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The 5 Best 15-16 Inch Laptops of 2024

Updated Nov 21, 2024 at 12:37 pm
Best 15-16 inch Laptops

15-16 inch laptops are very popular, and for good reason. They give you plenty of room to place windows side-by-side, lots of space on the keyboard deck to rest your palms, and they often have a full-size keyboard with a Numpad, which is great for those working with numbers. Plus, their larger chassis allows for a more effective cooling system, resulting in better performance. Although some are bulky and hard to carry, most 15- and 16-inch laptops are thin and light enough for on-the-go use.

We've tested over 140 laptops, and below, you'll find our recommendations for the best 15- and 16-inch laptops. You can also see our recommendations for the best 13-14-inch laptops, the best 2-in-1 laptops, and the best laptops for graphic design.


  1. Best 16-Inch Laptop

    The best 16-inch laptop we've tested is the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). With its thin bezels, this 16-inch model is practically the same size as most 15-inch laptops. It feels incredibly well-built, provides an amazing user experience, and is ideally suited to demanding tasks like video editing and 3D graphics. It has a bright Mini LED display with full DCI P3 coverage, a comfortable keyboard that you can type on all day, and a gigantic, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. The speakers and the webcam are among the best on the market. Its port selection is excellent, so you can connect multiple peripherals and external displays easily. The only downside is that none of the components are user-replaceable, and upgrading the RAM and storage adds to the total cost of the device considerably.

    Note: Apple has released a new MacBook Pro 16 with its M4 Pro and Max SoCs. This new model has better performance, a brighter display (advertised 1000 cd/m² in SDR), Thunderbolt 5 support, and a higher-resolution webcam. There's also a new nano-texture display option that further cuts down glare in brightly lit environments, similar to the iPad Pro. We've purchased this laptop with a top-end M4 Max SoC and will begin testing shortly, so stay tuned!

    For Windows users, we recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024), a premium workstation laptop. This model is configurable with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, up to a Core Ultra 9 185H, and various NVIDIA discrete GPUs, including GeForce and RTX Ada Generation models, giving you plenty of processing power to tackle demanding tasks. You can get up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, and unlike the MacBook Pro, these components are user-upgradeable. Three display options are available: a 60Hz FHD+ IPS, a 165Hz QHD+ IPS, and a 60Hz 4k+ OLED panel—the latter has full DCI P3 coverage. The user experience is great. You get a comfortable keyboard, a large haptic touchpad, Lenovo's Trackpoint, and an excellent 1440p webcam. Port selection is excellent, as is battery life, which is almost on par with the MacBook.

    See our review

  2. Best Upper Mid-Range 15-Inch Laptop

    If you only need to perform light tasks like web browsing and text processing, get the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024), one of the best 15-inch laptops we've tested that runs Windows. It's the first Surface Laptop to sport an ARM SoC, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. The biggest concern is app compatibility, as most programs don't run natively on an ARM processor, so you need to ensure that the apps you use have a native ARM version or run well enough through emulation to get your work done. Compatibility aside, this laptop provides an amazing user experience with one of the brightest displays and the longest battery life we've tested. It even beats Apple silicon's battery efficiency, lasting up to 17 hours on a single charge for light use. It also stands out for its keyboard, touchpad, and webcam quality. RAM and storage max out at 64GB and 1TB, respectively. The storage is user-replaceable, but the RAM isn't.

    For those who want a Mac, get the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024), one of the best 15-inch laptops we've tested. This laptop is super thin for its size but still feels rigid and exceptionally well-built. It sports Apple's base M3 SoC, which is quite capable, but because this laptop has a fanless design, it isn't intended for highly intensive, sustained workloads. The user experience is great; you get amazing up-firing speakers, a large haptic touchpad, and a 2.8K display with full DCI P3 coverage. The display is IPS, so it doesn't get as bright as the Pro's Mini LED panel, and its refresh rate is only 60Hz rather than 120Hz, so it doesn't feel as smooth. Port selection is scant, with only two USB-Cs, but they offer USB4/Thunderbolt 3 data speeds and charging. Unlike the older M2 version, there's support for two external displays, but only if you close the laptop lid.

    See our review

  3. Best Mid-Range 16-Inch Laptop

    Our best mid-range pick is the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 (2023), a 2-in-1 convertible. It's fairly portable for a 16-inch device, thanks to its thin and light design, and while it doesn't feel as premium as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) above, it's still very sturdy, sporting an all-aluminum chassis. Its large display gives you plenty of room for split-screen multitasking, and since this is a 2-in-1, you can flip the screen and use it as a tablet. There's also pen input support, and the laptop comes with a stylus in the box. The keyboard feels comfortable to type on for extended periods and includes a Numpad, which is handy if you work with lots of numbers.

