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As of 2024, the best laptops offer cutting-edge technology, remarkable performance, and sleek designs. Leading models feature powerful processors, ample RAM, high-resolution displays, and extended battery life. They often incorporate innovative features like AI enhancements, advanced security measures, and immersive audiovisual experiences. Popular choices include models from brands like Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Microsoft, each catering to diverse user needs ranging from productivity to gaming and creative tasks.
Reviewed mission is to help you buy the best stuff and get the most out of what you already own. Our team of product experts thoroughly vet every product we recommend to help you cut through the clutter and find what you need.
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Reviewed PC experts are always on the lookout for the best laptops for everyone, from gamers and students to frequent flyers and homebodies. PCs are the center of business and recreation for nearly everyone, so we work hard to make sure you find a laptop you'll love on this list.
Most people need to look no further than the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (available at Amazon) , a souped-up productivity laptop with a discrete graphics card. It was a consistent, high-performer in all our benchmarking tests even when we compared it to some of our favorite budget gaming laptops.
BEST OVERALL
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2022)
The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is a solid multipurpose laptop with an attractive, classy design that bests most of Apple’s M2 MacBooks in CPU and GPU performance. Its display produces crisp and vibrant visuals. The keyboard and trackpad had a Dell XPS quality to them, as well.
Battery life is on the low side, but it’s plenty for nearly an entire day at school or work, or at home paying bills and checking Google Classroom to make sure your kid did their homework. It’s hard to find an Intel-based laptop with more battery life than this (and without a giant 99Whr battery) because Intel chips are notoriously power-hungry.
As we mentioned in our review, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is a good but hard-to-quantify machine. Its graphics performance goes above and beyond the standard productivity laptop, but doesn’t quite reach into full-blown gamer territory. It’s just a fast computer with a gorgeous chassis, decent battery life, and a good display, which is more than enough for most people.
BEST VALUE
Acer Swift Go 16 (2023)
If one of your must-haves is an Intel 13th-gen processor and an OLED screen, take a look at Acer’s Swift Go 16. It has a similar sleek, shiny look to that of a MacBook, an ample trackpad and a decent keyboard, and it’s one of the thinnest and lightest laptops on this list, not to mention the market.
It’s also one of the fastest productivity laptops we’ve tested to date. Its processor keeps pace with Apple’s MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro (or beats it, depending on the test), chewing through large Excel spreadsheets with complex formulas and thousands of rows of data.
The Swift Go 16’s integrated graphics performance is sufficient for “light” gaming, too, and can render simple 3D graphics nearly as fast as some higher-end M1 and M2 MacBooks. You just get a lot of performance and versatility out of this thin and light laptop.
Read our full Acer Swift Go 16 review.
The Lenovo Yoga Book 9i's "waterfall" mode turns the laptop into one big display. It's fantastic for scrolling through spreadsheets and long articles.
MOST VERSATILE
Lenovo Yoga Book 9i (2023)
We were impressed by the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i’s versatility, unique design, and stellar performance. It’s the only dual OLED laptop on the market that can change form for typing, drawing, research, gaming, dual-screen browsing, and notetaking—and all it needs are a few simple, included accessories and pre-programmed custom touch gestures.
The physical keyboard cover doubles as a laptop stand to support the Yoga Book 9i in dual-screen mode, both horizontally and vertically. The vertical orientation lets you use both displays as one big one, too, which is especially useful if you connect a desktop monitor to the Yoga Book 9i. If you don’t want to use the virtual trackpad, Lenovo includes a physical one, along with a stylus, but the touch displays’ responsiveness is always prompt and accurate.
Other features include a sound bar built into the laptop’s center hinge, so no matter the displays’ orientation or form, the audio always sounds clear and loud. OLED color accuracy and gamut coverage are precise enough for professional photo and video work, albeit nothing too processor-intensive.
The OLED displays also make video games look more life-like—and thanks to the Yoga Book’s super long battery life, plus an included free month of Xbox Game Pass, you can game in the cloud all day if you want to.
Read our full Lenovo Yoga Book 9i review.
BEST MACBOOK
Apple Macbook Pro 14 M2 Pro (2023)
Apple’s MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro is a master of all trades. It’s fast, extremely portable, packs an awesome display in a slim profile—and can reach an incredible 24 hours and 12 minutes of battery life, the longest of any laptop we’ve tested.
