Best college laptops in 2022

If you lot’re a student i of the best college laptops tin can help you ace your exams and so let you unwind by streaming TV or playing games. But with so many choices at so many different prices, finding the very all-time laptops for students can feel like extra homework.

When you’re buying a laptop for school, brand sure it has long battery life and fast CPU performance. You can discover a lot of these units on our main best laptops page too, which gives you a broad selection of the top notebooks to cull from. And if you prefer to have notes by hand, buy one of the best two-in-ane laptops for a composite laptop and tablet feel. We’ve also ranked the best gaming laptops for those who like to unwind after the coursework is wrapped up. If you are simply starting the search then check dorsum in regularly for the latest and great laptops for students as we are always working on new reviews.

Whichever laptop you get, you’ll as well want to pick up a few extras, such as a comfortable mouse, a well-appointed haversack, and perchance a printer. Without further ado, hither are the best college laptops, including some budget picks for those dreading tuition payments.

• Here are the all-time Apple laptops in 2022
• The best laptop deals in March 2022
• Here are the best 13-inch laptops in 2022

What is the best college laptop?

We experience strongly about the Green-eyed 13 and MacBook Air (M1, 2020) equally the best laptops for higher students. Non anybody is on a budget, only most folks will want to save as much coin equally possible so they tin pay off educatee loans. If y’all’re in this group, the Envy 13 and MacBook Air strike an excellent balance with premium specs and features at a reasonable, sub-$one,000 cost.

The Envy thirteen might be a mid-range notebook but it looks and feels like a more premium machine. The Envy also delivers fast performance from 11th Gen Intel CPUs, information technology has a great screen, and it’s portable enough to bear around campus. Then there’s the MacBook Air, which is powered by Apple’southward M1 processor for solid functioning with otherworldly bombardment life.

If you don’t accept a upkeep, consider the Microsoft Surface Pro Studio, the Dell XPS 15 or 14-inch MacBook Pro. You could also go big on the Dell XPS 17, the best 17-inch laptop around or Apple’s acme-tier 16-inch MacBook Pro.

The best laptop for students is now better than ever. Refreshed with a new design and a Thunderbolt iv port, the new HP Envy 13 is the best sub-$1,000 laptop for students or anyone who needs a portable motorcar with loads of power and long battery life (11:15 on the FHD model).

With fifty-fifty slimmer bezels and faster functioning, the 2021 model shows that it can hang with much pricier flagship models. Combine those features with a sleek chassis, vivid and vivid 1080p display and enough of operation from an 11th Gen Core i5 CPU, and it’south easy to see why the Envy xiii is the all-time college laptop for students. And frankly, given that this is a upkeep laptop compared to many of the others on this list, the Envy xiii is an crawly option. If you lot need a larger brandish, see our HP Green-eyed 14 review.

See our total

HP Envy xiii (2021) review
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If you prefer macOS to Windows 10, then go with the Apple MacBook Air. The biggest improvement to this yr’s model is the new M1 chip, which delivers outstanding performance and splendid battery life, making the new MacBook Air the fastest ultrathin laptop ever.

Best of all, the MacBook Air still costs just $999, and nonetheless, y’all can unrivaled performance along with xiv hours and 41 minutes of battery life. This is a combination you lot’ll simply observe from the very best Windows 10 laptops, and even they can’t compete in head-to-head performance.

Then why buy the MacBook Air instead of the Pro? While the Pro has better sustained performance, the MacBook Air is cheaper and is pin-driblet silent considering information technology doesn’t have a fan. And, of grade, Apple’s least expensive 13.three-inch model is the most portable, coming in at merely 0.half dozen inches thick and 2.8 pounds.

But now the MacBook Air is slower to parity with the MacBook Pro than always earlier. It has like speed and battery life, the same 720p webcam, a comfortable Magic keyboard and two USB-C ports. Also, the 13.three-inch, 2560 ten 1600-pixel Retina display on the M1 model was improved with P3 color coverage, making information technology more than vibrant than the previous console.

