Laptops are getting thinner and lighter with each generation these days. The hardware is getting faster and smaller, to the point where the actual processor, memory and all the other chips only occupy a small fraction of a modern computer, leaving more room for battery cells.
All these advances lead to a new trend in the world of mobile computing: fanless laptops and ultrabooks, or in other words laptops with a passive cooling solution that does not require a spinning fan. You’ll find quite a few models available in stores already and this post lists all of them based on screen size, weight, the hardware inside, and, of course, price.
There’s one important reason why you’ll want a fanless laptop: it’s going to be perfectly quiet, especially if the passively cooled hardware is paired with an SSD. There are exceptions, though. Fanless machines, especially among the more affordable options, may come with spinning HDDs, but even those can be upgraded in order to deliver what the fanless consumer desires: a quiet laptop, similar to what tablets or phones have been offering for years.
You do however have to understand that fanless laptops are mostly built on low-power hardware platforms and will handle everyday tasks well, but won’t be able to cope with multitasking or the more demanding chores you might want to perform on a modern laptop (editing videos and photos, running programming software or modern PC games, among others). At least for the time being.
We’ll talk a bit more about the platforms available at this very moment towards the end of the post, so you’ll understand exactly what to expect from each of them. In few words though, if you’re reading this article in 2018/2019, Amber Lake-Y builds are primarily the ones to check out, although there are also a handful of faster Core U implementations to consider, as well as some lower-end Pentium/Celeron variants if you’re shopping on a budget (but don’t expect much in terms of either performance or features from these ones).
No fans and no spinning HDDs equals no noise
For now though, these are the available fanless laptops and ultra-portables. Click the links on each product’s name for more details and reviews, as well as the links in the Prices column for the latest offers and discounts on the products you’re interested in.
Full size fanless laptops
This section is reserved for the full-size everyday machines with 14+ inch screens. There aren’t many such options, simply because most fanless laptops are also compact and highly portable, while these large-footprint devices are not. I do have a selection of the best 14 and 15 inch ultrabooks you can find right now, in case you’re interested.
| Model | Type | Screen | Hardware | Weight | Start Price |
| Acer Spin 7 | convertible | 14.0″ IPS FHD touch | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.2 kg / 2.64 lbs | $1199 |
| Acer Swift 7 | clamshell | 14.0″ IPS FHD touch | up to Amber Lake Core Y | – | – |
| Acer Chromebook 514 | clamshell | 14.0″ IPS FHD | up to Amber Lake Core Y | – | $349 |
| Acer Chromebook 15 | clamshell | 15.6″ IPS FHD | Apollo Lake Celeron/Pentium | 3.95 lbs / 1.8 kg | $299 |
| Acer Swift 1 | clamshell | 14.0″ IPS FHD | Apollo/Gemini Lake Pentium | 1.4 kg / 3.1 lbs | $349 |
| Asus VivoBook Flip 14 | convertible | 14″ TN HD or IPS FHD touch | Apollo Lake Celeron/Pentium | ~3.3 lbs / 1.5 kg | $399 |
| HP Stream 14 | clamshell | 14.0″ TN HD | BayTrail Celeron | 1.54 kg / 3.4 lbs | $199 |
| Venom BlackBook Zero 14 | clamshell | 14″ IPS FHD matte | Kaby Lake Core Y | 3.1 lbs / 1.4 kg | $999 |
Fanless Ultrabooks and ultra-portables
This section is reserved for the portables ultrabooks and thin-and-light laptops with screen sizes between 12 and 14-inches.
That includes the popular 12.5 and 13.3-inch categories, where you’ll mostly find the best balanced mix between an ergonomically sized workspace, a comfortable keyboard, a fair selection of ports and a fair-sized battery. Here’s where you’ll also find most of the premium fanless offers.
| Model | Type | Screen | Hardware | Weight | Start Price |
| Acer Swift 1 | clamshell | 13.3″ IPS FHD | Apollo/Gemini Lake Pentium | 1.3 kg / 2.9 lbs | $349 |
| Acer Switch 7 Black Edition | detachable | 13.5″ IPS touch | Kaby Lake-R Core U | 1.13 kg / 2.5 lbs | $1699 |
| Acer Aspire Switch 12S | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch FHD | Skylake Core M | 1.5 kg / 3.3 lbs (w/ dock) | $1199 |
| Acer Aspire Switch Alpha 12 | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch | Skylake Core U | 1.3 kg / 2.85 lbs (w/ folio) | $599 |
| Acer Chromebook R13 | Convertible | 13.3″ IPS FHD | Mediatek | 1.5 kg / 3.3 lbs | $329 |
| Apple MacBook 12 | clamshell | 12.0″ IPS retina | Skylake Core M | 0.90 kg / 2.0 lbs | $1199 |
| Asus Chromebook Flip | Convertible | 13.3″ IPS FHD | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.2 kg / 2.65 lbs | $399 |
| Asus Transformer Book Chi T300 | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch QHD | Broadwell Core M | 1.40 kg / 3.1 lbs (w/dock) | $699 |
| Asus Transformer 3 T305CA | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch | Kaby Lake Core M | 1.14 kg / 2.5 lbs (w/dock) | $699 |
| Asus Zenbook UX305 | clamshell | 13.3″ IPS FHD and QHD+ | Skylake Core M | 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs | $699 |
| Asus Zenbook UX330CA | clamshell | 13.3″ IPS FHD and QHD+ | Kaby Lake Core M | 1.2 kg / 2.65 lbs | $799 |
| Asus Zenbook Flip UX360CA | convertible | 13.3″ IPS touch FHD and QHD+ | Skylake Core Y | 1.3 kg / 2.86 lbs | $699 |
