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The best laptops for a college student attending school in person or remotely
The best laptops for college students are powerful enough to let you tackle all your school projects, with enough portability and power capacity to get you through a full day of classes.
Whether you're going back to school in person or attending classes remotely, having the right laptop is key.
Our best college laptop picks all share a few common traits. They have excellent battery life, which is crucial when running between classes on campus all day.
These laptops are also affordable, with many models under $1000 — though we've also listed some higher-priced laptops that are great investments.
If you're worried about spending over $1,000, know that our picks are made with your future in mind.
The MacBook Pro isn't cheap, for example, but mine has lasted for 8 years, which is enough time for undergrad and graduate school (or for applying to your first jobs out of college).
Read on for our picks of the best college laptops you can buy right now.
Back-to-school laptops for students
Summer is here, which means it's time to be thinking about beaches, barbeques, and back-to-school sales. The best laptops for students are always in high demand as school starts up again, so it pays to start shopping as early as possible. Whether you’re heading off to college or going back to school, you’ll want a great laptop suitable for both work and play.
Many of our favorite picks are currently on sale making now the ideal time to buy some of the best laptops. Be sure to follow our back-to-school guide for all of your shopping needs this season.
What are the best laptops for students right now?
Right now we recommend the Acer Swift 3 with AMD chips as the best laptop for most college students. This svelte little 14-inch laptop is (relatively) cheap and durable, yet still manages to deliver excellent performance and battery life. The 1080p display is a bit dim, but as long as you don't try to use it outdoors too often it shouldn't be an issue.
The Asus Zenbook 13 is also quite good, and has many of the same strengths: it's quite affordable, and its AMD chips deliver outstanding performance and battery life. It can get a bit more expensive than the Swift 3, but if you can afford it the extra expense is worth it for the 13.3-inch 1080p OLED display, as it makes everything look better. The one big drawback to the Zenbook 13 OLED? No headphone jack.
If you'd like an Apple laptop for school, we recommend the MacBook Air M1. It's thin and light, with plenty of speed for schoolwork and amazing battery life (14+ hours) thanks to the Apple M1 chip which drives it. We're waiting for Apple to release a successor, but in the meantime, the M1-powered 2020 MacBook Air is the best Apple laptop for most college students.
The best laptops for college students
1. Acer Swift 3 (AMD)
The best college laptop under $700
SPECIFICATIONS
Display: 14 inches; 1920x1080CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 4700UGPU: AMD Radeon graphicsRAM: 8GBStorage: 512GB SSDWeight: 2.7 pounds
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REASONS TO BUY
+Amazing battery life
+Powerful performance
+Affordable
REASONS TO AVOID
-Display is a little dim
-Speakers aren't great
College students learning to make a dollar stretch can learn a lesson from the Acer Swift 3. That lesson? You don't need to pay a premium for great performance. It's AMD Ryzen 7 4700U CPU is snappy and it's got exceptional battery life (11:09) — all packed into a lightweight design. Plus, its USB Type-C, HDMI and USB-A ports mean you're able to do more with any adapters or dongles.
On top of that, its keyboard is great for typing out term papers, with quiet, clicky keys that won't irritate your roommate. Just don't expect it to replace your Bluetooth speaker: we wish its audio had a bit more kick. Its slightly dim display isn't great for Netflix either, but its mix of performance and price is so strong that you'll be able to look past that minor concern.
Read our full Acer Swift 3 (AMD) review.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED
2. Asus Zenbook 13 OLED
The best cheap college laptop with OLED
SPECIFICATIONS
Display: 13.3-inch 1080p OLEDCPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700UGPU: Integrated Radeon graphicsRAM: 8 GBStorage: 512
GBWeight: 2.5 pounds
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REASONS TO BUY
+Stellar battery life
+Beautiful 1080p OLED display
+Great performance
REASONS TO AVOID
-Middling sound quality
-Inconsistent webcam
-No headphone jack
If you're looking to spend between $500-$1,000 the AMD-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is an excellent value, offering an eye-catching 1080p OLED display and exceptional battery life in a slim, lightweight package for less than a thousand bucks.
Sure, the speakers aren't amazing, the webcam leaves something to be desired, and there's no headphone jack (though it does ship with an adapter), but these are stumbling blocks you can work around. If you need a zippy little ultraportable with a great screen that will last you through a full day of classes and then some, you can't do better than the OLED-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 at this price.
Read our full Asus Zenbook 13 OLED review.
Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3 Chromebook open on the desk showing the home screen
The best Chrome tablet for students
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2RAM: 4-8GBStorage: 64-128GB eMMCDisplay: 11 inches, 2,000 x 1,200 pixelsDimensions: 10.16 x 6.48 x 0.31 inchesWeight: 1.2/2.1 lbs (tablet only/tablet + cover)
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REASONS TO BUY
+Bright, sharp display
+10+ hours of battery life
The +Packed-in keyboard cover is decent
+Surprisingly loud for a Chrome tablet
REASONS TO AVOID
-Still no headphone jack
-Lackluster cameras
-Keyboard cover uncomfortable for sustained typing
If your schoolwork can be handled with a Chromebook, the Lenovo Duet 3 (or Lenovo IdeaPad Duet 3, depending on where you buy it) is a great Chrome tablet that can be yours for as low as $359. This is effectively a bigger, more expensive follow-up to the Chromebook Duet Lenovo released in 2020, a surprisingly capable and inexpensive Chrome tablet.
We loved the original Duet for its great battery life, solid performance, and decent packed-in keyboard cover, all of which could be had for roughly $250. Lenovo's new Duet 3 costs a bit more, but it also delivers a bigger, brighter display, more ports, and the added power of a beefier Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 chip. It's one of the best Chrome tablets you can buy, and the fact that Lenovo includes the keyboard cover at no extra cost helps it double as a surprisingly effective 2-in-1 Chromebook.
Read our full Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook review.
Dell XPS 13 Plus open on desk viewed from the front side
4. Dell XPS 13 Plus
The best 13-inch Windows ultraportable for students
SPECIFICATIONS
Display: 13.4 inches (3456 x 2160) OLED touch (as reviewed)CPU: 12th gen Core i7-1280PGPU: Intel Iris XeRAM:
16GBStorage: 512GB SSDWeight: 2.77 pounds
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REASONS TO BUY
+Gorgeous design
+Bright and vibrant OLED display
+Very comfortable keyboard
+Strong performance
+Powerful audio
REASONS TO AVOID
-Relatively short battery life
-Touchpad can be oversensitive
-Bottom runs warm
-Capacitive function row lacks feedback
Judging by the name, you might think that the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a bigger version of Dell’s iconic laptop.
But it’s actually quite the opposite. This is as minimalist a design as we’ve ever seen from Dell.
There are just two ports. There’s no headphone jack. And Dell even took away physical function keys, replacing them with a capacitive row. There are not even lines to Denmark the touchpad; the entire area beneath the keyboard is one smooth piece of glass.
But the XPS 13 Plus isn’t just a design statement. Dell managed to pack a 28W 12th gen Core i7 processor into this sleek 2.7-pound machine. And the result is a system that can outperform even the mighty MacBook Pro M2 on some tests. However, the short battery life and capacitive function row will give some pause. We also found the bottom gets a bit toasty when running at full power, so keep that in mind to avoid a scorched lap!
Read our full Dell XPS 13 Plus review.
Not interested in the Plus? Don't miss our Dell XPS 13 OLED review -- the base XPS 13 is still a great laptop that we recommend often.
Apple MacBook Air M1 (late 2020)
5. Apple MacBook Air M1 (late 2020)
The best college laptop for iPhone users
SPECIFICATIONS
Display: 13.3 inches; 2,560 x 1,600CPU: Apple M1GPU: Integrated 8-core GPURAM: 8GB-16GBStorage: 256GB-2TB SSDWeight: 2.8 pounds
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REASONS TO BUY
+Remarkably fast performance
+Strong legacy app support
+Amazingly long battery life
REASONS TO AVOID
-Still has thick bezels
-Light on ports
The 2020 MacBook Air will keep its charge through multiple classes, breaks, and all-nighters. We mean that, as it survived on Tom's Guide battery test for 14 hours and 41 minutes, the longest-lasting MacBook Air ever. Its performance is also seriously faster: the M1 chip makes the MacBook Air a shockingly decent system in multiple ways. Not only did it run Rise of the Tomb Raider smoothly, but that was a Rosetta 2 conversion of that Intel app.
Plus, you can run iOS and iPadOS apps on the MacBook Air, as its M1 processor is similar to the A-series iPhone and iPad processors. Living the remote learning life? You'll look clearer and more accurate than ever, as signal processing in the M1 makes the MacBook Air webcam better than ever. Also, its Magic Keyboard is really great for typing comfortably for hours on end.
Read our full Apple MacBook Air M1 (late 2020) review.
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