Run across our full

Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) review
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The Dell XPS thirteen is a serious workhorse and the best premium laptop for college students. Powered by an 11th Gen Intel Cadre i7 processor with integrated Intel Iris Xe graphics, the notebook is ready for work or play. And with more than 11 hours of bombardment life, you’ve got plenty of time for both. The laptop consistently performed either improve or on par with competing systems.

But remainder bodacious, the XPS xiii is just as pretty as it is powerful. The company managed to make a laptop that’s smaller and lighter than previous models. Despite the smaller size, Dell added some large changes, including a larger trackpad and keyboard. Plus, you get a thirteen.4-inch, near-bezelless display on every side –– the first in the world to do so.

It’s an practice in patient restraint, improving the notebook in a bunch of minor means that add upward to a big leap for the system. If you’re looking for the full package, the Dell XPS thirteen is the laptop for you.

See our full

Dell XPS 13 (Model 9310, 4K) review
.

Need a screen upgrade for video or photo editing? Come across our full

XPS 13 OLED review
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The HP Envy x360 13 is the best laptop for under $1,000 and one of the best Ultrabooks on the market. While it doesn’t come with a stylus (neither does the Surface Pro), the Envy is a ii-in-1, which lets you flip it into tent or tablet mode. What makes this such a fantastic value is its entirely aluminum design and Herculian AMD Ryzen processors.

In our testing, we found that an Envy x360 13 with a Ryzen 5 4500U CPU can outperform laptops with 10th Gen Intel chips. This specific Green-eyed costs just $800 and can outmuscle laptops that cost well over $i,000, including the exorbitant MacBook Pro. Moreover, the Green-eyed x360 thirteen has a bright, vivid 13.3-inch display and a comfy keyboard.

In that location is very little we don’t like near the Envy x360. If you can become over the lack of a Thunderbolt 3 port and IR photographic camera, then it is the ultimate money-saving laptop.
If you lot prefer a larger display, see our

HP Envy x360 15 review
.

Run across our

HP Envy x360 13 (2020) review

This is the huge leap forward we’ve been waiting on. It is all cheers to the new M1 chip, Apple tree’south first-ever custom SoC for laptops. With the best power-per-watt functioning of any processor, the M1 brings the MacBook Pro’s performance and bombardment life to the next level.

More specifically, the MacBook Pro is more powerful than most every PC on the market, including some workstations. And despite cramming so much power into such a slim and sleek chassis, the Pro lasted for an outstanding sixteen hours and 32 minutes on our battery exam, which simulates real-world testing.

With an paradigm processing unit of measurement, the webcam (sadly, still 720p) is better than before and since it runs on Apple’s ARM-based architecture, iPad and iPhone apps are now available on Mac. Yep, you can run all your favorite iOS games and apps on your laptop now.

Rounding out the numerous enhancements constitute in the latest MacBook Pro is Big Sur, the latest version of macOS. The largest update since Os Ten launched a decade ago, Big Sur is a beautiful redesign of the desktop OS.

Run into our

MacBook Pro (13-inch, M1, 2020) review

The Spectre x360 14 is the best 2-in-ane laptop ever. Newly released for 2021, the 13.five-inch model builds upon its predecessors but adds useful new features including a 3:2 aspect ratio display and 11th Gen Intel CPUs with Iris Xe graphics. Highlights of this laptop include a stunning pattern, brilliant and vivid 1920 10 1280-pixel IPS and 3K2K OLED display options, epic 12+ hour battery life and fast overall operation.

Add to that a generously sized touchpad that is silky to the touch also as a comfortable (albeit shallow) keyboard, excellent security options (fingerprint sensor and facial recognition) and a adept pick of ports, and well, it’s easy to meet why we like this laptop and then much.

We recommend buying the Spectre x360 14 over the Envy 13 if you have the money, especially if yous demand the flexible pattern. In fact, the Spectre x360 14 is the best laptop if you want a convertible notebook, menstruum. Sure, information technology has a few faults, but those are hands forgotten once you lot get this beauty in your hands.