| Dell Latitude 12 7000 | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch FHD or UHD | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.66 kg / 3.7 lbs (w/ dock) | $1199 |
| Dell XPS 12 9250 | detachable | 12.5″ IPS touch FHD or UHD | Skylake Core Y | 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs (w/ dock) | $999 |
| Dell XPS 13 2-in-1 | convertible | 13.3″ IPS FHD/QHD+ touch | up to Amber Lake Core Y | 1.24 kg / 2.7 lbs | $999 |
| Eve V | tablet | 12.3″ IPS 2k | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.33 kg / 3 lbs (w/ keyboard) | $799 |
| HP EliteBook Folio 1020 | clamshell | 12.5″ IPS FHD or touch QHD | Skylake Core Y | 0.97 kg / 2.13 lbs | $1099 |
| HP Spectre X2 12 | detachable | 12″ IPS touch FHD | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.22 kg / 2.68 lbs (w/ dock) | $899 |
| HP Elite x2 | detachable | 13″ IPS touch 2K | Kaby Lake Core U | 1.16 kg / 2.56 lbs (w/ dock) | $1599 |
| Lenovo Miix 710 | tablet | 12″ IPS FHD+ | Kaby Lake Core M | 0.77 kg / 1.7 lbs | $749 |
| Lenovo Yoga 900S | convertible | 12.5″ IPS FHD+ | Skylake Core Y | 0.99 kg / 2.2 lbs | $1099 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Tablet | tablet | 12.0″ IPS touch | Kaby Lake Core Y | 0.77 kg / 1.7 lbs | $949 |
| Huawei Matebook | tablet | 12.0″ IPS FHD+ | Kaby Lake Core Y | 0.64 kg / 1.41 lbs | $899 |
| Huawei Matebook X | clamshell | 13.3″ IPS retina | KabyLake Core U | 1.05 kg / 2.31 lbs | $899 |
| Microsoft Surface Pro | tablet | 12.3″ IPS FHD+ | Kaby Lake Core Y | 0.77 kg / 1.7 lbs (without keyboard) | $799 |
| Samsung ATIV Book 9 NP930X2 | clamshell | 12.2″ IPS touch WQXGA | Broadwell Core M | 0.95 kg / 2.1 lbs | $1199 |
| Samsung Chromebook 2 13 | clamshell | 13.3″ IPS FHD | Samsung Exynos 5 Octa | 1.38 kg / 3.06 lbs | $399 |
| Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro S | tablet | 12.1″ IPS FHD+ | Skylake Core Y | 0.69 kg / 1.53 lbs | $999 |
| Toshiba Chromebook 13 CB35 | clamshell | 13.3″ TN HD | Celeron BayTrail | 1.33 kg / 2.95 lbs | $249 |
| Toshiba Portégé Z20t | convertible | 12.5″ IPS touch FHD | Broadwell Core M | 1.59 kg / 3.5 lbs (w/ dock) | $1299 |
| Xiaomi Mi Notebook 12 | clamshell | 12.5″ IPS FHD | Skylake Core U | 1.1 kg / 2.4 lbs | $899 |
Fanless Mini laptops
Finally, we list here the smallest options, usually built on very low power hardware and thus only meant for basic daily tasks.
They are especially designed with either budget or long battery life in mind (most of them check both these boxes), but if you’re a demanding user or type for a living you might find them either too small or too slow for your needs.
| Model | Type | Screen | Hardware | Weight | Start Price |
| Acer Aspire ES11 | clamshell | 11.6″ TN HD | Celeron Braswell | 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs | $229 |
| Acer Aspire R 11 | convertible | 11.6″ TN touch HD | Celeron / Pentium Braswell | 1.58 kg / 3.50 lbs | $249 |
| Acer Aspire Switch 10 2015 | detachable | 10.1″ IPS FHD | Atom BayTrail | 1.2 kg / 2.64 lbs (w/dock) | $399 |
| Acer Aspire Switch 10 E | detachable | 10.1″ TN HD | Atom BayTrail | 1.28 kg / 2.82 lbs (w/ dock) | $279 |
| Acer Aspire Switch 11 V | detachable | 11.6″ IPS touch FHD | Skylake Core M | 1.55 kg / 3.5 lbs | $499 |
| Acer Spin 1 | clamshell | 11.6″ IPS FHD | Pentium Apollo Lake | 1.50 kg / 3.31 lbs | $249 |
| Asus EeeBook X205 | clamshell | 11.6″ TN HD | Atom BayTrail | 0.95 kg / 2.10 lbs (w/ dock) | $199 |
| Asus Transformer Book Chi T100 | detachable | 10.1″ IPS WUXGA | Atom BayTrail | 1.08 kg / 2.38 lbs (w/ dock) | $399 |
| Asus Transformer Book T100HA | detachable | 10.1″ IPS HD | Atom CherryTrail | 1.14 kg / 2.52 lbs (w/ dock) | $299 |
| Asus Transformer Book T101HA | detachable | 10.1″ IPS HD | Atom CherryTrail | 1.08 kg / 2.38 lbs (w/ dock) | $299 |
| Asus Transformer Book T102HA | detachable | 10.1″ IPS HD | Atom CherryTrail | 0.79 kg / 1.74 lbs (w/ dock) | $349 |
| Asus Transformer Book Flip TP200SA | convertible | 11.6″ TN touch HD | Celeron / Pentium Braswell | 1.20 kg / 2.65 lbs | $349 |
| HP Pavilion 360 11 | convertible | 11.6″ touch HD | Skylake Core Y | 1.4 kg / 3.1 lbs | $399 |
| Dell Venue 11 Pro 5000 | detachable | 10.8″ IPS touch HD or FHD | Atom BayTrail | 0.71 kg / 1.57 lbs (without dock) | $699 |
| Dell Venue 11 Pro 7140 | detachable | 10.8″ IPS touch FHD | Broadwell Core M | 0.72 kg / 1.59 lbs (without dock) | $699 |
| Dell Inspiron 11 3000 2-in-1 | convertbile | 11.6″ IPS touch FHD | Kaby Lake Core Y | 1.39 kg / 3.1 lbs | $399 |
| HP Stream 11 | clamshell | 11.6″ TN HD | Celeron BayTrail | 1.27 kg / 2.8 lbs (w/ dock) | $199 |
| Lenovo Yoga 710 11 | convertible | 11.6″ IPS touch FHD | Kaby Lake Core M | 1.03 kg / 2.3 lbs | $599 |
| Lenovo Yoga Tablet 2 10 | tablet | 10.1″ IPS touch FHD | Atom BayTrail | 0.63 kg / 1.38lbs | $699 |
| Lenovo Miix 3 10 | tablet | 10.1″ IPS touch WUXGA | Atom BayTrail | 0.55 kg / 1.21 lbs | $399 |
| Lenovo ThinkPad Helix 2 | detachable | 11.6″ IPS touch FHD | Skylake Core Y | 1.36 kg / 3 lbs (w/ dock) | $999 |
| Microsoft Surface Go | tablet | 10″ IPS | Gemini Pentium Gold | 0.52 kg / 1.15 lbs (without keyboard) | $399 |
| Panasonic Let’s Note RZ4 | convertible | 10.1″ IPS touch FHD | Skylake Core Y | 1.83 kg / 4.05 lbs (w/ dock) | $1499 |
| Panasonic Let’s Note Z6 | clamshell | 10.1″ IPS FHD | Kaby Lake Core Y | 0.72 kg / 1.6 lbs (w/ dock) | $1199 |
There are a couple of other small-factor fanless tablets and mini-laptops out there, but it would be a huge chore to include them all in here. I do talk about them in my list of 10.1 inch hybrids, this selection of 11.6 inch Mini-laptops or ultrabooks, as well as this list of all the best Chromebooks available these days.
