Best Laptop With Backlit Keyboards For Night Owls (Updated)

The hardware specifications of the laptop are the first thing you see when buying a laptop. But people usually skip over the comforting features of a laptop. Yes, the keyboard is the most undercut part of the laptop. A good specced out laptop calls for an excellent backlit keyboard.

Once considered a luxury, backlit keyboard is mounting to be a key feature on a laptop.  A good backlit keyboard goes a long way, considering it is also the most used laptop component especially for gamers, writers and night owls.

The illumination on a keyboard is better in an under-lit rooms. Moreover, those struggling with poor eye sight or  working on places with poor lightning like Dark Auditorium, Press Conference, Lecture hall, these peripherals can come handy.

So without further lengthening the topic in hand, let’s look at our favorite backlit keyboard. We have laptops ranging from gaming to suit your office and outdoor expedition needs.

Preview	Product Name	SPECS
	Dell XPS 15 - 9500	Display: 1080p or 4K CPU: Core i7 - 10850H or i7 - 10750H GPU: GTX 1650 Ti	Check Price
	HP Envy x360 13	Display: 1080p or 4K Touch CPU: Core i7 - 1065G7 GPU: Intel Iris Plus	Check Price
	Dell XPS 13	Display: 1080p CPU: Core i5 - 10210U GPU: Intel UHD	Check Price
	ASUS VivoBook 14	Display: 1080p CPU: GPU: MX230	Check Price
	Lenovo Yoga 730	Display: 1080p or 4K CPU: Core i5 - 8250U GPU: Intel UHD 620	Check Price
	Microsoft Surface Laptop 3	Display: 1080p CPU: Core i5 10th Gen GPU: Intel Iris Plus	Check Price
	LG GRAM 17	Display: WQXGA 1600p CPU: Core i7-1065G7 GPU: Intel Iris Graphics	Check Price
	Razer Blade 15 Advance Edition	Display: 144 Hz 1080p or 4K 60 Hz OLED CPU: Core i7 - 10850H GPU: RTX 2070	Check Price
	Acer Aspire 5	Display: 1080p IPS CPU: Ryzen 3 3200U GPU: Vega 3	Check Price
	MacBook Pro 13 (2020)	Display: Retina CPU: Core i5 10th Gen GPU: Intel Iris Plus	Check Price

Overall Best Laptop With Backlit Keyboard – Dell XPS 15 9500

The Dell XPS is the overall best laptop in our lineup. Dell’s XPS lineup is a premium designed laptop with added features. The slim design and the all-aluminum body houses one of the best laptops with a backlit keyboard. The soft-touch finish on the keyboard with the 1.3mm travel distance gives it a snappy feel. There is no Numpad, but it isn’t a significant trade-off. The backlight is not adjustable but is strong enough to read and type.

The XPS lineup looks sleek and thin and has the power to boost its overall performance. The processor has the latest 10th gen Intel Core i5 and Core i7 processor. The device comes with 8GB of RAM which can be upgraded up to 32GB RAM. The XPS 15 comes with a base 256 GB M.2 SSD up to 2 TB SSD configured in RAID. The XPS 15 ships with Intel HD graphics at the base model and 1650 Ti for the higher model. The GTX 1650 Ti comes with 4 GB VRAM. The 4GB VRAM is suitable for video editing and light gaming on the side.

The screen is the best part of this product—Dell ships the XPS 15 with a 1920 x 1200 display with 500 nits peak brightness. The gorgeous HD display is a must die for with its greater viewing angles. The XPS 15 even comes with a 4K UHD Display more attractive than ever. The display is paired with the great sounding speakers. The speakers produce in-depth audio for the listener and give great immersion while viewing content.

The 86Hr battery is a savior for college students and business workers. The XPS 15 lasts 5 – 7 hours in regular use and stands 2 hours while doing heavy work. The XPS 15 thanks to its excellent hardware and body are the overall best laptop with a backlit keyboard.

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Best HP Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – HP Envy x360 13

The HP Envy x360 is not only the best 2-in-1 laptop, But it is also the best HP laptop with a backlit keyboard. It covers the wide span of the device. The key travel on it is a bit larger than 1.9mm. Yes, the chiclet-style keyboard is better for snappy typing, but everyone is not suited for the key travel. The keyboard has two levels of backlighting for darker and dimly illuminated room scenarios.

The HP Envy x360 13 can be configured with AMD Ryzen 4th generation processor and Intel 10th generation Low powered processors. The Ryzen CPU brings out the most of the Envy x360 with better performance. The Ryzen CPU has a Vega 7 iGPU allowing casual gaming on the side. The product ships with 8 GB RAM and can be upgraded to 32GB. The storage option is limited, with 256 GB SSD to 1 TB SSD. But HP features Intel OPTANE memory with its lowest and the highest option.

