If you’re in the market for a laptop that you plan on using primarily or partially for business use, you may be wondering if there’s a real difference between devices marketed as business laptops and those sold as consumer products.

Despite the increasingly blurred lines between most modern workers’ work lives and personal lives, laptops still live in two distinct classes. While you may still opt for a consumer laptop for business use, as many do, it’s good to know what you’re getting into ahead of time. When manufacturers design consumer laptops, they do so assuming buyers will want to upgrade frequently to stay on top of the latest trends. They also assume that consumer users are not as tough on their laptops as business users. Both ideas influence the way business and consumer laptops are built.

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Business laptops are sturdier and last longer

Business laptops are created for long-term, all-day usage. Since companies don’t want to constantly upgrade entire fleets of laptops, business designs don’t vary drastically from year to year.

Consistent design makes it easier to maintain laptops over time, and features such as dock compatibility, interoperability and swappable batteries extend the overall lifespan of business-focused devices.

Additionally, quality business machines are built with durability in mind, many are water and dust resistant, and most are built to withstand occasional drops and knocks  (HP business units are military spec tested).  Consumer laptops, on the other hand, are built with obsolescence and aren’t intended to be used for 40 hours a week for years on end.

Business Laptops are also designed to be repairable with screws rather than glue and as such post-warranty care packs can be applied to business machines only.

Consumer laptops are prettier & offer unique design features

Business laptops have gotten a lot better-looking.

Consumer laptops have historically offered more versatility thanks to daring designs like 360-degree hinges, built-in styluses, detachable screens and roomy touchpads. Business laptops have caught up.   Business 2-in-1s, were once non-existent, and styluses are increasingly being used in business contexts outside of graphic design. The demand for attractive business devices isn’t going away anytime soon, and nowadays the business machines offer the high end eye-catching designs too.  If design is a major motivator for you, make sure you opt for a laptop that’s comfortable to use all day long; glossy screens and shallow keyboards are OK for sporadic use but grow tiresome quickly and glossy screens use more power to compete with screen glare.

Business laptops are built for security and IT management.  

Biometrics and two factor authentication is almost standard on business laptops, even entry-level models. Business laptops are also built with security software to manage and secure devices on enterprise-class networks. For now, SMBs are better off sticking to business devices. Business laptops often offer additional hardware support for SMBs, including next business day, meaning you never have to send your sensitive data away.