We Can’t Promise a Higher GPA, But These Top-Rated Laptops for College Students Could Help

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The perfect laptop for college students must be lightweight, stylish, powerful, and capable of delivering excellent battery life. It should also have a high-quality webcam and microphone to help with online classes and remote studying sessions, as hybrid teaching seems to be here to stay.

Today's market is brimming with Mac, PC, and Chromebook options at every possible price point — from entry-level PCs such as the Acer Aspire 3 through the latest MacBook Air, all the way to the spendy Razer Blade 14 compact gaming rig. That's why we spent weeks thoroughly researching products from leading brands to determine the best ones worth buying.

Best Laptops for College Students

• Best Overall: MacBook Air (15.3-inch)

• Best PC Laptop: HP Pavilion Plus 14

• Best Budget: Acer Aspire 3

• Best 2-in-1 PC: Microsoft Surface Pro 9

• Best Gaming Laptop: Razer Blade 14

• Best Premium PC: Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

• Best Chromebook: Acer Chromebook 315

What to Consider

Processor

It's important to choose a notebook with futureproof hardware specs headlined by an up-to-date processor. For Intel-powered notebooks, depending on the manufacturer and the specific model, you should look for an 11th-generation Core processor or (preferably) a newer iteration. As far as Macbooks go, the latest entry-level models have Apple's latest M2 chip.

Graphics

If your school projects involve graphic design and other demanding tasks, you should invest in a notebook with a powerful graphics card. The latter is usually an NVIDIA GeForce GTX or RTX component for PCs — the higher the product series and model number, the better. This will also allow you to play your favorite gaming titles when you're not cranking out schoolwork.

Screen

A display with Full HD (1,920 x 1,080 pixels) resolution is the minimum a good laptop should offer in 2023. The higher the resolution, the sharper and nicer the screen.

Unless you plan to be constantly near a power outlet, I suggest you avoid a laptop with a 4K screen (3,840 x 2,160 pixels). Packing so many pixels is guaranteed to impact its battery life.

A high refresh rate is another display feature to watch, especially when shopping for a PC laptop. The functionality will bring smoother scrolling and speedier interactions. It is also a must for high-quality gameplay.

Connectivity

We only considered notebooks with Bluetooth 5.0 (or higher) and Wi-Fi 6 or 6E on board. The former will allow you to seamlessly pair the latest wireless headphones, earbuds, and Bluetooth speakers with your notebook and enjoy latency-free sound. Wi-Fi 6 will give you access to fast internet speeds when connected to a compatible network without impacting your laptop's battery life.

Battery Life

Battery life is just as important, and all our picks should easily make it through a day of classes without the need to visit a power outlet. Regardless of which laptop you choose, I suggest you carry a laptop-friendly battery pack to avoid any battery-related anxiety or mishaps.

In addition to conquering course notes, papers, and various projects, a good laptop for college students should also entertain you after class. Some of our favorite options will help you stream content, rock out to playlists you love, and play today's popular video games with uncompromisingly excellent quality.

How We Selected

20 or so years ago, I began my college journey with a late-90s desktop computer with a massive tower and a gigantic CRT monitor. I got my first laptop in my junior year and haven't looked back. Since then, I have gone through a double-digit amount of notebooks before beginning to test such products for a living in the 2010s.

For this guide, I handpicked portable computers running today's leading platforms — macOS, Microsoft Windows, and Chrome OS — at various price points. I selected top-rated laptops that offer a good balance between power, portability, battery life, and value. Every device on this list has futureproof hardware for the money, ensuring stellar performance for years between upgrades.

Whether you are looking to upgrade your own or gift one to a family member, here are the best laptops for college students to prepare you for campus life.

MacBook Air with M2 Chip (15.3-inch)

The all-new 15.3-inch iteration of the MacBook Air with the M2 chip is hands down our favorite laptop for college students. It's surprisingly lightweight, timelessly elegant, effortlessly powerful, and reasonably priced, considering the design and performance it offers. You can order the MagSafe-toting notebook in four colors: silver, space gray, midnight, and starlight.

Thanks to the Apple M2 chip, the MacBook Air is more capable than any similarly priced PC or Chromebook. On the other hand, its 18-hour battery life is in a different league, ensuring students have plenty of power left after a busy day of classes and homework.

The MacBook Air also packs a big and vibrant Retina display, a fantastic keyboard and trackpad, and an upgraded FaceTime HD camera. Like all things Apple, the notebook has an outstanding selection of original and third-party accessories.

Consider the 13.6-inch MacBook Air if you want to spend less on an awesome notebook for college. It offers a more compact package with the same design, performance, and battery life. I’d go with the 15.3-inch because its bigger screen and superior speakers make it better for streaming music and video.

More: Our Review of the Big-Screen MacBook Air

Aspire 3 PC Laptop

The Acer Aspire 3 — our favorite budget PC laptop — is also great for students. With a sticker that hovers around $300, the full-sized notebook offers good design, up-to-date hardware specs, reliable performance, and the ability to make it through a full school day between battery charges. And thanks to Microsoft Windows 11, the product offers a more feature-packed platform than a similarly priced Chromebook.