The IPS 1080P touch display seals a good deal for the Envy x360 13. The 13 inch is good enough for viewing video content with its sharp color and good viewing angles. The touch on the display is excellent but is very sensitive. HP, it would be great if you shipped a stylus with the laptop. Bang and Olufsen speakers aren’t great. The down-firing speaker doesn’t have richness and depth in it. In higher volume, it has more treble, which is annoying to the ear. But HP includes Bang and Olufsen software to fine-tune the audio. The battery life is exceptional, thanks to the AMD processor. The AMD APU sucks less power from the Envy x360 lasting over 5 – 7 hours in light workloads.

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Best Dell Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 15 was so good, but we could never forget its younger brother XPS 13. The XPS 13 is the best ultrabook on the market. The keyboard is the same with the 1.3mm key travel and has a soft-touch finish. The XPS 13 has a good feel while typing and covers the width of the laptop. The lighting on the keyboard isn’t that bright but provides enough backlight in the dark—a great laptop with an excellent keyboard.

The XPS 13 is relatively weak thanks to the low powered CPU. But the 10th generation Intel processor performs very well in the daily task and can handle some lightweight photo editing. The device comes with a 32 GB RAM, but we suggest taking the 8GB or 16GB models. The storage remains the same with SSD options varying from 256 GB M.2 SSD to 1 TB M.2 SSD.

The Aluminum chassis houses an FHD display. The XPS 13’s display is gorgeous with its stunning color accuracy and viewing angles. The display has no bezel, giving an immersive viewing experience. There is a 4K display option, but it is unnecessary for the 13-inch display size. As good as the display is, the audio isn’t that great. The down-firing speaker lacks depth and has no refined tuning done to it. The big battery on the device is a great boon. The XPS 13 lasted 7 – 8 hours during light workload. A great addition to people on the go or away from the power source.

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Best Asus Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – ASUS VivoBook 14

The Vivobook has been an excellent staple for Asus consumers. The Asus Vivobook 14 offers better graphics and performance for its price. The Vivobook has a plastic body, but the finish on it is excellent. The matte finish on it is very attractive and appeals to casual users. The Vivobook 14 has a great keyboard. The keyboard has a 1.3mm key travel and an average size keycap. The keycaps have a strikingly good legend on top. The backlighting on the keyboard is dim but enough for a darker environment. The holographic Numpad on the trackpad is a Clever move from Asus.

The Vivobook 14 ships with Intel’s older 8th generation and 10th gen processors. To give the processor more processing power, Asus ships the device with Nvidia’s MX230 GPU. The dedicated GPU has 2 GB VRAM. The MX230 allows for light video editing and photo editing. The laptop comes with 4GB RAM upgradeable to 16GB. Vivobook 14 ships with traditional 2.5 HDD but can be swapped out or upgraded with an M.2 SSD

The display on the Vivobook isn’t that great. The 1080p display has a greater viewing angle but has weak color reproduction. But the slimmer bezel on the Vivobook 14 does give it a smarter look. The audio isn’t that great, the down-firing speaker produces great bass but loses richness in the treble area. Even though it is an ultrabook, it boasts a 37 WHr battery. It is tiny and holds up to 2 – 4 hours in a lightweight task. But for the low price, the Asus Vivobook is the best Asus laptop with a backlit keyboard. No company provides excellent hardware and backlit keyboards for this low price.

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Best Lenovo Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – Lenovo Yoga 730

Lenovo has tons of budget laptops and higher-end ultrabooks. The Lenovo Yoga 730 is an exception among all of them. The 2 in 1 comes under $1000, packing a great feature in a relatively thin body. The device comes with the funky Lenovo keycaps and legend. The chiclet-style keyboard has low key travel. It is better for burst fire typing but needs time to adjust to the keyboard. The backlighting on the keyboard is quite bright, and the light is visible throughout the keys. There is no backlight dimming offering a better typing experience.

The Lenovo Yoga 730 comes with a Core i5 8th generation processor. The Intel processor is old, but it still can do some light editing tasks. Lenovo Yoga 730 ships with 8GB of RAM sufficient for the convertible. The 256GB SSD might not be enough for the average user. But it is OK to negate the storage space for the faster read and write speed.

