VIVID·REPAIRS/THE FIELD GUIDE/LAPTOPUpdated 27 September 2026Prices live from Amazon UK
Best of · UK · Field of 4
Best Laptops for video editing
Four laptops for video editing in the UK, from RTX 5060 models to a 16GB RTX 5080, ranked by GPU, RAM and ports.
By the Vivid Repairs deskUpdated 27 September 20264 ranked picks662 owner ratings read
As an Amazon Associate we may earn from qualifying purchases. We have not handled these products. Everything below is judged on published specifications, the owner ratings on the UK listings and our own product reviews, and the ranking stays independent of what any of them pay.
As an Amazon Associate, we may earn from qualifying purchases. Our ranking is independent.
Amazon confirms the live price, seller, stock and delivery. Prices here are read from the live listing through the day; a pick Amazon cannot supply is marked as such, and where the list has one in stock it is offered.
vividrepairs.co.uk / best-laptops-for-video-editingUpdated 27 September 2026 · Prices from the live Amazon UK listing
§ The field
Four picks, on one page
Ranked on fit for the job in the title, not on raw specification. Tap any one to jump to the argument for it. Prices are the live Amazon UK figure, read today; a pick with no figure is out of stock and says so in its entry.
RTX 5060 Laptop Blackwell GPU delivers strong 1080p and 1440p performance with DLSS 4 Multi Frame Generation support
165Hz FHD+ 16:10 IPS panel offers wide viewing angles, good colour accuracy and smooth motion clarity
Keyboard has genuinely good key travel and tactile feel, comfortable for extended productivity sessions
Where it gives up
16GB DDR5 RAM is light for the enthusiast price tier in 2025, with some modern titles pushing past this limit. 720p webcam is behind the standard expected at this price point in 2025.
Rated 4.4 by 603 owners. Our review scores it 8.0.
The rules this ranking ran under, in plain sight: what we read, what we weighed and what no merchant can move.
How we picked
Our editors evaluated 4 Laptop options against the criteria readers actually weigh up: price, real-world performance, build quality, warranty, and UK availability. Picks lean toward what we'd recommend to a friend buying today, not specs-on-paper winners.
Editorial contextEditor notes from individual reviews, not press releases.
Live UK pricingRefreshed from Amazon UK twice daily.
No paid placementsAffiliate commission doesn't change what wins.
The full guideEverything behind the shortlist above: the spec sheet, the write-ups in full, our method and the verdict.
§ Editorial · The full guide · five proofs, nothing hidden
The Doubt Index.
The shortlist told you what we picked; this zone shows the working. Come in through whichever doubt you’re carrying, or read straight down; we’d rather you checked us than trusted us.
Here’s the sheet the desk works from, kept deliberately factual. Every row is written to be checked against the retailer’s current listing, and you should check. The table scrolls sideways inside its own frame; the page underneath stays still.
Scroll sideways →4 rows · 5 columns · Prices swap to the live figure at render
You can, and you should. What follows is the part a sheet can’t do: the working between what these products have and what your desk actually needs, kept word for word.
Video editing punishes a laptop in a way gaming rarely does. A render doesn't care about frame rates; it wants VRAM, cores and a fast drive, and it wants them for the full length of an export, not a firefight. That's why the Best Laptops for video editing tend to look like gaming machines but get chosen on different numbers: how much GPU memory sits behind the timeline, whether the RAM copes with 4K footage and a browser full of tabs, and how quickly the SSD reads your scratch files. We compared four Windows 11 laptops on exactly those points, from an RTX 5060 all-rounder to an RTX 5080 workhorse, and matched each to the kind of editor it actually suits.
Buying Guide: What to Look For
Editing laptops get chosen on different numbers to gaming laptops, even when the chassis is identical. Here's what actually matters when you're picking one to cut video on.
VRAM first. The amount of memory on the GPU decides how much footage and how many effects you can stack before the timeline stutters. 8GB (the two RTX 5060 machines here) is fine for 1080p and light 4K. 12GB (the RTX 5070 Ti) is comfortable for regular 4K. 16GB (the RTX 5080) is what you want for heavy grades, multiple 4K layers or 6K source files. Don't buy less VRAM than your footage resolution demands and expect a later fix, because you can't upgrade a laptop GPU.
System RAM second. 16GB is the working minimum and fills fast once you add background renders and a browser. 32GB is the comfortable floor for 4K. Two machines here ship with 32GB; the two 16GB machines differ on upgrade path, with the Strix G16 offering confirmed SO-DIMM slots and the V16 leaving it unconfirmed.