As a side note, you should know that the Price column contains the starting MSRPs for each of the products above. That means that the higher configurations are going to be more expensive, but at the same time there’s a very good chance you can find pretty much all these products discounted by the time you’re reading this post. Click on the links on each price for details and up-to-date numbers.
Also, here’s a short glossary of the terms mentioned above:
- Types:
- tablet: a standard Windows running slate;
- clamshell: classic shaped computer whose screen closes on top of the keyboard and does not flip into any sort of tablet mode;
- convertible: 2-in-1 laptop whose screen rotates and converts to a tablet mode (or similar), but cannot be detached from the base;
- detachable: 2-in-1 laptop whose screen detaches from the base. These are mostly stand-alone tablets bundled with matching docking stations that most often include docking keyboards, ports, batteries and other features;
- slider: 2-in-1 laptop whose screen slides up and down on top of the body and usually reveals a keyboard hidden underneath.
- Resolutions: HD ( 1366 x 768 px), HD+ ( 1600 x 900 px), FHD (1920 x 1080 px), WUXGA (1920 x 1200 px) retina (2304 x 1440 px), QHD (2560 x 1440 px), WQXGA (2560 x 1600 px), QHD+ (3200 x 1800 px), UHD (3840 x 2160 px) – also see this post;
- Hardware:
- Intel Atom BayTrail – 22 nm platform (Silvermont) launched in 2013. There are different lines available for tablets (BayTrail-T), laptops (BayTrail-M) and desktops (BayTrail-D);
- Intel Atom CherryTrail – 14 nm platform (Airmont) launched in 2015;
- Intel Atom Apollo/Gemini Lake – 2nd generation 14 nm platform launched in 2017.
- Intel Celeron/Pentium Haswell – 22 nm platform based on Haswell hardware;
- Intel Celeron/Pentium Haswell – 14 nm platform based on Skylake hardware. Both can be found in low-power/affordable laptops;
- Intel Celeron/Pentium Apollo/Gemini Lake – 2nd generation 14 nm platform launched in 2017. Can be found in low-power/affordable laptops and replaces the Haswell/Braswell Pentium/Celeron lines;
- Broadwell Core M – launched in 2014 as the low-power version in Intel’s Broadwell family. Offers great balance between performance and battery life, part of the more premium fanless notebooks;
- Skylake Core M – 6th gen update, low power platform launched in 2015;
- Kaby Lake Core Y – 7th gen update, low-power platform launched in 2017;
- Amber Lake Core Y – the late-2018 8th gen update of the Core Y platform, motorizes premium devices.
OK. That’s about it for this post. I do hope you find it useful and if you’re looking for an ultrabook or any other ultraportable laptop, you should also check out the other lists on the site and my reviews.
I’m constantly working at keeping these selections and lists up-to-date, but if you spot anything that should be in here and it’s not, please leave a reply and tell me about it. In fact, feel free to get in touch in the comments sections if you have anything to add, anything to ask or need help choosing your next fanless mini-laptop, I’m around to reply and help.
toisss
May 1, 2015 at 9:39 pm
Great! Some fans make a very uncomfortable noise.
Michael Adamson
May 15, 2015 at 12:43 pm
Thanks Andrei. This is the list I’ve been wanting. At some point, my next laptop will be chosen from this list of fanless machines. I’m thinking Skylake Y core, 11.6″. I will looking at price and your comments on quality.
Andrei Girbea
May 15, 2015 at 4:00 pm
I’m with you on that, Skylake Core M on a 12.5 incher with a FHD matte display and a backlit keyboard. Early next year, hopefully.
FdePaula
June 1, 2015 at 5:56 am
Hi Andrei,
Thank you very much for your guidance.
I’m searching for the best ultra book, broadwell i7, fan less, SSD 256/512, 12.5″ to 14″ (preferably 13″).
Preferably brands are Lenovo Thinkpad, Sony or Dell.
Would recommend me the best choice, regardless price?
TIA
FdePaula
Andrei Girbea
June 1, 2015 at 9:56 am
It’s tough to say what’s the best out there, since each have strong and good points.
Still, Broadwell U is NOT fanless. COre M is fanless, but not very powerful. A list of fanless laptops is compiled here: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/6520-fanless-ultrabooks/ . Just make sure you know what you’re getting into. Among the fan-cooled options, I’d look at the Dell XPS 13 2015 and the Lenovo THinkPad 14 3rd gen.
Francisco de Paula Coelho Santos
September 8, 2015 at 6:37 pm
Hi Andrei!
Is it possible to order a Dell XPS 13 with a powerfull processor (6th or 5th generation i7),8 MB cache and 512 GB SSD?
