The best laptops allow you to switch between productivity, creativity, and relaxation at a moment's notice. The portables have the processing chops to handle demanding applications, but not the bulky designs that make them inconvenient to carry around. We've reviewed and ranked the best low-end, mid-range, and high-end laptops from all the major manufacturers to help you decide which one hits the perfect balance between budget and performance.
The best laptops of 2021.
There are not many gaming laptops, mobile workstations, or 17-inch laptops on our list. If you spend two or three thousand dollars on a machine, it's going to be better than a Chromebook. The best laptops work for professionals without outpricing students, perform well in their base configuration, and offer upgrades for power users.
Four of our best Chromebooks picks made our list of the best laptops. These devices might not win a contest against a Macbook. They offer perks like a simplified operating system, excellent battery life, and hybrid laptop/tablet designs, all at a much lower starting price.
Versatility and portableness are important factors for most buyers, even if you prefer a Windows device. Most of our picks weigh between 2 and 3.3 pounds and don't measure over 14 inches, but half of them have convertible or 2-in-1 form factors.
We'll highlight all of the usual and important specifications, but they often correlate with the price you're willing to pay. The intangibles we'll highlight here are those that matter most to your day-to-day experience: the keyboard, temperature and fan noise, color fidelity, internet connection, and so on. You won't find much of a laptop with upgradeable components besides storage or recommendations that you buy the 4K or OLED versions of laptops that burn through battery life much faster.
If you came here for the best of the best and just want our top recommendations with no fuss, choose the XPS 13 9310 for it's sheer quality of performance, stylish display, and functional features. If Windows isn't your OS of choice, the excellent Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is a good choice, as it has fast performance and all-day battery life at a lower price.
Daniel Rubino is a Windows Central source.
The latest 9310 gives you 11th Gen Intel processing, 91.5% screen-to-body ratio, improved integrated graphics, and more, and it's the latest generation of the XPS 13. It's a mid-range option that can easily run productivity and editing software, and even non-demanding PC games, at a lower cost than most comparable machines, though the 4K and touchscreen options raise the price.
The processor is up to 11th Gen i7-1165G7 and the graphics are from Intel's Xe Graphics shared.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
I3 has 8 gigabytes of memory, a 512 gigabytes of storage and a FHD.
$950
The mid-range.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD and FHD.
$1350
The high-end.
I7 has 32GB of ram, 1 terabytes of storage, and 3.5K touch.
$1750
The Tiger Lake and the Iris Xe are both powerful.
There is an anti-reflective display.
500 nits and 85% DCI P3.
The log-in includes facial and fingerprints.
The audio is outstanding.
Excellent keyboard and touchpad.
There are only two ports with no internet.
The average battery life.
Our colleagues at Windows Central were effusive in their praise of the Dell XPS 13 9310, which they called the "best 13-inch Ultrabook" due to its beautiful design, powerful Intel Xe graphics, attractive 16:10 display, and reliable battery life. The new Tiger Lake CPUs is perfect for productivity because it handles productivity software like excel 2.5x faster and video editing software 1.54x faster than the previous generation.
The only real debate is whether to buy the newest model for the speed boost or the 10th Generation option, because very few laptops come close to the quality that the XPS 13 offers.
The reviewers loved the older 2020 laptop. The form factor received the most praise for its tall 16:10 aspect ratio, razor-thin bezels, and large backlit keys. The XPS 13 was the best laptop in Geekbench and PCMark 10 tests. The 500 nits of brightness and excellent dual speakers gave a one-two punch.
There are perks to upgrade to the 9310. The RAM speed jumps from 3733MHz to 4267MHz, and the SSD is swapped to the M.2 form factor. The increase in the color gamut of the DCI-P3 is useful for photo and video editors. Only the 9310 can take full advantage of the wi-fi. You'll upgrade your two ports.
Shoppers who game in their spare time will want to consider the 9310 because it proves that integrated graphics don't have to be bad. According to leaked benchmarks, the Intel Xe can play games at a higher resolution than the 9300 XPS 13 can, and can even beat the 25W NVIDIA MX350 in a head-to-head battle. It's not a gaming laptop by any stretch of the imagination, but it will let you enjoy new games without spending an extra grand for a well-specced gaming laptop.
