Laptops are a basic student tool that is used for hours every day. They can be crucial for work-oriented purposes, e.g. For example, to take notes in class, write papers or write numbers in a table, and take breaks to listen to music or watch YouTube videos.
Pupils and students on a budget can now pick one up Entry-level laptop with a decent hard drive, graphics card, display, and battery life for $ 200 to $ 400. Given the plethora of really beautiful laptops, however, we think it makes sense to spend at least a few hundred more to get a machine with long battery life, a remarkable hard drive, and better performance and graphics. This list of the best student laptops – and for all levels – by students is based on our own practical applications and benchmark tests. We update it regularly when we review new products.
Continue reading: Best laptop backpack for 2020
Note that most of our best college laptops cost $ 500 or more. If you’re looking for student laptops that are cheaper – or if you’re interested in an alternative to Microsoft Windows and Apple’s MacOS – we recommend you take a look our list of the best Chromebooks for students. Most are significantly cheaper, and Chrome OS is still powerful enough to handle basics of student life like email, web browsing, document creation, or working with spreadsheets – especially for those who are already working on Google apps. The Chromebook‘s average battery life is excellent. However, if you are looking for something that is suitable as a gaming laptop, has a lot of storage space, or supports powerful programs such as video editing software, read some really excellent options.
Sarah Tew / CNET
If it’s available for less than $ 1,000 – and usually somewhere – we’d recommend the Apple MacBook Air 2019 to everyone. The current-generation MacBook Air model has updated its cheapest laptop a few times over the past year and has some modern details – including Apple’s beautiful Retina display, USB Type-C ports, and Touch ID – despite the Intel processor is older than what you can find on Windows computers at a comparable price. Nevertheless, the Apple MacBook Air remains one of our evergreen student favorites with a winning combination of design (hello backlit keyboard!), Performance and battery life.
If price doesn’t matter and you’re looking for something with a little more performance, you may want to upgrade to a MacBook Pro, especially if you’re running video editing or design software.
Read our preview of the MacBook Air 2019.
Best all-purpose Windows laptop for students
Dell XPS 13
Sarah Tew / CNET
If you’re committed to the Windows operating system and want a balance between portability, performance, and price, it’s hard to find a better 13-inch laptop than the XPS 13. Dell has made incremental improvements to this Dell XPS 13 computer for a long time that it is difficult to find a bug. The design and components are top notch, which is reflected in the excellent battery life and performance. It has 6 GB of RAM, a 512 GB M.2 NVMe PCIe solid-state drive and a 13.3-inch screen for hours of essay writing.
Read our Dell XPS 13 (2019) review.
Sarah Tew / CNET
The Surface Pro remains the standard carrier for Windows devices that work both as laptops and tablets, even though they’re better tablets than laptops. (If you’re looking for the opposite, Lenovo’s two-in-one yoga devices are better laptops than tablets.) In addition to the typical high performance and battery life you can expect, the seventh edition of Surface Pro finally gets one USB stick -C port. Its super portable size makes it ideal for high school and college students who may carry a lot of equipment. Although the company still sells the Surface Pro without the necessary Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen, it is often available at a very good price – sometimes with one or both accessories.
Read our Surface Pro 7 review.
Sarah Tew / CNET
Dell’s G-Series strikes a balance between build quality, battery life and performance, as well as enough graphics card performance for college students who want to play the latest AAA games when they’re not on the books. The slim, compact design hides its gaming pedigree, and since it’s no longer brand new – you’ll get a ninth-generation Intel Core processor – there are plenty of bargains to be found. This machine is currently starting at around $ 850, and we’ve found some pretty powerful configurations for around $ 1,000.
Read our Dell G5 15 5590 review.