The best Laptops 2024 are capable of handling work and play, comfortable enough to carry about all day, and efficient enough to guarantee that you won’t run out of battery life when you’re on the go.
Fortunately, there are many excellent laptops available to satisfy these demands, but this variety also makes it very difficult to choose the finest laptop for you. For not too much money, you may purchase a Chromebook or a small, quick Windows 11 laptop. Those with a bit more money can purchase a variety of the best laptops 2024 from manufacturers like Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and more.
To assist you in making a more informed decision, we test and evaluate dozens of laptops from leading manufacturers each year. Then, we compile the finest models into one simple-to-read list.
Every laptop on this list has been tested and approved by myself or one of my colleagues, so you can be sure that it has been used and approved by a real person.
You may therefore be sure to discover at least one excellent choice here, regardless of your needs—whether you’re looking for the greatest MacBook, a new gaming laptop, a cheap Chromebook, or a sleek, ultraportable!
1. Apple MacBook Air M3
The best laptop for the money
Details
Display: 13.6 inches; 2560×1664 CPU: Apple M3
GPU: 8-core or 10-core RAM: 8GB-24GB
Storage: 256GB-2TB SSD Weight: 2.7 pounds
Today’s Best Deals
(256GB)
(256GB)
(256GB)
Reasons to buy
1: +Powerful M3 performance
2: +Bright and colorful display
3: +Ultraportable design
4: +Exceptional battery life
5: +Dual monitor support
Reasons to avoid
1: -Marginally better performance over M2
What you need to know
As a superb all-a rounder, the MacBook Air M3 really lives up to the Air moniker. The M3 model is difficult to ignore even if it is nearly identical to the outstanding MacBook Air 13-inch M2, which had previously led this list.
The MacBook Air M3 (starting at $1,099) is an innovation in laptop design because Apple combined the lightning-fast M3 processor with the same incredibly portable chassis as its predecessor. It’s a powerful combination of mobility and performance, and for the majority of people, it’s among the greatest laptops for working on the go.
Design:
With the Apple logo facing out, the MacBook Air M3’s thinness makes it easy to confuse for an iPad when closed. This notebook is incredibly thin. This gadget makes an ordinary Bic pen appear bulky in comparison, as it measures only 0.44 inches thick when the lid is open.
However, don’t expect to receive many ports. Just two Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports and a MagSafe power adaptor are located along the left edge, as before. You do, at least, get a headphone jack.
Display:
With a resolution of 2,560 x 1,664 pixels and a pleasant brightness in person, the 13.6-inch display makes it a comfortable place to write emails, edit images, and view films, among other things.
Also performing well in our display testing was the MacBook Air M3. Using our light meter, we were able to measure its average brightness and found that it peaks at 496 nits when watching HDR content. That surpasses the 357-nit average brightness of the Dell XPS 13 OLED.
Performance:
The MacBook Air M2 scored 3,082 on the single-core CPU test and 12,087 on the multi-core test on Geek bench 6, which measures overall performance. Although the difference in performance between the old Air M1 and Air M3 is greatest, that is faster than both of its predecessors. See our detailed MacBook Air M3 benchmark results for more information!
Battery life:
For its price, the MacBook Air M3 has one of the longest batteries lives among laptops. The new Air performed better than average, averaging 15 hours and 13 minutes on the Tom’s Guide battery test.
| Test | Notes | How it stacks up |
| Battery life | 15:13 tested battery life | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Speedy, good for light work | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Thin and elegant, light on ports | ★★★★☆ |
| Display | Bright, colorful 13.6-inch panel | ★★★★☆ |
2. Asus Zenbook 13 OLED
Details
Display: 13.3-inch 1080p OLED CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U
GPU: Integrated Radeon graphics RAM: 8 GB Storage: 512 GB
Weight: 2.5 pounds
Today’s Best Deals
(512GB)
Reasons to buy
1: +Stellar battery life
2: +Beautiful 1080p OLED display
3: +Great performance
Reasons to avoid
1: -Middling sound quality
2: -Inconsistent webcam
3: -No headphone jack
What you need to know
Despite its age, the Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is still among the best deals on Windows laptops, offering excellent performance, long battery life, and a stunning OLED screen for less than $1,500.
Naturally, there will be trade-offs to be made. The webcam is horrible, the keyboard is not up to par, and there is no headphone jack. However, if you can live with such tradeoffs, the Asus Zenbook 13 OLED offers a lot of laptop for a reasonable price. Of course, that’s providing you can locate one. The Asus Zenbook S 13 OLED, for example, is a more recent model that offers better value. We’ve kept this laptop on our list for years because it’s such a wonderful price.
Design:
Measures just over 2.5 pounds and measures 11.98 x 7.99 x 0.55 inches, the Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is a lightweight and attractive desk companion.
Inside are muted black plastic tones with a spun-metal finish and an offset Asus logo on the lid. This thin ultraportable has a good number of connectors on the sides, including an HDMI out, a microSD card reader, and USB-C and USB-A ports. Although it’s unfortunate that there isn’t a headphone port, the laptop does include a USB-C adaptor in case you wish to use one.
Display:
This laptop’s 13.3-inch 1080p OLED display, which is stunning and vivid in person, is one of its main selling points. It’s uncommon to get an OLED display this nice on a laptop that costs less than $1,000. OLED displays frequently appear to display brighter brights, darker blacks, and deeper contrasts between light and shadow than typical IPS screens.
