If you're a student, you'll want one of the best college laptops so you can ace your exams then stream TV or play games when it's time to relax. But with so many choices at so many different prices, it can be homework in itself to find the very best laptops for students.
A laptop is a key financial investment and academic tool for college students. Ideally, the best laptop for college is the one that lasts for an entire career and has all the software needed to complete work well and on time, without hardware issues.
An entry-level laptop computer that will do the job can be had for $300, but you can get a college laptop with longer battery life, a faster solid-state drive, and overall better performance for a few hundred more. With the current chip shortages, you might think it's difficult to get your hands on a decent budget-friendly laptop for school. Luckily, it's still possible to find laptops and two-in-ones with the latest processors from Intel and AMD. The only PCs you might have to wait for are those featuring the new powerful 11th-gen Intel Core processors that promise to increase performance in laptops for gamers. You'll find a few models on this list with those processors, but more are expected to be available soon.
Most of our picks for the best laptops for the college run between $500 and $1,000. If you're looking for a more affordable laptop - or if you're open to an alternative to Microsoft Windows and Apple's macOS - we recommend checking out the best Chromebooks for students. On the flip side, if you're searching for a more powerful laptop for college or a gaming laptop that doubles as a college laptop, we have some suggestions for those, too. So if you're ready to upgrade your tech, keep reading for our list of the best laptops for college.
What is the best college students laptop?
We feel strongly about the Envy 13 and the Envy x360 13 as the best laptops for college students. Not everyone is on a budget, but most folks will want to save as much money as possible so they can pay off student loans. If you're in this group, the Envy 13 and Envy x360 13 deliver premium specs and features at a reasonable, sub-$1,000 price.
The Envy 13 might be a mid-range notebook but it looks and feels like a more premium machine. The Envy also delivers fast performance from 11th Gen Intel CPUs, it has a great screen, and it's portable enough to carry around campus. Then there's the Envy 13 x360, which has all of those traits in a convertible chassis and is assisted by AMD's powerful new Ryzen 4000 CPUs. Need a larger screen? The HP Envy 14, as the name suggests, is essentially a 14-inch version of the Envy 13.
Apple fans who prefer macOS should opt for the new MacBook Air or MacBook Pro. The fanless MacBook Air with M1 is a good choice for those on a budget but the 13-inch MacBook Pro delivers longer battery life and sustained performance. If you don't have a budget, consider the 16-inch MacBook Pro (although it hasn't received Apple's custom chips) or the Dell XPS 15. You could also go big on the Dell XPS 17, the best 17-inch laptop around.
If you don't need a new laptop immediately, consider waiting for the next fleet of notebooks to hit the market. We've seen dozens of new models announced at CES 2021, many of which will be hitting shelves in the coming weeks and months. Those include laptops with Intel 11th Gen Intel CPUs, AMD 5000-series chips, and Nvidia 30-series GPUs.
The best laptop for students is now better than ever. Refreshed with a new design and a Thunderbolt 4 port, the new HP Envy 13 is the best sub-$1,000 laptop for students or anyone who needs a portable machine with loads of power and long battery life (11:15 on the FHD model).
With even slimmer bezels and faster performance, the 2021 model shows that it can hang with much pricier flagship models. Combine those features with a sleek chassis, bright and vivid 1080p display, and plenty of performance from an 11th Gen Core i5 CPU, and it's easy to see why the Envy 13 is the best college laptop for students. And frankly, given that this is a budget laptop compared to many of the others on this list, the Envy 13 is an awesome choice.
The best premium Windows 10 laptop
Dell XPS 13
But rest assured, the XPS 13 is just as pretty as it is powerful. The company managed to make a laptop that's smaller and lighter than previous models. Despite the smaller size, Dell added some big changes, including a larger trackpad and keyboard. Plus, you get a 13.4-inch, near-bezel-less display on every side –– the first in the world to do so.
It's an exercise in patient restraint, improving the notebook in a bunch of small ways that add up to a big leap for the system. If you're looking for the total package, the Dell XPS 13 is the laptop for you.
Best MacBook for students
MacBook Air M1
The newest, fanless Apple MacBook Air hits all the right notes for an Apple laptop (or any laptop computer, really). This powerful laptop is back to the old $999 starting price, and if you're a teacher or student, you can take off an additional $100, thanks to Apple's educational discount. Or, you can sign up for a free student deals account on Best Buy to get the price down to $800. The base model features Apple's M1 processor with an eight‑core CPU, seven‑core GPU, and 16‑core Neural Engine. Stepping up from the baseline MacBook model will bring you an eight-core GPU and double the storage capacity with a 512GB SSD, but you'll be forking out an additional $250.
Like the previous Mac laptop models, the M1 Air has Apple's Magic Keyboard, Touch ID, a Force Touch trackpad, and a 13.3-inch Retina display. If you're a college student, it's hard to go wrong with the new MacBook Air.
Best lightweight laptop for students under $700
Acer Swift 3
A remarkable college laptop deals with simple tasks like email, word processing, and much more, thanks to the new AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors. This budget laptop has a backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader, and a USB Type-C port, too. The Acer Swift 3 is also an incredibly lightweight laptop - less than 3 pounds - for a machine that can be found for less than $700.
In addition to this Acer Swift, we're also fans of the Acer Aspire 5, which has a larger 15.6-inch display. The Acer Aspire 5 is available in a variety of configurations starting as low as $405 but can go up to $711 if you want entry-level discrete graphics for basic gaming and content creation.
Google’s best Chromebook for budget consumers
Google Pixelbook Go
Have you been waiting for the day you can finally afford the premium price of Google Pixelbook? Well, with Google releasing Pixelbook Go, your wait is finally over. Granted, it isn’t quite the actual luxury device you’ve been dreaming of. However, rest assured, you will love this Chromebook, just as we have during our time with it. We love it so much, in fact, that it earned our coveted “Editor's Choice” award in the Chromebook category. It boasts incredible battery life, and even more impressive keyboard, and a 1080p webcam, which you don’t see often in the more budget-friendly laptops even in 2021. And, that’s just to start.
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