The 52 Whr battery remained the same between the 9300 and 9310, leaving you with adequate but unremarkable battery life. There are very few downsides to an XPS 13.
The Dell XPS 13 has a gorgeous display and the latest Intel processing.
Ara Wagoner is from the Android Central.
Anyone who can find this model in stock has a winner on their hands. The affordable price and powerful features of the Chromebook Spin 713 make it a popular choice for people looking for a device with a Chrome OS feature. It's the best equipped for multi-display or multi-window productivity and for Stadia gaming, and it's the only one with an i7 Intel processor.
The processor is up to 10th Gen i7-10510U and it has graphics, storage, and display options. Yes.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
I3 has 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage and 2K Touch.
$530
The mid-range.
I5 has 8 gigabytes of RAM, 128 gigabytes of storage, and 2K Touch.
$629
The high-end.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, 128GB of storage and 2K Touch.
$1000.
A reasonable price for the specifications.
Consistent 10-hour battery life.
The display is 2K.
There are two ports for the HDMI and theusb-c.
The 10th Gen Intel i7.
Down-facing speakers.
Warm fan.
Most Chromebooks lack much processing power, and they don't offer the usual 8GB memory standard. We gave 5 stars to the Spin 713, which was built by Acer, but it was not up to industry standards. The Spin 713 is a poster child for how to improve reliability and power in Chromebooks.
The entry-level 713 gives you three options between the 10th Gen Intel i3 and i5 that are all within a couple of hundred dollars in price, so you don't have to spend more than you should. Even at the lowest tier, you get 8GB of memory that will allow it to handle as many Chrome tabs as you need, and moving up to 16GB won't bankrupt you. All that extra processing power makes the fan louder and warmer for Chromebook users.
The battery life lasted us for 6 to 8 hours even with brightness at max and video calls. Even though most non-Chromebooks don't use any intensive applications, they are lucky to hit that. This laptop is slightly heavier than other Chromebooks, but it needs more weight for its powerful components and strong battery to match.
Most Chromebooks and Ultrabooks have only one HDMI port, but Acer made room for three more. This laptop makes it easy to link up to an external monitor to add screen space for your work or charge your accessories, unlike most Chromebooks.
The Spin 713 is one of the few that won't be overwhelmed by higher settings since the majority of the game rendering is handled via the cloud. The Spin 713 is better equipped than our other picks to play games past potato settings because of the added Steam support.
Why should you not pick the Acer Chromebook Spin 713? It's lighter for in-bed tablet streaming if you want a true 2-in-1. Our reviewer noted that the audio doesn't sound great when seated on your lap or bed, thanks to the downward-facing speakers. Compared to some of our other top picks, it has a decent amount of bezels. If you want a lighter device with a better battery life, we have some alternatives below.
The Acer Spin 713 is one of the most versatile and affordable laptops.
The source is Windows Central.
This level of performance and quality in a 13-inch laptop at this price is rare, let alone a 15-inch model. It has a fast processor, is lightweight, and has a touch display that lasts 14 hours per charge. You can upgrade to a better version of the Spectre, but this will be more than enough for most.
The processor is up to 4.3 GHz, the graphics are the same as the one in the Ryzen 7 and the storage is 512 MB.
There are two USB-A 3.1s.
The second version of the HDMI cable.
3.5mm audio.
The weight of the card reader is 4.1 lbs. Yes.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
The 5700U of the Ryzen 7 is 8 gigabytes of memory, 512 gigabytes of storage, and FHD Touch.
$800
The mid-range.
The 5700U is a variant of the Ryzen 7.
$1,000
The high-end.
Intel i7 has 16 gigabytes of memory, 512 gigabytes of storage, and FHD Touch.
$1,100.
A low price for a 15.6-inch screen.
14-hour battery life.
The HP MPP 2.0 has 4,096 levels of pressure.
Geekbench 5 and PCMark 10 scores are higher than other top picks.
The screen-to-body ratio is 89%.
The keyboard and touchpad are great.
Integrated graphics are low-end.
No fast car.
It could not be displayed as bright as it could be.
