Smartphones have made it super easy to take photos. In fact, of the over 1.2 trillion photos taken in 2017, a staggering 85% were taken with smartphones. However, good quality photos come at a price; ridiculously big sizes. Storing all your photos on your mobile device takes space from your apps and other media.
Even if you’re not a professional that uses a lot of images, you need to get a good laptop for storing all your photos. Lucky for you, we have already done the hard work and reviewed several products to help you find the best laptop for photo storage.
Top Laptops for Photo Storage
Whether you are a professional photographer, image editor, graphic designer or simply a photo addict, a good laptop comes in handy when you want to securely store all of your photos. The following recommendations will help you preserve your most valued memories without having to delete any of them.
Best Overall Laptop for Photo Storage: Dell XPS 13
It’s hard to miss the Dell XPS 13 on any list of the best laptop for storing photos. This laptop packs incredible features most of which are a perfect fit for the modern photographer or graphic designer. From the generous storage space to the crisp display and fast performance, there’s no reason the Dell XPS 13 wouldn’t be a great home for your photos.
The storage capacity range goes from 256GB to 1TB SSD, which will give you quick access to your files and fast performance. Of course, more storage attracts higher prices but on the bright side, you will be storing more of your photos. Just remember that SSDs have a shorter lifespan than HDD, so if you regularly move big files, you might want to consider an external HDD drive.
The bezel-less 13.3-inch display sits at the epicenter of a sleek and premium design that makes up the Dell XPS 13. With a full HD (1080p) resolution and Intel UHD Graphics 620, you will be able to look back at your memories on a vivid 13-inch Infinity Edge display. The best part is, you can upgrade to a 4K resolution for an even better viewing experience.
If you need to edit your photos to make them more glamorous, the Intel processor and up to 16GB of RAM should make the job a piece of cake. There are two variants of both the RAM and the processor. For the RAM you can opt for either 8GB or 16GB with either a Core i5 or Core i7 8th-generation Intel processor.
Specifications
- Display: 13.3 inches FHD – 4k
- CPU: 8th generation Intel Core i5 – i7
- RAM: 8GB – 16GB
- Storage: 256GB – 1TB SSD
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620
Pros
- Centered Webcam
- Beautiful design
- Sufficient storage
- High-quality display
- Impressive battery life
Cons
- Expensive
- High weight
- Faster performance empowering people to focus, create, and connect like never before
- Raising the bar on connectivity
- Video editing just under a minute
Best Laptop for Photo Storage for the Money: Huawei MateBook 13
The Huawei MateBook 13 was one of the most recommended laptops in 2019 by experts. This is a very versatile laptop with photo storage being one of the functions it shines at. Just like the Dell XPS 13, you will be getting sufficient SSD storage, high-quality display, and sleek design.
The storage space is a little lower than that of the XPS 13 but 256 or 512GB is still a lot. You can always opt for more storage if you have more photos to store. You’ll have to pay more for those 512GB, though. However, it’s very unlikely you’ll run out of space for your photos anymore.
The 13-inch display on the MateBook 13 offers an immersive viewing experience. The resolution is less than other comparable brands in this review. However, you won’t miss out on that much. A 1440p resolution is still good enough for viewing or editing photos.
If you plan on doing some editing to your images, the discrete Nvidia MX150 graphics card will come in handy. On the other hand, the Intel processor and 8GB of RAM will ensure image processing is a breeze.
On the whole, the Huawei MateBook 13 is a great laptop for storing photos. You will miss out on a few bells and whistles such as 4K display and fast thunderbolt 3 ports found on the Dell XPS 13. Considering you are paying much less, the little compromise is worth it. You will still get a lightweight laptop with a beautiful design and fast performance.
Specifications
- Display: 13-inch 1440p
- CPU: 8th generation Intel Core i5 – i7
- RAM: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB – 512GB SSD
- Graphics: Intel UHD Graphics 620 or Nvidia GeForce MX150 2GB GDDR5
Pros
- Powerful Nvidia graphics
- Best value for money
- Sufficient storage
- Good design
- High-quality display
Cons
- No Thunderbolt 3
- It can run quite hot sometimes
- Thin, light & portable: weighs only 2.86 pounds (or less with integrated graphics) and measures...
- Fullview touch Display: feels larger than 13” - thin Bezel at only 4.4mm, 88% screen-to-body...
- Powerful performance: 8th Gen Intel Core i5 8265U Processor boosts performance up to 40% over its...
Best Cheap Laptop for Photo Storage: Microsoft Surface Laptop 3
If you are looking for a laptop that is even cheaper than the Huawei MateBook 13, we recommend the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3. Despite the small price difference, the two laptops have a lot in common. In fact, the Surface Laptop 3 offers up to 1TB of storage while the MateBook 13 limits it to 512GB.
