Lenovo is the top brand for laptops in the annual rankings from Laptop Magazine, replacing Apple which has held the top spot since the tech news publication began rating portable computers in 2010. Their machines rate a perfect “10” for innovation.

Some of the company’s top engineers and designers work at the Lenovo campus in Morrisville, one of two HQs for the global giant. That team, for example, designed the first augmented reality-equipped laptop released last year.

“Lenovo leaped into first place on the strength of its many highly-rated laptops, groundbreaking technologies and vastly improved customer support,” raves Laptop in the rankings, which were published Tuesday.

The good news comes after a UK tech news site last week claimed that Lenovo and other manufacturers were overstating the battery life of many models.

Apple, meanwhile, plummeted to fifth place in the Laptop scorecard.

Lenovo was fourth last year and sixth in 2015 after ranking second the previous two years.

The world’s top PC manufacturer scored 90 out of a possible 100 points from Laptop’s reviews.

Points were awarded based on:

  • Reviews (max of 35)
  • Design (max of 15)
  • Support (max of 20)
  • Innovation (max of 10)
  • Value and selection (max of 15)
  • Warranty (max of 5)

Lenovo received close to the maximum in each category.

Said the reviewers: “When 58 percent of your laptops get a rating of 4 stars or better, you’re having a great year. Lenovo wowed us with laptops that had epic battery life (three different ThinkPads lasted more than 17 hours on a charge), gorgeous designs like the bezel-free screen on the Yoga 910 and innovative features like the Halo keyboard on the Yoga Book. The company also provided helpful support with no hold times in our tests.”

Asus, HP and Dell placed second through fourth.

Apple tied Acer with fifth, its score coming in at 78.

Apple tumbled for several reasons, Laptop notes.

“To pick the winners, losers and also-rans, we evaluated the 10 biggest laptop brands to determine which offer the best combination of quality products, cutting-edge innovation, helpful support, sleek designs and strong value,” the magazine explains.

“Because of its modest review scores, expensive products and lack of ports, Apple fell all the way down to fifth place after receiving top honors every year since the Best and Worst Brands debuted in 2010.”

Read the full report at:

http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/laptop-brand-ratings