The best laptop 2024: top portable picks for all budgets
Looking for the best laptops of 2024? Then we’re here to help. Each year, we review a huge amount of laptops across every category, and we’re constantly updating this guide to give you the very latest buying advice, no matter what your budget is.
If you want to know what the best laptop you can buy right now is, then our choice is the brand-new MacBook Air (M3), which is available in both 13-inch and 15-inch models. This standout in the best MacBook category merges a sleek, contemporary design with an impressive screen, stellar performance, and exceptional battery life.
However, if you don’t fancy a MacBook, we also have a huge range of other options, from Windows 11-powered laptops, to budget Chromebooks, powerful gaming laptops and everything in between. Every laptop on this page has been fully tested by our experts, so we can give you independent buying advice that you can trust.
This page has been updated as of 13/3/2024 with new easier-to-understand rankings, plus the latest models of the Dell XPS 17, MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) and Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro have been added.
Matt Hanson
Matt has been reviewing laptops for the best part of 15 years, and has been using them for a lot longer. That means he knows the essential ingredients that make the perfect laptop – long battery lives, dependable performance, solid designs and above all value for money. He’s personally reviewed and used most of the laptops on this page.
The quick list
Want to cut to the chase and find out what the best laptops are? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices, and you can jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.
1. MacBook Air 13-inch (M3)
Value ★★★★★
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★★★
Apple’s latest version of the MacBook Air proves that you can improve on perfection. It retains the stunning design of the last model but with a cheaper price and more powerful hardware.
Read more below
Value ★★★★★
Performance ★★★☆☆
Battery life ★★★★★
This 2-in-1 Chromebook offers incredible value for money, with a stunning OLED display and detachable keyboard making it perfect for students.
Read more below
Value ★★★★★
Performance ★★★☆☆
Battery life ★★★☆☆
If you’re after a great value Windows 11 laptop then this is the one to get, offering good performance, a stylish design and a low price.
Read more below
4. MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★★★
The 13-inch MacBook Air with M2 chip now has a cheaper price tag, making it a brilliant laptop for students.
Read more below
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★★
Battery life ★★★☆☆
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is the best Windows 11 laptop you can buy right now thanks to its gorgeous 13-inch OLED screen and thin and light design.
Read more below
6. Acer Chromebook Plus 515
Value ★★★★★
Performance ★★★★★
Battery life ★★★☆☆
As an entry in what Google calls the ‘Chromebook Plus’ category of more powerful Chrome OS laptops, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is a fantastic affordable device for working from home.
Read more below
Load the next 6 products…
7. MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Pro/M3 Max)
Value ★★★☆☆
Performance ★★★★★
Battery life ★★★★★
Want the best laptop for productivity and creative work? The new 16-inch MacBook Pro gives you a choice of M3 Pro and M3 Max chips for incredible performance.
Read more below
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★★★
Thanks to its unique dual-screen design, the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is an innovative take on the 2-in-1 that’s especially useful for productivity.
Read more below
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★★
Battery life ★★★☆☆
Modern gaming laptops don’t need to be big and bulky, as the Razer Blade 14 proves with aplomb. If you want a portable gaming device, get this.
Read more below
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★★☆
Looking for a huge screen to boost your productivity? The Dell XPS 17 combines the slim design of other XPS laptops with a 17-inch screen.
Read more below
11. Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★★★
OLED screens looks gorgeous on laptops, and the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is a top example of the difference it makes. It’s slim, light and portable, too.
Read more below
Value ★★★★☆
Performance ★★★★☆
Battery life ★★★☆☆
The MSI Katana 15 is ideal if you’re looking for a machine that can play games, but doesn’t blow a hole in your bank balance thanks to solid performance and decent price.
Read more below
The best laptops in 2024
Why you can trust TechRadar
We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you’re buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Below you’ll find full write-ups for each of the best laptops in our list. We’ve tested each one extensively, so you can be sure that our recommendations can be trusted.
The best laptop overall
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Apple has lowered the starting price for the latest MacBook Air making it much better value | ★★★★★ |
| Design | No new design, but it remains one of the best looking laptops in 2024 | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Performance is great thanks to the M3 chip, but it’s not a huge leap over the M2 version | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | You can work on this laptop for a whole work day on a single charge | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if
✅ You want the best laptop in the world: The new MacBook Air 13-inch is now the laptop we’d recommend to pretty much anyone thanks to a great design, excellent performance and relatively affordable price.
✅ You want a laptop for traveling with: The stylish thin and light design, plus the long battery life, makes this an excellent laptop for going out and about with.
✅ You want power – but not too much: The new M3 chip powering the MacBook Air is great at day-to-day tasks, as well as video editing and AI.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You only have the budget for the cheapest MacBook: The MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) comes with a new, lower price, but the M2 model (also in this list) has also dropped in price, making that the cheapest MacBook you can buy.
❌ You want a lot of ports: The MacBook Air (M3) once again comes with only two Thunderbolt ports. If you need more ports, consider the MacBook Pro 16-inch below instead.
❌ You want a bigger screen: The 13-inch screen of the new MacBook Air makes it nice and portable, but some people may find it a bit too small to work on – in that case, you should consider the 15-inch model instead.
The bottom line
💻 The MacBook Air (M2, 2022) boasts a fantastic new design alongside a larger display and an impressive battery life of 16 hours. It costs more than its predecessor, but the jump in performance the newer M2 chip provides goes some way to justifying that. ★★★★½
What you need to know
The Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is in our opinion the best laptop overall you can buy right now. Thanks to a stylish new design that makes this thin and light laptop feel more modern, this is a MacBook you can take almost anywhere. Not only is it portable, in our review we found that it offers a very decent 16-hour battery life, and the new screen is a joy to work on. It’s just a shame that a price bump has made it slightly less good value for money than its predecessor.
Design: After years sticking to a safe tried-and-tested design, Apple finally gave the MacBook Air a much-needed makeover with this model. It’s now thinner and lighter than before, making it more portable, and by slimming down the bezels around the screen, it’s allowed Apple to include a larger display without making it bulky. The screen is bright and vibrant, and the new modern look and new color options makes the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) one of the best looking laptops you can buy.