However, Huawei still shines in some areas such as design and performance. This is a good option if you are willing to sacrifice a few niceties for a lower price. It offers a lot of storage options, ranging from 128GB to 1TB making it a perfect choice for photo storage.
The display comes in two versions, 15-inch and 17-inch. You can use either an Intel or AMD processor for the 15-inch display, both of which offer competitive performance. Although Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 has fewer ports than our first two recommendations, you will still find it an amazing budget device.
Specifications
- Display: 13 and 15-inch PixelSense
- CPU: Intel Core i5 – i7 / AMD Ryzen 5 / AMD Ryzen 7
- RAM: 8GB – 16GB
- Storage; 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB SSD
- Graphics: Intel Iris Plus Graphics / AMD Radeon Vega 9 / AMD Radeon RX Vega 11
Pros
- Excellent battery life
- AMD or Intel processor based on your preference
- Enough storage for photos
- High-quality display
- Alluring Design
Cons
- No Thunderbolt 3 option
- Few ports
- Clean, Elegant Design: Thin and light, starting at just 2.79 pounds, Surface Laptop 3 is easy to...
- Choose from rich tone-on-tone color combinations: new Sandstone, plus Matte Black, Cobalt Blue, and...
- Improved speed and performance to do what you want, with the latest processors: Surface Laptop 3 is...
What Makes a Good Laptop for Photo Storage?
When shopping around for the best laptop for photo storage, you do not approach the specs the same way you do for an everyday use laptop. There are specific features that are unique to making a laptop ideal for storing photos.
Storage
When it comes to photo storage, the need for enough hard drive space is unquestionable. We mostly based this guide on laptops that have up to 1TB of laptops. The amount of storage you need will depend on the quality and amount of your photos.
Generally, there are two types of storage options, SSD and HDD. SSD is faster, noiseless and more lenient on the battery than HDD. However, SSD storage hast a shorter lifespan and is more expensive. So if you need more storage for less you might need an external drive, that is the HDD.
You can use a combination of both if you have a crazy amount of photos to store.
Screen Resolution
No matter how good the photo quality is, if the resolution is mediocre, your photos will look mediocre. You should invest in good display resolution. From our recommendations, you can see that we only focused on laptops with unparalleled pixel count.
Generally, for the best photo viewing experience, you should settle for nothing less than a FHD resolution. Other models like the Dell XPS 13 offers a 4K resolution model. If you are willing to go that high, that would be terrific, but it also means you will need to invest a little bit more.
Graphics
If you do a lot of photo editing, powerful graphics will come in handy. Just like storage, graphics cards can either be integrated/built-in or dedicated. An integrated graphics card is only good enough for everyday use such as browsing, viewing photos, reading online, or watching YouTube videos.
However, if you need to do video or photo editing, you’ll need a dedicated graphics card. This offers better technology and performance for complex work involving graphic-hungry software.
Screen Size
If your photos are of high quality, most screen sizes will be good enough to view them on. Again, for image editing, you need a larger screen in order to focus on all the important details. Bigger images tend to be more nostalgic so most people would settle for a 15+ inch screen.
If you fancy portability but still want your photos presented in a unique manner, a 13-inch screen will do the job.
Processor
For fast photo processing, whether viewing or editing, you need a powerful processor. Huge storage with a flimsy processor doesn’t help. Luckily most laptops that come with generous SSD storage also have fast processors.
Intel and AMD are the most popular CPU manufacturers with Intel’s being faster. If you are using a photo editing or graphic design software, an Intel Core i7 processor is recommended. Otherwise, for regular use, a Core i5 will do just fine.
RAM
More RAM means you can run more programs without any lags in performance. Since high-quality photos have big sizes, you’ll need more RAM for faster processing. Opening a high-quality photo on a low-RAM laptop takes too long. Editing is even more painful.
For this reason, we recommend at least 8GB of RAM or more. However, make sure to take note of how large the files are that your digital camera produces. High end, professional cameras produce really large files, which require more RAM on your laptop to process.
On the end, smartphones or consumer DSLR cameras produce smaller files sizes that require less RAM to deal with.
Port Selection
Whether you are taking your pics with a smartphone or digital camera, you will need to transfer them to your laptop. There are several ways to do this, using a USB cable or SD card are the most common. The laptop you buy should have a good selection of ports for peripheral connection.
The latest USB Type-C is the most versatile since you can use it for both file transfer and charging.
Touchscreen
Scrolling through your photos on a touchscreen is more engaging than using the touchpad or keyboard. Although touch laptops are more power-hungry they are faster and more convenient.
Conclusion
Storing photos has never been easier. A good laptop will keep you from deleting your most treasured memories because of insufficient storage. We hope that this guide will help you buy the best laptop for photo storage so you will never have to delete your best pics to create space for more.