Storage and ports. Editing wants a fast NVMe drive with room for scratch files, so 1TB is a starting point and 2TB is better. A free second M.2 slot (as on the Strix G16) lets you add a media drive. Thunderbolt 4, which both ExoBook models list, is the port that makes fast external SSDs and single-cable docks work properly.
The screen. A taller aspect ratio (16:10 or WUXGA) gives you more timeline height. 2560x1600 panels preview detail better than 1080p. Colour accuracy matters more than refresh rate for grading, though high refresh doesn't hurt.
Common mistakes: buying on gaming frame rates instead of VRAM; assuming you'll edit on battery (you won't, plan around mains); and ignoring the webcam if you take client calls, since 720p sensors look rough.
Four write-ups, none folded away. We don’t lab-test, so every line below sticks to what can be defended: the published sheet, the owner ratings on the UK listings and our own reviews.
Start with the one number that matters when you're staring at a timeline for eight hours: the screen. The Strix G16 uses a 16-inch 16:10 IPS panel at 165Hz, and the taller 16:10 shape buys you extra vertical pixels for tracks and toolbars that a plain 1080p16:9 laptop simply doesn't have. Our review lists good colour accuracy and wide viewing angles on that panel, which is what you want when you're grading rather than fragging. It tops the ranking here on a combination the ExoBook machines can't claim yet: 4.4 stars from 575 Amazon UK owners, the largest verified rating pool on this page, and an 8 out of 10 in our own published review.
Under the lid sits an Intel Core i7-14650HX and an RTX 5060 Laptop GPU on Nvidia's Blackwell architecture, with DLSS 4 support. For editing, the GPU handles hardware-accelerated exports and effects, and the i7-14650HX has the core count to keep the render moving. The 1TB Gen 4 SSD gives you space for a working project and its scratch files, and there's a second M.2 slot free, so you can add a dedicated media drive without pulling anything out. That expansion slot is the practical detail that separates this from a sealed machine: your footage library grows, and so can the laptop.
Here's the honest trade-off for editors. It ships with 16GB DDR5, and our review flags that as light for the price tier, with some modern software pushing past it. For 1080p work you'll cope; for 4K, 16GB fills quickly. The saving grace is the SO-DIMM slots our review confirms, so a 32GB or 64GB upgrade is a screwdriver away, unlike the soldered memory in cheaper machines. Against the ASUS V16 lower down this page, the Strix costs more but gives you the faster HX-class chip, the 165Hz panel and that documented upgrade path. Against the ExoBook i9, it's the safer buy on evidence: a proven owner rating versus a spec sheet with no ratings yet.
Two more things the listing settles. The webcam is 720p, behind what you'd expect at this bracket, so budget for an external cam if you're doing client calls between edits. And the whole rig, plus the 240W brick, tips past 3kg to carry, with battery dropping to one to two hours under load. This is a desk machine that occasionally travels, not a coffee-shop editor. For most people building a first serious editing setup, though, it's the one to start with. See our full ASUS ROG Strix G16 review for the complete breakdown.
Pros
Largest verified owner base here: 4.4 stars from 575 ratings
SO-DIMM RAM slots confirmed for a later 32GB or 64GB upgrade
Second M.2 slot free for a dedicated media drive
HDMI 2.1 for external displays
Cons
Only 16GB of RAM as shipped, so plan an upgrade for 4K
720p webcam trails the ExoBook models' listed webcams
Skip this one if 16GB of RAM and 8GB of VRAM are enough for your work, because you'll pay for headroom you don't need. Everyone else should look hard. The ExoBook i9 answers the two biggest complaints editors have about the Strix G16 above: it ships with 32GB DDR5-5600 instead of 16GB, and its RTX 5070 Ti carries 12GB of VRAM against the 5060's 8GB. More memory in front and behind the GPU is exactly what 4K timelines, colour grading and stacked effects layers eat through, so this is the point where the lineup stops being a gaming laptop that also edits and starts being an editing laptop.
The chip is an Intel Core i9-14900HX, a full HX-class processor with more cores than the Strix's i7, which shortens CPU-bound exports. Storage is a 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD, double the Strix's drive, so a large project plus its media cache fits without juggling. The connectivity is where it pulls clearly ahead of both ASUS machines: two Thunderbolt 4 ports alongside two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A. Thunderbolt 4 is the thing an editor actually uses daily, fast external SSDs for footage, a single-cable dock and a single-cable dock. Add Wi-Fi 7 for quicker network transfers and a 240Hz 2560x1600 panel that's both sharper and taller than the Strix's FHD+ screen.