Performance: During our time reviewing the MacBook Air, it delivered incredible performance across the board. It quickly boots into macOS, and apps run smoothly (and look fantastic on the new display). We found even when browsing the web in both Safari and Chrome with lots of tabs open, the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) kept up, though we may soon find the 8GB of memory that comes with the base model a bit too limited. Meanwhile, thanks to the redesigned keyboard, whipping up documents and composing emails feel effortless and comfortable.
Battery life: In our tests, the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) lasted a huge 16 hours on battery while playing a 1080p video – that’s a 30-minute improvement over the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022), and five hours longer than the MacBook Air (M1, 2020). This laptop will last you throughout an entire workday or on a long-haul flight, and then some. It’s not the longest life you’ll find in a MacBook – the new MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max) almost hits 24 hours on a single charge.
Value for money: The MacBook Air starts at $1,199 / £1,249 / AU$1,899, a substantial leap from the older MacBook Air’s launch price of $999 / £999 / AU$1,599. Due to the new design, better display and more powerful M2 hardware, the price rise is understandable, but it also means it won’t feel as good in value as its predecessor. Apart from its excellent performance, the best thing about the 2020 MacBook Air was its low price, so Apple raising the price on the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is a little hard to swallow. The good news is that with the launch of the 15-inch MacBook Air, the price of the 13-inch model has dropped by $100, making it better value for money (though still pricey).
Read the full review: MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
The best budget laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | It’s by far the best budget laptop around | ★★★★★ |
| Design | The 2-in-1 design and OLED screen sets this Chromebook apart | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Dependable rather than ultra powerful | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | Over 16 hours will keep you going through an entire work day | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if:
✅ You want an OLED Chromebook: An OLED display on a Chromebook is uncommon, so if that’s what you’re looking for, this is the best choice.
✅ You need long battery life: It’s possible to squeeze 18-19 hours of battery life out of this Chromebook if you make the right adjustments in settings.
✅ You want a more robust system than Android or iOS can offer: As powerful as Android and iOS have become, mobile operating systems are still far more restricted than Windows, MacOS, or Linux OS.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You have more limited manual dexterity: Some may find the Duet’s smaller-than-standard keyboard a bit fiddly. If that’s likely to be the case for you, a larger laptop such as the Acer Swift 3 (skip to that entry) may be a better option.
❌ You’re on a tight budget: The Duet 5 Chromebook is incredibly affordable for the premium features it offers, but it’s not the best option out there for those on a tight budget.
❌ You want a traditional laptop OS: Chrome OS isn’t as robust as Windows 10 or MacOS and it isn’t meant to be. If you want a traditional laptop environment, a Chromebook will only get you part of the way there, which may not be enough to satisfy your needs.
The bottom line
💻 The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook offers good performance, a gorgeous display, and a new form factor –plus outstanding battery life – improving on its predecessor. It’s a brilliant value for money. ★★★★½
What you need to know
The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook 5 is the best ultra-low price laptop you can buy, and it’s a brilliant follow-up to the original IdeaPad Duet. While it’s been out for a while, Chromebooks don’t date as quickly as Windows laptops, and it’s still one of the best Chromebooks we’ve used. If you’re a Chromebook skeptic, the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook just might convert you. It can be used as both a laptop and a tablet thanks to its detachable keyboard, while also boasting an impressively long battery life. You’re simply not going to find a Windows 11 laptop that can outlast the 20-hour battery life the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook offers – especially at this price. It’s a particularly good choice for students who want something reliable, flexible and affordable.
Design: The Duet 5 Chromebook’s keyboard is Ultrabook-worthy in quality and comfort, and it can be easily detached, turning the Duet 5 into a tablet-like device. Meanwhile, the magnetized backplate on the Duet 5 Chromebook has a small clip to house a Lenovo Active Pen stylus, even though the stylus isn’t included in the box. The best thing about the design, however, is the gorgeous 1080p OLED display, which offers exceptional image quality – especially considering the price.
Performance: When it comes to general web browsing, video streaming, and basic productivity use, the Duet 5 does exactly what you want it to do without so much as a hiccup. Its CPU is upgraded to the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen2 processor, which is a step up from the last model, and the 8GB of RAM is a decent amount for a Chromebook, keeping things running very smoothly.
Battery life: While Chromebooks on average get about 10 hours of life on a fully-charged battery, the Lenovo Duet 5 lasted a huge 16 hours. This is a drop from the previous model (which managed over 20 hours), which is disappointing.
Value for money: As far as Chromebooks and 2-in-1 laptops go, this is hands down the best value you’re going to find in a portable device of its kind. When it launched, it was more expensive than its predecessor, but over time, its price has dropped, making it superb value for money.
Read the full review: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 5 Chromebook
The best value laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | This is an excellent value Windows 11 laptop that is often on sale | ★★★★★ |
| Design | Dull but solid. You won’t worry about it breaking easily | ★★★☆☆ |
| Performance | Again, performance is solid, especially for the price | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | Acer claims it can hit 10 hours on battery, but our tests are closer to 7 | ★★★★☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You want a cheap laptop: The Acer Aspire 5 is a no-frills laptop that does the job well for a lot less than other Windows 11 laptops.
✅ You want a very portable laptop: This budget laptop is impressively light without feeling cheep and tacky, and that means it’s comfortable to carry around with you throughout the day.
✅ You don’t want a Chromebook: There are cheaper Chromebooks out there, but due to the limitations of ChromeOS, they aren’t for everyone. The Acer Aspire 5 is cheap, but also runs Windows 11.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You want a gaming laptop: The Acer Aspire can be configured with a discrete GPU, but that ups the price, and still doesn’t turn it into a gaming laptop.
❌ You want long battery life: At around six and a half hours, the battery life isn’t awful, but nor is it exceptional. The Lenovo IdeaPad Duet, above, offers much better battery life.
The bottom line
💻 The Acer Aspire 5 is a brilliant budget laptop that is comfortable to carry around, but is also sturdily built. Windows 11 runs well on it, and as you can configure it with a graphics card, it does a decent job at video editing for the price. ★★★★
What you need to know
As long as you keep your expectations in check, the Acer Aspire 5 remains the best cheap laptop you can buy in 2024. Its design is lightweight yet doesn’t feel cheap, its large screen size is comfortable to work on, and you can even configure it to come with an Nvidia GPU. Don’t mistake this for a gaming laptop however. But, the GPU can help make the Aspire 5 punch above its weight when it comes to video editing. For the price, you’ll pleasantly surprised.
