks in Kenya

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Convertibles and 2-in-1 notebooks are the optimal compromise for anyone who is looking for a notebook and a tablet but doesn’t want to carry two devices around with them. With a convertible, the display can be folded down completely. Thanks to the obligatory touch display, you can easily operate the device by hand in both tablet and notebook mode.

We have tested countless convertibles, Ultrabook and 2-in-1 laptops. In this article we will introduce you to current and recommended convertibles.

From cheap to expensive, every device has its strengths and weaknesses. Nevertheless, there is a suitable convertible for every requirement, from students to photographers.Convertible vs. Ultrabook – What are the differences? With a convertible you get a much more flexible device compared to an Ultrabook. Whether image editing in tablet mode on the train, notebook mode for surfing on the couch or watching films in tent mode on the plane: a convertible is suitable for most tasks thanks to its compact format, flexible hinge and plenty of power.

Even schoolchildren and students can cover many everyday requirements with a cheap convertible and at the same time have to carry less. Art or design as your major? With convertibles with a pen, you can get creative thanks to tablet mode. Devices with a display diagonal of 13.3″ or 14″ are often sufficient.

Are you a graphic designer, photographer or do you like to edit your videos on the go? Then you should go for bright displays with high color fidelity. OLED displays offer the most accurate color representation. A dedicated graphics unit such as the GeForce MX350 or Intel Arc also makes sense, as image effects and videos are rendered much faster.

Gaming on a convertible? The bad news for most gamers: powerful dedicated graphics cards don’t fit the compact form factor and portability demands of most convertibles. In addition, the cooling system is often not designed for intensive gaming and the devices become warm as a result. Although you can also use the current integrated graphics units such as e.g. The Intel Iris Xu plays games like CS: GO or Fortnite on low to medium details, but it’s rarely really fun. If you value good graphics and lots of details when you’re on the go, you’ll still have to choose a gaming notebook.

Chromebooks offer the cheapest entry into the convertible world. They have developed well in recent years and are now worth recommending. Since they are not really widespread yet, the inhibition threshold is unfairly high. They’re quick to set up, offer long battery life and access to many apps and the free Google Office suite. However, it should also be said that many well-known Windows apps do not run on Chrome OS. We introduce them to you in the video.

If you want to use the convertible more often for work, you can use the HP Pavilion x360 14 or HP Envy x360 15. Both are well made and completely sufficient for everyday life, surfing, multimedia, office work or even programming. The most common weak point of convertible notebooks in the range up to 1,000 euros? The display. With mediocre brightness and low color fidelity, they are not suitable for graphic artists, creative people and those working in direct sunlight.

In the range of around Kshs 160,000 plus, you often get more performance and brighter displays in addition to higher-quality workmanship. The Microsoft Surface Pro 9, for example, uses Alcantara and is a real 2-in-1 device thanks to the removable type cover. The prices start well below that, but the convertible only really becomes recommended from around Kshs 180,000 plus. At just under Kshs 170,000 for the cheapest version, the Lenovo Yoga 7 is also in this price range. Apart from a few small things, it performed very confidently in the test.

The luxury class starts at around Kshs 250,000. Powerful performance, excellent workmanship and high-quality materials are characteristic of this price range. The HP Specter x360 15 with OLED display is very interesting for professional graphic artists and photographers. With a bright touch display, optimal color reproduction, good battery life, strong Intel CPU and Intel Iris Xe graphics chip, the high-quality convertible is very suitable for image and, in some cases, video editing. If money is no object, you’re doing everything right with the HP Elite Dragonfly.

Top-notch workmanship, feather-light weight, lots of performance, best battery life, LTE: The Dragonfly is our performance recommendation for business use, but it is also very expensive. The following convertibles are on our list:

HP Pavilion x360 15-er1133ng: Affordable all-rounder.

Suitable for: surfing, office work, multimedia

Pros

Good workmanship and feel.

