Best Laptops for College Students in 2024

The back to school season is finally here, folks. And it’s that time you need to score the best laptop that straddles the delicate line between good value for money and reliable performance, while also packing enough battery life to see you through an entire day at school.

With all these considerations, I’ve curated a list of the best laptops for students spanning all ages – whether you’re looking to pick up an affordable notebook for an elementary student or something more powerful for a college freshman, we’ve got several options to choose from right here.

Picking the right college laptop can feel like homework itself. There are lots of laptops with different specs, and if you’re lucky you can get some help by checking out the recommendations from your school or department. In my opinion, price-for-performance should be the top consideration when buying a laptop for school or university. Other factors should be portability and battery life unless your school recommends something specific.

This semester, the latest parts in laptops include the all-new Intel Core Ultra CPUs, AMD Ryzen AI 300 processors, Apple M3 chips, and Nvidia’s RTX 4—4-series GPUs.

You can check out our best budget laptops if you’re looking for something super-affordable. Still, all laptops in this list offer incredible bang for the buck, balancing price and performance, meaning you’re getting tremendous value for money – I’ve included options for specific needs, like 2-in-1 laptops for students who need a touchscreen device for digital majors and of course, the excellent Apple MacBook Air (M3) for students in creative majors.

So, whether you need an absolute workhorse capable of handling web browsing and typing away college assignments or simply looking for something specialized for creative arts or advanced programming, we’ve you covered.

From experience, here are the best laptops for college students that we can recommend!

The Quick List

Don’t have time to read through the entire article? Here’s a brief overview of the laptops in this list, but you can read further to see why each laptop makes it to our top list.

• Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3, 2024)
• Asus ZenBook 14 OLED
• Acer Aspire Go 15
• Lenovo Flex 5i
• HP Spectre x360 (2024)
• MSI Cyborg 15

Best Laptops for College Students in 2024

1. Apple MacBook Air 13-inch (M3, 2024) – Best Overall

Apple’s latest flagship, the thin and fanless MacBook Air with the M3 chip, will definitely be the most popular machine on college campuses this fall. Apple is already popular as a brand, but the M3 Air brings over performance and long battery life that are sure to back it up.

If you’re a student in the creative space – or a serious content creation hobbyist – then nothing beats the MacBook Air in your top list for the best laptop. It boasts Apple’s M-Series silicon which is unparalleled when it comes to handling creative workloads, and the latest 13-inch MacBook Air crams all that processing power in a sleek, compact, and portable metal chassis. And its battery life is just phenomenal.

Our suggested Apple MacBook Air model:

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2. Asus ZenBook 14 OLED – Best For creatives

The Asus ZenBook 14 OLED is a fantastic choice for students, thanks to its outstanding battery life, speedy overall performance, and charming OLED display. It’s cheaper than our current top pick – Apple’s MacBook Air M3, but it offers almost twice the storage, has a higher resolution screen, and a very comfortable keyboard.

If need a Windows alternative to the MacOS in the MacBook Air, then this should be it. Or, if you’re looking to save a hundred bucks or so, the Asus ZenBook 14 OLED is a great option. Movies and games look realistic and vibrant on the 14-inch 1200p display and the 75-watt-hour battery lasts a whopping 16 hours on a single charge. At just 2.82 pounds, this svelte laptop won’t be too heavy in a backpack, not at all.

Our suggested Asus ZenBook 14 OLED model:

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3. Acer Aspire Go 15 – Best Value

We think the Acer Aspire Go 15 is hands-down the best laptop for students on a tight budget, and one of the cheapest recommendable laptops running Windows 11. In fact, this laptop costs less than some Chromebooks, but without the limitations that come with using Chrome OS.

There are a few caveats, though. This Aspire Go isn’t designed to run graphically demanding applications, but it’s perfectly fine for younger school-aged children, and of course, anyone looking for a laptop for basic word processing and light media consumption. What it lacks in features, it makes up for in utility, as it offers 10 hours of battery life and a surprisingly comfortable keyboard.