Design: The Acer Aspire 5 won’t win any design or innovation awards, but it offers you a solid, dependable laptop design that will at least feel familiar. Weighing 1.7kg and measuring 18mm thick, it’s a laptop you can easily carry around with you. We didn’t love the L-shaped power connector in our review, however, which sticks out a bit when plugged in.
Performance: The Acer Aspire 5 doesn’t wow when it comes to performance – but nor does it disappoint. This is a solid and dependable laptop that you can rely on for your day-to-day needs. However, gaming is out of the question with the base model, which comes with integrated graphics. However, you can buy a model with a dedicated GPU, and this offers improved graphical performance – but don’t expect to play demanding games on this thing.
Battery life: In our review we found the Acer Aspire 5 lasted around six and a half hours on battery. While this isn’t awful, there are cheap laptops out there, especially Chromebooks, which offer much longer battery life. So, you’ll likely want to bring its charging cable with you when you’re out and about.
Value for money: As you might expect from a laptop we consider to be the best budget device money can buy, the Acer Aspire 5 offers excellent value for money, going for around $600 in the US and £500 in the UK. Even at that low price you get good performance, a nice design and 1080p screen.
Read the full review: Acer Aspire 5 (2022)
The best student laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The M2 MacBook Air has now dropped in price, making it much better value | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Thinner, lighter, and with a bigger screen | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Powerful performance thanks to the M2 chip | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | At 16 hours, it outlasts many rivals | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if
✅ You need a laptop that’s thin and light: Thanks to a redesign, the MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) is one of the thinnest and lightest laptops you can buy.
✅ You want a powerful laptop for school or university: With the launch of the M3 MacBook Air (also in this list), the M2 model has had a major price cut – and students can get a further cut, making it a brilliant laptop for school.
✅ You’re thinking about getting the 13-inch MacBook Pro: Because it’s thinner, lighter, and cheaper, the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is a better choice. Factor in its similar performance, and you’ve got a winner.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You are on a budget: The MacBook Air (M2) is now the cheapest MacBook model, but if it’s still too much, consider a Chromebook instead.
❌ You want a lot of ports: The MacBook Air (M2) comes with only two Thunderbolt ports. If you need more ports, consider the MacBook Pro 16-inch below instead.
❌ You need a bigger display: To some folks, a 13-inch screen isn’t enough. Luckily, you can always go for the 15-inch MacBook Air.
The bottom line
💻 The MacBook Air (M2, 2022) boasts a design alongside a larger display and an impressive battery life of 16 hours. Its new lower price (plus further discounts for students) makes it an ideal laptop for studying and working on. ★★★★½
What you need to know
The Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) is in our opinion the best laptop for students you can buy right now. Thanks to a stylish design that makes this thin and light laptop feel more modern than previous models, this is a MacBook you can take almost anywhere. Not only is it portable, in our review we found that it offers a very decent 16-hour battery life, and the screen is a joy to work on. Now that a newer model has been release, the M2 MacBook Air has had a big price cut – and you can get a further $100/£100 knocked off if you are a student. This makes it a brilliant laptop for school and university use – it’ll easily last your entire course.
Design: After years of sticking to a safe tried-and-tested design, Apple finally gave the MacBook Air a much-needed makeover with this model. It’s thinner and lighter than before, making it more portable, and by slimming down the bezels around the screen, it’s allowed Apple to include a larger display without making it bulky. The screen is bright and vibrant, and the new modern look and new color options makes the MacBook Air (M2) one of the best looking laptops you can buy, even a few years after its launch.
Performance: During our time reviewing the MacBook Air, it delivered incredible performance across the board. It quickly boots into macOS, and apps run smoothly (and look fantastic on the new display). We found even when browsing the web in both Safari and Chrome with lots of tabs open, the MacBook Air (M2) kept up, though we may soon find the 8GB of memory that comes with the base model a bit too limited. Meanwhile, thanks to the redesigned keyboard, whipping up documents and composing emails feel effortless and comfortable.
Battery life: In our tests, the MacBook Air 13-inch (M2) lasted a huge 16 hours on battery while playing a 1080p video – that’s a 30-minute improvement over the MacBook Pro 13-inch (M2, 2022), and five hours longer than the MacBook Air (M1, 2020). This laptop will last you throughout an entire workday or on a long-haul flight, and then some. It’s not the longest life you’ll find in a MacBook – the new MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max) almost hits 24 hours on a single charge.
Value for money: The MacBook Air launched at $1,199 / £1,249 / AU$1,899, a substantial leap from the older MacBook Air’s launch price. However, with the launch of the M3 MacBook Air, the 13-inch MacBook Air (M2) is now officially on sale for $999 / $999 / AU$1,599 – making it much better value for money, and arguably selling for the price it should have launched at. Even better, if you’re a student with an appropriate ID, you can get it for $899 / £899 / AU$1,439. For that price you’re not going to get a better laptop.
Read the full review: MacBook Air 13-inch (M2)
The best for Windows 11
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | It’s not cheap, but it does offer a lot of premium features for the price | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | A beautiful thin and light design, plus OLED screen, makes this a joy to work on | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Performs well for any task, especially with the higher end models | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | The bad battery life isn’t too shabby at all but it’s disappointing for an Ultrabook | ★★★☆☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You want a lightweight laptop: The Dell XPS 13 Plus is one of the lightest laptops around, and it looks great as well.
✅ You want an amazing screen: The Dell XPS 13 Plus offers an OLED screen for truely stunning image quality.
✅ You want the best Windows 11 laptop: The solid, stylish and lightweight design, excellent performance and stunning screen makes the Dell XPS 13 Plus the best Windows 11 laptop out there.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You want a cheap laptop: Dell’s XPS lineup are premium laptops, and the XPS 13 Plus is no different. This is a cutting-edge Ultrabook with a price to match.