We kept our "best laptops" list limited to 13-inch models with solid performance that more people can afford. The HP Envy x360 15 is one of our top picks because it gives a larger display option that won't cost you a lot. It'll be converted to a massive tablet in a pinch for casual streaming, but has some intense processing power for regular laptop use.
The biggest selling points for this laptop are its chip and battery life. The built-in fans are silent and the battery keeps chugging along, making the Ryzen ideal for browsing, streaming and media editing. It will last you a full workday and well into the evening before it needs a rest.
The display supports many colors but may not be enough for pro use. The base version only hits 250 nits, while the upgraded version is supposed to grow up to 400 nits. If you can afford the $200 upgrade, we think it's worth it.
There are other compromises with the Envy, including a glossy display that's susceptible to glare and just oneusb-c port. The HP Spectre x360 14 is the better choice if we were only focused on quality, it has 3000 x 2000 OLED multi-touch with anti-reflection and 100% DCI-P3 up to 1 terabytes of storage, two Thunderbolt 4 ports, and other benefits. We want to keep our list accessible to more people, and it will cost you more.
It's amazing that the Envy is as fast, long- lasting, and well designed as it is at this price point, making any compromises worth taking.
Inexpensive yet high-end, the Envy x360 13 has few convertible rivals that stack up without costing a fortune.
Daniel Bader is a source.
Apple improved the Air's performance by abandoning Intel for a proprietary chip that combines the processor, graphics, and memory into one chip. Even though the design hasn't changed, the MacBook feels fresh even though it isn't plagued by old keyboard issues. This doesn't feel underpowered next to the Pro.
The Apple M1 chip has an 8core processor and 7core graphics card. No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
8core processor, 7core graphics card, 8 gigabytes of memory, and 512 gigabytes of storage.
It's $999.
The mid-range.
There are 8coreCPU, 8coreGPU, 8GB memory, 512GB storage.
$1249.
The high-end.
The 8-core processor has 16 gigabytes of memory and 1 terabytes of storage.
$1749.
The M1 system creates a performance boost.
No fans mean total silence.
Return of keyboard.
There is a vivid display of the retina.
Great battery life.
The form factor is thin.
There are only two ports on one side.
The memory can slow the performance.
The previous Macbook Air generations gave you entry-level computing power that made it hard to do anything demanding or quick. With Apple's new computing chip, the 2020 Macbook Air gave you integrated power that beat Intel-backed Macs. The new MacBook Pros and their M1 Pro chips are great, but they are not suited for "pros" that do video editing frequently. The Air is a great laptop for most people.
The M1 can burst to 3 GHz in single-core and 3 GHz in multi-core, which is fast enough for it to beat the Macbook Pro. The Macbook Air M1 was able to crush everyone in single-core while beating the Dell XPS 13 9300, Surface Book 3 15, and Razer Blade Pro 17 for multi-core CPUs, only losing to more energy-inefficient laptops like the Dell XPS 15 9.
As of launch, many apps were still using an emulator called Rosetta 2 to run on the M1, but they need to be running on the ARM architecture. These run well, but should get better once more developers switch over. The speed of Macbook Airs was doubled by the switch to Chrome.
The MacBook Air has a long battery life and can handle power hungry apps without burning through it. The basic 8GB of RAM will cause some limitations and slowdowns. If you can afford it, you can upgrade to 16GB for $200 more.
The MacBook Air was kept thin while Apple added new power and a better keyboard to make it less bulky.
Ara Wagoner is from the Android Central.
The Flex 5 is the best Chromebooks laptop that doesn't sacrifice features for price, but still gives you all the features you'd expect from a quality device. You get a 10th Gen Intel chip, a backlit keyboard, and an FHDIPS screen for less than other devices. If you move fast, it can still be found for sale on certain websites.
The 10th Gen Intel i3-10110U is a processor with a 2.10 GHz clock.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
Standard.
I3 has 4GB of RAM, 64 gigabyte eMMC and FHD Touch.
$425
The 10th Gen i3 is cheap.
Full rotation hinge.
There are two ports for theusb-c andusb-a
The keyboard is comfortable.
It was updated through the year 2028.
