Image: Dominik Tomaszewski / Foundry
Picking up a new laptop can be an arduous task for some. How big should the screen be? Which CPU should I get? What about battery life? If you’re feeling overwhelmed, don’t sweat it, as we did much of the heavy lifting for you. Whether you’re in the market for a blazing fast gaming laptop or a portable workhorse, we’ve got something for every type of buyer.
Why you should trust us: Hey, it’s in our name! PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and we now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget.
Looking for great laptop deals? Check out our regularly updated roundup of the best laptop deals available right now.
Note 2/16/2024: Since our last update, we’ve published a total of four new laptop reviews. You’ll find a brief synopsis of those reviews below. We’ve also changed the format of this roundup. Each individual blurb now contains new sections as well as new pros and cons.
- HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook: The HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook offers fast performance, a lightweight design, and a reliable build, but you’ll pay out the nose for its premium quality.
- HP Elitebook 640 G10: The HP Elitebook 640 G10 is an affordable business notebook that runs near-silent and lasts 13 hours on a single charge. You won’t find a better laptop with integrated 4G at this price.
- Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4: The Lenovo ThinkPad L13 Yoga Gen 4 laptop is a lightweight, flexible PC with tablet-like convenience.
- HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14: The HP Pavilion Plus Laptop 14 gets the job done with its zippy CPU performance, gorgeous OLED display, and all-day battery life. It won’t break the bank, either.
Acer Aspire 3 – Best budget laptop
Pros
- Reliable performance
- 1080p display
- HD webcam
- Solid build
Cons
- Speakers sound tinny when playing music
- A little heavy
Price When Reviewed:
$329.99
Why we like the Acer Aspire 3
The Acer Aspire 3 laptop offers both reliable performance and a rugged build at an imminently affordable price. It’s fast enough for everyday tasks like checking e-mail, watching Netflix, and browsing the web. You’re also getting a full-sized keyboard as well as a 1080p screen.
Who should buy the Acer Aspire 3
Anyone who’s on a restricted budget! To get more specific, we feel as though the Acer Aspire 3 is a good option for students and remote workers. It’s inexpensive and the HD webcam produces “clean, crisp video” according to our review. That means you’ll always look your best on Zoom.
Read our full
Acer Aspire 3 review
Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 – Best midrange laptop
Pros
- All-day battery life
- Good graphics performance
- Reasonable price
Cons
- Light on ports
- Gets warm under heavy workloads
Price When Reviewed:
$1,249.99
Why we like the Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630
The Dell Inspiron 16 7630 packs a lot of power for the price thanks to the Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU. This machine can handle both day-to-day activity and some gaming. The 1600p display also has a taller 16:10 aspect ratio screen, which is ideal for office work. The battery lasted over 11 hours on a single charge.
Who should buy the Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630
The Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 is great for young professionals, students, or anyone who’s looking for a powerful yet affordable machine. The battery will last you a full work day and then some, and it can pull double duty playing games.
Read our full
Dell Inspiron Plus 16 7630 review
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus – Best Chromebook
Pros
- Snappy day-to-day performance
- Versatile 2-in-1 design
- Good typing experience
Cons
- Stylus not included
- Heavier than expected
Price When Reviewed:
$499
Why we like the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
From the convertible design to the beautiful touchscreen, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus has a lot to offer, especially for under $500. The 2-in-1 design allows you to swing the screen around and use the laptop like a tablet, upping the versatility factor. You can also expect snappy day-to-day performance as well as lightning fast boot-up times.
Who should buy the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
If you’re looking to pick up a premium laptop without the premium price tag, then the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a fine choice. It’s truly a cut above the rest with its sturdy construction, reasonable price point, versatile 2-in-1 design, and zippy performance.
Read our full
Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review
HP Dragonfly G4 – Best ultraportable
Pros
- Fast performance
- Lightweight
- Sure View privacy filter
- Lots of connectivity options
Why we like the HP Dragonfly G4
Weighing just 2.64 pounds, the HP Dragonfly G4 is so lightweight it may very well float up into the clouds. In addition to its featherlight form factor, it also boasts a whopping 17.5 hours of battery life, which means it’s equipped to handle long international flights and commutes. The Sure View privacy filter also prevents others from getting a clear view of your screen, which is useful if you’re working with sensitive documents.