❌ You hate using adapters: The Dell XPS 13 Plus doesn’t have a lot of ports, so you’ll need an adapter or hub to fully make use of this laptop.
❌ You want long battery life: While the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a brilliant Windows 11 device, its battery life is disappointing, especially compared to the MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) at the top of this page.
The bottom line
💻 The Dell XPS 13 Plus is yet another brilliant Ultrabook from Dell, and is easily the best Windows 11 laptop you can buy right now. It offers new and improved components for even better performance, and can be configured with up to 32GB of RAM, making it great for power users as well. However, battery life is disappointing compared to the previous model. ★★★★☆
What you need to know
The Dell XPS 13 Plus is a premium version of the Dell XPS 13 – a thin and light laptop which was often featured at the very top of this best laptops buying guide. While Apple’s reinvigorated MacBook Airs have knocked Dell’s offerings from the top spot, the current Dell XPS 13 Plus remains the best Windows 11 laptop money can buy. With a gorgeous thin and light design and stunning OLED screen, plus some of the latest mobile components from Intel, this is a laptop that gives the new MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) a run for its money in most departments – except battery life. Still, it’s a great alternative if you want to use Windows 11 rather than macOS.
Design: The Dell XPS 13 Plus features the same design as the previous model, but that’s no bad thing – this remains one of the best looking laptops around. Ultra-thin bezels surround the screen, and the silver body, invisible touchpad and touch bar above the keyboard all lead to this laptop feeling impressively premium. The thin and light design does mean there’s a lack of ports, however, so you may need to use an adapter.
Performance: The Dell XPS 13 Plus that we reviewed comes with a cutting-edge Intel Core i7-1360P processor, and 32GB of RAM, which led to us being extremely impressed by its performance. The integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics do a good job for day-to-day creative tasks, though you may want a laptop with a discrete GPU for more intensive workloads.
Battery life: In our battery life benchmark, we found the XPS 13 Plus lasted six hours and 20 minutes. These days, we’d expect most modern laptops (apart from gaming laptops) to last around 10 hours at least, so this is certainly disappointing. With a few tweaks, it’ll get you through a workday, but we wouldn’t want to go too far without a charger.
Value for money: Starting at $1,249 / £1,198.99 / AU$2,398, this is not a cheap laptop, but nor is it outrageously priced, especially when you compare it to the base model of the MacBook Air 13-inch (M3). The Dell XPS 13 Plus base model comed with 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD storage, both twice the amount that the base MacBook Air comes with. For the specs and performance you get, you’ll be very happy if you can afford it – and keep an eye out around Black Friday, as Dell often has some of the best price cuts around.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 Plus
The best laptop for working from home
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | As a Chromebook, this offers brilliant value for money | ★★★★★ |
| Design | It comes with a classic Chromebook design and comfortable keyboard | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Super-fast boot times and snappy app performance make working on this laptop a joy | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | The battery life isn’t the best for a Chromebook, but it charges quickly | ★★★☆☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You want a laptop for working on at home: This is a great Chromebook for productivity with a large screen, comfortable keyboard and excellent performance.
✅ You want a green laptop: This is an eco-friendly Chromebook made of recycled materials where possible.
✅ You want a portable 15-inch laptop: It’s impressively thin for a laptop, and its battery life means you won’t need to worry about plugging it in too often.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You need specific Windows or macOS apps: As a Chromebook, this uses Chrome OS which doesn’t have all the apps a Windows laptop or MacBook have access to.
❌ You want a powerful laptop: The specs of the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 are relatively high for a Chromebook, but pale in comparison with regular laptops or MacBooks.
❌ You’re want the very cheapest laptop: The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 offers superb value for money, but there are cheaper Chromebooks out there.
The bottom line
💻 The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 proves that you don’t have to spend a lot of money if you want a great laptop for working from home. Great performance, a large screen, and low price make this a great choice for home workers. ★★★★☆
What you need to know
If you have found yourself working from home more and need a new laptop, then don’t think you have to spend a fortune. While a new MacBook will do everything you need, a great Chromebook like the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 can cope with most day-to-day workloads for a fraction of the price. You get a large screen and comfortable keyboard to work on, and performance is snappy – especially when you boot up the Chromebook.
Design: The design of the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is pretty straightforward, with a gray body and Google logo, and while that might not make it the most interesting of laptops, it’s solidly built and dependable. The 15-inch screen makes it comfortable to work on, though it also means the overall size of the laptop is quite large.
Performance: As far as Chromebooks go, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is an excellent performer, with the Chrome OS operating system booting quickly, while apps run impressively smoothly. It feels fast and responsive – something you wouldn’t be able to say about many Windows 11 laptops of this price. For day-to-day tasks, including document creation, emails and video calls, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 performs very well – though you are limited to apps built for Chrome OS or Android.
Battery life: Usually the battery lives of Chromebooks are one of their main selling points, but in our tests, the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 only lasted a disappointing five hours and 13 minutes. While that’s not ridiculously low, it is surprisingly short for a Chromebook, which is a shame.
Value for money: The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 offers exceptional value for money. Selling for $399.99 / £399.99, it’s an affordable laptop that punches well above its weight. While we recommend it for working from home, it’s also a great choice for students or anyone who wants a budget laptop but doesn’t want to make compromises on performance.
Read the full review: Acer Chromebook Plus 515
The best laptop for creatives
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Same base price as the previous model (in the US at least) is welcome – but it’s still pricey | ★★★☆☆ |
| Design | New Space Black color is great, same best-in-class display and port selection | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | The M3 Max inside our review unit offers incredible performance, even when gaming | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | We managed a huge 24 hours in our battery benchmark. This is seriously impressive | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if
✅ You need the most powerful MacBook: You’re guaranteed incredible performance that’ll crush the more demanding workloads, whether it’s the M3 Pro or M3 Max model you go for.
✅ You’re a traveling creative pro: If you’re a creative who needs power, a gorgeous display, great-sounding speakers and lots of ports, this is the perfect travel companion.
✅ You want to game on a MacBook: The MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max boasts seriously impressive gaming prowess.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You have an earlier 16-inch MacBook Pro: The M3 Pro and M3 Max 16-inch MacBook Pro models are the second to have launched last year, so if you have the M2 Pro or M2 Max models, don’t worry – they are still very good.