However, be advised that this laptop is not very bright, and reflections can make it difficult to see what you’re doing outside in direct sunshine. There’s no need to worry if your primary intention is to utilize it indoors.
Performance:
Our Zenbook 13 review unit’s AMD CPU showed to be more than capable of handling everyday computing work without any problems. You’ll note that it did so while just using a small amount of battery power when you glance down at your battery testing charts.
Be aware that this tenacious little laptop is not a great gamer due to its 8GB of RAM and lack of an internal laptop GPU, but it is more than capable for business and light gaming.
Battery life:
In our battery test, the Asus Zenbook 13 with OLED technology lasted for about 15 hours, which is amazing for a Windows laptop. That makes it competitive with the finest MacBooks, and it even outperformed the 13 hours that Asus claimed.
That’s an amazing amount of battery life, which should give you more confidence to carry your laptop on the go without needing to be charged.
|
Test |
Notes |
How it stacks up |
| Battery life | 15 hours of tested battery life | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Rapid enough for work, but not lightning fast | ★★★☆☆ |
| Display | Beautiful OLED screen, though not super-bright | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Small, elegant design (but no headphone jack) | ★★★☆☆ |
3. Dell XPS 15 OLED
Details
Display: 15.6-inch OLED touchscreen (3,456 x 2,160 pixels)
CPU: Intel Core i7-13700H GPU: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060
RAM: 32 GB Storage: 1TB SSD Weight: 4.23 pounds
Today’s Best Deals
(15.6-inch)
(15.6-inch)
(15.6-inch)
Reasons to buy
1: +Gorgeous 3.5K OLED display
2: +Impressive performance
3: +Sleek, elegant design
4: +Comfortable keyboard
Reasons to avoid
1: -Sub-par 720p camera
2: -Poor battery life
What you need to know
In terms of portability, cost, and performance, the Dell XPS 15 is the ideal Windows laptop.
The typical laptop screen size is from 13 to 18 inches, and the 15-inch display falls about in the center of that range. And even while it’s not as powerful as some gaming laptops or as light as some ultraportables, the XPS 15 is still a great all-around Windows notebook that, Top-tier models, if you’re prepared to pay for them, come with some quite powerful hardware.
The XPS 15’s excellent design and versatility make it one of the best Windows laptops you can purchase, even though it may get pricy if you want the best model (the OLED display upgrade is especially worth having if you can afford it, since it makes everything you do on the laptop appear nicer).
Style:
The Dell XPS 15 is somewhat portable at 13.6 x 9.1 x 0.73 inches and weighs about 4.2 pounds, but it is still a little heavier than laptops that place a higher priority on thin and light designs. You’ll feel it in your shoulders at the end of the day, even if you can fit it in your bag and carry it through a work or schoolday.
Display:
The XPS 15’s 15.6-inch display has a beautiful appearance and seems to float in the air because of its InfinityEdge display’s tiny bezels. On the big, stunning screen, working or watching movies looks amazing—especially if you choose the 3.5K OLED display update.
Performance:
If you outfit the Dell XPS 15 with the newest parts, it can perform admirably. Our review unit’s Intel CPU, 16GB RAM, and 512GB SSD made it more than fast enough for our needs at the time of review.
If you choose to upgrade this all-purpose ultraportable laptop with a discrete Nvidia laptop graphics card and additional RAM, it may also function as a respectable gaming laptop.
Life of a battery:
When you consider that many MacBooks survive 12–15 hours in the same tests, our Dell XPS 15 review unit lasted slightly over 10 hours. This is good but not amazing.
It is still far superior to many Windows laptops, though, such as the XPS 15 (2021) that came before it, which failed to last even eight hours in the same test. Additionally, the more recent XPS 15 outperformed gaming laptops like the Alienware x14 (5:35) and Windows ultraportables like the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 7 (8:06).
| Test | Notes | How it stacks up |
| Battery life | 8:86 tested battery life | ★★★☆☆ |
| Performance | It is quite fast thanks to the most recent Intel CPUs. | ★★★★★ |
| Display | If you can, invest in the 3.5K OLED option. | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Easy to carry and plenty of ports | ★★★★★ |
How to choose the best laptop for you
Kind of power that you desire?
A current laptop should have at least an Intel Core i3 processor and 4GB of RAM, so if all you need is something basic for online browsing, think about getting a Chromebook or an inexpensive Windows laptop. More robust laptops with at least an Intel Core i5 CPU from the last few years, 8 to 16GB of RAM, and a 256GB to 512GB SSD for storage are what you should go for if you want something that feels fast and can handle more than just writing and web browsing.
Which games are you interested in playing?
The integrated graphics chipsets found in the majority of laptops are often CPU-based, meaning that while they may often run older or less graphically demanding games, they typically have trouble handling demanding newer games. However, if you want to play the newest and best games on your portable PC, you should get a dedicated gaming laptop. These laptops have superior cooling systems, more RAM, discrete laptop graphics cards, and other improvements that make them ideal gaming machines. Naturally, purchasing a gaming laptop has some concessions that purchasing one of the finest gaming PCs does not require. A gaming laptop needs a large battery and enough space to allow heat to be released efficiently without overheating its internal components.