The catch is evidence, not specification. There's no Amazon UK rating on record for this model and no published review score from us, so you're buying on the spec sheet rather than a proven track record the way you can with the 575-owner Strix. The listed weight is 2.25kg, lighter than the Strix's over-3kg carry figure, and the 73Wh battery is stated but, as with any RTX 5070 Ti machine, expect it to drain fast under a render. If you edit for a living and want the VRAM and Thunderbolt the Strix lacks without stepping up to the 5080's bracket, this is the sensible middle.
Pros
32GB DDR5-5600 as standard, double the Strix G16 and V16
12GB VRAM handles higher-resolution footage than the 8GB RTX 5060 machines
Two Thunderbolt 4 ports for fast external SSDs and single-cable docks
Wi-Fi 7 and a 2560x1600 240Hz panel
Cons
No Amazon UK owner ratings and no published review score yet
Single HDMI video output; no dedicated card reader listed
73Wh battery will not survive a long export off mains
16GB of GDDR7 VRAM is the headline, and for 4K editing it's the number that decides everything. The RTX 5080 in the ExoBook 16 doubles the ExoBook i9's 12GB and quadruples the RTX 5060 machines' 8GB, which means high-resolution timelines, heavy grades and multiple effects layers have room to breathe rather than choking the GPU. GDDR7 is the newest memory type here too. Pair that with a Core Ultra 9 275HX, 32GB of DDR5 and a 2TB Gen 4 NVMe drive, and you've got the most capable rendering package on this page by a clear margin.
The screen matches the i9's: 2560x1600 at 240Hz, taller and sharper than either ASUS panel for previewing fine detail. Ports repeat the sensible ExoBook layout, two Thunderbolt 4 and two USB 3.2 Gen2 Type-A, so fast external storage and a dock are covered. Wi-Fi 7 rounds it out. At 2.25kg it's the same carry weight as the i9 despite the stronger GPU.
Like the ExoBook i9, it has no Amazon UK rating yet, so this recommendation rests on the specification rather than on owner ratings like the Strix G16's. It also sits at the top price bracket here. If your work is mostly 1080p, the ExoBook i9 saves you money for VRAM you won't fill. But if you're grading 4K daily, this is the one that won't have you waiting on the timeline.
Pros
16GB GDDR7 VRAM, the most on this page for 4K and heavy effects
Core Ultra 9 275HX with 32GB DDR5 for fast exports
This is the machine for the editor who's starting out and cutting 1080p, not the one running four grades and a browser full of stock footage. The V16 sits at the entry bracket and still gives you an RTX 5060 Blackwell GPU with DLSS 4, so hardware-accelerated exports and timeline scrubbing on lighter projects are covered. It earns an 8 out of 10 in our published review and holds 3.8 stars from 57 Amazon UK owners, the smaller of the two rated machines here.
One clear win over the pricier Strix G16: the V16 has a 1080p webcam versus the Strix's 720p, so client calls between edits look sharper without an external cam. The 16-inch WUXGA panel is 1920x1200, a taller aspect ratio than plain 1080p that our review notes suits the GPU's output, and there's a built-in RJ45 ethernet port for stable transfers. The Core 7 240H, our review lists, keeps up with content creation and multitasking without bottlenecking the RTX 5060.
Where it costs you is memory and honesty on power. It's 16GB DDR5, which our review flags as limiting for creative work running alongside other apps, and unlike the Strix G16's confirmed SO-DIMM slots, upgradeability here isn't officially confirmed. ASUS lists an extra DDR5 SO-DIMM slot in the listing features, but that's the seller's claim, not something we can verify, so treat it cautiously. The GPU's TGP is undisclosed too, which our review calls a frustration worth checking before you buy. Keep this to 1080p and it's strong value; push it to 4K and the ExoBook machines are the honest answer. See our full ASUS V16 V3607VM review.
Pros
1080p webcam, sharper than the Strix G16's 720p unit
Built-in RJ45 ethernet for stable wired transfers
RTX 5060 with DLSS 4 at the entry bracket
Includes 3 months of Xbox Game Pass per the listing
Cons
RAM upgradeability not officially confirmed, unlike the Strix G16
GPU TGP undisclosed by ASUS, harder to judge sustained performance
Plastic chassis and audible fans under render load
Four to six hours light-use battery, less under a render
This page carries affiliate links; they never set the order. We don’t lab-test: rankings come from published specifications, the owner ratings on the UK listings and our own reviews.