It out-performs most laptops with a 12th-gen Intel or AMD Ryzen chip, achieves extreme brightness levels in HDR content thanks to Apple’s mini-LED, Liquid Retina XDR display, and even offers more hardware upgrades than most Windows laptops of similar size.
Additionally, most Windows laptops can’t beat Apple in battery life and struggle to deliver the same performance across both CPU and GPU without inflating weight or size.
Read our full MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro review.
Dell XPS 17 (2023)
Next to our pick for best gaming laptop, Dell’s XPS 17 looks suspiciously like one. Both have a high-end graphics card that can drive frame rates in graphically demanding games close to 100 fps. Both have gobs of memory and storage space, and both have a large display—but the Dell XPS 17 is a productivity laptop, a productivity laptop that costs $700 more than a gaming laptop, but hey—you can lower that price drastically by configuring it with less RAM, storage, or a lower-end graphics card.
If you’re not a gamer, yet need a serious machine for seriously heavy processing tasks, the XPS 17 fills that space for creatives, et al. who prefer Windows to macOS. It’s scored high in most of our benchmark tests for a while, and its performance is ahead of the Apple MacBook Pro 14 M2 Max in nearly all of them.
Read our full Dell XPS 17 review.
LG Gram 17 (2023)
As we said in our review, the LG Gram 17 is “a practical choice for people who want a big-screen performance laptop without an equally massive price tag.”
For a 17-inch laptop, it’s surprisingly light, weighing about 3 pounds at just over a half-inch thick. Even with a whirlpool of thin and light laptops coming to market year after year, it’s not often we see laptops that are both large and easily portable.
Bigger laptops are usually primed to handle larger than average workloads, and while this Gram is no workstation, it has performance equivalent to other laptops higher on this list, most notably the MacBook M2 Pro. (It costs the same and has a much faster SSD, too). Its RTX 3050 graphics card makes running demanding videogames possible on High or lower graphics settings.
Read our full LG Gram 17 review.
MSI Prestige 13 Evo (2023)
The MSI Prestige 13 Evo’s overall design is one of its biggest selling points—enough to rival the Dell XPS and Apple MacBook Air as it is one of the slimmest laptops on the market.
The keyboard subtlety balances an orderly design with keys spaced apart just the right amount to accommodate a wide range of hand sizes (although some might find the keyboard cramped). It also has one of the best Windows laptop trackpads we’ve ever tested.
CPU performance is comparable to the other laptops on this list, like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and Acer Swift 3 OLED, and the Prestige 13 Evo is currently in the top five on our list of Windows machines that have the best-integrated graphics performance. We’ve reviewed similarly-priced and cheaper laptops with OLED displays that cost less than the Prestige, but none of them look nearly as polished and refined.
Read our full MSI Prestige 13 Evo review.
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (2023)
As an everyday, all-purpose laptop, the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a dream. Its touchscreen display is a smooth canvas for the included pressure-sensitive stylus, and its full coverage of the P3 color gamut and 400 nits of brightness are sure to please digital artists. When you factor in its incredibly dynamic audio and snappy performance, the Lenovo Yoga 9i provides a phenomenal multimedia experience for typists and artists.
At eight hours and 46 minutes, the Yoga 9i’s battery life should be sufficient for a workday but feels slim compared to some laptops’ 15-plus hours of battery life. Intel’s Core i7-1360P uses up to 64W, which makes it decently efficient, but because it can’t use as much power as the Intel Core i7-12700H, its processing performance is weaker.
Less power consumption means longer battery life, though, so that means this laptop never gets too hot, so feel free to rest it on your lap while using it.
Read our full Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 review.
Acer Swift X 14 (2023)
The Acer Swift X 14 has a surprising amount of processing and graphics performance for a laptop that straddles the line between a productivity and content-creation machine. It’s not the fastest we’ve ever tested, but its speed is way more than enough for casual workloads, even photo and video editing, and simple 3D image rendering.
It also has one of the best connectivity port selections out of all the laptops on this list and stampedes through reading and writing information to its SSD.
Its screen displays the robust, vivid colors and deep inky contrast we’ve come to know and expect from OLED. As we said in our review, the Swift X 14 is a “balanced package of good, quality components.”
Read our full Acer Swift X 14 review.