Thanks for your help…
Best Regards,
FdePaula
Andrei Girbea
September 8, 2015 at 9:42 pm
not sure about the 512 SSD, but the other features are availeble
Raphael
September 13, 2015 at 9:13 pm
Hello Andrei,
I think you forgot the ASUS X205TA in the list, it’s a great little machine !
Vurz
October 1, 2015 at 3:21 am
Hi Andrei,
I cannot find a fanless version of the Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571 listed on this page.
Andrei Girbea
October 1, 2015 at 11:16 am
Noted. Will look into it
Andrei Girbea
October 1, 2015 at 2:17 pm
Just double checked, the CB5 is actually the first product in the first table on this page :)
Vurz
October 4, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Yes, but is the Acer Chromebook 15 CB5-571 actually fanless? Notebookcheck says it has a fan: notebookcheck.net/Acer-Chromebook-15-CB5-Review.139924.0.html
Andrei Girbea
October 4, 2015 at 3:03 pm
Ha, you’re right, it’s not fanless. Sry for the confusion, I’ll need to check my sources more accurately in the future. I’ve taken it out of the list.
s
June 24, 2016 at 5:06 pm
ms surface is not fanless
Andrei Girbea
June 26, 2016 at 12:16 pm
The Core m configurations are, the Core Us are not
amo
October 11, 2015 at 9:13 am
thx for article and btw asus x205 is 11.6″
amo
October 11, 2015 at 9:18 am
and so is hp stream 11
Jonas
October 25, 2015 at 4:30 pm
Is it going to be a new fanless list with Skylake soon? =)
Andrei Girbea
October 25, 2015 at 10:13 pm
this one includes Skylake laptops as well
Mark
October 26, 2015 at 9:49 pm
What a useless list. No info about CPU or Dedicates Graphics in the comparison list means we have to look up each item to see the specs !
Andrei Girbea
October 27, 2015 at 8:15 am
The hardware platform is one distinct cell in the list. It’s completely unrealistic to expect to include ALL the available options for each unit. There’s just no space in a table like format for all that information.
Jean
October 31, 2015 at 1:43 pm
Very interesting, please go on keeping up to date !
john
December 21, 2015 at 10:38 pm
Do you think we will see more powerful processors like i3 or i5 being put in fan-less laptops soon?
Andrei Girbea
December 25, 2015 at 7:38 am
Not Core i3 and 5s, but Core m5 and m7s, yes. The existing m7 is about as powerful as the Haswell Core i3, so we’re slowly getting these.
Charles
January 8, 2016 at 4:29 am
Hi, will a version of skylake being updated?
Sue
March 22, 2016 at 8:35 pm
Great list, thanks! Anything new coming?
Waiting for Lenovo Yoga 900S, Acer Switch 12S and HP EliteBook Folio. Looking for anything else fanless, Win 10, USB-C/TB3, 11-13 inch touchscreen with backlit keyboard. Prefer convertible 2-in-1 type, but will consider detachable or Surface folio type also.
MM
June 27, 2016 at 10:11 am
What a great list! Very useful.
However, I noticed that one thing needs to be corrected – Toshiba Chromebook 13 CB35 has a superb FHD IPS display, not TN.
flashball
July 17, 2016 at 1:29 pm
There is also another passively cooled laptop : the Latitude 7370 from Dell.
Denis M.
July 19, 2016 at 8:42 am
Maybe u should also point to Panasonic Computers. I for myself have a CF-C2C, a fast convertible.
And there are a lot more ;)
Andrei Girbea
July 20, 2016 at 4:28 pm
Will look into those as well, thanks for the suggestion
Johannes Pinxter
October 25, 2016 at 10:15 am
Hej Andrei,
Thanks for the lovely overview of the fanless ultrabooks at this moment.
I am living in Sweden were they also offer now the new ASUS ZenBook UX330CA Pure as I also can see on the Asus international site specifying the Intel® Core™ M 5Y10/5Y70 /7Y30 Processor etc. It seems to me a lovely machine with all the bells and whistles: 13.3" (16:9) LED backlit FHD (1920×1080) 60Hz Glare Panel with 72% NTSC with IPS or QHD+ (3200×1800), 128GB/256GB/512GB SATA3 SSD, Illuminated Chiclet Keyboard, Multi-format card reader (SD/SDHC/SDXC), Headphone/surround out 2 x USB 3.0 port(s) 1 x USB-C Gen 1 (up to 5 Gbps)1 x micro HDMI1, 323 x 223 x 12.3 mm (WxDxH), 1.2kg & up to 12 hours battery life. Do you have any experience with the new UX330CA yet?
Best regards,
Jan
Andrei Girbea
October 25, 2016 at 1:16 pm
Hi, not with the UX330CA, but I did review the UX330UA which identical, except for the hardware and a few internals differences. You'll find it here: https://www.ultrabookreview.com/11643-asus-zenbook-ux330ua-review/ and everything except for the performance and battery life sections should apply to the UX330CA as well.
Jacobo
October 31, 2016 at 5:27 pm
Hi,
In that review, you point out that the UX330UA has a fairly noisy fan, while here the UX330CA is listed as fanless How do you know it is fanless? I haven't found any other reference to this. It is logical it would be so because it uses such a low TDP processor, but I have seen computers with these processors still having a fan. For me, being fanless is essential. I can only buy it online and a return would be really inconvenient, so I would like to double-check in some way.
Thanks in advance.
Andrei Girbea
November 1, 2016 at 4:54 am
The Core Y processors on the UX330CA use passive cooling as far as I know. Are you sure you saw a Core Y with fans, cause I don't remember hearing about such thing recently
Caroline
December 4, 2016 at 7:05 pm
Thank you for this list. I'm a bit overwhelmed at the choices. Anyone have a suggestion for the best fanless laptop $500 or less? I'm an art teacher and will mainly be using it in my classroom and to store photos. Currently I have a Toshiba and it is 6 years old (ready to die) and VERY noisy.
Andrei Girbea
December 5, 2016 at 6:06 am
You should tell us what's the preferred screen-size (ultraportable – 13-inch or smaller, or rather full-size – 14-15-inch ) , it's a good way to narrow down options.