The device ships with a 1920 x 1080p display. Lenovo’s displays aren’t great; in fact, the touch screen display on the Lenovo Yoga 730 has weaker color accuracy. The viewing angles are great, but still, the color accuracy needs improvement. The same goes for the audio; the down-firing speaker is abysmal, producing acceptable audio quality. We suggest using headphones with the Lenovo Yoga 730. The 10 hours rated 51WHr battery is a great plus point for the device. The device can last up to 7 – 8 Hrs thanks to low-powered CPU and power management.

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Best Touchscreen Laptop with Backlit Keyboard –  Microsoft Surface Laptop 3

Microsoft has been producing stellar content focused devices. Surface Laptop 3 is the best touch laptop with a backlit keyboard. The 3:2 aspect ratio display is a content creators paradise. The gorgeous display paired with a custom keyboard is quite comfortable and handy. Surface Laptop 3 has a 1.3mm key travel for better typing experience. The 1.3mm key travel is comfortable and doesn’t cause fatigue while typing for hours. The backlighting on the keyboard is OK as the diffuser under the keycaps doesn’t do a great job.

The Surface Laptop 3 is available in AMD and Intel options. We suggest using the Intel option because of its greater computing power. Microsoft hasn’t updated its Surface lineup with Ryzen 4th generation processors. The Ryzen 4th Gen processor looks a great addition and adds more value to it. The product ships with 8GB or 16GB of RAM and a maximum of 1 TB SSD storage.

The device is available in 2 sizes: the 13.5 and 15-inch model. Both the models have the 3:2 aspect ratio and densely packed pixels. The gorgeous touch display has an excellent touch response and a better vibrance to it. It has excellent color correction and supports stylus support. The audio on the device is perfect, reaching higher volume with richness in audio. Microsoft outfitted both the models with high capacity batteries. The Surface Laptop 3 lasts over 8 hours after continuous use. Microsoft does create some of the best laptops in the market, and Surface Laptop 3 is no exception. The laptop is what content creators can express their creativity.

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Best 17-inch Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – LG GRAM 17

The LG gram 17 is the lightest and best 17-inch laptop with a backlit keyboard. The 17-inch form factor laptops are heavy and hard to transport. But LG’s breakthrough innovation makes the gram 17 lighter. It weighs only 2.95 lbs (1.3KG); it is shocking that LG significantly trimmed down the weight. Even we are stunned with its weight. The keyboard is OK, not perfect. The full-sized keyboard has an exciting layout needing adjusting for new users. The backspace and enter key are narrowed down and can be missed while typing. The legend on the keycaps is futuristic, but the well lit backlit keyboard saves the day. The backlighting on the keyboard is brighter than most of our entries ensuring greater visibility while typing in the dark.

The LG gram 17 ships with Intel’s latest 10th generation processor. The magnesium-aluminum alloy houses the internals of the gram 17—the laptop ships with 16 GB RAM and a maximum of 1TB SSD. The RAM comes soldered on the motherboard, so pick a higher capacity beforehand.

LG boasts its WQXGA (2560 x 1600) display and claims it to be better. But the screen loses features like touch and HDR for its price. The LG gram 17 is quite expensive, the display is excellent, but we hope to see the HDR feature inbuilt on the screen. The stereo audio is good, and it still needs to do some work in the loudness department. The 80WHr battery is what separates itself from other laptops. The device lasts 9hrs with continuous use proclaiming it as the best ultrabook in the market. The longer battery life lasts you the whole day without needing to change frequently—a great boon for travelers and students alike.

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Best Gaming Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – Razer Blade 15 Advance Edition

Razer produces one of the best gaming laptops in the market. The Razer Blade 15 Advance Edition is one of the refined Razer gaming laptops. The Blade 15 is the best gaming laptop with a backlit keyboard. Its per-key RGB lighting is gorgeous and majestic. There is no backlight bleeding on the keyboard and has reliable color options. The legend on the keyboard gives off modern gamer vibes. The keyboard is quite awkward, thanks to the broader right shift key. It would be better to get larger arrow keys. The typing experience of this product is excellent thanks to its chiclet-style key switch. The keyboard has a short travel distance for a better typing experience.

The Razer Blade 15 Advance Edition comes with Intel 10th generation Core i7-10850H. The six-core processor is paired with an RTX 2070 Max-Q GPU. The CPU and GPU games can run any games thrown at the system offering better FPS in-game. The Razer Blade 15 ships with 16 GB RAM and a max of 1TB SSD storage.

The CNC milled Aluminum case Blade 15 has tons of display options. The device ships with a 144HZ 1080p display or a 4K OLED display. We suggest getting the 144Hz 1080p display for the best gaming experience. Razer outfitted the Blade 15 with front-firing speakers. The audio from the speaker sounds lively and loud. The stereo speaker gives the user an immersive audio-visual experience. The battery life is excellent, the Blade 15 lasts 7 hours when performing lightweight workload like surfing the web or watching videos.

