Intro:
We've tested over $100,000 worth of laptops all in the past 12 months, and when you use these laptops side by side just like we do, it becomes so obvious which are exceptional and which are not. So today, I'm going to tell you the best laptops that you can buy right now.
Let's start with budget shoppers. If you're strapped for cash and shopping for a laptop, there are two that just punch well above their weight: the HP Pavilion Plus 14 and the Asus Zen book 14. I got two different colors here. Both these laptops can regularly be found for less than $800, often much less. Both come with Intel or AMD latest processors which deliver plenty of performance for school, office work, and browsing the web, even for some performance tasks like coding.
The Pavilion Plus offers a ton of configuration options that are very reasonably priced, including a high-resolution, fast refresh rate OLED display. Its main downside, though, is that the laptop looks and feels a bit cheap, and on occasion, you will hear some fan noise. The Zen book 14, on the other hand, gives you a more premium laptop experience, which is rare at this price point. Its chassis feels high quality and it comes with an OLED display by default.
HP Pavilion Plus 14:
But this year's Zen book is not a pure step forward from last year's. The new models do have better performance; however, the older models had a more comfortable keyboard and their cheaper configurations came with a higher resolution display. So you may actually want to consider saving some money and buying an older 2023 Zen book on sale.
Now, what I'm giving you today is a snapshot of why these laptops made this list. If you want to see our full rationale, including all the pros and cons, you'll find it on our website along with links to any videos where we talk about these laptops. For value shoppers, if you're looking to stretch your dollar as far as possible, the Idea Pad Pro 5 is the ultimate bang-for-your-buck laptop. For around $1,000, you get a powerful Intel or AMD processor, 16GB of memory, and dedicated graphics, up to a respectable RTX 4050. You'll get a choice of two quite decent 16-inch panels.
Features:
The one I recommend is the 2560 x 1600 display. The keyboard is also comfortable, and the laptop is compact and feels well-built. Its main downsides are that it can do everything well, but it's not great at any one thing. For example, if all you're doing is gaming, you'd be better off buying a laptop with a more powerful RTX 4060, which you can find at this price point. That being said, that laptop will likely have more material downsides in other areas, so if you want to do a bit of everything at a reasonable price, the Idea Pad Pro 5 is the way to go.
But you may want to get an external webcam, as the one in this laptop just sucks. For casual users, if you're looking for the best laptop for light use, like school work, office work, or browsing the web, the HP Spectre 14 or the MacBook Air is what you want. The HP Spectre 14 looks and feels premium and it comes with an excellent OLED display. It has one of the most satisfying keyboards on the market and it doesn't have an overabundance of fan noise or heat. Yet its performance is good for a laptop this size. You'll be able to enjoy some sports games as well as other titles due to this laptop's solid integrated GPU.
And if you want to convert your laptop into a tablet and draw on it, this one has you covered. Finally, its pricing is extremely competitive. The 16GB of RAM, 1TB model has an MSRP of around $1,600 and the 32GB of memory, 2TB model goes for $1,900. But these laptops are notorious for going on massive sales, so make sure you check our website regularly as that's where we post the best deals. Now, when it comes to cons of the Spectre, the trackpad does have occasional palm rejection issues. Your cursor may randomly jump to a location that you didn't intend, and other than that, it is noticeably heavier than the next laptop, the MacBook Air.
MacBook Air:
The MacBook Air is the laptop you buy and just don't have to worry about. In contrast to other laptops, there's no fan noise at all. It never gets warm to the touch, and it has long battery life. This is, of course, due to Apple's excellent M series of processors, which are not only power efficient but very powerful, particularly in graphical tasks, where the Air runs circles around its Windows competitors. This makes things like programming and video editing very possible on this laptop, so long as your projects are simple. The main issue with the Air, though, is that the base version is deceivingly well-priced at $1,100, but it only comes with 8GB of memory and 256GB of storage, which is very restrictive, and if you don't upgrade at the time of purchase, there's nothing you can do about it, as Apple laptops can't be upgraded after you buy them. On the flip side, if you do upgrade, this laptop quickly becomes expensive. Finally, the keyboard feels low travel, which means it isn't the most comfortable, and the display is still stuck at 60Hz. For gamers, we spent more time debating our picks for you than every other category combined.
Features:
That's because there is just no clear winner right now. You see, every gaming laptop has material cons, so it's about picking one that has issues that you can live with. With that said, here's our short list. If you're searching for a portable gaming laptop, we've tested them all. Shoving high-powered components inside a small Windows laptop just doesn't really work right now. You get a combination of heat, fan noise, or poor battery life. The only laptop that bucked this trend is the HP Omen Transcend 14, but what it does to achieve this, you may not like. It feeds its dedicated graphics less power than other competing laptops.
This results in around 75% performance of what its GPU is capable of. We think the trade-off is worth it, but if you don't, the Legion Slim 514 is the one I'd recommend instead, but it is a much bigger and heavier laptop, so you do lose out on portability. Now, if you want a substantially better gaming experience and you don't need that much portability, the Legion 7i is the one to get. The Legion 7i in Glacier White looks stunning.
It has an extremely powerful CPU inside, and its RTX 4070 is fed plenty of power. It has a stunning looking screen, which gives you all the gamer bells and whistles. Its keyboard is one of the most comfortable to type on, and its memory and storage are upgradeable. Finally, at an MSRP of $2,000 for a fully loaded version with 32GB of memory, you get a lot for your money.
Its biggest downside, though, is that it is a very warm-feeling laptop, even in light use. That's what happens when you put Intel's most powerful laptop processor in a chassis this size. Lenovo really should have used Intel's more efficient Core Ultra processor. You would have gotten less CPU performance, but it would have been a more comfortable experience. And on that note, if you don't like a warm-feeling laptop and you want excellent portability without sacrificing much gaming performance, the new Asus ROG Strik G16 is the one to get.
This laptop is very slim and portable. Its OLED screen is stunning, and it feels premium. We didn't recommend it in the past due to its excessive fan noise in light use. With the new BIOS, though, this issue has been resolved. However, this laptop is still loud in gaming, with high-pitched fan noise, so you will notice it more than others.
And we only recommend the 4080 and 4090 versions. They use a vapor chamber cooling solution. The 470 and 4060 versions have a third fan, and that makes the fan noise significantly worse. It seems the airflow to that fan is constricted, causing a light high-pitched whistling sound.
Now, the only powerful gaming laptop that solves both heat and fan noise is my favorite, the Alien ware X16 R2. The Alien ware is the coolest and quietest gaming laptop, which makes it a delight to game on, and in light use, it is dead silent and feels cold.
Conclusion:
This is made possible by its beefy four-fan cooling solution combined with Intel's Core Ultra processor. Also, its optional Cherry MX keyboard unlocks a god-tier typing experience. But this laptop is not for everyone. Its screen is ridiculously dim for a laptop at this price point, and it is ludicrously expensive. It's also an unusually large laptop, so it won't fit in a standard laptop sleeve or a backpack, and that Cherry MX keyboard is loud and has an annoying ring to it. This is solvable, though, if you just buy the base keyboard. It is still very good, and it will save you $100. All right, if you're looking for the best laptop for Home? Feed back us
Which laptop you prefer in 2024 most?
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