The top laptops for college students, ranging from affordable options to high-performance workstations.
As the world becomes increasingly digitized, laptops have become a necessary tool for students in all areas of study. From taking notes in class to working on group projects, having a reliable and efficient laptop is essential for success in college. With so many options on the market, it can be overwhelming to choose the best one. To help, we’ve compiled a list of the best laptops for college students, taking into consideration factors such as performance, battery life, portability, and budget. Whether you’re looking for a laptop for general use, graphic design, or gaming, our list has got you covered.
Bestt College Laptops
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
–Plastic touchpad
–No IR camera option
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
– Still has a 720p webcam
For those who prefer macOS over Windows, the Apple MacBook Air is a great option. The MacBook Air M1, which is available for students, provides excellent performance and has a long battery life of 14 hours and 41 minutes. This makes it a great choice for college students who are looking for value for their money.
Compared to the MacBook Pro, the MacBook Air is more affordable and is also pin-drop silent due to its fanless design. Additionally, it’s more portable, with a thickness of only 0.6 inches and a weight of 2.8 pounds. While the MacBook Pro offers better sustained performance, the MacBook Air is the better choice for most students who are looking for their perfect college laptop.
3. Dell XPS 13
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
The Dell XPS 13 is the perfect laptop for college students who need a powerful and reliable device for both work and play. With its 11th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and Intel Iris Xe graphics, the laptop offers top-notch performance, while its more than 11 hours of battery life ensure that you have plenty of time for both work and entertainment.
Despite its compact size, the XPS 13 features a larger trackpad and keyboard, as well as a 13.4-inch near-bezelless display, making it a beautiful and functional device. If you’re looking for a laptop that offers the complete package, the Dell XPS 13 is the way to go.
4. Acer Swift 5
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
– Speakers could be louder
The current generation of the Swift 5 laptop is a remarkable upgrade from its predecessor, offering top-notch performance, stunning design, and a reasonable price tag. Despite a small increase in price, the Swift 5 boasts a faster SSD, improved video transcoding, and lightning-fast file transfer speeds, all while maintaining its lightweight and attractive dark-green-and-gold color scheme.
While it may come with some pre-installed bloatware apps and weak speakers, the former can easily be removed with just a few minutes of effort, and the latter can be remedied with a good pair of wireless headphones. Despite these minor drawbacks, the Swift 5 remains one of the best laptops of 2023 and an excellent choice for college students who want performance and portability in one sleek package.
4. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
REASONS TO AVOID
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is the ideal laptop for students who want a powerful, lightweight, and long-lasting device that is easy to take with them anywhere. This laptop offers performance that is comparable to other 11th-gen Tiger Lake laptops, and it is also one of the lightest on the market, weighing less than two pounds.
The X1 Nano is equipped with features that cater to the needs of college students, including an IR camera for facial recognition, a presence-detecting radar, a 2K display with Dolby Vision HDR, and a premium keyboard. Additionally, the laptop boasts excellent battery life, making it a convenient choice for students on the go. However, the limited number of ports (only two Thunderbolt 4 ports) may require the purchase of a USB-C hub for connecting older accessories.