Who should buy the HP Dragonfly G4
This is the perfect machine for frequent travelers due to its incredibly low weight and slim profile. It’s also a good option for office workers because of the Sure View privacy filter and the taller screen, as more vertical pixels means more room for scrolling through documents and working on spreadsheets.
Read our full
HP Dragonfly G4 review
Acer Swift Edge 16 – Best budget ultraportable
Pros
- Gorgeous OLED display
- Lightweight
- Strong CPU performance
Cons
- Mediocre battery life
- Weak speakers
- Keyboard and touchpad are just OK
Price When Reviewed:
$1,299.99
Why we like the Acer Swift Edge 16
The Acer Swift Edge 16 is lightweight, affordable, and powerful. It weighs just 2.71 pounds, which is a little heavier than our top ultraportable pick. The 2000p OLED screen is super vibrant, too. According to the review, the display “delivers an infinite contrast ratio and deep, inky black levels that produce convincing shadows in dark scenes.”
Who should buy the Acer Swift Edge 16
If you’re looking for a reasonably priced ultraportable under 3 pounds, the sub-$1,000 Acer Swift Edge 16 is the one to pick. It’s also light enough to take with you from class to class or meeting to meeting. The display is also fantastic for office work, school work, watching movies, and so on.
Read our full
Acer Swift Edge 16 review
Razer Blade 14 (2023) – Best gaming laptop
Pros
- Lightweight
- Powerful
- Superb display
Cons
- Keys feel mushy
- Audio sounds flat
Price When Reviewed:
2799.99
Why we like the Razer Blade 14
The Razer Blade 14 is a real standout because it’s both portable and powerful, a rare combination among gaming laptops. It weighs a little over four pounds, which is impressive, as most gaming laptops tip the scales at six pounds or more. It also comes with an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, so it’s powerful enough to run most games (even those fast-paced, competitive ones) on the High or Ultra graphics preset.
Who should buy the Razer Blade 14
The Razer Blade 14 is a fantastic option if you’re looking for the ultimate gaming experience. The 14-inch 1600p, 240Hz display produces stunning visuals and the laptop itself is lightweight enough to go with you anywhere. The biggest caveat is the high price tag, as it costs north of $2,000.
Read our full
Razer Blade 14 (2023) review
MSI Thin GF63 (2023) – Best budget gaming laptop
Pros
- Attractive backlighting
- 1080p display
- Decent port selection
- Full-sized keyboard
Cons
- Disappointing speakers
- Can run hot under intensive loads
Price When Reviewed:
$852
Why we like the MSI Thin GF63
The MSI Thin GF63 is lightweight, affordable, and packs a good amount of power for 1080p gaming. This sub-$1,000 gaming rig is packing an Intel Core i7-12650H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU. It’ll fly through most games on the Medium or High graphics preset, but we’d recommend scaling things back for more visually demanding titles. The 15.6-inch 1080p display also has a refresh rate of 144Hz, which means you can expect smooth gameplay.
Who should buy the MSI Thin GF63
The MSI Thin GF63 works as either a budget gaming machine or a general-purpose laptop, which is why we feel it’s a good option for college students or anyone looking to save money. It also weighs just over four pounds, so it’s considerably portable for a gaming laptop. If you aren’t comfortable making some compromises to graphics fidelity, spending up for a laptop with a more powerful RTX 4060 inside would be a better option, but those notebooks cost significantly more. Budget gaming laptops require some compromises.
Read our full
MSI Thin GF63 (2023) review
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED – Best 2-in-1
Pros
- Long battery life
- Connectivity includes two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Fast performance
Cons
- Function keys are small
- The display is a little dim
Price When Reviewed:
1199.99
Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED checks off a ton of boxes. It has a gorgeous OLED display, a zippy CPU, and a versatile 2-in-1 design. You can flip the screen around and use it like a tablet or prop the device up like a tent if you so wish. Colors on the 1800p OLED display are also “remarkably bright and saturated,” according to our review. The battery also lasted 12 hours on a single charge, which is nothing to sneeze at.
Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED
The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip is a good option for business professionals because of the convertible, lightweight design and the stunning OLED display. You can take this machine with you anywhere and you don’t have to worry about finding an outlet to charge up. How can you go wrong with that?