Narrow display bezels

Lots of connections

Good input devices

Good battery life

Fast SSD

Cons

Display not very color accurate

Reflective display

No LAN port

RAM not expandable

The HP Pavilion x360 notebooks are among the best-known convertibles. They are well made and offer a modern design. Thanks to the narrow display frames, they are still comparatively compact despite the large 15.6″ display. The 12th generation Intel Core i3 processor installed here offers enough power for office, surfing and multimedia. Unfortunately, the 8 GB of RAM cannot be expanded so easily, but it will still be sufficient for the next few years for the intended areas of use. There is also a 256 GB SSD and Windows 11.The display responds precisely to your inputs. With a maximum of 250 nits, it is sufficiently bright for indoor use. However, you should avoid direct light. The hardware allows for easy image editing, but you should connect an external display via HDMI or DisplayPort if you rely on accurate colors. To the shop: Pavilion x360 15-er1133ng

HP Pavilion x360 15-er1154ng: Slim all-round convertible with good sound

Suitable for: surfing, office work, multimedia

Pros

Good workmanship

Good connection selection

Efficient CPU

Good battery life

Cons

Display reflects

Moderate display brightness

Color fidelity of the display

RAM not expandable

This Pavilion x360 is, so to speak, the big brother of the first convertible. The display is identical to the Core i3 model. However, here you get an energy-saving Core i5-1235U, which offers you enough performance for all everyday scenarios. Even light gaming is possible at low detail levels with older games. Here, too, you get 8 GB of RAM, which is also not that easy to upgrade. There is also a 512 GB SSD that fits all your data. The connection selection is completely sufficient for everyday life with USB-A, USB-C and HDMI.

The display here also has narrow display frames and is up to 250 nits bright. The same applies here: This is absolutely sufficient indoors, but it becomes more difficult to recognize content in direct sunlight. The hardware on this convertible also allows for easy video editing for social media. However, you should keep in mind that the convertible is not suitable for color-accurate work. To the shop: HP Pavilion x360 15-er1154ng

Acer Spin 3 (SP314-55N-75TK): Compact continuous running with Thunderbolt

Suitable for: surfing, office work, multimedia, image and video editing Pro

Pros

Chic design

Very good workmanship

High-quality feel

A lot of performance

Fast SSD

Powerful and bright display

Thunderbolt 4long battery life

Cons

Very smooth keyboard

Reflective display

No SD card reader

The Acer Spin 3 is currently the cheapest convertible with Thunderbolt 4. This means that even large amounts of data can be moved quickly. The three remaining USB ports (2x USB-A, 1x USB-C) support the fast 3.2 Gen 2 standard. There is also an HDMI port and a microSD card reader. This is a good connection selection. In addition to good connections, the Spin 3 has a very long battery life, so it won’t be a problem in office use if you forget the charger at home. With a weight of 1.5 kilos, you can take the convertible with you anywhere.

It fits in every pocket. The RAM is a generous 16 GB and can be expanded to 32 GB. There is also a fast 512 GB SSD, which can easily be replaced with a larger model if necessary. With the Intel Core i7-1255U you have a powerful CPU for your everyday life. You can even use it to edit videos. The 14″ display covers 100% of the common sRGB color space. This should provide coverage of 70-80% of the AdobeRGB and DCI-P3 color spaces, which are important for image and video editing. You can work well with that. To the shop: Acer Spin 3 (SP314-55N-75TK)

Microsoft Surface Pro 9: Premium minimalist with type cover, 3:2 format and lots of performance

Suitable for: surfing, demanding office work, multimedia, image and video editing

Pros

Very good workmanship

High-quality feel (Alcantara)

A lot of performance

Bright, true-color and sharp display

More work space thanks to the 3:2 format

2x Thunderbolt 4

WiFi 6E and Bluetooth 5.1

Quiet and cool under load

Very light and compact

Good sound

Long battery life

Usable webcam

Cons

Display reflects

Display not completely evenly lit

Only SSD replaceable/upgradable relative expensive

SD card reader is missing

With the Surface Pro 9 you get the best appearance, the highest quality materials and a lot of performance in a tablet form factor with full Windows 11. There is also a contemporary display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and wide color space coverage, which you can use out of the box for professional work in sRGB – Color space can be used. The Surface Pen II is also integrated into the Type Cover and doesn’t fly through your backpack.