There is limited memory and storage.
Low max nits.
The Flex 5 doesn't have the processing power or memory of the Spin 713, but it's still the best Chromecast laptop. In our review of the Flex 5, we noted that it took opening 40 tabs, including some heavy-bandwidth pages, to make the Flex 5 crash; otherwise, it can handle a normal workload without any issues.
The standard model of the Intel i3 processor with 2.1 GHz speed, 4 gigabyte of soldered memory, and 64 gigabyte of storage is often discounted to less than its already cut-rate price. The numbers won't impress anyone, but you should ask yourself if this laptop will be used for more advanced specifications. This model is silently effective and anyone who wants a model that doesn't need to turn on its fan will love it. If you want more power, the 14-inch model can give you more memory and storage for less.
The device shines in intangibles. We appreciate that the laptop and tablets have the same dimensions, but not so large as to be off-putting. The keyboard was praised for its layout and key travel by our reviewer. The front-firing 2W speakers hit the volume it does with the price tag, even though they get tinny at the highest volumes. It's about the same weight as more powerful laptops but is at least thin and portable, so it's easy to transport. You don't need to carry an accessory with you because it has ausb-a port.
The Flex 5 has a max battery life of 12 hours in our tests, which is more than enough to last you all day. If your kids need a school laptop, the Lenovo's Chromebook is a great choice because it's built for streaming, word processing, and simple productivity tasks.
Choose mobility and affordability with the functional, convertibleLenovo Chromebook Flex 5.
Daniel Rubino is from Windows Central.
If you're willing to pay a bit more for it, the Book 13 is a serious rival to the XPS 13 and uses the same 11th-gen Tiger Lake chip but beats it in virtually every benchmark. The design of the laptop is superb, with beautiful per-key lighting, rich top-firing THX Spatial Audio, and better port selection than our top pick.
The 11th Gen Intel i5–i7 has Graphics: Intel Iris Xe Graphics and has a display size of 13.4" No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
I5 has 8 gigabytes of memory, a 512 gigabytes of storage and a FHD.
$1200
The mid-range.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, a 512 gigabytes of storage and a FHD Touch.
$1500
The high-end.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and a touch.
$2000.
The 11th-gen Intel processor has Xe graphics.
The 15-inch laptops are in the benchmarks.
The keyboard is comfortable.
The surround sound is booming.
Reliable color accuracy.
There are two vapor cooling chambers.
It is fairly expensive for top configurations.
There is a logo on the back.
Outside of the Chromebooks targeting a different demographic of shoppers, most of the best laptops must eventually go head-to-head with the XPS 13 to earn your money. Despite being pigeon-holed as a gaming laptop maker for years, Razer stepped into the ring with a potential champion. It has the same technology, but is able to squeeze more performance out of it. The laptop has some exciting design choices that make it feel a bit more fun to use.
The Book 13 has a vapor cooling system that keeps it running at a normal temperature without relying on loud fans, and per-key lighting that can be configured to have different brightness levels or respond to your typing or audio output. You can use the audio customization controls to make sure the sound plays correctly. The keyboard is designed to handle rapid and furious keystrokes.
The Razer Book 13 can run for up to 10 hours on a single charge and can wake up from sleep within nine seconds. The display recreates all three of theRGB colors, which looks great and will hopefully be enough for artistic work. The Razer Book 13 is the most powerful Windows laptop, so you know your apps will open and run at top speed.
Why don't you consider the XPS 13 over the Book 13? Dell's laptop is more affordable and lighter, and it tends to last a couple of hours longer than other laptops, so you can save a few hundred dollars and get the ideal amount of memory and storage you want. We will point out that the logo on the back is still associated with gaming and may not have a professional look that certain buyers are looking for. The Ultrabook is worth considering.
For top-tier performance, a beautiful design, powerful audio, and tons of ports, try the laptop from Razer.
Daniel Rubino is from Windows Central.
Microsoft side-steps the debate by allowing you to choose between the latest CPUs and graphics cards from both companies. This slick machine has a stylish 3:2 aspect ratio, well-designed keyboard and trackpad, and a thin but basic design. It has improved in performance and battery life.