Tracey Bond
December 20, 2016 at 6:06 pm
Hi just opened my laptop Toshiba L50-B-1DZ to clean the fan but i can not see a fan is this right as it seems hot.I brought the laptop from new and have not taken it out. I have ordered one but the metal plate wont fit on top now. Confused ???
Thank you
Tracey Bond
December 21, 2016 at 7:00 pm
Hi i have opened up my laptop to clean the fan as it was running hot.I had a metal plate which i guess was the heatsink. After unscrewing the plate i was expecting to see the fan but there was not one just a space,i had this laptop from new so i guess it was built without one??? My laptop is Toshiba L50-B-1DZ. I saw a fan advertised for this computer to buy but the connection didn't seem right and the metal heatsink plate would not fit right with the fan in so i sent it back. I really need to know does this laptop need a Fan as i can not find a answer anywhere.
Andrei Girbea
December 22, 2016 at 5:33 am
I'm sorry but I have no experience with that laptop. There should be a fan, according to this picture: notebookcheck.net/fileadmin/_processed_/csm_P8195505_ec400fc034.jpg . Based on configuration though, some models might not a have a fan. What's the CPU on your unit?
Tracey Bond
December 22, 2016 at 7:26 am
youtu.be/raO_QD4yXOA the white one
They call it :: Akku SSD RAM Notebook ??
This is what mine looks like inside with no fan under metal plate but, this video does not show it.I don't understand German so not sure
PCU= Intel Pentium(R) CPU N3530 @ 2.16GHz 2.16 GHz
64 bit
4.00GB RAM
Andrei Girbea
December 22, 2016 at 8:18 am
Ah, OK, that CPU doesn't require a fan, that's why there's none inside. I'd reckon they use the same design for multiple configurations and only add the fan where needed, that's common for mainstream computers. That means there's nothing you can do about the temperatures, other than use a cooling pad perhaps.
Tracey Bond
December 22, 2016 at 4:32 pm
Oh thank you so much for taking the time to help me and give me the answer, i have now ordered a cooling pad.
Thank you Andrei
Andrei Girbea
December 23, 2016 at 7:29 am
You're welcome ;)
Ian Fisher
December 31, 2016 at 3:44 am
Hi Andrei,
Do you know if the LG gram is fanless? I live in the Middle East and the gram is being sold as the 'lightest' ultrabook at 980grams. I'm interested in it for audiobook recording so fanless is the way to go. My MacBook Pro makes too much noise when the fan kicks in.
Look forward to hearing your reply.
Happy New Year.
Ian Fisher
Andrei Girbea
December 31, 2016 at 8:35 am
The LG Gram is built on COre U processors as far as I remember, so is not fanless
Justin
January 12, 2017 at 12:37 pm
I'm in the market & was scouring your site but I didn't see the Dell XPS 2in1 FANLESS laptops listed. You can get them in core i5 or blazing i7 !!! I couldn't believe they are offering those processors. Not sure how they would handle the heat…
dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-9365-2-in-1-laptop?ref=108_recs_ttl&c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs
Radu
January 24, 2017 at 1:12 am
Hello.
First,I'm totally out of the field.
One simple[?]all-in-one demand – quiet,simple[basic-offline],light,small,good battery,chargeable with mobile solar panel,eventually able to connect with a bigger monitor.In a word[you'll probably laugh at this] – a bushcraft version.
Oh,I forgot – cheap also.
Or maybe it's a tablet or a big phone out there I should look for ?
A sugestion from you would be very helpful,as I'm totally amazed by all this jungle of technology.
Thanks.
Simon
February 17, 2017 at 12:16 pm
Are you sure the Dell laptops listed here are fanless? Having read reviews some of the Dell laptops listed here to have fans and are said to be very noisy.
Andrei Girbea
February 18, 2017 at 6:46 pm
Which ones, exactly?
Daniel
February 22, 2017 at 5:54 am
Hi Andrei,
Cool Site, Thank you!
But an extension of the "screen-column" with "matte/glare" would be good additional information..
BR,
Daniel
Andrei Girbea
February 22, 2017 at 9:43 am
Thanks for the suggestion, I'll consider it for the next update.
Art
March 8, 2017 at 6:12 pm
Acer Spin 1 (the 11.6" version) is fanless Apollo Lake, FHD IPS convertible
François
March 9, 2017 at 4:29 am
You can add the new Dell XPS 13 9365, it's fanless apparently !
Justin
March 9, 2017 at 5:37 pm
Yeah, I already sent some messages on this model but not updating the list at this time.
John
March 26, 2017 at 12:58 pm
Hi Andrei and All,
Looking for the most powerful fanless 17 inch that is out there, if there is one….
Thanks
Andrei Girbea
March 28, 2017 at 5:21 am
There are not 17 inch fanless laptops as far as I know
Keith
April 14, 2017 at 12:13 am
I'm desperate for one too but haven't found one. PC makers are stuck in the mindset that fanless is for tablets and 17 inches is for gamers. Totally ignores people like me who travel, hate fan noise but need a large screen for spreadsheets. The largest screeened fanless I've found is the HP Stream 14, but it's quite low-end.
Seabass
April 8, 2017 at 2:45 am
Hey Andrei, thanks very much the list! I am interested in the Dell XPS 13 9325
, but I have a difficult time finding it on the internet. The Dell XPS 13 on Dell`s homepage are all with fans, and I can`t find the "9325"?
Thanks for your help!
Seabass
Andrei Girbea
April 8, 2017 at 7:24 am
It's available here: dell.com/en-us/shop/productdetails/xps-13-9365-2-in-1-laptop
John
April 25, 2017 at 5:39 am
Just chiming in to say Thanks for a great list! I've been following it for over a year, always excited when I see a new update. Still hoping for a fanless 17 incher ;)
Biscoto
May 1, 2017 at 7:58 am
What about Acer Swift 1 and 3 ? Are they fanless ?
Johnny
May 1, 2017 at 8:01 am
As soon as the CPU is under any sort of load – a couple of adverts on a web page, for instance – and the fan starts whirring away. It isn't too loud, but relatively high pitched so will be noticeable in a quiet room.