❌ You’re looking for an affordable workstation laptop: The 16-inch MacBook Pro is an expensive investment, which means it may be priced out of many people’s reach. The 14-inch model is more affordable, and you can get it with the base M3 chip.
❌ You’re a casual user: Unless you’re a creative professional, you’re unlikely to need the kind of performance that the MacBook Pro 16-inch offers, especially with the M3 Max chip. For regular use, the MacBook Air 15-inch (also in this guide) will be a better buy.
The bottom line
💻 The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Pro/M3 Max) is Apple’s latest instalment in its high-end prosumer laptop range. Despite launching less than a year after the previous model, thanks to a choice of new M3 Pro or M3 Max chips, and up to 128GB unified memory, it’s had a hefty upgrade, and while M2 Pro/M2 Max MacBook Pro owners shouldn’t need to upgrade, if you want the best laptop for productivity, then this is it ★★★★★
What you need to know
The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Pro/M3 Max) is hands-down the best laptop for creative professionals we’ve ever tested – even though it comes just nine months after the last model. It’s powered by the new M3 Pro and M3 Max SoCs, Apple’s most powerful chips. There wasn’t a task it couldn’t handle during our testing. It did an impressive job of handling 4K video editing, even with multiple 4K and 8K video files, as well as running the latest and most demanding games. Along with the new MacBook Pro 14-inch, this may be the very first MacBook for gaming.
Design: Design-wise, the MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Pro/M3 Max) doesn’t deviate from its predecessor. There is, however, a new color option, called Space Black, that’s apparently made with a material with an anodization seal that’s designed to minimizes fingerprint retention, helping you maintain a clean laptop.
Performance: Our independent benchmark tests showed a hefty leap in performance between the M3 Max and M1 Max MacBook Pro 16-inches. We saw a good 35% increase in single core and a considerable 69% increase in multi-core CPU performance in Geekbench 6. You should, therefore, see a noticeable time reduction when completing workloads, specifically graphics-intensive ones. The MacBook Pro 16-inch M3 Max’s performance makes workloads fast, fluid and incredibly seamless, especially for creatives.
Battery life: Apple promises up to 22 hours of video playback, and 15 hours of web browsing on a single charge for the MacBook Pro 16-inch, with what it says is the “longest battery life ever in a Mac”. The good news is that those claims are pretty spot on, as we found that in our battery life benchmark test, where we ran a looped 1080p video until the MacBook Pro turned off, the battery lasted over 24 hours. Considering the power on offer here, that’s extremely impressive.
Value for money: The MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Pro/M3 Max) is an incredibly ambitious laptop both in terms of hardware and design, and it’s aimed at creative professionals who need powerful mobile hardware. Yes, it’s an expensive laptop – but if you need all that power, it’s well worth paying for it.
Read the full review: MacBook Pro 16-inch (M3 Max)
The best 2-in-1 laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | It’s expensive, but it’s worth the cost if you can maximize its features. | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Not only is it beautifully designed, but Lenovo also pulls off that dual-screen setup well. | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | It’s a capable laptop that can see you through general productivity and some creative work. | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | Whether you’re using both or just one display, it gives you an all-day battery life. | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if
✅ You need flexibility: The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i’s dual-screen design means you’re able to work in a variety of ways that suit your needs.
✅ You have a large budget: This is an incredibly pricey laptop, but if you have the cash, you’ll be very pleased with the performance, dual screens and overall build quality.
✅ You want something to work on while travelling: This laptop is incredibly thin, despite having two screens, and it doesn’t weigh much either. This makes it a great laptop to take with you while travelling.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You’re on a tight budget: The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i’s unique design and powerful components come at a cost – a big cost. You may be better off going for something more affordable.
❌ You don’t need two displays: The main selling point of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is its dual-screen display. If you’re not going to use that, go for a cheaper 2-in-1 laptop that offers similar flexibility.
❌ You want something less flashy: The unique design of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i certainly gets a lot of attention – but that may be something not everyone wants, especially in public places, or during work meetings.
The bottom line
💻 The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i is incredibly elegant, and it’s just as capable, whether you’re doing general productivity work or editing a batch of high-resolution images in Lightroom. Its screens are gorgeous as well. Finally, this is a dual-screen laptop done right. Beware of that steep price tag, however. ★★★★½
What you need to know
One of the best touchscreen laptops – and naturally, among the best 2-in-1 laptops – we’ve tested in 2023 (so far), the Yoga Book 9i is an incredible dual-screen laptop that actually uses the second screen well. The Yoga Book 9i sees you through your productivity and multitasking in a seamless and time-saving way without the extra weight. It’s also a capable piece of kit with cutting-edge mobile components powering it – but it also comes with a very high price.
Design: We completely fell in love with the Yoga Book 9i when we reviewed it. The dual-screen design works brilliantly, and it’s one of the few dual-screen laptops that doesn’t feel like a gimmick. Instead, it can really help your productivity – either by giving you more space to work on (like a multi-monitor setup on a desk would), and by allowing you to work on it in several modes, so you can choose the most useful and comfortable mode depending on what you’re working on.
Performance: The Intel Core i7-1355U processor of the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i offers an excellent balance between strong day-to-day performance and efficiency. Efficiency is especially important for thin and light laptops like the Yoga Book 9i, as it means they don’t so easily overheat when being used – a worry for some thin laptops due to lack of space in the body for air to circulate. The OLED screens also look brilliant.
Battery life: The efficient processor doesn’t just keep the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i cool, it also means that despite having two OLED screens, battery life isn’t too bad at all. In our review, we found that it lasted almost nine and a half hours during our battery life tests, and if you turn off one screen, that jumps up to just over 12 hours.
Value for money: Let’s be blunt: this is an expensive laptop, with a launch price of $1,999 / £2,299.99 / AU$4,299, and it’s unlikely to drop in price any time soon. Its dual screens and premium design does mean the high price is understandable, but there’s no escaping the fact that its price could put a lot of people off.