The processor is the 11th Gen i7-1185G7 and the graphics are the Intel Xe or theAMD Radeon. No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
The 4680U of the Ryzen 5 is 8 gigabytes of memory, 512 gigabytes of storage, and FHD Touch.
$1000.
The mid-range.
The 4680U of the Ryzen 5 has 16GB of RAM and a 512-gigabyte solid state drive.
$1200
The mid-range.
Intel i5 has 8 gigabytes of memory and 512 gigabytes of storage.
$1300
The high-end.
Intel i7 has 16 gigabytes of memory, 512 gigabytes of storage, and FHD Touch.
$1700
It's the latest-gen Intel or the latest-genAMD.
It's very affordable for the model.
The battery life is long.
Quiet fan.
Not a lot of ports.
It doesn't perform as well on battery power.
The Surface Laptop 3 held this spot before the Surface Laptop 4. The 3rd model of the laptop still performs quickly by today's standards, despite the fact that it has a new aluminum finish, and you can find it at a discount.
We recommend the Surface Laptop 4 13.5 for one simple reason: you'll get to choose between the 11th Gen Intel CPUs with Xe graphics or the Ryzen with tons of memory and 19 hours of battery life. Your computer will beat the older laptop's benchmark by a significant margin if you choose a different manufacturer.
Compared to the XPS 13, the new Surface Laptop 4 has a disappointing port selection, a non-touch configuration, and no 4K option. Its battery life will beat theirs by several hours, its keyboard is very comfortable to type on, and it has a Ryzen alternative that they don't.
Microsoft designed an ultrabook that's perfect for people who want a fast and reliable device. If you're willing to pay more for it, it will be better than a 2-in-1 Chromebook.
The Surface Laptop 4 is an all-around great laptop, it performs well even if you prefer Intel or AMD graphics.
The source is Windows Central.
It's rare to find eight cores and this level of processing power in a lightweight laptop, and especially not at an affordable price. Its long battery life is due to an underpowered display. We recommend that you buy theAMD version, not theIntel version.
The processor is the Ryzen 7 4700U and the graphics are the Integrated AMD Radeon Vega 7. No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The mid-range.
The 4700U is 8 gigabytes of RAM, 512 gigabytes of storage and FHD.
$600
The high-end.
The Ryzen 7 4700U has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage and FHD.
$850
Lighter than a MacBook Air.
The clock performance of the AMD Ryzen 7 is fast.
For cheap, a large, fast, and decent-fast SSD.
There is a good selection of ports.
The 10-hour battery life is 80% brightness.
Worse display than sibling.
Unremarkable form factor.
There is no Thunderbolt 3.
There is a debate as to which of the Swift 3 laptops is better, the Intel 10th Gen or the Ryzen 7 4700U build. We prefer the basic, boring 16:9 FHD resolution of theAMD's chips, which is why we prefer the Intel configuration. It has an Always-On function and has a better battery life than its sibling. It is 0.6 pounds lighter.
Why did we choose the AMD for our portable laptop selection? Because the Ryzen 7 configuration is cheaper and more efficient than Intel in virtually every performance benchmark test, Geekbench, PCMark 10, and Cinebench R20 all win in their tests. It's just quicker.
The Swift 3 is lighter than most of our top laptops, has a range of high end battery life, and has both legacy and legacy ports, making it a good baseline for the cheapest model.
There's little incentive to spend beyond the thrifty list price for an upgrade, since most people don't need it. It does not do well in color fidelity against the cheapest Chromebooks. Windows Central found a deficiency to the naked eye in its testing, with 61% sRGB, 45% AdobeRGB, and 45% DCI-P3 color.
We like the design, but there's not much to say about it. The keyboard has small chiclet keys and a silver backlight that makes the keys harder to read. The 720p webcam doesn't support Windows Hello, so you should get a fingerprint scanner.
Do you want a big processor without paying a premium? The Swift 3 is the best sub-$1,000 option.
The source is ASUS.
The Zenbook 13 UX325EA is half an inch thick with an 85% screen-to-body ratio, but it has 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips for lightning-fast performance and next-gen integrated graphics. If you're looking for a lightweight, durable laptop with a long battery life, then the Zenbook is for you.