See our full: Acer Aspire Go 15 Review

Our suggested Acer Aspire Go 15 model:

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4. Lenovo Flex 5i – Best Chromebook

The Lenovo Flex 5i is a great, affordable Chromebook that offers a convertible design, peppy performance, a comfortable keyboard, and a touchscreen display. It sports a luxurious aluminum finish on the chassis, and that makes it feel three or four times as expensive. The keyboard is a dream to type on, and the 1200p display delivers sharp, colorful visuals.

We feel this is a great option for anyone who prefers using Google’s ecosystem and mostly works online. The gorgeous touchscreen display and convertible design give the Flex 5i an edge over other Chromebooks and even some Windows laptops. While the nine-hour battery isn’t the best we’ve seen on a Chromebook, it’s still enough to last a full day at school and then some.

Our suggested Lenovo Flex 5i model:

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5. HP Spectre x360 (2024) – Best 2-in-1

Most students opt for a 2-in-1 laptop for college and university as an alternative to using both a laptop and a separate tablet for drawing and note-taking. The HP Spectre x360 is a beautiful laptop with a 16:10 display and an aluminum chassis that feels premium – more reason why this laptop commands a high price.

The HP Spectre x360 (2024) model in particular is a great choice for students, offering a 14-inch OLED display, with an included magnetic stylus for digital artwork and note-taking, and its super sleek and portable design makes it great for traveling around campus. You can also use it in tent mode for watching movies, and it gets a strong hinge so you’re confident it will fold smoothly.

Our suggested HP Spectre x360 model:

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6. MSI Cyborg 15 – Best Gaming Laptop

Even the most dedicated of students need some downtime, but even the best cheap gaming laptops can cost more than a student on a budget can afford. Fortunately, for them, the MSI Cyborg 15, is almost tailor-made for their academic and non-academic demands. While it may not have the portability of the Apple MacBook Air or Dell XPS 14, this Cyborg 15 is still fairly manageable for a gaming laptop.

What’s more, its specs include an Intel Core i7 and an RTX 4060 GPU, and plenty of RAM, so performance isn’t going to be too much of an issue. Overall, it offers fantastic value for a midrange gaming laptop with a dedicated GPU, that can handle design-intensive work well. This GPU will allow it to handle beefy animation tasks fluently, and thanks to Nvidia’s AI toolbox, you can be assured of strong horsepower.

See our full: MSI Cyborg 15 Review

Our suggested MSI Cyborg 15 model:

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How to Choose the Best Student Laptop

Getting the best laptop for college doesn’t have to be a difficult undertaking – in fact, you need to consider four aspects/steps and you’re done:

Step 1: How will you be using your laptop?

Here is where you need to get it right. Will you be using the laptop for CPU-intensive applications like Adobe Premiere Pro, run intensive Triple-A games, or run programming, for which you need a beefier CPU and maybe a dedicated graphics card? If that is the case, anything with an Intel Core i5 CPU and above is preferable. You can configure it with 8-16GB RAM and a fast-paced SSD memory (256GB is fine, you can supplement it later with an external drive).

Or else, if all you need is to get to the internet, process Microsoft Office Suite documents, and watch videos when done with schoolwork, you can settle on a cheaper CPU with lower RAM and less storage.

Step 2: How portable should the ideal laptop be?

If you’ll commuting daily to college, or your college days will involve considerable travel, you’ll need a lightweight laptop with a solid build. You can easily consider a 2-in-1 ultraportable, that you can use in different modes –tent, tablet, or can even be detached when needed.

Also, look for something with reliable battery life, with ultra-portables having the best battery around, as they can last just over 10 hours on a single charge.

Otherwise, if you’ll be taking your classes from specified stations, you can settle for a standard clamshell design in the 14-inch realm, as they offer between 3.5-6 hours of battery life and tend to cost less.

Step 3: A backlit keyboard or multi-touch pad?

If your major includes extensive writing or interaction with the keyboard – maybe creative writing, graphic design, or computer programming – choose a laptop with an ergonomic, comfortable, and backlit keyboard. The touchpad should also be well positioned, and comfortable and must support multi-touch gestures.

Step 4: A dedicated or integrated graphics card?

For college majors that entail multimedia content creation, STEM, graphic design, or arts, a dedicated graphics card would be better. While you can get one with an integrated graphics card but still deliver on your project (especially the Apple MacBook Pro), consider one that has a dedicated GPU if your budget allows.

Last update on 2024-12-21 at 08:06 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API