This week is National Small Business Week, a chance to celebrate the entrepreneurs and all that your businesses bring to our communities. As a former CEO of two small businesses myself, I know it takes courage and resilience to turn a vision into reality. It also requires powerful and flexible tools and secure technology to run an organization, having the right tools enables you to focus on your customers and growing your business.
I am proud that Microsoft and our partners deliver incredible Windows 11 Pro devices, cloud services and experiences purpose-built for small businesses. Since Microsoft’s inception, we have relied on the strength and scale of our partner ecosystem to build solutions and services that deliver competitive advantage and enable our customers to grow and scale their businesses. Windows 11 Pro coupled with our great cloud services, like Microsoft 365, Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Edge, enable small business customers to see tremendous benefits and realize the power of the cloud.
There are so many options to choose from when deciding which devices are best to power your small business, so we have highlighted the most common solution needs we see and our recommendations to meet them.
Jump to section:
- Hybrid and work from anywhere
- Microsoft Teams Room devices
- Secured-core and rugged devices
- Devices for creatives
- Options for smaller budgets
- Workstations and all-in-ones
For hybrid and work from anywhere
If you’re a small business operating in a physical office the ASUS ExpertBook B5402 with Intel Core i7, which comes in 2-1 or clamshell formats, is a great option. This device has a robust security system in place to ensure confidential and private data stays that way. Two-way AI noise-canceling audio technology filters out unwanted ambient noise that might be occurring in the office. Finally, to ensure you stay connected even if you’re hopping from meeting rooms throughout the day, this device provides all-day battery life on a single charge thanks to energy-efficient Panel Self Refresh technology.
When your job is fully remote or hybrid, you need devices that match the performance of an in-office device with the addition of portability and flexibility. The Dell Latitude 7330 2-in-1 is lightweight and compact at 1.36kg/3.0 pounds, featuring ExpressConnect so you can connect to two networks at once for faster data and video downloads, and offering 4G LTE and Wi-Fi 6E for more bandwidth, in addition to high performance. Its battery charges to 80% in only 60 minutes, which is great when you’re working on the go away from a power source.
Designed to excel in a variety of computing environments, the stylish, dark blue Dynabook Satellite Pro C40-J with Windows 11 Pro measures a slim 18.9mm thin and a lightweight 3.27 pounds. Despite its small footprint, the professional laptop incorporates a full-size keyboard and large Click Pad along with a long-lasting battery to make it perfect for mobile productivity. It also features a 14-inch non glare FHD display, 11th Gen Intel Core Processors and the ability to provide increased productivity and manage demanding workloads with an executive appearance and a smart price tag.
Microsoft Teams Room devices
For conferencing, Microsoft partners offer a myriad of solutions. If your team takes meetings from their desks, the Crestron Flex Phone for Teams is a premium video desk phone that allows you to access any meeting, share notes and collaborate directly from the device. It provides hands‑free audio and video conferencing, simple operation with comprehensive call and contact management features, built‑in calendaring and one-touch Teams meeting joins. Enterprise-grade security features allow for easy switching between users, making it a great option for rotating “hot desk” stations and conference rooms.
For the worker who spends their day on video calls, consider the Dell 34 Curved Video Conferencing Monitor (C3422WE). This large 34-inch desktop device is the world’s first video conferencing monitor certified for Microsoft Teams[1], so you can instantly join meetings with a one-touch dedicated Microsoft Teams button. The pop-up 5MP IR camera, dual 5W integrated speakers and noise-cancelling microphone allow you to collaborate with stunning video and audio clarity. Login is secure with Windows Hello facial recognition sign-in and offers hands-free commands with Microsoft Cortana.
For larger conference rooms, the Logitech Tap with Logitech Rally Plus offers a 10.1-inch screen, one-touch meeting start and easy ways to share content instantly with your attendees. To make sure everyone is heard clearly, Rally’s ultra-low distortion speakers deliver crystal clear, room-filling sound. Compatible with Teams, this device also comes with acoustic echo cancellation, a voice activity detector and background noise suppression.
The Neat Bar brings exceptional audio and video to a small business meeting, huddle or focus rooms for up to ten people. It comes with Neat Pad, a dynamic touch screen, which small businesses can use to control meetings or display room availability outside a room. Neat Bar is also compact enough for a home office. It is simple and easy to mount to any computer monitor, delivering a more professional and comfortable meeting experience for remote employees.
The Poly Studio X30 with TC8 is another option, ideal for “huddle” and small size rooms. Its compact, lightweight design easily fits on top or underneath a display. Powerful audio pickup and incredible noise blocking tech ensures every word is heard without distractions.