The processor is an Intel Core i7-1165G7 and the graphics are up to Intel's Iris Xe. No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
I5, 8GB, 256GB, FHD.
$800
The mid-range.
I7, 8GB, 512GB, FHD.
$900
The high-end.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD and FHD.
$1 100.
The design is lightweight and has a stand.
The 11th Gen Tiger Lake.
The port selection was exceptional.
Good prices for quality.
The touchpad is wide and dynamic.
The speakers are bottom-mounted.
Not a no-show.
The Zenbook 13 has an excellent UX333FA laptop with 10th Gen Intel chips, an absurd 95% screen-to-body ratio, and some beautiful colors. Our more substantive criteria helped us pick the UX325EA model, which is 3mm thinner, slightly lighter and contains 11th Gen Tiger Lake chips and faster memory clock speeds.
The Zenbook 13 is a lightweight, non-Chromebook laptop that doesn't sacrifice much processing power for its portability. It'll slide into your backpack while hardly taking up any room and has a manufacturer's 15-hour estimate that falls closer to a dozen or so in real-life use. It has the best range of ports you'll find on a non-gaming laptop, including a rare (for laptops) HDMI port and a microSD card slot.
The elevated hinge and edge-to-edge keyboard make all-day work more comfortable. The bottom-firing speakers can have a negative effect on your music's ability to spread through the room, as we saw with the Spin 713.
If you can afford it, the premium model is the only one that has the extra storage and graphics, and it is the only one that has the extra ram. It's your best option for the best graphics and connection for recent games.
The Zenbook 13 is the best non-convertible laptop for carrying around without straining your back.
Ara Wagoner is from the Android Central.
The C13 Yoga is more like a traditional laptop for people who love the Chrome OS but also want more computing power than most Chromebooks offer. If you care about high resolution, look for the souped-up model with high RAM and storage, but be prepared to pay more for the Macbooks or Ultrabooks.
The processor is the Athlon Gold 3150C and the graphics are the Integrated AMD Radeon Graphics.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
The Ryzen 3 3250C has 4 gigabytes of RAM, 128 gigabytes of storage and FHD Touch.
$1000.
The mid-range.
FHD Touch, Ryzen 5 3500C, 8 gigabytes of RAM, 128 gigabytes of storage.
$1200
The high-end.
The 3700C is a variant of the Ryzen 7.
$1 400
The keyboard with TrackPoint is comfortable.
The pen is built-in for the touchscreen.
Reliable performance from the processors.
You could want all the ports.
There are 8 years of guaranteed support.
Can be expensive for a computer.
Estimates of battery life are not accurate.
Our resident expert who tests all the big releases every year called the Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook "basically perfect" after she reviewed it. It has a brighter display, fast ports for data transfer and power charging, and a rare Ryzen chip that is a nice alternative to the usual Intel Chromebooks.
The letters are visible on this keyboard because it has bright back lighting and a large typeface. It has a small red nub in the center of the keyboard that allows you to use it on web pages without having to move your hands from their standard typing position. The C13 Yoga has a reliable touchscreen that doesn't drop inputs when you switch to a 2-in-1 mode. It comes with a USI pen stylus.
It's a great fit for people who don't want to store everything on the cloud because of the large amount of storage. All of the Chrome tabs will be handled by the powerful RyzenCPU.
We didn't pick the ThinkPad C13 Yoga to beat the Spin 713 because we didn't think it was the best Chromebook. The battery and price are the main reasons. In our test, the Yoga lasted about 7 to 8 hours per charge, which is below the typical Chromebook standard. It's much more expensive than the owners have thought. The top-spec Yoga will rise in price from sub-$1,000 to $1,500 once that promotion ends, putting it in the mid-range category where it has to compete against top-of-the-line laptops.
You'll enjoy typing on a great keyboard with a powerful machine and the Chrome OS.
The source is Windows Central.
Don't worry about battery life, saving money, or even portableness when choosing a gaming laptop. You may get some productivity out of this, but you're here for the future-proofed performance and graphics that are provided by Nvidia. If you're an online game player looking for a solid refresh rate, we recommend the Razer Blade 15 model, but if you're looking for a more powerful model, 4K OLED may be better.