Revieww
June 11, 2017 at 7:27 am
Yes, they are fanless.
Jon A Wagnon
May 4, 2017 at 1:13 pm
Why aren't they making sliders anymore. For my use (physician moving from exam room to exam room) the slider is the best option. I loved my toshiba, but now it's old and broken (touch screen failed) and I'm using a detachable that I don't like nearly as much.
Reviewww
June 5, 2017 at 7:02 am
Hello,
You can add Acer Swift 1, 3 and 5 as well.
Tom Murray
August 22, 2017 at 11:42 pm
Thank you for taking the time to create this detailed piece. I appreciate this article very much as I have been trying to find an inexpensive fanless notebook to run Linux and store all of my data (~100GB). I would love your impressions of the two Pine notebooks located here: pine64.org/
Andrei Girbea
August 26, 2017 at 4:09 am
I'll look into this, but can't promise anything. Don't even know if they deliver these to my country.
Konstantin
September 1, 2017 at 10:28 am
ASUS ZenBook UX330 does not look convertible from their product page
Andrei Girbea
September 2, 2017 at 12:50 pm
Thanks. It's not. Fixed.
Jan
September 6, 2017 at 11:42 am
Hej,
Still missing the Huawei Matebook X as a pretty good lightweight ultrabook design with excellent screen and speakers and most important complete silent running being FANLESS but still using 7th-gen Intel Core i5 or i7-U processors!
Trust you will review it too, best regards,
Jan
Andrei Girbea
September 14, 2017 at 4:21 am
HI Jan, thanks and sry for the late reply. I've updated the post.
Not sure about reviewing the Matebook X, it's not available in my region yet. There are some other good reviews online though.
Andrei M
September 11, 2017 at 5:06 am
Microsoft Surface Laptop and Huawei Matebook X are also fanless as far as I know
Andrei Girbea
September 14, 2017 at 4:23 am
Thanks, updated. The Surface laptop isn't fanless as far as I know.
Keith White
September 15, 2017 at 2:02 am
Surface varies. Check the specific model to see if it's fanless.
Javier
September 14, 2017 at 7:45 pm
Hi! Please, don't forget to add the Dell Latitude 7285 you recently reviewed. Thanks!
Andrei Girbea
September 15, 2017 at 3:51 am
Hey, the Latitude 7000 series is already in the list
Deewinc
September 18, 2017 at 5:50 am
Hello,
I'm looking for a fanless 15.6" laptop as long as it's not Apple I don't mind the make. It can also be a 2 in 1. I don't mind. Could you give me the options I have? Not A chromebook though. I can't see that on your list.
Thanks
Andrei Girbea
September 19, 2017 at 6:20 am
There isn't any that I'm aware of. The very few 14 and 15 inch options are listed below, but the 15-inch model is a Chromebook. The CO=ore Y hardware is not very powerful and thus OEMs have mostly put it on thin and light laptops. I'd reckon we should see some fanless Core U devices in the next months, and then perhaps we'll get a 15-inch model as well.
Fredrik
October 26, 2017 at 5:42 pm
Basically all 15,6 inch Celeron laptops have been passively cooled/fanless for the last two three years(even if they have vents for more powerful processors), although neither the manufacturers nor retailers mentions this anywhere.
Usually these budget laptops are combined with HHDs, so they aren't silent out of the box, but those can be replaced with an SSD. The first one that was sold with an SSD and thus silent from the start was Lenovo S100, which came as booth 14 and 15.6 inch. The last year more and more budget 15,6 inch'es come with SSD.
The down part of these silent 15,6 inch budget laptops is that there aren't one single one with backlit keyboard, as far as i have found, and that they don't come as light weight luxury in aluminum, but usually black budget plastic.
I have searched for silent laptops for the last 4 years, since i bought my first 10 inch tablet, and i immediately fell in love with the concept of surfing the web in complete silence, and swor the very same day that i would never again buy a computer with a fan. Sadly, the manufacturers don't seem to grasp, as Rolls Royce and many other manfacturers of other machines did decades ago, that silence equals comfort which equals luxury.
I'm writing this on an Android Laptop, the only one of it¨s kind, the HP Slatebook 14, which at the time was the first silent 14 inch laptop, and if i overlook the lack of support and updates from HP to Android 4.4.3 on it, and the non-backlit keyboard, i love it.
I desperatly want to buy a new laptop, i have wanted to do this for the last three years, a PC, but i refuse to buy one until they combine 14/15.6/17 inch with a light weight aluminum chassi(i can live with a 14 inch, but would prefer a 15.6 inch around 1.4-1.5kg, or a 17 inch around 1.7-1.8kg), passive cooling and backlit keyboard, but there simply aren't any. Either all the manfacturers are idiots who don't understand that they have completely missed providing products in this segment, or more likely, they want "luxury" to be associated with poweful expensive processors(which i have ZERO use for, a four year old Atom, Celeron or CoreM would do fine, as long as it is combined with 8GB of memory), and thus non-silent cooling, so their greed hinders them from producing comfortable luxury laptops, and then they ask themselves why laptop sales go down..
Every year the last three years i have hoped that maybe this is the year when they will start to either put CoreM in 14-17 inch chassis, or passivly cool a Core i, or offer Celeron with backlit and a luxury chassis, but no such luck. And this year is coming to an end soon.
And when they finally offer one, it will problably fall short on the keyboard, another requirement for me is six dedicated buttons for pgup/pgdn/home/end/ins/del, i do not wan't any of those manouvering buttons under an ALt combo.
AndreiM
October 30, 2017 at 5:49 am
Matebook X?
Andrei Girbea
October 30, 2017 at 8:28 am
It's already on the list
AndreiM
October 30, 2017 at 8:59 am
indeed, it was a suggestion to @Fredrik
Fredrik
October 30, 2017 at 9:52 am
Matebook X is neither 14 inches, or bigger, which is what i really want, nor does it have dedicated buttons for pgup/pgdn/home/end on the keybord, as far as i can see. I could settle for 14-inches if it fulfilled all other requirements, but going down to 13.3 when it can even offer a useful keyboard is not going to happen.
