Best laptops 2024: Top picks by the PC experts

Why we like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus is one of the most well-rounded laptops money can buy. It offers strong performance, exceptional battery life, and a vibrant display. The best part is that it costs about $1,000, which is a reasonable price point considering the price to performance ratio. In fact, it performed exceptionally in PCMark 10’s benchmark, according to our review. With a PCMark 10 score of 7,061, it beat out the Acer Swift Go 14, which has similar specs to the Dell, and the more expensive Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon. The Inspiron 14 Plus also lasted an impressive 17 hours on a single charge, which is definitely more than a full workday or school day. You don’t have to worry about finding a wall outlet to charge up.

Who should buy the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus

Anyone looking for a really good, well-rounded laptop. In addition to the impressive performance and battery life, it also has a lovely 14-inch 1400p display. According to our review, “the display is exceedingly well suited to office work and static imagery.” It has a peak brightness level of a stunning 418 nits as well as an anti-glare coating, which means you can use this laptop in different lighting environments. It may not have the prettiest design we’ve ever seen, but its hardware capabilities and astoundingly long battery life make up for the blah aesthetics.

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. The Aspire 3 also blew the competition out of the water with a Cinebench R15 score of 1,925, beating out the Acer Aspire Vero 14, which has similar hardware. Cinebench is designed to run all of the cores of a laptop’s CPU and determine how well a laptop handles processor-intensive multi-threaded workloads.

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, which means you’ll always look your best in videoconferencing calls. It also delivers strong performance for the price.

Note March 18th, 2024: Although it didn’t make the cut, the recently reviewed HP Laptop 14 deserves its own special call-out. This sub-$500 laptop offers strong everyday performance as well as a compact build. It also lasted over 15 hours on a single charge (light load), which beats the Acer Aspire 3’s eight hours.

Why we like the MacBook Air (M3)

The MacBook Air (M3) has a lot to offer for the $1,299 price. In fact, it received high marks across the board thanks to the 8-core CPU (M3) and the 10-core GPU. It’s capable of chewing through office work as well as casual use tasks. While performance is comparable to the MacBook Pro (M3), there is one difference: the fans or lack thereof. The MacBook Air doesn’t have any fans, which results in quieter operation before heavy-duty tasks will likely put more pressure on the chip. That said, battery life is the real star of the show here. The MacBook Air (M3) lasted a whopping 19 hours on a single charge, which is perfect for those with busy schedules.

Who should buy the MacBook Air (M3)

Anyone who prefers MacOS over competing operating systems. Battery life is outstanding and the laptop itself is both slim and light, weighing in at just over three pounds. The 15-inch Liquid Retina (LED) screen might be considered a step-down from the MacBook Pro’s Liquid Retina XDR (mini-LED) display, but that doesn’t mean it’s a poor screen. It still looks fantastic for day-to-day use. The $1,299 price tag is also reasonable for the performance and features you’re getting.

Read our full MacBook Air (M3) review

Why we like this Dell Inspiron Plus 16

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 as well as some gaming. The RTX 4060 GPU actually turned in a respectable 3DMark Time Spy result of 8,754. It’s not the most cutting-edge graphics performance we’ve ever seen, but you should be able to play most games on the Medium or High graphics setting. The 1600p display also has a taller 16:10 aspect ratio screen, which is ideal for office work, and the battery lasted over 11 hours on a single charge.

Who should buy the Dell Inspiron Plus 16

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. Dell laptops often go on sale, so you may be able to score this machine at a steep discount.

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 Chromebook for work or personal use, then the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is a fine choice. While the $499 price tag is very much in the high end when it comes to Chromebooks, we feel the overall fit, finish, and firepower make it worth the extra cash.

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 especially important if you’re working with sensitive documents. Performance is good enough for office applications and multimedia programs, but it’s probably going to struggle a bit with video editing tasks.

Who should buy the HP Dragonfly G4

The HP Dragonfly G4 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. The fans are also spin quietly even when under a heavy workload.

Note February, 27th 2024: Though we liked its compact form factor and 4G modem, the recently reviewed HP Elitebook 640 G10 couldn’t quite knock the HP Dragonfly G4 off of its pedestal. The display’s 16:9 aspect ratio isn’t the best size for office work and it doesn’t deliver strong contrast values. The HP Dragonfly G4, however, has a taller display and better contrast.