The 10th Gen Intel Core i7 has Graphics up to theNVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER and up to 16GB of RAM. No.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
The end is low.
I7 has 16GB of RAM, 512GB of SSD and a FHD of 144.
$1500
The mid-range.
I7 is equipped with 16GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD and QHD.
$2300
The mid-range.
I7, RTX 3070 has 16GB of RAM, 1 terabytes of storage, and FHD of 120 frames per second.
$2500.
The high-end.
I7 is equipped with 32GB of RAM, 1TB of SSD and FHD.
$3200.
The refresh rate can be up to 480/ 480.
There are two speakers with the same name.
A graphics card.
The color gamut is up to 100%.
Vapor chamber for cooling.
It is expensive.
The keyboard doesn't impress us.
For all of our talk about Intel Xe graphics helping our best laptop selections to handle low-level gaming, the fact is that you need a display built for high frame rates and powerful memory to truly enjoy PC games on high settings. You can upgrade our other picks into the two-grand range, but their improvements center on better storage and CPUs, while the graphics remain stagnant. Only a gaming laptop will do, unfortunately, any laptop with the right components will be a real pain to use.
The one gaming pick for this list is the Razer Blade 15. Cheap gaming laptops have to sacrifice something to hit a low price, so you'll end up with thermal throttling, a low-brightness display, an ugly design, or lower storage than you need for large PC titles. You can choose an Alienware laptop that costs more and is too heavy to bring anywhere.
You can choose between multiple configurations based on your gaming habits, all of which are relatively similar in price. If you want to get up to 300Hz with a1080p model, most people will happily use a PC to take advantage of that level of refresh rate. With the $2000 model, you'll be set for virtually any PC game out today on high settings. Add a couple of hundred bucks more for 4K 60Hz OLED, which will cap your frame rate below the norm but at least deliver ray tracing and a 1ms response time.
You can get a semi-portable gaming laptop for a relatively affordable price.
Ara Wagoner is from the Android Central.
The best cheap laptop for buyers on a limited budget is built by Lenovo, with a battery that can last upwards of a full day or more per charge. The worst laptop on our list is this one. For kids who want something for streaming in bed, or for adults who want a separate device for casual recreation that won't cut into their main laptop budget, the Chromebooks Duet is a good choice.
The processor is from Mediatek and it has a graphics card with an 800 GHz speed. Yes.
Quality of build.
There is a configuration.
The price is typical.
Standard.
The P60T has 4 gigabytes of RAM, 64 gigabytes of storage and FHD Touch.
$270.
Excellent battery.
Comes with a keyboard and kickstand.
400 nits.
It is comfortable to hold thanks to the small size.
It's really cheap.
There is only one port for the audio jack.
The in-box charger is weak.
The keyboard has narrow keys.
During the initial stage of our review, we saw a great battery life, hitting 3 days out of the box with 6 to 9 hours of testing per day before it needed a refill. The battery life for the 0.29-inch tablet was an impressive 12 hours, but as time went on, we saw a more down-to-earth 10 hours.
Most of the Duet's other elements are adequate. The Duet's keyboard is cramped for long typing sessions since it needs to match the size of the keyboard, and it doesn't connect to the Duet as firmly as we'd like. You're going to have to relearn how to place your right hand's fingers on the Duet.
The device only has a single port, so be prepared to use wireless headphones, as the speakers don't hit a high volume. Unless you buy a faster-charging accessory, you'll have to use the dedicated charger to charge your Duet.
It's an affordable device that you can use for work calls, apps, and streaming without an issue, as long as you don't overload it with more than a dozen Chrome OS tabs. The display is brighter than most Chromebooks and more comfortable to hold while lying down than a convertible laptop that doesn't detach from the keyboard.
The Duet shows that cheap 2-in-1s can offer low-end specifications and provide an excellent companion.
We did our best to provide a wide range of configurations for all of our laptop selections, but that also complicates which laptop we think is the best. We recommend you choose the Dell XPS 13 9310, but there's a significant difference between a $1000 build with an Intel i3 and UHD graphics and an $1800 build with a 4K touch screen, i7 processor with Xe graphics. We recommend picking a configuration somewhere in the middle, but what is the threshold at which a laptop goes from underpowered to excellent or from excellent to superfluously expensive?