Secured-core and rugged devices
The Galaxy Book2 Business a powerful new PC featuring the vPro platform and 12th Gen Intel Core processors. It’s a secured-core PC with built-in enhanced security to protect sensitive data, featuring an FHD webcam with a physical camera shutter and an IR camera for face authentication. And it’s built for maximum productivity, packed with lightning-fast connectivity, a wide range of ports, and seamless connectivity with Galaxy phones and tablets. The Galaxy Book2 is a great fit for small businesses that value security and have remote or hybrid teams.
For first responders, technicians, and anyone else who needs durability first and foremost from their work device, the Getac (LOEM) S410 G4 – pre-installed with Windows 11 Pro – is a highly ruggedized device that can handle the heaviest task loads in the toughest conditions. Its brilliant screen ensures clear viewing in bright outdoor settings or mounted in a vehicle while still providing 20-38 hours of battery life. The device is also highly secure with multifactor authentication enabled through a capacitive fingerprint reader, Windows Hello facial recognition, smart card reader and HF RFID reader with TPM 2.0. It is also shipped as a Secured-core PC.
The Panasonic TOUGHBOOK 55 with LTE/5G option is a highly mobile rugged device at only 4.6 pounds and a slim 1.3 inches thick. Its 20-hour battery life is ideal for those working on the go away from a power source all day, and its highly customizable universal bay enables workers to upgrade the device after it ships from factory when needed. Like other ruggedized devices, it also ships with Windows 11 Pro as a Secured-core PC to enhance security features, so you don’t have to go through a complex security setup process to know your information is safe.
Devices for creatives
Acer’s ConceptD 7 Ezel notebook provides performance, portability and flexibility for creators who need to create and edit work on the go. Adding inspiration to the creative process is an innovative Ezel Hinge design, which enables various usage modes such as laptop, float, share, pad, stand and display. Its Intel Core i7-11800H processor, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, 32GB of memory and a 1TB SSD gives it all the power and storage needed for large, intensive workflows. The 15.6-inch touch screen 4K display is PANTONE Validated, has a color accuracy of DeltaE MSI (LOEM) Creator Z16P (2002)[/caption]
The MSI (LOEM) Creator Z16P (2002) is a Windows 11 Pro super slim and lightweight NVIDIA device powered by GeForce RTX 30 Series GPUs and offering the latest 12th Generation Intel Core i9 processor. Great for gaming and creating, it features an RTX 3070Ti graphics card and edits up to 8k HDR RAW video. The device also has the latest MPP version stylus, which is enabled for Microsoft Bluetooth auto pairing.
Options for smaller budgets
One great option is the ASUS ExpertBook B3000 Detachable with Windows 11 Pro and Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 Compute Platform. ASUS designed the device for remote working and learning, making it a great choice for entrepreneurs, students, or really anyone looking for a versatile and flexible device. Its unique detachable screen design means you can switch between laptop and tablet mode and stand it horizontally or vertically. For meetings, it has a garaged stylus pen for notetaking, a dedicated button for muting, and AI noise-canceling technology and dual cameras with 3D noise-reduction technology to ensure you look and sound your best on video calls.
Whether you’re a new business owner, or simply need cost-effective devices to supply your growing business, this choice won’t break the bank – or compromise on performance: The HP ProBook Fortis 14 G10 runs on Windows 11 Pro, and provides speed, security and privacy all in one. You can work efficiently thanks to the device’s fast and reliable gigabit-speed WiFi6. The device also comes with an integrated HP privacy camera that has a physical shutter, so you never have to wonder if someone is watching, and HP Sure Sense, which uses deep learning AI to detect malware.
Workstations and all-in-ones
The HP ProDesk 405 G8 is a commercial grade desktop computer for small workspaces. This ultra-compact computer is powered by an AMD Ryzen processor. It also offers ample memory and always-on security with HP Wolf Security for Business.
Small businesses often need powerful desktop solutions, and Lenovo’s ThinkCentre neo 30a 24 is a collaborative all-in-one (AIO) desktop running on Windows 11 Pro designed for small and medium business customers. Focused on delivering a smarter conferencing experience, the neo 30a 24 includes AI Meeting Manager, which offers a real-time translator, voice to text, subtitles, and a meeting notes editor for streamlined collaboration. Paired with Lenovo Smart Appearance, facial features are enhanced, and backgrounds are blurred for professional-grade video conferencing.
I am blown away by the sheer number of incredible devices built with the small business in mind that our Microsoft partners are bringing to market. My hope for this list is that it can help you find the right devices to power your business, so you can continue to power our communities. It is incredibly special to see this innovation, and I am so excited to see what our small businesses will be able to do with it!
[1] Based on Dell analysis of publicly available information of competitive desktop monitors, October 2020
Source: Windows Blog
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