The 6 Best Laptops For College - Summer 2024 Reviews

The best laptop for college we've tested is the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024). This premium model is ideal for college students who need a thin, light laptop to write papers, browse the web, and consume media. Apple's base M3 SoC is well suited to light productivity tasks and even some video editing and 3D graphics. Plus, it doesn't even need a cooling fan, so you won't have to worry about loud fan noise in classrooms and libraries. It provides an amazing user experience, sporting a sharp, bright display, a spacious keyboard, and a gigantic haptic touchpad; its battery life is also excellent, though it takes a while to charge to full. Port selection is its biggest weakness as it only has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 3 ports, and these ports will only output to two external displays if the lid is closed. The Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) is also a good choice if you want a bigger screen with better-sounding speakers, but it costs more.

For Windows users, we recommend the HP Spectre x360 14 (2024). Also a premium ultraportable, this 14-inch model feels incredibly well built and provides an amazing user experience with its 120Hz 2.8k OLED display, spacious keyboard, and large haptic touchpad. It has Wi-Fi 7 wireless connectivity, an excellent 4k webcam, and a decent port selection with one USB-A and two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s. Plus, you can flip the screen around into tablet mode since it's a 2-in-1 convertible. Pen support is present if you want to take handwritten notes, though you may have to buy the pen separately, depending on the retailer. Two things to bear in mind: the display doesn't get nearly as bright as the MacBook Air's, so visibility may be more of an issue in well-lit environments, and OLEDs are susceptible to permanent burn-in, meaning you'll have to take some active measures to prevent it, like hiding the taskbar.

If you want something less expensive than the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024) but not overly cheap, check out the Lenovo Yoga 7i 16 (2023). This 2-in-1 convertible has a large 16-inch display, giving you plenty of room for side-by-side windows and making multitasking easier. While there's an FHD+ display option, we recommend getting a QHD+ panel, which looks sharper and gets brighter to combat glare. Don't worry about battery life; even the QHD+ model will last the whole day with light use. There's Wi-Fi 6E, a fingerprint sensor, a facial recognition camera, and a wide port selection, including two Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI. Its Intel 13th Gen CPUs can easily handle general productivity tasks; however, don't expect to do anything overly intensive due to thermal throttling. You can get this laptop directly from Lenovo if you have trouble finding it elsewhere.

Another mid-range laptop worth mentioning is the Acer Chromebook Spin 714 (2022). It's also a 2-in-1 convertible, but it has a smaller 14-inch screen and runs Chrome OS. If you like taking handwritten notes, it supports pen input and comes with a stylus that you can dock into the side of the laptop for transport. Its Intel 12th Gen CPU has more processing than you'd ever need on a Chromebook, but know that Chrome OS is limited in the type of applications you can install, so make sure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or an Android app. Unfortunately, this model is getting hard to find because there's a newer 2023 version, which we haven't tested but expect to perform similarly. The upgrades include faster Intel 13th Gen CPUs and a 1440p webcam. You can see the 2023 model on Amazon and Best Buy.

The best budget laptop for students we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). This model feels well-built despite its low price, and it's relatively portable for a 16-inch device. You can get it with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 CPU; both are more than adequate to handle most student workloads like text processing, web browsing, and video playback. RAM configuration is limited, as you can only get 8GB or 16GB. 16GB models are harder to find, but the upside is that the memory is user-upgradeable, so you can just get the 8GB model and pop in a SO-DIMM memory stick later on. Battery life is okay at around eight hours of light use.

The overall user experience is good. It has a comfortable keyboard, a large, responsive touchpad, and a decent 720p webcam. The display looks reasonably sharp but a bit dim and washed out, a common drawback of budget-friendly devices. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a fingerprint sensor for quick logins, and a decent port selection with three USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI. The USB-C doesn't support video output, so you'll have to use the HDMI port to connect an external display.

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023) is the best laptop for students we've tested in the cheap category. It's a great option if you only need a simple device to browse the web and write papers. Its compact design makes it easy to carry around, and its battery lasts about 13 hours of light use. The Core i3 configuration (paired with an FHD display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage) is regularly on sale for around $400 to $500 USD on Lenovo's website. There are cheaper configurations, but we don't recommend them unless you have an extremely light workload.

As for the user experience, its FHD display looks sharp, gets bright enough for use in well-lit settings, and supports touch input. However, the keyboard feels mushy, and the touchpad is small and sometimes unresponsive. Its 1080p webcam is excellent, which is surprising for a budget-friendly Chromebook. Again, ensure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app; otherwise, it's best to go with a Windows laptop like the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023) above.

For students in more technical fields who need a high-performance laptop to run intensive applications, we recommend the Apple MacBook Pro 14 (M3, 2023). Like its M2 predecessor, this new M3 model has a sleek, compact design, a sturdy build, and all-day battery life. It provides a fantastic user experience with its sharp Mini LED display, comfortable keyboard, and gigantic, easy-to-use haptic touchpad. You get tons of ports to connect peripherals and external displays and an outstanding 1080p webcam for video calls. You also get a fingerprint sensor so that you can log in quickly.

Apple's M3 Pro/Max SoCs can easily handle demanding tasks, making this laptop a great option for students in programming, 3D graphics and animation, or science and engineering. The fans remain quiet under load, so you don't have to worry about causing too much noise in a quiet classroom or library. If screen real estate is more important than portability, you can get the larger Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). It's the same device but with better-sounding speakers and a longer battery life. The only downside is its higher price.

If you want a laptop that you can game on during your downtime, get the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 (2024). Sleek and compact, this 14-inch model is easy to carry around while still packing plenty of processing power to provide a smooth gaming experience in demanding games. It has a gorgeous 120Hz 2.8k OLED display, a tactile keyboard, and one of the best speaker system you can find on a Windows machine. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a facial recognition IR camera for quick logins, and a wide port selection, including two USB-Cs and an HDMI 2.1.

Regarding the configuration options, you can choose between an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 CPU, paired with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4050, 4060, or 4070. If you don't mind playing your games at 1080p, you can go with a 4050 model, but for 1440p gaming (or 2.8k), we recommend upgrading to a 4060 or 4070. RAM and storage max out at 32GB and 1TB, respectively. Only the SSD is user-replaceable, which you might want to do later, as 1TB fills up quickly with the size of most modern games. Battery life is decent at around eight hours of light use, so depending on your usage, you may have to plug it in for a quick charge to get through the day.