DMA
November 2, 2017 at 11:26 pm
HP updated the Spectre X2 CPU to U-series and according to some reviews is no longer fanless. Hopefully the first batch of Cannon Lake will be Gen8 Y-series and some Spectre will be fanless again next year when I upgrade.
Andrei Girbea
November 3, 2017 at 4:54 am
Yes, the 2017 Spectre X2 is no longer fanless.
AndreiM
November 15, 2017 at 10:35 am
VivoBook Flip 14 TP401 does not have kaby lake core U processor.
Ron999
March 17, 2018 at 10:18 am
AndreiM is basically correct. There is a version of the TP401 with kaby lake core U but it is NOT fanless
kamil
December 21, 2017 at 5:04 pm
Hello! What about Lenovo Ideapad 100s and 110s? Quite nice notebooks!
Fred
January 5, 2018 at 12:51 pm
I recently bought two Xiaomi Air 12.5" fanless ultrabooks on Gearbest, Macbook clones with a powerful Core Y processor, USB-C charging port & USB-3 port, super thin & light, with an excellent screen. Linux Ubuntu running great (except for some trackpad functions). A fantastic deal at about €450,-
'Waiting for the sales to fetch another one for my nephew…
Joost
January 25, 2018 at 11:48 am
The surfacebook 2 13,5" i5 version is also completely passive. The i7 is also passively cooled for the CPU but the (mandatory) dedicated grafisch in the "dock" does have a fan.
Simon Boddy
February 9, 2018 at 6:44 pm
Any update on the asus situation? the ux305 seems to have vanished completely. Am I right to think the UX330CA is its replacement, passively cooled, and the UX330UA has a noisy fan?
Andrei Girbea
February 16, 2018 at 4:04 am
Not that I know of. Intel have yet to launch an 8th gen Core Y, we should see updated by that time, as well as more and more fanless laptops on Core U. There are a few out there, but none from Asus yet
Simon Boddy
February 16, 2018 at 10:17 am
Thanks. Even the UX330CA seems to have vanished without trace from the stores here in France in the last month or so. There were great deals to be had before christmas.
Johannes
February 17, 2018 at 8:11 am
Have a look at the Huawei Matebook X Fanless Ultrabook which you can purchase via Amazon.com for a very special price.Succes!
Cipi
February 24, 2018 at 2:50 pm
Super lista!
Iti multumesc!
Salutari din Timisoara!
Ron999
March 17, 2018 at 10:20 am
Acer Switch 7 Black Edition is coffee lake, not kaby lake.
Ann
March 29, 2018 at 9:47 pm
What about this one?Acer Aspire 5, 15.6" Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core i5-8250U, GeForce MX150, 8GB DDR4 Memory, 256GB SSD, A515-51G-515J
It’s ssd, but I can’t tell if it’s completely fanless. I’m ready to throw my Lenovo against the wall. Can’t stand the noise, the keyboard or the poor volume. This Acer looks promising but am I missing a red flag?
Dominic
April 6, 2018 at 6:02 pm
Hello Andrei,
Thank you for this very comprehensive list, most appreciated! I tried to find the Asus UX330 and 305, but they don't seem to be sold anymore where I reside, and am looking for a French keyboard, which complicates things a bit.
My main criteria are : quiet (not necessarily fanless, but as long is the fan only runs occasionnally), light (1,35 kg or less), and with very good battery life. I find all these features in the MacBook Air, but looks dated with this huge bezels. I would certainly wait for the replacement of the MBA that would be coming up by this fall, according to 'rumors', but can't anymore, as my present old laptop is dying! Also, what I appreciate in the Mac is that the Safari browser blocks all those awful ads!
Shoudl I simply get a MBA, at the lowest possible price, or are there any equivalent options on the market now?
Thank you in advance!
Dominic
Jeff Mcneill
June 5, 2018 at 7:26 am
Pretty sure there will be no update on the MacBook Air. Certainly the current MacBook Air looks identical to the 2011 version. Why would they update this? Likely there will be perhaps another rev of the processor and ram options, but they will keep the form factor.
Niki
May 18, 2018 at 11:10 am
Hello,
I'm looking to buy a laptop and I will need your advice.
It has to be 100% fanless, illuminated keyboard, 15 inch minimum, matte type of display the most powerfull cpu as possible, no Apple.
What will be your recommendation.
Thanks in advance.
Michael Beijer
July 22, 2018 at 7:59 pm
OK, so I finally managed to find one:
100% fanless, 14" screen, amazing keyboard (with standard layout), backlit, strong enough for work purposes, USB ports, etc. The Venom BlackBook Zero 14. I reviewed it over at proz.com/forum/hardware/325813-okay_finally_bought_myself_a_fanless_100_silent_laptop_4_work_venom_blackbook_zero_14_review.html
I use it daily for my work as a translator and everything else.
There was also a good Dell I almost bought (can't remember which one) when researching this topic recently, which had almost all of the same specs/features, and was also fanless.
Michael
Mario
July 25, 2018 at 12:24 pm
I'm wondering if there are any 17.3" fanless laptops on the market. I can't find any…
Andrei Girbea
July 26, 2018 at 5:17 pm
Not that i know of
Istvan Nagy
February 10, 2019 at 11:12 pm
Fanless 17.3" laptops?
These may or may not be fanless, but they all have 6 Watt processors that should not require a fan. They could work with a passive heatsink or aluminum plate. The question is whether the designers appreciated this opportunity or not.
Limitations for these models below is screen resolution to 1600×900 and the CPU cannot take more than 8GB RAM.
– HP 17-ak022cy (with AMD A6-9220C)
– HP 17-by0010nr (with Intel N5000)
– ASUS VivoBook F705MA (with Intel N5000)
Istvan Nagy
February 11, 2019 at 10:53 pm
sorry, the HP 17-ak022cy is with AMD A6-9220 not A6-9220C, so its 10-15W, probbaly not fanless.
But hte N5000-based laptops are possibly fanless.
I could not find any picture or video of the inside of these.