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.” This machine even managed a strong PCMark 10 score of 6,494, pushing out the expensive Acer Swift Go 16. That means the Swift Edge 16 is capable of out-performing machines that cost hundreds of dollars more.

Who should buy the Acer Swift Edge 16

If you’re looking for a lightweight ultraportable with strong performance, the sub-$1,000 Acer Swift Edge 16 is the one to pick. It’s 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.

Why we like the Alienware m16 R2

The Alienware m16 R2 delivers strong graphics performance and good battery life. This specific model comes loaded with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, which is nothing to sneeze at. It lasted a respectable 11 hours and fifteen minutes on a single charge and it averaged 144 frames-per-second when running the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark. According to our review, it’s only “four frames-per-second slower than the Razer Blade 16,” which has an RTX 4090 GPU and a price tag of over $3,000.

Who should buy the Alienware m16 R2

Anyone looking for a great gaming laptop. You’re getting strong graphics performance as well as long battery life, which is unusual for a gaming laptop, as most tend to die around the six hour mark. The 16-inch IPS display also has a resolution of 2560×1600 and a refresh rate of 240Hz, so gameplay should be nice and smooth. The picture quality is good, but it’s not an OLED panel. While it may not be the brightest or most color rich display we’ve ever seen, it’s perfectly fine for gaming. Besides, you can always plug into an external monitor if need be.

Why we like the Asus TUF Gaming A16

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is something of a unicorn and I mean that in the best way possible. This specific machine exhibits strong graphics performance as well as long battery life. Long battery life? A gaming laptop? How preposterous. Well, not anymore! The Asus TUF managed an incredible 11 and a half hours on a single charge. Also, thanks to the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, the laptop achieved 123 frames-per-second in the Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. That’s impressive, especially for a sub-$1,000 gaming machine.

Who should buy the Asus TUF Gaming A16

The Asus TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition is a good option for those on a tight budget. For under a grand, you’re getting reliable graphics performance, a spacious keyboard, and long battery life. It also works as a good general purpose machine. With a Cinebench R20 score of 589, it should have “no trouble running lightweight apps and programs,” according to our review.

Note March 3rd, 2024: The Lenovo LOQ 15, which we reviewed recently, stands as another solid budget option. It’s more than capable of 1080p gaming and the design is very sci-fi inspired. That said, it didn’t nab the top pick because of the poor battery life (not unusual for a gaming laptop) and limited ports.

Why we like the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED

When it comes to 2-in-1 laptops, the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED just gets it right at the start. It has a gorgeous OLED display, a zippy Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, and a versatile convertible design. You can flip the screen around 360 degrees 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 even lasted a whopping 12 hours on a single charge, dominating laptops with similar hardware like the Lenovo Yoga Book 9i and the Acer Aspire Vero 14.

Who should buy the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED

The Asus Zenbook 14 Flip is a good option for business professionals because of its convertible, lightweight design and 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?

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 tasks as well as some gaming on the side. The 1TB of SSD storage is perfect for storing videos or pictures and Dell somehow managed to pack a 4K panel into this compact laptop. It even brought in a PCMark 10 score of over 7,000, which means general performance is lightning fast.

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 it will set you back about $2,000.

Note February 27th, 2024: The recently reviewed Dell XPS 16 (2024) didn’t make the cut because of the annoying typing experience as well as the limited port selection for pro users. It’s also more expensive than our current top pick and the display is a bit smaller. Negatives aside, it still offers excellent CPU performance and the discrete GPU is a big help when it comes to heavier workloads.

Why we like the HP Pavilion Plus 14

The HP Pavilion Plus 14 gets a lot of things right. It delivers strong performance, a lightweight form factor, and the 1800p OLED display is stunning. According to our review, we were “impressed by the rich hues” and the fluid visuals as a result of the 48-120Hz variable refresh rate. The best part about this laptop is that it costs under a grand. It also earned a Cinebench R20 score of 3,416, meaning it can handle heavy workloads such as video editing and encoding. That’s impressive for a laptop that weighs just a little over three pounds.

Who should buy the HP Pavilion Plus 14

Anyone who’s looking to pick up a fast, affordable laptop with an OLED display. Performance is zippy enough for day-to-day tasks as well as heavier workloads and the display provides smooth, colorful visuals. Sure, you could buy the more powerful Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED for $999, but it’s not as lightweight as the Pavilion Plus. Overall, it’s just a well-made machine.