The best student laptops not only help you study – with reliable performance and features that foster productivity – they're also great for streaming, gaming, and video calling friends and family (very useful if you happen to be studying away from home).
Despite the stereotype around students being lazy, student life really isn't all about getting up at noon and partying late into the night. Being a student can be hard: and a decent laptop is needed to support your studies and also help you chill out.
However, decent doesn't necessarily mean 'most expensive'. Students love saving money, and here I've tried to favour models that won't break your balance – because we want you to be able to eat as well. Your parents are worried about you.
Included in the list below you should be able to find something suitable for you, however old you are or wherever you're studying. Be sure to also check out our guides to the best Chromebooks, best MacBooks, or the best laptops for Windows.
We've given this whole student laptop list a big revamp and refresh, to bring you the very latest models – and the laptops that are most suitable for your education.
T3's top picks
The Asus Zenbook A14 gets the nod as the best student laptop for most people: it balances performance and price in a really compact and neat package that's easy to carry around between libraries, lecture halls, and wherever else you're working.
There's a lot to like about MacBooks if you're a student, from the lightweight design and smart engineering, to the stacks of software you get included for free – and the MacBook Air is more compact and less expensive than the MacBook Pro option.
If you have the budget for you, then the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro is an excellent premium pick if you're a student who prefers Windows. It comes packed with power, offers a stylish design, and brings with it battery life that's going to last all day.
The best student laptop for most people
There are certain categories that a laptop needs to score highly in if it's going to be a contender for best student laptop, and the Asus Zenbook A14 definitely fits the bill: it's light enough to carry around all day, it has enough battery life that you won't need to be searching for a charger before hometime, and it offers speedy performance too.
In our Asus Zenbook A14 review, we mentioned that it might be the "perfect answer" for those looking for a lightweight Windows laptop (which is most students): we described it as offering "pure portability bliss", even if it's not going to give you best-in-class specs in terms of performance or the display (which is reflected in the price).
The Snapdragon processor and 16GB of RAM are more than enough for everyday student computing, while the 1TB of on-board storage gives you plenty of room for your documents, photos, and videos. Really though it's the portability and size that stands out – this is a laptop that's going to feel right at home in a backpack.
The best premium Mac laptop for students
The MacBook Air series needs no introduction of course, and it's always been popular with students for its compact form factor, software capabilities, and performance – and the 15-inch MacBook Air (M4, 2025) is no different. It's a fantastic laptop that can take your computing to the next level, as long as you're not put off by the pricing.
While the cost of the entry-level M4 MacBook Air isn't extortionate, as soon as you start to spec it up, you'll find yourself paying more and more money – and so I've described it here as the best premium laptop for students. Those optional upgrades do genuinely add to the speed and capabilities of this Apple laptop, however.
In our full MacBook Air (M4, 2025) review we had lots of praise to heap on top of this laptop, describing it as offering "both power and portability unlike anything else in the market", even if it's not really much of an upgrade over the M3 version. It's a reliable laptop that's going to last you years and years, as your education continues.
The best premium Windows laptop for students
As a student you're probably going to want to cut down on expenses as much as possible, but if you do have cash to spend, then the Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro is a great laptop to spend it on: it'll more than pay you back in terms of the superb service it gives you over a number of years, and it's one of our favourite laptops right now.
Have a read through our Samsung Galaxy Book 5 Pro review and you'll see why: we described it as a "pleasure to use", offering "eye-catching looks", "plenty of connectivity options" and "battery life to see you the day". You can find laptops with more power inside, but this has more than enough for your essay writing and email checking.
When the working day is done, the AMOLED screen is perfect for some movie watching, and there are even some decent speakers built in here (not always a given). If you're looking for a premium laptop for your studies and Windows is the way you want to go, then you're not going to do much better than the Galaxy Book 5 Pro.
The best 2-in-1 student laptop
There's an awful lot to like about the Microsoft Surface Pro 11, from the understated and lightweight design to the performance offered by the new Snapdragon X Elite chips from Qualcomm – because these are based on an ARM-esque architecture, you may run into some app compatibility issues, but they are few and far between.
Crucially, the main chipset gives you speedy performance without too much in the way of battery drain, and that means you can keep moving from lectures to the library to your bedroom without needing to constantly recharge the Surface. You will need the optional keyboard accessory though, for the full tablet+laptop experience.
In our Microsoft Surface Pro 11 review, you'll see we called the device "the biggest glow-up this family has had for some time", and a "tour de force in the Windows laptop space". All of that makes it worth the rather steep asking price (especially steep when you factor in the keyboard), and my pick for the best 2-in-1 laptop for students.
The best all rounder laptop for students
The Dell XPS series has long been a favourite of ours here at T3, and it's no different with the latest Dell XPS 14, a laptop which sits in the middle of the current series (between the 13-inch and the 16-inch) when it comes to size and portability – perfect if you're studying and need to carry a powerful laptop around from place to place.
Our Dell XPS 14 review sums it up rather well: it's described as a "sleek, stylish laptop" that has "no problems powering through tasks", with "great battery life" and "a gorgeous OLED screen". You can even equip it with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, though don't expect too much in terms of high-end gaming performance.
One of the standout features here is the 3.2K OLED screen (though you can save some money by going for a cheaper, lower-resolution panel), which makes everything look fantastic, from movies to essays – and which will keep you going long into the night on those occasions when you have to forgo some sleep in order to hit a deadline.