Read our full
Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED review
Dell XPS 17 (2023) – Best content creation laptop
Pros
- Powerful internals
- Big 17-inch display
- Amazing battery life
Price When Reviewed:
From $2,449 | Model reviewed $3,099
Why we like the Dell XPS 17
The Dell XPS 17 is one heck of a creation workhorse. It comes armed with an Intel Core i7-13700H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which means it’s powerful enough to handle editing and some gaming. This machine also has 1TB of SSD storage, which is perfect for storing videos or pictures. Dell also somehow managed to pack a 4K panel into this compact laptop.
Who should buy the Dell XPS 17
Content creators… duh! It’s a real powerhouse thanks to the internal components. Plus, 1TB is an ample amount of storage and the screen is a massive 17-inches. If you’re a video editor or photographer, you’ll need a lot of screen real estate as well as storage space. The one big downside is the price, as this machine costs well over $2,000.
Read our full
Dell XPS 17 9730 review
How we tested
The PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested. Chromebooks, on the other hand, go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook, as they’re Chrome OS-based machines.
Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.
Windows laptops
- PCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so on.
- HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It basically measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
- Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It does this by rendering a 2D scene over a short period of time.
- 3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips.
- Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies.
Chromebooks
- CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark tests a Chromebook’s battery life.
- Speedometer 2.0: This test determines a Chromebook’s web browser performance. It simulates this by adding, completing, and removing a to-do list.
- Basemark Web 3.0: This benchmark gauges how well a Chromebook can handle web-based applications.
- Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript performance benchmark.
- Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a combination of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This is a way to gauge how well a Chromebook runs advanced workloads.
FAQ
1.
What form factor is best for a laptop?
The first question you should ask yourself is what kind of laptop you’re looking for. There’s traditional clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and much more. The displays on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for example, can swing around 360 degrees. This allows you to use the laptop like a tablet. They can also be propped up like a tent for viewing movies or participating in video calls. Chromebooks, on the other hand, exclusively run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS and are generally used for everyday tasks. All you need is a Gmail account and boom, you’re in. There are pros and cons to each of them. Chromebooks are affordable and generally have good battery life whereas convertibles are normally lightweight and portable.
2.
How much processing power will I need in a laptop?
If it’s CPU power you’re looking for, look for processors with higher numerical names. A Core i7 is more suited to gaming and more intense work than everyday tasks. Intel processors are available in Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, and Core i9. The higher the number, the more powerful the CPU. If you don’t need a ton of power, Intel Core i5 processors are your best bet, as they offer good performance at a decent price. Basic office and web work gets along just fine on a Core i3. As for AMD options, the Ryzen 3 is good for basic productivity and web browsing, while Ryzen 5 chips rival Intel’s Core i5 as solid all-arounders. If you need more power, the Ryzen 7 chip is well suited for content creation like video editing. Finally, if you’re dealing with 4K video, spring for a Ryzen 9.
3.
Discrete graphics vs. integrated graphics?
You’ll want a discrete graphics card for hardcore gaming or editing videos. It’s separate from the processor, so you can expect higher performance out of it. Integrated graphics, on the other hand, are attached to the CPU and uses less power as a result. This is perfectly fine for everyday tasks, especially if you’re not doing anything that’s graphics-intensive.
4.
What much memory will I need in a laptop?
8GB of RAM is zippy enough for general use. If you’ve got a gaming laptop, 16GB of RAM is the way to go, and content creators will want even more.
5.
Do I need a big display on a laptop?
If you’re a video editor or someone who does a lot of multimedia work, you’ll want a display that’s anywhere from 15- to 17-inches. The sweet spot is really anywhere from 13- to 14-inches, though. The bigger the display, the heavier your laptop is going to be. A 13- or 14-inch display is the best in terms of portability and value.
6.
How long should my laptop last on a single charge?
If you plan on taking your laptop anywhere with you, aim for something that can last 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. That’s more than a full work day, so it should theoretically get you through long flights or a day of classes. Obviously, more is always better. Just know that the bigger the battery, the heavier the laptop. Read our round-up of the best laptop chargers.
7.
How much should I spend on a laptop?
The price really depends on your budget. If you’re strapped for cash (been there, trust me), go for a Chromebook or an entry-level business laptop. These laptops are good choices for students or young professionals. If you can afford to spend more, the versatility of a 2-in-1 laptop is really worth it.
8.
Are connectivity options important on a laptop?
A wide array of ports is always a plus in my book, as it eliminates the need for an adapter. I’d recommend a laptop that has both USB-C and USB-A. An HDMI port is good, too. This is especially useful for when you want to hook up to an external monitor.