How We Compared These
We ranked these four laptops on the specifications that decide editing performance: GPU VRAM, system RAM and its upgrade path, CPU core class, SSD size and speed, port selection (Thunderbolt in particular), and panel resolution and aspect ratio. Where a machine has an Amazon UK owner rating and a published review score from us, we weighted that evidence: the Strix G16 and V16 both carry those, while the two ExoBook models are assessed on published specifications alone. We compared prices by bracket using live data, not fixed figures. Nobody here has handled these units; every claim comes from listings, specification sheets and verified owner ratings.
A crown that can’t be argued with isn’t proof of quality; it’s proof nobody checked. So rather than restate the winner’s virtues, we defend the crown against the strongest cases to take it.
ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2025) Gaming Laptop
Cross-examination · Three challengers, taken seriously
The rank 02 argumentExoBook i9 RTX 5070Ti Gaming Laptop
It’s £1799.99 on the live listing today. The crown holds on the ranking rules: the order above was set before any link was attached, and its case is argued in full in the write-up above.
The rank 03 argumentExoBook 16 RTX 5080 Gaming Laptop
It’s £2499.99 on the live listing today. The crown holds on the ranking rules: the order above was set before any link was attached, and its case is argued in full in the write-up above.
The owners’ argumentASUS V16 V3607VM Gaming Laptop
Owners rate it 3.9 from 59 ratings. Our review scores it 8.0 against the winner’s 8.0. The crown holds on the ranking rules: the order above was set before any link was attached, and its case is argued in full in the write-up above.
The original verdict, preserved in full
Final Verdict: Best Laptops for video editing
For most editors starting a proper setup, the ASUS ROG Strix G16 RTX 5060 is the pick we'd back: it's the only machine here with both an 8 out of 10 review and a large verified owner base, and its confirmed RAM slots plus spare M.2 bay let it grow with your projects. If your budget is tighter and your work stays at 1080p, the ASUS V16 V3607VM delivers the same GPU class and a better webcam at the entry bracket. And if you're grading 4K daily and want the most headroom on this page, step up to the ExoBook 16 RTX 5080 for its 16GB GDDR7 and 32GB RAM, with the ExoBook i9 RTX 5070 Ti as the cheaper 12GB middle ground. Match the VRAM to your footage, and any of these will earn its keep.
For 4K editing with a single camera in H.264 or H.265, 16 GB of RAM is the practical minimum and will work adequately with proxy workflows. If you are cutting multi-camera 4K or working with RAW formats, 24 GB or 32 GB is preferable to avoid timeline stuttering. For 6K and above, 64 GB becomes genuinely useful rather than excessive.
A dedicated Nvidia GPU with CUDA support significantly accelerates GPU-based effects, colour grading nodes, and hardware encoding in DaVinci Resolve and Premiere Pro. For editors working with proxies and basic colour corrections, modern integrated GPUs such as Intel Iris Xe or Qualcomm Adreno are workable. For complex effects, motion graphics, or native 4K and above editing, a discrete GPU makes a meaningful difference to export times.
Qualcomm Snapdragon X-series laptops running Windows 11 can handle video editing in Adobe Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve, both of which have native ARM versions. The main consideration is plug-in compatibility: some third-party plug-ins and specialist codecs may require x86 emulation, which reduces performance. For editors using standard codecs and mainstream NLEs, Snapdragon laptops offer excellent battery life alongside capable editing performance.
A 1920x1200 panel, as on the two ASUS laptops here, is a workable minimum: the taller 16:10 shape leaves room for the timeline and the preview. A 2560x1600 panel, as on both ExoBook models, shows finer detail when you check focus and sharpness. For colour grading, colour accuracy matters more than resolution or refresh rate, and serious graders usually add a calibrated external monitor.
You can, with proxy files: you edit low-resolution copies and export from the original 4K footage, which takes most of the load off the machine. Native 4K editing on a laptop with integrated graphics will stutter. The ASUS V16 on this page, with an RTX 5060, handles 1080p timelines and light 4K with proxies comfortably.
That’s the field: four laptops for video editing, ranked for the job in the title and nothing else. We read the published specifications, the owner ratings and our own reviews; we haven’t handled these products, and no maker moves the order. Figures checked against the live Amazon UK listings, page updated 27 September 2026.