If you want to upgrade to an i7 so your XPS can handle photo and video editing, but not choose the touchscreen model or 4K, which will make your battery drain faster, we recommend you do so. If you want a convertible design that lasts much longer, you should switch to the HP Ency x360, which has a touchscreen.
Read on for advice on how to pick your processor, storage and RAM. If you want more specific picks in the laptop category, we have a number of guides.
Most laptops have 4 or 8 gigabytes of RAM.
People used to shop for laptops with an 8GB minimum, but they're not used to shopping for Chromebooks with 4GB as the default. In our detailed breakdown on how much memory a Chromebook needs, we said that 4GB is enough to handle common tasks and that the Chrome OS is more efficient with memory than a laptop. If you're someone that likes to have more than 20 tabs open at a time, or if you're someone that uses it to remote access a more powerful computer, you're the main reason to get 8GB.
The majority of users will be able to use 8 gigabytes on their laptops. Those who want to game on their laptops frequently, build code, or use photo or video editing software, all of which demand a higher level of memory than 8GB can comfortably handle, will be the exception. Users who like to keep a lot of tabs open are the same. If you want to make sure your processor doesn't get overwhelmed, you should consider getting a 16GB processor.
You can theoretically look for a laptop with upgradable memory instead of onboard or soldered memory, which cannot be removed. You could upgrade later if you need it. Most of our top picks solder their RAM, which suggests you're not going to find this feature in most gaming laptops. We don't think it's worth giving up the best laptops for the chance to upgrade when most non-power users don't bother with this anyway.
Write as much as possible and focus on read/write speeds.
If you can afford it, more storage is better if you need it. When your storage device fills up close to capacity, it struggles with deleted or rewritten data that it doesn't realize it no longer needs to take up space. Windows 10 users can use their TRIM command set to solve this.
Take a look at your current PC or laptop and figure out how much space you need on your next device. Most people don't need a laptop to store their content, but they can use external hard drives or solid state drives to keep their stuff. Storage is the only area that manufacturers will allow you to upgrade after purchase, so you can always go back for more later.
If you want to have your own preferences, 512GB on a laptop and 64GB on a Chromebook are more than enough.
Most shoppers don't think to look for read/write speeds beyond the gigabytes and terabytes. Check laptop reviews to see if they've performed benchmark tests on the SSDs and how each laptop compares in performance to the rest. The 3000 MB/s read speed of the XPS 13 is close to the more expensive 15- and 17-inch competitors, and it wallops most 13-inch laptops.
Intel andAMD have the best chips.
There is no clear winner in the battle between Intel andAMD. We went with the more powerful version of the Swift 3 because it was the only laptop that offered both Intel andAMD. Apple's new custom M1 chip is complicating things even more for MacBook fans. Apple has discontinued the Intel MacBook Air models and the M1 laptops have improved performance that you can't argue with.
We won't recommend one brand over the other two because they can be trusted to perform well. The number of cores, clock speed, andCPU benchmarks are more important than the laptop's design. Most of our top picks can be purchased with an i3, i5, i7, 10th, or 11th Generation Intel CPUs. The more cores you add, the better your performance will be. Hyper-threading and the ability to have one core split itself to handle multiple tasks are some of the things higher-level CPUs are more likely to have.
If you're shopping for a laptop, you should consider buying an i3 or i5 if you want to do your daily tasks. It's worth it for the same users who need upgraded RAM as it is for those who like to multi-task.
Different laptop makers have different ways of making a chip. The new Tiger Lake chip from Razer made it possible for it to perform faster than any other 13-inch laptop could. If you can find online or in a review that will help determine how well a laptop will run, then you've made the right choice.
You should have all the data you need to make an informed decision. Whether you go with an Ultrabook, Chromebook, or convertible, any of these twelve picks should be a big step up from your current device, both for productivity and for play.
The team worked on this guide.
Michael is an Editor at theandroidcentral.com, covering everything from laptops to phones, home security to fitness watches.
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