We test everything from processing capability to screen brightness.
Here at Reviewed, we test laptops for their processing capability, graphics, battery life, and screen brightness. We use popular benchmarks like Geekbench and 3DMark to gauge how well the laptop multitasks, runs games, and more. We also test multiple platforms, from Windows laptops to Macs and Chromebooks alike.
To test battery life, we set up our laptops to continuously cycle through various websites at a brightness of 200 nits—which is around 60% for many of the mid-range models—until they run out of power, estimating how much work you can get done on a single charge. We also use each laptop for an extended period, rating each on factors like build quality, price, portability, and design.
When it comes to laptops, there’s a lot to consider. From display size to build quality, you want a laptop that’ll last a couple of years. Here’s what you need to keep in mind:
The CPU, graphics chip, RAM, and storage inside your PC determine how well your computer can multitask, handle intensive tasks like gaming, and store all your files. The better the specs, the snappier the laptop will feel as you work.
Most people will be more than happy with a current-generation Intel Core i5, Apple M2, or AMD Ryzen 5, which are mid-range processors. 8GB of RAM will give you enough room to lightly multitask, but we recommend 16GB or more of RAM for future-proofing.
Graphics chip and storage size needs will vary the most depending on what you plan to run on the laptop. While Chromebooks can get away with 64GB of storage with additional cloud storage, Windows laptops need 256GB or more of storage to run optimally. 512GB hits the sweet spot for many users.
For most people, there is no need for a dedicated graphics card. Modern integrated graphics are more than capable of running things like esports games or small 3D modeling files. However, if you plan to play the latest AAA games or need to run a lot of vector calculations, you should consider a discrete graphics card.
Not only do you want a laptop that can take a beating (since you’ll probably be lugging it around with you), but you want one with a well-built keyboard and trackpad since they’re your primary form of interaction with the machine. A poor trackpad or finicky keyboard can ruin the experience.
Generally, durable laptops are stiff and hard to deform, so metal is usually more rugged than plastic. A good keyboard should be quick to type on, and your fingers should easily reach all the keys without any missed hits. Check that the Shift, Control, and Fn keys aren’t awkward to reach with your thumb and pinky fingers.
Whether you prefer stiff or soft keys is up to you: stiff keys are harder to accidentally press but will tire you out faster, while soft keys are easier to type on for long periods but can be prone to poor feedback and typos. See what’s most comfortable for you.
Trackpads are a little easier to judge. A good trackpad reads all your finger movements accurately, so the mouse won’t feel jumpy or unresponsive. A larger trackpad gives you better control of your cursor, and the trackpad should have little friction so you don’t “skip” with your cursor.
2-in-1s have gained in popularity, but touch screens and pens cost money to include. Similarly, cramming all those powerful components into a small, easy-to-carry package can often cost more than a larger laptop with fewer design constraints.
They’re not as comfortable to use as dedicated tablets like iPads, but 2-in-1s can provide extra options for those who need something versatile. Display pens are great for those who take a lot of notes or draw, such as students or artists.
Consider which operating system you need. Windows is still the dominant OS these days, and if you’re going to play games, edit photos and videos, or need certain software for work, you’ll probably stick with Microsoft’s offering in a business laptop. MacOS has exclusive software and great integration with the Apple ecosystem, so it’s the preferred option for those with iPhones, iPads, or other Apple products.
If you spend all your time on the web and want to save some money, though, a Chromebook may serve you well. Between Netflix, Gmail, and Google Docs, you can do almost anything in a browser. Many of those web apps even work offline for those rare occasions when you don’t have Wi-Fi. Chromebooks have the advantage of being cheaper (since they don’t need as much processing power) and virtually bloatware-free (since they run Linux under the hood).
You’ll usually find laptops in one of three main sizes, measured by the diagonal length of the display:
There can still be varying sizes within those categories—for example, the XPS 13’s smaller bezels make it much smaller than most 13-inch laptops—and sizes in between, like the 16-inch MSI Summit E16 Flip. But in general, picking a size range you’re comfortable with can help narrow down the field.
You’ll also want to consider the number of USB ports, whether you need HDMI and Ethernet, and how comfortable the keyboard and trackpad are to use—this can vary quite a bit from model to model, and it’s important to get something responsive and durable.
Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
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Source: reviewed