If you are adventurous, Razer ships the Blade 15 with an RTX 2080 and a 300Hz display. Now that hardware is packed in a thin and light chassis is an awesome combo.

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Best Cheap Laptop with Backlit Keyboard – Acer Aspire 5

The Acer Aspire 5 is the cheapest laptop with a backlit keyboard. There might be other more affordable options, but the performance and the value of the Aspire 5 is outstanding. The Acer Aspire 5 has a hardware and a good display for its low price. Quite interesting choices. As for the keyboard, it is OK for the price but not acceptable. The key travel is high at 1.9mm. The keyboard is hard to type on and needs a lot of time to get familiar. The backlighting on the keyboard is weak, only visible in the under-lit rooms.

The Acer Aspire 5 ships with Ryzen 3 3200U processor. The Ryzen 3 processor is a deal-breaker for the price. Plus, besides, you are getting a Vega 3 iGPU. You can expect to play light to medium games on this device. The 128GB SSD is not an excellent option for gaming or even primary storage. The same goes for the 4GB system memory. We suggest upgrading the RAM and storage when necessary.

The FHD 1080p screen is great for viewing video content and gaming. But the color reproduction on the monitor isn’t’ that great and as poor viewing angles. The audio is abysmal with no depth and low volume. The battery isn’t that great, but it lasts up to 4 hours during a light workload. Not bad for a cheap laptop.

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Best MacBook with Backlit Keyboard – MacBook Pro 13 (2020)

The MacBook Pro 13 is the revitalized version of the latest Apple MacBook Pro device. Everything wrong about the previous Mac Pro has been fixed and improved even more. Plus, the Apple fans rejoice as the Apple Magic keyboard replaces the butterfly keyboard. The new keyboard gives excellent tactile feedback and has low key travel. The backlighting on the keyboard is bright as the light shines through the keyboard. There is no backlight leak offering excellent brightness.

The MacBook Pro 13 now features the latest Intel 10th gen processor inside. Apple finally fixed the overheating problem by adjusting the package voltage. The Core i5 processor is paired with 16GB RAM. The MacBook Pro 13 ships with a maximum of 1 TB SSD. The Touch Bar and the Touch ID are also included in this model.

The 13-inch Retina display is just a class above the rest. It has a true tone color and a DCI P-3 color coverage. The laptop’s viewing angle is stunning, and watching any content on the display is a blessing to the user. The audio on the audio is the best on the market. No other products can reach the richness and loudness of the MacBook Pro 13. The battery life on it is great as it lasts up to 10 hours—a great package overall created by the team in Apple.

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Buyer’s Guide:

The backlit keyboard was considered a luxury in the mid-2010s. But the consensus has changed a lot from the past few years. There are tons of things to look at before getting a backlit keyboard on a laptop. They have different things varying from the keycaps to the legends imprinted on it.

Key Travel

A good keyboard is dictated with its key travel. The feel and comfort of keyboards differ from users to users. Some people like smaller key travel, whereas some people like to mash their key very far. Key travel means the lengths needed for a keycap to actuate on the keyboard. It differs from device to device.

Gaming motherboards have thicker keycaps and higher key travel for the best gaming experience. Typing on the gaming motherboard is good but not as great as in Ultrabooks. The ultrabooks have small and shallow keycaps with low key travel. The key travel on the ultrabooks is less creating tactical feedback while typing. An excellent keyboard for the writer and has a good response.

Key Layout

Whenever buying a laptop, you should take care of the keyboard layout. The higher-end laptops usually ship without the Numpad. Some even have their key design with larger shift keys like in the Razor Blade or narrow backspace like in the Lenovo laptop. For ease of use, familiar key layout. The key layout differs from product to product, but with a little bit of practice, anyone can adjust to it.

Brightness

The keyboard on the device should have a great brightness level. Higher-end laptops like the MacBook have brightness steps. The brightness can be configured through the in-built keyboard function.

It is better to get a well-lit keyboard. A brighter keyboard might not be useful in the majority of cases. The even-lit LED on the keyboard ensures a better experience. A brighter keyboard will sear eyes under a dark room. So a device with adjustable lighting is suggested.

Programmable Lighting

Programmable lighting is only found in gaming laptops. The gaming laptops allude to gamers who want more RGB in their keyboards. The Higher end gaming keyboards come with customizable software. Per-Key programmable lighting might not be beneficial to regular users. But for the aesthetic purpose and better control of the color on a keyboard, programmable lighting is a must. Plus, you are getting to change the color of the keyboard to your liking suiting your mood.