Shopping for new electronics can be really pricey, and the price goes up even more when you’re dealing with more high quality equipment. For instance, those looking for new laptops are often conflicted about going with more budget friendly items. Or choosing quality, such as 4k displays, even if they have to deal with a larger price tag.
There are a lot of factors that decide the price of a laptop, but one of the major upgrades that results in the customer paying more money is when they choose a 4K laptop.
So to help you understand why this causes such a variation in price, and whether or not you should spend your money on it, we’re going to discuss whether or not a 4K laptop is worth it! Let’s get started…
First of all, what’s the difference between a 4k laptop and a regular laptop?
A 4K laptop offers a much higher resolution than an average laptop. For comparison, HD laptops (the cheaper alternatives to 4K laptops) have 1920 by 1080 screen resolutions. Whereas a 4k laptop would have a 3840 by 2160 screen resolution. This is why they’re sometimes called UHD.
This higher resolution results in clearer images and videos on the screen; people report 4k laptops to have sharper imaging that leaves them more visually satisfied than the lower resolution laptop counterparts would. This technology is revolutionizing the electronics industry, and has been since it came out. If you’re interested in the beginnings of UHD then you can take a look at this article, “When Did 4k Come Out”.
And additionally, 4k laptops typically come with higher quality hardware such as more powerful GPUs. This is because the quality of a UHD laptop’s visuals require a higher powered build in order to run it.
If you want to learn more about the technicalities of UHD laptops then read this article, “What Is A 4k Laptop?” or this one… “How 4k Works”.
So how do you decide if this difference is worth the price change?
The real question is not, is a 4k laptop worth it. It’s… is a UHD laptop worth it to you? In order to come up with the answer to this question, you have to weigh the pros and cons of a 4k laptop (which we’ll go into later) as well as the value of a 4k laptop to you.
For instance, if you’re just using a laptop to send emails, then a 4k laptop might not be as beneficial to you as it would to a person who uses it for more visual pursuits. Therefore keeping that in mind…
To help you make this decision for yourself, you can always check out some of our other articles. You may find our “Are 4k Laptops Worth It” article especially helpful, or alternatively you may want to check out our article, “Does 4k Matter On A Laptop”.
What type of customers would enjoy a UHD laptop?
Virtually any type of customer would have a better experience with a 4k laptop, because they do allow for higher quality viewing. But there are certain groups of people who would enjoy this type of product more.
- Gamers – Within the gaming community, there are many that ask “is a 4k laptop worth it for gaming?” And the answer is yes, since visuals are so important for a gaming experience. It could even help gamers (specifically fps gamers) perform better because they can make out more details on the screen. Speaking of improving gaming performance, investing a good mouse could help accomplish that! razer mouse to learn more about how to find a good computer mouse.
- People Who Will Use The Laptop For TV/Movies – Another highly visual hobby is consuming cinema and television. It’s a lot more satisfying and immersive to watch a piece of content when you can see everything clearly!
- People Who Will Use The Laptop For Visual Work – Laptops aren’t just for hobbyists, they’re for professionals as well. And anyone working in a visual industry would appreciate the more precise imaging that 4k laptops give.
These are just a few examples of groups of people who would benefit greatly from 4k laptops, but of course the benefits of a 4k laptop can be accessed by anyone willing to pay for it. And it’s up to you if the benefits are worth the price, even if you don’t fall under one of these groups.
What are the pros and cons of a 4k laptop?
As promised, here is a pros and cons list of UHD laptops that highlight the main points we’ve mentioned so far as well as a few extra facts.
Pros –
- High quality visuals
- High quality hardware
- Technology that won’t be obsolete anytime soon
Cons –
- More expensive
- Less battery life
- Lower frame rates when gaming
A few clarifications…
Since some pros and cons were just mentioned that haven’t been before, let’s be a bit more specific about those.
As far as the pro of having a piece of technology that won’t become obsolete, we’re talking about the fact that 4k resolutions are the highest grade resolutions to come for a long time. So if you’re the lucky owner of a 4k laptop, you won’t be bombarded with people telling you to get the newest upgrade for a long time to come!
And on the cons side… There’s less battery life for UHD laptops purely because a device that runs that high of a resolution will drain battery faster than a device with a lower resolution. And the same thing applies for the lower frame rates in gaming. The high graphical ability of the laptop can slow the actual performance at times.
But despite these minor cons, it is important to note that laptops can absolutely pull of UHD resolution. As we covered in this article, “Can Laptops Output 4k”. And in this article, “Can A Laptop Support A 4k Monitor”.
Does the internet think that UHD laptops are worth it?
There have been a lot of debates online regarding whether or not a 4k laptop is worth the price. And in fact, the question of if a 4k laptop is worth it is a hot topic on Reddit. Users have varying opinions, as with most topics on Reddit.
But the takeaways are that almost everyone agrees that 4k laptops come with unique features and benefits, and offer a great experience. The price is the main con for most people, but most people are pleased with the product as a whole.
One Reddit user (if you want to see more of what people on Reddit are saying about 4k laptops then click here) even said that once you get used to 4k, you won’t want to go back!
A final note is that you do need to be careful when purchasing UHD laptops, because there are a lot of fakes out there. You need to get your laptop from a reputable source, and we name some of those in this article… “Which Laptops Have 4k Display”. And you can always check to make sure that you got what you bought using the steps we detail in the article, “How Do I Know If My Laptop Is 4k”.