See our

HP Spectre x360 fourteen review

If you desire to save some money, consider the excellent

HP Spectre x360 13
.

If you lot desire blistering performance at a budget cost, look no further than the Acer Swift 3 with AMD Ryzen CPUs. This $649 laptop can outperform the Dell XPS 13 and fifty-fifty make a run at the MacBook Pro. Information technology’s actually all virtually the Ryzen vii 4700U CPU inside, which trounces its Intel opposites in raw operation.

We likewise like the Swift 3’s clicky keyboard, which was comfy to type on thanks to the springy feedback. You likewise get a fingerprint reader on the deck for quick login and the chassis is made of aluminum and magnesium, not plastic. Our biggest beefiness with the Swift iii is the dim and ho-hum display. If that isn’t a business concern for yous, the Swift three is an excellent pick at a reasonable price.

Run across our full

Acer Swift 3 (2020, AMD) review
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Lenovo made several welcome changes to the 9th Gen edition of its flagship business laptop. Along with fast performance from 11th Gen Intel CPUs, you get longer battery life (15 hours!), powerful quad speakers, a new fourteen-inch brandish with a 16:ten aspect ratio, and plenty of ports, all in an impossibly lightweight chassis (2.5 pounds).

Merely it’s all the same those classic ThinkPad features —  a durable blueprint (with MIL-STD-810G forcefulness), best-in-form keyboard and stealthy black/red aesthetics — that carry the X1 Carbon to greatness.

Yeah, we wish the ThinkPad X1 Carbon had a better webcam and hadn’t ditched the SD card reader in the previous. Besides, meridian configurations can go very expensive; notwithstanding, you’d be hard-pressed to find a amend business concern laptop for students going to higher. If you want a 2-in-1 laptop with business features, consider the ThinkPad X1 Yoga (Gen half-dozen).

Come across our full

Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 (Gen 9) review
.

The Google Pixelbook Get is a fantastic laptop for students considering you get the same sleek elegance as the Pixelbook but at a much lower toll. Starting at $649, the Pixelbook Become is among the cheapest laptops on this list, all the same it delivers a lightweight chassis, fast performance and epic battery life.

More than classrooms are shifting to Chromebooks, so the Pixelbook Go should feel familiar to students. It’s an easy-to-apply, lightweight operating arrangement centered effectually the Chrome browser. What makes the Pixelbook Go such a good selection is that it’south durable and powerful enough to survive for several years, so buy it for your freshman kid and it should final him through high school graduation and into college.

See our full

Google Pixelbook Go review
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Lenovo’due south Legion v Pro proves what’s possible when two opposing forces come together for the greater practiced. Those forces are AMD and Nvidia, and the greater good is the gaming community. Armed with an AMD Ryzen 7 5800 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 graphics, the Legion 5 Pro gives gamers the power they demand to run the latest AAA titles at Ultra graphics settings.

What it lacks in flashy aesthetics, it makes up for with a gorgeous 16-inch QHD display, an exceptional keyboard and touchpad, plenty of ports, and outstanding operation from the i-two punch of an AMD CPU and Nvidia GPU. And despite harnessing so much power, the Legion 5 Pro delivers respectable battery life.

See our total

Lenovo Legion five Pro review
.

Productivity, multimedia and even a bit of gaming — the Dell XPS 15 can practice information technology all and exercise it well. The XPS 15 offers an attractive, slim blueprint that’s bursting with power. While that might seem minor, the iv-border InfinityEdge bezel has made possible 1 of the highest resolution displays on the marketplace, and now information technology comes with gorgeous OLED engineering for those who don’t need the longest battery life.

And if that isn’t plenty, check nether the hood and you’ll discover an 11th Gen Intel Core i7 Comet Lake H-Series processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti. The laptop dominated all of our benchmark tests including our graphics examination. That means you could become a solid gaming session going in a pinch. It’s a jack-of-all-trades arrangement that excels at but near everything.

If you like what the XPS 15 offers just need an even larger display, consider the

Dell XPS 17
.

Encounter our

Dell XPS 15 OLED (2021) review.