At just 0.9 cm thick, the Pro 9 is still the most portable way to carry around a really high-performance Windows PC. If you are also looking for a tablet and a writing instrument for creative work, the Surface Pro 9 is the right choice. But the switch can also be worthwhile for Ultrabook fans. The good display, the best integrated cameras in a Windows laptop and the excellent speakers literally make most of the competition look old. To the shop: Microsoft Surface Pro 9

Lenovo Yoga 7: Enduring convertible with a very good OLED display and pen

Suitable for: surfing, office work, multimedia, image and video editing

Pros

Chic design

Very good workmanship

High-quality feel

A lot of performance

Fast SSD

Powerful and bright OLED display

USB4

WiFi 6 and Bluetooth 5.2

Long battery life

Cons

Very smooth keyboard

Reflective display

RAM not upgradeable

The Lenovo Yoga 7 is a convertible with a Ryzen 5 6600U, 16 GB DDR5 RAM and a 512 GB SSD. The RAM is soldered in and cannot be expanded. The SSD, on the other hand, can be replaced with a larger one if necessary. The Ryzen CPU offers enough power for all tasks and ensures a long battery life thanks to its high efficiency.

At 1.4 kilos, the Yoga 7 is also an extremely light convertible that you can take with you anywhere. When it comes to connections, Lenovo offers you almost the full range. USB-C (USB 4) is at the start as well as USB-A, HDMI and a microSD card reader. Like Windows 11, a Lenovo digital pen is also included in the scope of delivery.

The display is the real highlight of the Yoga 7. It is pleasantly compact with a 14″ diagonal in a 16:10 format and boasts a very high resolution. 2880 x 1800 pixels ensure that all content is displayed crisply on the bright OLED touchscreen.

Thanks to the 90 Hz refresh rate, even occasional games on the display are fun. For creative people, however, color space coverage is important: 100% DCI-P3 leaves nothing to be desired when editing videos. Since the covers of DCI-P3 and AdobeRGB are identical in most cases, you can also look forward to accurate colors when editing images. To the shop: Lenovo Yoga 7

HP Specter x360 16: Performance monster with 4K OLED display and dedicated graphics card

Suitable for: surfing, demanding office work, multimedia, demanding image and video editing

Pros

Chic design

Very good workmanship

Infrared camera with Windows Hello

Lots of connections

Very good performance with dedicated GPUvery color accurate, bright and sharp OLED display

Good sound

Keyboard lighting

Cons

Reflective display

Relatively expensive

Device cannot be expanded

Big and heavy

Are you looking for the ultimate convertible? Then check out the HP Specter x360 16. You get a 13th generation Core i7, a dedicated Intel graphics card, 16 GB of RAM and a 1 TB SSD. The ports include 2x Thunderbolt 4 (USB-C), USB-A, HDMI and a microSD card reader the display is a real eye-catcher in the truest sense of the word. The 16” OLED touchscreen has a resolution of 3840 x 2400 pixels.

Or to put it another way: UHD+. So it’s not a classic 16:9 format, but the more practical 16:10 format. This offers more space for your content and is fortunately becoming increasingly popular. With up to 400 nits, the convertible’s display is also nice and bright, so you can use it on the go. Portability is slightly limited due to the comparatively high weight of just under 2 kilos.

Together, the hardware and display offer you enough power to tackle and quickly complete even more complex tasks in the area of image editing or video editing. The Intel Arc graphics card also offers you the opportunity to do one or two rounds of gaming. At more than 2000 euros*, the HP Spectre x360 16 is not a bargain. But you get an absolutely flexible convertible for your money that will serve you well in the long term. To the shop: HP Specter x360 16

You definitely won’t go wrong when buying the convertibles listed when shopping for your next convertible in Kenya. Of course, there are many other devices out there that deserve a recommendation. This list does not claim to be complete. You can find all of the convertible notebooks we tested here .Do you have questions about or experiences with the individual devices? Then put it in the comments.