Andrei Girbea
February 12, 2019 at 11:49 am
Me neither, but given they also have Core processor on most of these laptops, I don't think they have a different internal design for the Pentium based variants. Can't confirm that though.
Istvan Nagy
February 12, 2019 at 12:09 pm
I have seen videos of N3x and N4x based smaller laptops, where they take it apart and the big circular hole made for the fan is still on the motherboard, but covered over by a large aluminum plate as passive heatsink. So a BOM-variant with atom cpu has a passive hsk workaround, for some models, while keeping the same plastic housing and PCB fab base board (soldered different component BOM).
These have 6Watt processors, while the core i3/5/7 are 15W and higher. The threshold for passive cooling for laptops is somewhere below 8-10W.
My lenovo ideapad 11" has a 6W celeron/atom CPU, I took it apart and it has the big aluminum plate, about 4×5".
I think the N5000 based ones are probably fanless, but not 100% sure. Maybe 80%.
Andrei Girbea
February 12, 2019 at 12:26 pm
The question is whether those laptops also available with fan-cooled 15W processors. The IdeaPad 11 was designed for Core Y processors, so has passive cooling by design. Something like the Asus FX705 is however primarily designed for Core U hardware, so I don't know if they actually made a different cooling for the Pentium versions
Istvan Nagy
February 13, 2019 at 10:04 pm
These 17" laptops have 15" versions, that have youtube videos showing disassembly.
It can be seen that the HP one has the passive heatsink (as the service manual also confirmed), and the Asus one has a fan. Asus decided to use a fan even for a 6W CPU, but a cheaper one than the core-i7 version has, with no heat pipe. They were not concerned with fanless feature, only with cost saving. That might change for newer models, if they come to their senses.
HP: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DcjVwAq0liA
Asus: (X540MA similar to X705MA) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fI_-jGlvF04
Note that a laptop family cannot be declared fanless, only a specific part number like "17-by0010nr" that specifies the CPU and the GPU.
Michael
August 20, 2018 at 8:02 pm
Are there 15 inch fanless convertibles (2in1) avaiable with new intel 8th gen cpu?
Andrei Girbea
August 21, 2018 at 11:44 am
No, there are no fanless 8th gen laptops as far as I know. Core U implementations use a fan in pretty much all cases.
Amedeo Borghi
September 16, 2018 at 9:46 am
These hardwares could support linux manjaro too?…
Andrei Girbea
September 17, 2018 at 12:22 pm
I don't know, I'm not familiar with Linux
Amedeo
September 16, 2018 at 10:25 pm
dell inspiron 15 3000 has fan! what do inspiron notice?????
Joseph
September 20, 2018 at 1:43 pm
Hi Andrei,
Does your last update mean there are finally 17 inch fanless laptops? Because I do not remember seeing Asus VivoBook Max 17″ on your list before.
But I also cannot find it on Amazon even though I followed the link. But maybe I am just bad at finding it. Could someone link the Asus VivoBook Max 17″ please?
Andrei Girbea
September 20, 2018 at 5:19 pm
Hi, no, there are no 17-inch fanless laptops that I'm aware of. OEMs don't put Pentium/Celeron low-power CPUs in 17-inchers, while the existing Core Y don't make sense either, as they're expensive. I've corrected the listings and removed the 17-inch variants, sry for the confusion.
Istvan Nagy
February 10, 2019 at 11:15 pm
Can someone verify whether these are fanless or not? They all have 6 Watt CPUs and 17.3" displays:
– HP 17-ak022cy (with AMD A6-9220C)
– HP 17-by0010nr (with Intel N5000)
– ASUS VivoBook F705MA (with Intel N5000)
geza
November 6, 2018 at 8:37 pm
Hi Andrei,
alcor snugbook Q1421 notebook
as far as i know funless
Thx Geza
Karen
November 9, 2018 at 9:13 am
Hi Andrei,I found a Dell Latitude E6430 dual core i5 3210M up to 3.1 GHz Processor, 8GB RAM,180GB, SSD, DVD, HD, Win10, Solid State hardware, 4 months old. I didn't see it on the list but he says it's fanless. Is 180GB enough with that SSD for a college student not doing much video editing etc.? Asking $240. What additional do you recommend if doing heavier use? Thank you! KM
Andrei Girbea
November 9, 2018 at 7:34 pm
It's definitely not fanless. Just google for "Dell Latitude E6430 interior" and you'll see the fan.
Otherwise, it's a basic laptop and I'd reckon it should do fine for everyday use. Battery life is probably limited, and I doubt that laptop is only 4 months old, the E6430 series was launched many months ago.
Keith White
November 22, 2018 at 6:47 am
I'm looking for a fanless 15 inch Windows with number pad and ssd. I see Dell Inspiron 3000, Asus Vivobook Max and Lenovo Ideapad 330. Those have a bunch of variations and THE MAKERS DON'T SAY WHICH ONES ARE FANLESS!!! Are they all or can someone give me a model number? Thanks.
Andrei Girbea
November 22, 2018 at 1:37 pm
The Pentium/Celeron configurations should be fanless, while Core models should be fan cooled. Hard to be 100% sure though. Should also consider the fact that Pentium/Celeron models are rather slow by today's standards, and usually paired with low amounts of RAM. I'd personally go with a Core i3/i5 build and read reviews in order to find which device keeps the fan inactive with daily use. There are also ways to force the fan off with software like Throttlestop, but ti's experimental and should only be used if you know what you're doing.
lucext
January 22, 2019 at 10:30 pm
Lenovo emag.ro/laptop-lenovo-ideapad-330-15igm-cu-procesor-intelr-pentiumr-silver-n5000-pana-la-2-70-ghz-15-6-4gb-128gb-ssd-intelr-uhd-graphics-605-free-dos-blizzard-white-81d100ffrm/pd/DNRH7SBBM/
absolutely fanless, good for office, not so great viewing angle.
Amphin
November 26, 2018 at 12:16 am
Hello,
Thanks for this liste.
But I search only fanless laptop.
How can i know if ultrabooks are fanless, in this list :"Fanless Ultrabooks and ultra-portables"
Thanks, very good job :-)