Read the full review: Lenovo Yoga Book 9i
The best laptop for gaming
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | You get a lot for the price, but there’s no getting around the huge price tag | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Its thin and light design makes it stand out against other gaming laptops | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | You’ll be able to fire up any modern game and play at high or ultra settings with ease | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | While it’s not too bad at day to day tasks, if you’re gaming on this laptop, the battery disappears quickly | ★★★☆☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You want a lightweight gaming laptop: We’re not talking about performance, but the actual build and design of the Razer Blade 14 is seriously svelte.
✅ You want epic performance: As for performance, Razer has kitted this out with some of the best mobile tech around – and it shows.
✅ Audio quality is important: The dual speaker setup leads to some of the best audio we’ve heard from built-in speakers.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You’re on a budget: Razer laptops are notoriously expensive, and the Razer Blade 14 is no exception. Check out the HP Victus 15 instead, which we’ve picked as the best cheap laptop you can buy right now.
❌ You want long battery life: As you might expect from a powerful gaming laptop, the battery doesn’t last long.
❌ You want to travel really light: While thin compared to most gaming laptops, the Razer Blade 14 has a chunky power brick. Yes, you can use USB-C instead, but it won’t supply enough power to keep up when gaming.
The bottom line
💻 The Razer Blade 14 (2023) is the company’s best gaming laptop yet. Sporting a thin and light chassis, as well as cutting-edge specs, it doesn’t compromise on performance. However, battery life isn’t the best. ★★★★½
What you need to know
This year’s Razer Blade 14 refresh has been outfitted with the latest specs, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU, which sports a 5.2 GHz max clock speed and eight cores/16 threads, and up to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. Despite coming with high-end components, it’s a stunningly thin and light laptop – something most gaming laptops just cannot offer.
Design: Razer makes some of the best thin and light laptops on the market, including the Razer Blade 14 (2023). Razer has done a great job of including high-end specs like the Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics card, while keeping the overall weight and thickness down – it weighs just four pounds, and with the 14-inch screen, the Razer Blade 14 proves that gaming laptops don’t have to be big and bulky.
Performance: The Razor Blade 14 (2023) offers superb performance when gaming, allowing you to play even the most demanding games, such as Cyberpunk 2077 at their highest settings, while maintaining high frame rates. The 14-inch screen comes with a high 240Hz refresh, and that combined with the RTX 4070 GPU ensures your games feel fast and responsive. We really can’t fault the performance of the Razer Blade 14 in any way.
Battery life: According to Razer, the Razer Blade 14 (2023) should offer up to 10 hours of battery life, but in our review, we found it was more like eight hours when using it for day-to-day work. When you start playing games on it, the battery struggles to make it past four hours – so you’ll want to have this plugged in.
Value for money: Razer’s reputation for expensive laptops is well deserved here. Despite it being a 14-inch laptop, its starting price point of $2,399 / £2,499.99 / AU$4,499 will be far too high for many people, though remember this is a gaming laptop with some of the best components you can currently buy.
Read the full review: Razer Blade 14 (2023)
The best 17-inch laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Not cheap, and the price creeps up depending on how you configure it | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | This is an impressively thin and light laptop considering its screensize | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | Excellent at day-to-day and creative workloads, but don’t expect a gaming powerhouse | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | Almost 10 hours is impressive given all the power | ★★★★☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You want a solid and attractive 17-inch laptop: The Dell XPS 17 (9730) features the premium design and build quality we’ve come to expect from Dell’s XPS lineup, alongside a large 17-inch screen.
✅ You want excellent performance: The XPS 17 comes with very powerful components that means it performs brilliantly no matter what you throw at it.
✅ You want a laptop that lasts: Despite its large screen and powerful components, battery life of the Dell XPS 17 impresses, with almost 10 hours on a single charge.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You want a gaming laptop: The Dell XPS 17 can be configured to come with a dedicated GPU, but this is not a gaming laptop. Serious gamers can get better performance with the Razer Blade 14 (click for details).
❌ You want a budget laptop: The Dell XPS 17 is a large, flagship laptop with a premium design, which means it’s quite expensive compared to other laptops – even big screen ones.
❌ Portability is a must: Unsurprisingly, this 17-inch laptop isn’t the easiest to carry around compared to 13-inch Ultrabooks. That said, for the size, it is impressively svelte.
The bottom line
💻 The Dell XPS 17 (9730) is another great example that you don’t have to sacrifice portability or design if you want a laptop with a large screen. This is thin, elegant and powerful ★★★★½
What you need to know
The Dell XPS 17 (9730) remains the best large-screen laptop you can buy. If you find that working on a 13-inch or even 15-inch laptop isn’t comfortable, then this is a laptop that’s well worth considering. One of the best things about the Dell XPS 17 is that as well as offering an excellent large screen to work on, it maintains the thin, light and stylish design of the smaller XPS 13 and XPS 15 models, so you’re not making too many compromises to portability for the bigger display. As a flagship laptop, the Dell XPS 17 comes with some of the most powerful mobile components around, including a discrete graphics card from Nvidia’s latest RTX 4000 series, and while it can play game, it’s best used as a productivity laptop. Digital creatives will especially love its mix of large screen and powerful components.
Design: The Dell XPS 17 looks and feels extremely premium thanks to its machined aluminum body. Thin bezels surround the display, giving it a modern look while also keeping the overall size of the laptop as compact as possible. This isn’t a laptop you can comfortably carry around in a small bag, mind you, but Dell has done a great job of making sure it’s not big or bulky.
Performance: This is an excellent performer, packed with high-end components from Intel and Nvidia. Day to day tasks feel fast and responsive, and heavy creative workloads, such as 3D rendering and 4K video editing, are handled well. If you want a powerful workstation laptop with a large screen for creative work, and you don’t fancy the MacBook Pro 16-inch (which is also in this guide), then this is an excellent alternative.
Battery life: Powerful laptops with large screens often suffer from poor battery life, but thanks to the efficient hardware in the Dell XPS 17, it avoids that fate. During our review, we found that for watching videos and web browsing, it’ll last just under 10 hours on a single charge, meaning you can use it unplugged for a whole workday – though heavier workloads will see the battery deplete faster.
Value for money: The Dell XPS 17 (9730) starts at $1,599 / £2,698.99 / AU$4,398.90, though the base model varies depending on location. This is certainly pricey for a laptop, though you do get good specs, a large screen and thin and light design for your money. If you configure it with more powerful components, expect the price to rise even further.