The best big screen student laptop
There are quite a few reasons why you might want a big screen laptop for your studies – whether you need the additional screen real estate for essays or TV bingeing sessions – and the HP Envy 17 fits the bill. As it comes from HP, with a wealth of experience in making all kinds of laptops, you know it's going to last and keep going for some time.
Among the features that make this laptop appealing, besides the large display (which is touchscreen enabled), we have dedicated Nvidia graphics for a bit of gaming, superior on-board audio, lots of connectivity options, and enough in the way of performance and storage that all your day-to-day computing needs will be covered.
For more details head on over to our full HP Envy 17 review, which talks about the laptop being "absolutely worth considering" for fans of bigger displays, with performance that hits the "mid-range sweet spot". It's a laptop that's a real pleasure to use, and that counts for a lot when you're going to be spending a lot of hours on it.
How to choose the best student laptop
We hope our student laptop guide proves invaluable for anyone out there shopping for a system that's capable, decent value, and a boon to your productivity. We're constantly updating this list too with newer models and updated information, so be sure to keep checking back regularly, and we've also included some clutch buying advice to help you narrow down the ideal learning tool for going back to school.
Today's computers need to be able to do much more than the primitive number-crunchers of old. They need to support a huge range of software, given that several courses have special requirements, as well as the standard office packages.
These laptops need to be able to run high-resolution video lectures without juddering of course, while a set of good speakers always comes in handy when listening to teachers (or pumping out music). These machines have to be affordable too, given the increased cost of schooling all round the world.
Integrated webcams are important as well, for web lectures and broadcast media-related courses, but these are now included as standard on every laptop – you'd be hard pushed to find a model without one now.
How we test the best student laptops
Laptops are very versatile and powerful tools, which means that there is a lot to consider when buying one. As such, we approach testing student laptops with this in mind, parsing down the process according to what a buyer would consider in store.
Firstly, we evaluate the build quality and design of the system. Here we're looking for signs of robustness and quality, as well as overall fit and finish. It is at this stage that we also evaluate the student laptop's screen, judging its colour balance, fidelity and features, such as anti-glare coatings or tiny bezels.
Next up we evaluate the student laptop purely from a hardware point of view, both on paper and in practice. So we check out its core specifications, such as processor, RAM, storage capacity and graphics chip, before benchmarking the overall package with a brace of benchmarking tools.
We then move onto the more experiential side of the reviewing process, which encompasses what the laptop's operating system and software are like to use, as well as how it performs in the real world – such as, how is the student laptop to carry round, or how well does it perform in a coffee shop.
Lastly, we take a look at any of the system's noteworthy features, such as RGB lighting systems, mechanical keyboards, built-in webcams, touchscreens, rotating screens, stylus support, biometric sign-in options and more. We also provide a rough, real-world take on the system's battery life at this point, too.
Only after these stages are complete do we officially score the student laptop, with a 5-star system (1 being the worst, and 5 being the best) used. If the student laptop scores highly, it is then considered for T3's best student laptop buying guide, which is designed to showcase the very best systems on the market.
See T3's How We Test page for full information on how we test all our products for review.
FAQs
We understand that choosing the best laptop for your studies isn't always as straightforward as it might be – and these frequently asked questions should help in deciding which laptop is the best for you.
Which specs matter most?
There are three key specs that dictate laptop performance: the CPU is raw processing power, the RAM is a computer's 'thinking space', and the storage is where all your files and apps are kept. In each case you generally need as much as you can afford, though everyday computing needs lower specs than you might think.
Check our reviews for details of real world performance compared to the 'on paper' specs. In some cases you might also see a dedicated graphics card listed, which will improve the visuals of everything you're doing, but probably isn't essential unless you want to do some gaming.
What about the display?
The first spec to consider with the display is the size: larger means everything is easier to see, but the laptop will be less portability. Display resolution is important too, because it affects text and image sharpness, and actually dictates how much you can fit on screen more than its physical size.
As for the display type, OLED remains the best – although it's also the most expensive. You'll still be perfectly fine with other display technologies if you'd rather pay less, and these alternatives are actually catching up to OLED in some respects. Also, check for touchscreen support, if you want it.
What else am I looking for?
Before you buy any laptop – whether you're a student or not – you need to spend some time thinking about how you're going to use it. If you do, your purchasing decision will be a much smarter one. Unless you're watching a lot of movies for example, you probably don't need a widescreen display.
If you want to be able to hook up accessories like an external monitor or printer, make sure you've got the ports and connections to cope. And also pay a lot of attention to battery life, because you don't want your laptop to die on you while you're out and about in the library or in a lecture hall.
Reviewer panel
Andrew is a laptop and computing specialist with a wealth of experience writing reviews for T3. He always puts in the maximum possible amount of testing work, so you can be sure his laptop reviews are thorough and comprehensive.
As the Editor-in-Chief of T3.com, Mat has a wealth of experience writing and commissioning laptop reviews, so he knows what he's talking about when it comes to picking the right laptop for every kind of requirement – including education.
Dave is well into his third decade of writing about technology, which means that he's reviewed more laptops than he can remember. He was also a student, once upon a time, so he knows what's required when it comes to finding tech that can help.
Richard has been writing about a wide variety of tech for decades at this point, and he's right up to date with all the latest developments in laptops. When it comes to laptop reviews, he covers all the key features and specs you need to know about.