    Port selection is excellent; you get two USB-As, two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, an HDMI, and a MicroSD card reader. Biometrics include a fingerprint sensor and facial recognition camera. Spec-wise, it's available with Intel 13th Gen U- and P-series CPUs, which are plenty fast for general productivity tasks like web browsing, text processing, and video playback. The webcam is decent; the image looks relatively sharp but has an unnatural tint, and the microphone picks up some background noise. Finally, while the manufacturer has discontinued this laptop, you can still get it directly from Lenovo's website if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

    See our review

  4. Best Budget 16-Inch Laptop

    The best budget 16-inch laptop we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). Although its display is large, the IPS panel looks slightly washed out and isn't bright enough to combat glare in well-lit settings, unlike the picks earlier in our list. Also, the speakers sound boxy and unnatural, so this laptop doesn't provide the best multimedia experience. Still, this is a reliable, portable everyday laptop despite its larger screen. It's also relatively sturdy and easy to service. Its AMD Ryzen CPUs are adequate for general productivity tasks like text processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and web browsing. It also has a decent port selection that supports power delivery and fast charging over USB-C, but not video output or Thunderbolt 4. Its battery life is good enough to get through an eight-hour day with light use, but anything more intensive (including video playback) will require you to plug it in to charge.

    See our review

  5. Best 16-Inch Gaming Laptop

    Our best gaming laptop pick is the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024). With a 16-inch screen and a weight of 6.4 lbs, this is a pretty chunky laptop, but boy, does it deliver an amazing gaming experience. It sports Intel's top-end Raptor Lake CPU, the Core i9-14900HX, which you can pair with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 4070, or 4080 Laptop GPU. Display options include a 165Hz FHD+ and a 240Hz QHD+ panel; both have a fast response time and G-SYNC support to produce a clear image in fast-moving scenes with minimal ghosting and screen tearing. ASUS only offers up to 32GB of RAM, but this laptop uses replaceable SO-DIMM sticks, so you always add more later.

    The chassis feels pretty sturdy despite being mostly plastic. You get a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting and tons of ports for peripherals and external displays, including a Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1. If you game online, you'd be happy to know that there's an Ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E onboard to ensure a fast, reliable internet connection. Unfortunately, battery life is pretty bad, lasting only an hour or so when gaming, though that's fairly typical for gaming laptops with a powerful CPU and discrete GPU.

    See our review

Notable Mentions

  • Dell Precision 5690 (2024):

    The Dell Precision 5690 is also a good Windows alternative to the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). It has more powerful GPU options than the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024), including the NVIDIA RTX 4000 and 5000 Ada Generation Laptop GPUs. However, it has fewer ports, a lower-quality webcam, and soldered, non-replaceable memory.

    See our review
  • LG gram 16 (2024):

    The LG gram 16 (2024) is a good alternative to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) if you want a larger screen or can't work on an ARM device. It has more ports; however, it doesn't feel as well-built, and it uses a non-haptic diving board touchpad. Also, none of the available displays are as bright as the Surface Laptop's.

    See our review
  • Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023): The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023) is a decent Chrome OS alternative to the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). It has a larger touchpad, a better webcam, and a longer battery life. However, it has a dimmer display and lacks biometrics. Also, remember that Chrome OS is more limited in the type of applications you can install, so you need to be sure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app. See our review
  • Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023):

    If you are on a tighter budget, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023) is a cheaper alternative to the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024). It doesn't feel quite as well built as the ASUS, and you can only get up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU. This laptop is only available with QHD+ displays. As such, we recommend getting a model with the RTX 4060 or 4070 because the RTX 4050 isn't powerful enough to deliver smooth gameplay at 1440p in highly demanding titles.

    See our review

Recent Updates

  1. Nov 21, 2024:

    Replaced the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023) with the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) because the ASUS performs performs better and is easier to find. Added the Dell Precision 5690 (2024) and LG gram 16 (2024) as Notable Mentions. Small text changes to add information about the new M4 MacBook Pro 16.

  2. Aug 28, 2024: Due to better performance, we've replaced the Dell XPS 16 (2024) with the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 as the alternative to the MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023) and replaced the MacBook Air 15 (2023) with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) as the 'Best Upper-Mid Range' pick. Finally, due to availability, we've replaced the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 15 (2023) with the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023).

  3. May 31, 2024: Due to availability, we've replaced the Dell XPS 15 (2023) with the Dell XPS 16 (2024) and the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2023) with the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024). Minor text changes were made for accuracy and clarity.

  4. Apr 05, 2024: Small text edits to provide information about new Dell XPS models and the M3 Apple MacBook Air 15. No change in recommendations.

  5. Feb 02, 2024: Replaced the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2021) with the M3 version because the M1 model is discontinued. Replaced the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023) with the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023) because the Dell has more configurations and a sturdier build. Added the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023), the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023), and the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023) as Notable Mentions.

All Reviews

Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best 15- and 16-inch laptops to buy. In addition to the test results, we factor in the price (a cheaper laptop wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no laptops that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).

If you prefer to make your own decision, here’s the list of all of our laptop reviews, sorted by price from low to high. Keep in mind that most laptops are available in various configurations, and the table only shows the results of the model we tested, so it’s best to see the full review for information about other variants.