Read the full review: Dell XPS 17 (9730)
The best OLED laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | This is an expensive laptop, but build quality and performance justify the price tag | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | The design isn’t anything new, but it’s solidly built with one of the best screens you can get on a laptop | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | This laptop comes with Intel’s latest processor for superb performance | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | Battery life is incredible considering the performance on offer here | ★★★★★ |
Buy it if
✅ You want high-end performance: This laptop handles all kinds of workloads with ease thanks to Intel’s latest processor.
✅ You want a great screen to work (and play) on: Thanks to its AMOLED screen with HDR support, this is the best display you can currently get on a Windows 11 laptop.
✅ You want amazing battery life: Offering easily over 10 hours on a single charge, you could use this through a whole work day and still have battery left.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You want an original design: The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is clearly inspired, looks-wise, by the MacBook Air, and while that’s not a particularly bad thing, it does make it feel less original.
❌ You love watching movies: The OLED screen is stunning, but sadly the built-in speakers can’t compare, so you’d be better off looking elsewhere – or investing in some PC speakers.
❌ You don’t need a powerful OLED-equipped laptop: The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro comes packed with cutting edge tech and an industry-leading screen, but if you don’t need the kind of performance on offer here, your money is better spent elsewhere.
The bottom line
💻 The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is a stunning Ultrabook with cutting-edge components, including Intel’s latest Core Ultra 7 processor, and a stunning OLED screen that is one of the best displays you can find on a laptop – especially at this price. ★★★★
What you need to know
The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is a truly impressive Ultrabook that proves that Samsung can make laptops as stylish and desirable as major laptop brands such as Dell, HP and Asus… and Apple, which is a clear inspiration. Offering cutting-edge components alongside an absolutely gorgeous AMOLED screen and premium design, this is a laptop that is a joy to work on. It also offers an excellent battery life of over 10 hours, so you can keep working without worrying about being near a power outlet.
Design: If the design looks familiar to you, then that’s because the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro features a look that’s heavily influenced by the MacBook Air. This isn’t particularly bad, especially for people who love the look of Apple’s laptops, but want to stick with Windows 11, but it also means it’s hard to get too excited about the look of this laptop. One thing we do love, however, is the gorgeous AMOLED screen that really makes images look bright and vibrant. It’s also a touchscreen – something you won’t get on a MacBook.
Performance: The Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro offers excellent performance curtesy of the new Intel Core Ultra 7, which is Intel’s latest mobile CPU and means this laptop can power through pretty much any task you throw at it – though don’t go expecting it to play games on its integrated graphics. The screen is the real star of the show, however, and makes working on this laptop a joy.
Battery life: Last year’s Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra did a lot of things right, but its battery life was very disappointing. Thankfully, the new Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro is a massive improvement, offering over 10 hours of life on a single charge.
Value for money: As a Samsung Galaxy product, you should expect a premium price tag, and while the $1,449 / £1,599 puts it above the base MacBook Air 13-inch (M3) model, it offers better specs, a larger SSD and a better display as well thanks to AMOLED technology. It’s not cheap, but you get a lot for your money.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Book4 Pro
The best affordable gaming laptop
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| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The MSI Katana 15 offers a great mix of affordability and performance. | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | It’s not a stunning laptop, but it’s well built. | ★★★★☆ |
| Performance | For 1080p gaming, the MSI Katana does a good job of playing modern games | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | Battery life is very poor, even for a gaming laptop, so bear that in mind before you buy. | ★★★☆☆ |
Buy it if
✅ You play at 1080p: While it won’t manage 4K visuals, this laptop plays modern games at full HD without issue.
✅ You want a cheap gaming laptop that doesn’t suck: Despite its lower price, the MSI Katana 15 (2023) offers strong performance and good build quality.
✅ You new to PC gaming: The mix of performance and price makes this a great first gaming laptop for people.
Don’t buy it if:
❌ You want to max out your games: The MSI Katana 15 (2023) can play most modern games at 1080p and medium settings, but if you want 4K gaming at ultra settings and with ray tracing on, you may want to check out the Razer Blade 14 if you have the money.
❌ You want a long battery: In our review we found that its battery lasted just two hours and 40 minutes when web browsing. Even by gaming laptop standards, that’s not great.
❌ You want a thin and light gaming laptop: When reviewing the MSI Katana 15, we found it to be quite heavy, so it’s not the most comfortable laptop to carry around with you.
The bottom line
💻 The MSI Katana 15 (2023) does a very good job of balancing performance and price, and while it’s not the very cheapest gaming laptop out there, it remains affordable, and the extra money means this is far more future-proof than some of its rivals. It’s a great choice for people looking to buy their first gaming laptop ★★★★
What you need to know
The MSI Katana 15 is in our opinion the best cheap gaming laptop you can buy right now. While it’s not the cheapest gaming laptop out there, it offers fantastic value for money considering its modern specifications, including a 13th gen Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, an Nvidia RTX 4050 and 1TB of storage. These specs put a lot of cheap gaming laptops to shame, as they often come with older hardware. And, while you won’t be playing the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 in all its visual glory with settings cranked up to the max and ray tracing on, it does do a great job of playing games at 1080p, and thanks to the lower price, it’s a great first gaming laptop for many people.
Design: The MSI Katana 15 isn’t an ugly gaming laptop, but the design does feel a bit old fashioned. This is a bulky, heavy gaming laptop, rather than a thin and light model, but that’s the price you pay for a more affordable gaming laptop – you’re not going to get premium designs and build quality here, though the Katana 15 doesn’t feel like it would easily break. The 15.6-inch 1080p screen does the job well, and with a high 144Hz refresh rate, competitive games in particular feel fast and responsive.
Performance: While you definitely shouldn’t expect to play the latest games at their very highest settings, the MSI Katana 15 does a very good job. The 1080p screen means that the RTX 4050 GPU, Nvidia’s lower-mid-range graphics card, isn’t put under too much stress, and slightly older games, such as Far Cry 6, can hit over 80fps (frames per second) at Ultra settings. Considering that game remains an impressive graphical showcase proves that the MSI Katana 15 can certainly punch above its weight. Considering the relatively affordable price tag, you’ll be very impressed with the performance on offer here.