Microsoft has struck the right 2-in-1 balance. Instead of having a detachable lid like the Surface Book information technology replaces, or an attachable keyboard similar the Surface Pro 8, the Surface Laptop Studio employs a unique hinge that allows the display to be pulled frontward and positioned into different modes.

Not only tin the Surface Laptop Studio be transformed into a digital drawing board, just it does so without compromising the standard laptop mode. This flexibility, along with excellent performance and long battery life, makes the Surface Laptop Studio a compelling option for creative professionals. Add in a fantastic keyboard/touchpad combo, powerful speakers, and a 1080p webcam, and the Surface Laptop Studio finds its place as 1 of the all-time higher laptops.

See our full

Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio review
.

The Acer Swift 5 is a pint-sized powerhouse of a laptop that shows off the new Intel Evo Platform, which combines an Intel 11th Gen Core i7 CPU with Intel Iris Xe graphics. While it isn’t going to supplant an actual gaming laptop, it is considerably more than powerful than well-nigh anything else in its weight course.

At 2.iii pounds, the Swift feels preternaturally low-cal in your hands yet information technology manages to offer over 13 and a half hours of bombardment life on a charge, so this should tick all the boxes for frequent travelers. The 14-inch, 1080p touchscreen has minimal bezels and gets vivid plenty to hold up in most environments.

The keyboard is a pleasure to type on despite its relatively minimal cardinal travel and the touchpad is reasonably large and handles Windows 10 gestures well. If y’all are looking for a phenomenally portable laptop without giving upwardly likewise much performance, the Acer Swift five is an splendid option.

Meet our total


Acer Swift 5 (Intel 11th Gen, 2020) review

If you’re a Chrome Os users who want more flexibility than what the Google Pixelbook Become offers, then don’t hesitate to purchase the Acer Chromebook Spin 713. This excellent ii-in-i laptop costs only $629 all the same it delivers a gorgeous 13.five-inch display and fast functioning thanks to its Intel Core i5-10210U CPU.

Better yet, with a battery life of virtually 12 hours, the Chromebook Spin 713 will last you an entire school day as you bounce from one course to the adjacent. The laptop’s flexible design means you can apply it to draw, accept hand-written notes, or quickly share a projection with a classmate by folding the display back.

Given its flexible design, fast performance, gorgeous display and outstanding battery life, the Chromebook Spin 713 is a summit laptop for all students from Chiliad-12 and into higher.

See our full

Acer Chromebook Spin 713 review
.

The Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable is, in short, a better version of the Surface Pro 7. It has the same detachable class cistron and uses a kickstand that can rotate to about the aforementioned 160-degree bending. The 12.three-inch brandish is almost identical to the one on the Surface and, like the Pro 7, the detachable keyboard is fantastic. Y’all even become military-grade durability from its rigid chassis.

Why is it better than the Surface Pro vii and Pro 7+? Because the ThinkPad X12 Detachable lasts longer on a charge, enduring for more than xi hours, and it weighs slightly less than its magnesium alloy competitor.  Better yet, the X12 Detachable comes bundled with the keyboard and pen, although y’all’ll demand to spend a pretty penny on this business organisation-focused detachable.

If you need skillful speakers or a USB Blazon-A port, then you might go with the Surface Pro 7, otherwise, we prefer the X12 Detachable. If you prefer something less business organisation-focused, consider the excellent Microsoft Surface Pro 8.

See our

Lenovo ThinkPad X12 Detachable review

The MacBook Pro xiv combines a fiddling bit of quondam with a whole lot of new for a tantalizing production that MacBook fans have been waiting years for — especially content creators and consumers. For the boilerplate student this is massive overkill, merely if yous demand this kind of operation and either adopt or require macOS software, information technology’s hard to trounce.

The notebook’s design is lightweight and sleek with plenty of room for a full HDMI and an SDXC menu reader. And the M1 Pro fleck brings even more than power, contesting some of Intel and AMD’s heavyweights and winning handily. Plus, information technology’s serving upwardly over 14 hours of battery life with a formidable quick charge, a bear witness-stopping brandish, a super comfortable keyboard and an excellent audio system.