An aluminum cover gives the Aspire 3 the look and finish of a considerably pricier laptop. The same goes for the device’s surprisingly zippy everyday performance and robust selection of wired and wireless connectivity features. We only wish Acer had equipped the device with a backlit keyboard.

Upping your budget a little will get you this under-$500 Acer Aspire 3 iteration with the same AMD Ryzen chip, more memory, and a touchscreen. If you want a more compact budget laptop, consider this affordable Aspire 3 version with a 14-inch screen.

Pavilion Plus 14 PC Laptop

HP’s Pavilion Plus 14 is a fantastic PC laptop for college students because it has a sleek design, an eco-friendly build that uses recycled aluminum and ocean-bound plastics, and futureproof hardware, all at an agreeable price point. With millions of individually backlit pixels, the notebook’s sharp and vibrant OLED display is the best for the money.

The all-metal notebook also has a powerful Intel processor, a capable NVIDIA graphics chip, and fast charging capabilities. Its GeForce RTX 20 Series GPU, in addition to giving it abundant power to conquer any school project, also makes the Pavilion Plus 14 a respectable gaming machine.

Other noteworthy notebook features include B&O-tuned speakers whose stellar sound perfectly complements its beautiful display, a fingerprint scanner, an excellent webcam, and a fantastic set of wired and wireless connectivity features.

I have great news if you are looking for a touchscreen-toting HP notebook for less. This Envy X360 version has a bigger screen that rotates 360 degrees. Its graphics chip and display panel aren’t on par with the Pavilion Plus 14, but neither is its price tag.

Surface Pro 9

The Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is the best 2-in-1 PC for college students. It's beautifully designed, superbly crafted, powerful, and incredibly versatile. It can instantly transform from a tablet to a laptop via a snap-on keyboard cover, so students will always have the perfect setup.

Of course, like all Surface products, the Pro 9 is compatible with the latest Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus. Just be mindful that the must-have Slim Pen and snap-on keyboard cost extra.

Flanked by impressively slim bezels, the Surface Pro 9 screen has a high refresh rate that brings fast and smooth interactions. The 3:2 screen also makes the device great for multitasking. College students will be able to run two apps side by side easily. Such convenience is essential for cranking out papers and countless other projects.

With top-tier cameras, the Pro 9 is also an excellent tool for video conferencing. Microsoft offers the slate in various hardware configurations and colors, ensuring buyers can find one that fits their budget.

More: Our Review of the Microsoft Surface 9 Pro

Blade 14 Gaming Laptop

The Razer Blade 14 PC laptop is worth its hefty sticker because it is equally great for conquering a school project or your opponents in today’s chart-topping video games. Unlike most other gaming laptops, the 14-inch gaming rig has reliable battery life for everyday tasks (e.g., web browsing and using productivity software), so it is perfect for use on the go. It’s light, thin, impossibly elegant, and superbly crafted, yet as feature-packed as a laptop can be.

With a powerful AMD Ryzen 9 processor, desktop PC-grade NVIDIA RTX 4070 graphics, and a sharp display with a super high refresh rate, the Razer Blade 14 will deliver fantastic gameplay and everyday visual interactions for years after you press the “buy” button. Just be mindful that the notebook will deliver the best gaming experience when plugged into a power outlet.

You can order the Razer Blade 14 in the hardware maker’s signature black or mercury finish. If you want a bigger screen, consider the Razer Blade 15. As its name suggests, it has a bigger screen while rocking similar hardware and price as the Blade 14.

Surface Laptop Studio

No PC laptop offers the same craftsmanship, power, versatility, and battery life as the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. Thanks to its swiveling display, it can transform from a laptop to a high-powered tablet to a touchscreen viewing platform. Like the Microsoft Surface Book 3 it replaces, the product is pricey, but well worth splurging on if you want the ultimate do-it-all PC.

Microsoft equipped the Surface Laptop Studio with Dolby Atmos-capable speakers, whose powerful sound belies the device’s form factor. Like the Surface Pro 8, the Laptop Studio is also great for video calls, thanks to its high-quality camera and microphones.

You can order the Surface Laptop Studio in a multitude of hardware configurations. I recommend you spend extra on a version with onboard NVIDIA RTX graphics because it makes the notebook a stellar gaming rig. I enjoyed instantly switching from work to gameplay while testing it.

More: Our Review of the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio

Chromebook 315

The Acer Chromebook 315 is sleek, lightweight (for a 15-inch notebook), and great for college students. The product is also affordable without skimping on up-to-date hardware and connectivity features. Its Chrome OS platform supports Android apps, making it great for schoolwork and countless other usage scenarios.

With a crisp 15.6-inch touchscreen, the Chromebook 315 is equally great for productivity work, streaming video, and interacting with Android apps. Its spacious keyboard has a numeric keypad that’s a must for working with spreadsheets, to name one essential task, though we wish it were backlit. Crafted from recycled plastic, the glass-like trackpad of the notebook is among the best you’ll find on an under-$500 device.

Acer treated the Chromebook 315 to a set of wired and wireless connectivity features worthy of a higher price category. A quartet of USB ports and a microSD card slot are acceptable tradeoffs for the device’s modest onboard storage.

Impressively, Acer bundled the Chromebook 315 with a storage sleeve. The included accessory has an additional pocket for storing charging cables, storage drives, and other small gadgets.

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