Battery life: Gaming laptops often struggle to offer decent battery life, and unfortunately the MSI Katana 15 is one of the worst offenders. In our web surfing test, which is hardly intensive, it lasted two hours and 40 minutes, and the PCMark battery test, which replicated light to medium-intensity work, didn’t even hit an hour. So, this is a laptop that will need to be plugged in a lot of the time.
Value for money: The MSI Katana 15 is excellent value for money, which is why it’s our pick for the best affordable gaming laptop you can buy right now. It’s not the cheapest, but we recommend you saving up a bit more to get this laptop thanks to its new components – cheaper gaming laptops often stick with older tech to keep down costs. The MSI Katana 15 is far more future-proof, and offers excellent performance when gaming at 1080p, so if you can afford the slightly higher price, your investment will certainly pay off.
Read the full review: MSI Katana 15 (2023)
How to choose the best laptop for you:
What are the best laptop brands? The best brands for laptops include Apple, Dell, Lenovo and HP, and they all have their strengths. For example, Apple make brilliantly-designed slim and light laptops, while Dell does a great range of high-end ultrabooks, as well as affordable devices and Chromebooks as well. Lenovo’s well known for making solidly-built business laptops (and some great 2-in-1 laptops as well), and HP’s also been making some gorgeous laptops recently that are some of the best laptops in the world.
When it comes to gaming, the best laptop brands include Alienware, Asus and Acer.
How much RAM does a laptop need? RAM (Random Access Memory) is an important specification to look for in a laptop. You’ll want 4GB at the very least for a Windows laptop – though we’d actually recommend for many people to go for 8GB. That will ensure that the laptop runs well for years to come. Budget Chromebooks can get away with less RAM, such as 1GB or 2GB.
Battery life considerations Finally there’s battery life. This is likely to be one of the most important considerations you have when choosing what laptop to buy. The best laptops need to be able to let you work – and play – for hours on end without you having to scramble for a power adapter. Modern laptops are getting ever more power-efficient, which has led to longer battery lives. For a laptop to be included in our best laptops list, it needs to offer a battery life of five hours or more.
What to look for
Battery life: The best thing about laptops is that they allow you to break free from your desk and use them almost anywhere – which is why checking the battery life is essential. For pure battery life, Chromebooks are the best laptops you can buy – but Apple’s latest MacBooks with M1, M2 and brand-new M3 chips come close, offering well over 10 hours of battery life. Meanwhile, gaming laptops usually sacrifice battery life for performance instead.
Performance: When looking to buy the best laptop for your needs, you should consider the performance a potential purchase offers. You don’t want to be stuck with a laptop that starts lagging after a few years. For Windows laptops, look to get one with a modern 14th generation (or 13th) Intel processor, or AMD Ryzen 7000 series. With a MacBook, go for an M1, M2 or new M3 model – which are Apple’s powerful chips made specially for its laptops.
You should also go for a minimum of 8GB of RAM, though 16GB is more future-proof. Recently, Microsoft suggested that 16GB of RAM would be the minimum requirement for the next generation of ‘AI laptops’. For Chromebooks, however, 4GB of RAM is fine.
Which type of laptop is best for you?
General laptops: Where the best cheap laptops are found, devices that focus more on practicality than style, portability or power. That’s not to say they can’t be fast, but you’ll typically find a non-Ultrabook clamshell laptop with an HD screen and spinning drive-based storage for less than $600 or £400.
Ultrabooks: Where you’ll find thin-and-light notebooks sporting SSD storage and display resolutions that exceed 1080p. Paired with powerful, albeit mobile-centric components and especially long battery life, the best Ultrabooks will cost a pretty penny – $700 or £500 to $2,000 or £1,800.
2-in-1 laptops: Where notebooks that double as tablets are located. The Surface Book 2 might be a ways off, but many of the best 2-in-1 laptops are available right now. Outfitted with both detachable and 360-degree rotating hinges, these hybrids are the most versatile way to experience Windows 10 (or Chrome OS) on a touchscreen.
Chromebooks: Where you’ll find the best Chromebooks running Chrome OS. These do much of what Windows and macOS can in the browser, focused on cloud storage over local, while recently getting Android app support for touchscreen models. They generally cost less than $300 or £200 and some can even withstand a slight tussle.
Gaming laptops: Need a laptop to play games (almost) just like a shiny desktop PC can? Then you’ll want one of the best gaming laptops. These machines generally cost from $800 or £600 to upwards of $3,000 or £2,800 and they’ll likely be the ones to take advantage of AMD’s laptop-grade Ryzen processors first. If you’re really on a budget, then you can check out the best cheap gaming laptop deals.
Laptop-tablet hybrids: Designed from the tablet-first approach to laptop-tablet hybrids, the best Windows tablets pack beyond-HD touchscreens, sometimes with kickstands in their frames or provided via keyboard covers. These generally shine with a stylus, and range from the budget to the premium price ranges.
How we tested these laptops
How we test the best laptops
We know that buying a new laptop can be a huge investment, so every laptop in this list has been extensively tested by us. When we test laptops, we use them in our day-to-day lives to see who they perform. We look at their design, including how stylish they are, or if they are thin and light enough to carry around with, and how comfortable they are to work on.
When it comes to performance, we use a mix of real-world tests and synthetic benchmarks to see how powerful (or not) these laptops are. This means using Windows 11 (or Chrome OS on Chromebooks and macOS on MacBooks) and running various apps and seeing how fast they load, noting down any problems.
These days, the webcam and microphone in a laptop is also incredibly important, so we take time to test out these as well. When it comes to gaming laptops, we’ll run more benchmark tests, as well as fire up games to play on them as well (it’s a hard job, isn’t it?).
Battery lives are also important, so we’ll keep track on how long we can use the laptop without needing to charge. We also run our own battery life benchmark that plays a looped 1080p movie until the battery dies. We also run the PC Mark 10 battery life benchmark, which replicates real-world usage, such as web browsing and document creation. These tests give us an excellent idea of how long the batteries in these laptops last.
We then take everything we’ve learned about the laptop and compare it to its price, to see if it offers the best value to customers.
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