College laptops do not It has to be embarrassing. They don’t have to be too expensive either. There are many excellent, well-designed laptops for college students that combine long battery life, easy portability, and the performance needed for daily schoolwork.

In my decade of reviewing laptops, I’ve tested hundreds of models. If someone asked me what to buy a college student, these are what I would suggest.

Be sure to check out our other computing guides, including the best laptops, best budget laptops, best MacBooks, best Windows laptops, best gaming laptops, best Chromebooks, and best laptop bags.

Updated July 2026: I added the HP OmniBook 3 and Dell 14 Plus as picks, and the Dell 14S as an honorable mention. I also eliminated some options that became too expensive after price increases.

Best overall college laptop

The MacBook Air (9/10, WIRED recommended) is my pick for the best overall laptop for everyone. But college students have specific needs and often specific budgets. In addition to being affordable, a college student’s laptop should be lightweight and easy to carry. The MacBook Neo (7/10, WIRED recommended) fits the bill perfectly. It weighs just 2.7 pounds and starts at just $699. It also has a smaller screen, which helps it fit on those small desks in conference rooms. However, what makes the MacBook Neo special is its lack of compromise on quality. It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware, with fun colors, a great trackpad, a beautiful screen, and that Apple factor. I recommend the $699 model, which offers double the storage and a Touch ID fingerprint reader.

Of course, this is not a laptop without drawbacks. Apple invested its efforts in the screen experience, but made cuts to performance, ports and memory to keep costs down. The 8 GB memory limitation is my biggest problem with this device; It means you’ll need to take into account how many apps, tabs, and background tasks you have running at once. Additionally, the Neo can only connect to one external display at a time.

The best alternative to Windows

Laptop prices have skyrocketed in recent months, making it harder to recommend some of the year’s flashiest new laptops. Fortunately, there are still plenty of really great laptops to buy from 2025. The Dell 14 Plus is a great example. It’s one of the few laptops you can get for under $1,000 that doesn’t force you to make serious compromises. It’s not the prettiest device in the world, but the screen is surprisingly sharp, bright and colorful. The touchpad and keyboard of the computer are high quality and it has tons of ports.

The new Dell 14S came out more recently with the intention of replacing the 14 Plus. The new model comes with an OLED display and excellent battery life. While it’s a solid option (see Other Laptops to Consider, below), it starts at $1,350 and the screen has a lower resolution. For a college student, the Dell 14 Plus is the best buy right now.

A Featherlight College Laptop

Photography: Christopher Null

If the idea of ​​buying a laptop with only 8GB of RAM in 2026 seems questionable (I don’t blame you for feeling that way), I recommend the Asus Zenbook A14 (WIRED recommends, 8/10). Not only does it come with 16GB of RAM, but it’s the lightest laptop you can buy right now at just 2.4 pounds. You’ll hardly notice it in your laptop bag when you’re walking around campus.

The price of the Zenbook A14 varies quite a bit, typically between $600 and $1000, but there is often a deal available that makes it an affordable option. There’s also the 2026 model, which comes with the second-generation Snapdragon X2 chip. However, at $1,600, it’s simply not worth the extra money, especially for a college student on a budget.

Best cheap college laptop

The options listed above are quite affordable and all cost less than $1,000. But even if your budget is $600 or less, trust that you can still get a laptop with solid performance and good battery life. The HP OmniBook 5 frequently sells for around $600 or less, making it a suitable alternative to the MacBook Neo. Better yet, HP’s laptop comes with more memory and storage. The OLED panel display is also fantastic and the laptop is noticeably thin. The only major drawback is the touch panel, which is difficult to use. I might get used to it over time, but it’s the Achilles’ heel of this OmniBook 5 (and almost all budget laptops, for that matter).

However, if you need a super cheap Windows laptop, I would only recommend one that is cheaper than the OmniBook 5 and comes from the same family. I tested the HP OmniBook 3 and found that it shares many of the positive qualities of its older brother. The OLED screen is excellent, as is the keyboard and overall build quality. Most importantly, the battery life is excellent for a device at this price. However, it’s not as thin as the OmniBook 5 and the 1920 x 1200 resolution spread across the 16-inch screen is unfortunate. There’s also a 14-inch version, which I think is a smarter buy.

But there isn’t any other Windows laptop I’d recommend anyone buy at this price. Intel-powered laptops at this price tend to struggle with performance and battery life, while other cheap Qualcomm Snapdragon

Best college laptop under $500

Chromebooks are becoming harder to sell. Snapdragon Additionally, Chromebooks have the added problem of incompatibility with certain software you might need in college.

However, Chromebooks are still the way to go if you need something.anything—for the least money possible. If you’re short on money and only need basic internet access, the $200 Asus Chromebook CX15 is your best option. The screen and touchpad are the main drawbacks, but it’s quite portable and modern looking, and the battery life is pretty decent. My bar is pretty low for a $200 laptop, but the CX15 beats other competitors at this price.

Best Powerful College Laptops for STEM

Not everyone needs a powerful laptop to carry around campus. But if you’re in the STEM field, or just like to game on the weekends, purchasing a single, powerful laptop to serve as your main machine at university is a good idea. Unfortunately, no gaming laptop is powerful, portable, and affordable; you can only have two of those three things. Leaving aside the priority of portability, the best option I have tested is the Lenovo LOQ 15 (8/10, WIRED recommends). It’s hard to beat a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) for raw performance, which is exactly what the RTX 5060 offers at LOQ 15. Although the price often tops $1,000, it’s still the most affordable gaming laptop you can buy that doesn’t suffer serious performance compromises.

Now, if you can afford to spend a little more money, I would recommend the Razer Blade 16 or the MacBook Pro. Despite the Razer Blade 16’s slim profile (8/10 WIRED recommended), you can configure it with up to an RTX 5090 graphics card. Aside from the high price compromise, battery life is a limitation. Half your day may be gone, forcing you to quickly find an exit. If you need performance for weekend gaming in addition to your schoolwork, the Razer Blade 16 is expensive but worth it. I prefer the smaller Razer Blade 14 as a college laptop, but it is no longer available to purchase at this time.

The MacBook Pro, whether you opt for the M5 Pro, M5 Max, or an older chip, solves the battery life problem. Gaming is not its strongest capability, but it offers exceptional performance in creative applications and can be equipped with up to 128GB of unified memory for serious on-device AI workloads.

Other Laptops to Consider for College

Photography: Luke Larsen

Dell 14S for $1,350: While this laptop is more expensive than I would like, it is a solid option. The chassis is more polished than the Dell 14 Plus and the glossy OLED display gives the device a premium look. I wish it was brighter or at least handled glare better.