What’due south the take hold of? Every bit per usual with Apple information technology’s the toll tag, $2,899 is a lot to swallow, even with trade-ins and payment plans. And that $1,999 starting price isn’t much better. It would have been nice if Apple would have offered a lower-finish selection, mayhap i with terminal year’due south M1 scrap packed into the new hardware. Just for everything the MacBook Pro 14 is bringing, it’s a worthwhile investment.

If battery life is your biggest concern the 16-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 Pro volition outlast anything in its class with remotely similar operation. For those that need every terminal bit of processing ability they tin get their hands on the M1 Max in either the 14-inch or 16-inch MacBook Pro is as good every bit it gets short of an even pricier workstation or desktop.

See our full
14-inch MacBook Pro review

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition shows off everything that AMD has to offer and while it won’t be for every pupil, if you want a blend of gaming performance while still getting awesome bombardment life, this may exist the perfect pick for you.

At 5.4 pounds you probably won’t desire to lug this effectually campus all 24-hour interval, but if you lot are able to settle in at the library or a coffee shop for the day the 10 hours and 32 minutes of bombardment life in our testing should be more than than enough to leave the charger at domicile. Needless to say performance is not a business organization here, the pairing of the Ryzen 5000 serial processor and Radeon RX 6800M GPU with 12GB of RAM is on par with the top Nvidia 30-series GPUs and volition churn through any game or consignment you could throw at information technology.

The biggest complaint we had about the Strix G15 was the display effulgence at 280 nits, then if you find yourself working in bright sunlight regularly that’s a business worth considering, merely the 300Hz refresh rate looks astonishing plenty on high-end games that you might forgive it.

The Asus ROG Strix G15 Advantage Edition shouldn’t be the first choice for near students, but if you take a lot of high-powered school tasks or you lot aren’t giving upwards gaming while at college this is i to consider for its blend of performance and standout battery life.

How to choose the best college laptop for you

There are a number of factors students should consider before ownership a laptop for college.

The first is portability, which goes paw-in-hand with screen size. 13-inch laptops are popular amidst college students because they offer a good residuum between screen existent manor and portability. The Dell XPS 13 is a great instance. It weighs around 2 pounds and is just 0.five inches thick, withal you become a 13.3-inch edge-to-edge display.  Nosotros’re also seeing more and more 14-inch laptops, like the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon, which is remarkably portable for the screen size.

Battery life is another key component of whatever good college laptop. If you program to take the notebook to class or the library, don’t count on in that location being an outlet!  Consider a laptop that gets at to the lowest degree ix hours of bombardment life, which should be enough to go you through a couple of classes with enough juice for studies.

When it comes to specs, we recommend buying a laptop with an Intel U-serial or H-serial Core i5 CPU, at least 8GB of RAM (16GB is neat) and a minimum of 256GB of storage. AMD’s chips are strong contenders in this arena as well, anything with a 4000-series or newer processor is going to exist a great fit. Apple’s M1 or newer M1 Pro and M1 Max naturally fit the pecker as well, although the latter push button the cost up considerably. On the budget terminate, Chromebooks like the Pixelbook Go offering first-class value for college students.

Other things that will help you punch up a successful written report or research complex topics include a comfy keyboard and sensitive touchpad. And when it’s time to relax, be sure to get a laptop with a vivid and bright display (like whatsoever of those listed here).

How we examination laptops

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-globe — before they end upward in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and oestrus management.

In our criterion testing, we utilize a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the effulgence and the sRGB and DCI-P3 color gamut of the laptop’s display. For operation testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 5.4 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.

To make up one’s mind real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a four.97GB multimedia file. Our existent-world graphics test is the Sid Meier’s Culture Vi: Gathering Tempest benchmark with medium settings at 1080p and 4K resolution.

We also run oestrus tests by playing a xv-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous spider web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of effulgence. For MacBooks and premium Windows ten laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good effect whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than five hours deserve praise.

These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop’southward materials to the experience of its touchpad.