The Dell Inspiron 15 is, hands down, one of the best laptops for students, and for those shopping on a tight budget. The Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 offers a tremendous amount of versatility and features at a very fair price — it is a great fit as one of the best laptops for students. The Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 is a versatile hybrid that doubles up as both a laptop and tablet, making it an excellent choice for students who would like both, but do not want to purchase two devices. While it does not have the premium build quality (or price) that Dells XPS laptop lineup has, the Dell Inspiron 13 7000 2-in-1 still offers great build quality and a compelling slim, lightweight design.
Like its smaller Dell XPS 15 brother, the awesome XPS 13, the Dell XPS 15 sports a nearly bezel-less display with an InfinityEdge panel, but is better for longer hours thanks to its larger screen.
It is also the most affordable MacBook, and although it is pricier than some other laptops, it gives you the most cost-effective way to get your hands on a MacBook, making it a great choice for students on a somewhat larger budget. It will not be the least expensive choice for students, but for those who do have a somewhat larger budget, this is the best student laptop you can get. In fact, you would be hard-pressed to find a better value 2-in-1 if you are unwilling to shell out the cash, making this one of the best laptops for students right now.
It is powerful, extremely well built, and compact, so pretty much everything you would possibly need when looking for the best student laptops during the back-to-school season. The HP Envy x360 is one of the best laptops for students, though HPs Envy x360 is not a great choice for everyone. The HP Envy x360 13 is the best under $1,000 laptop, and it is also one of the best ultrabooks on the market. The HP Envy x360 13 is the best laptop for under $1,000, offering MacBook Pro-like benefits for less.
The HP Envy x360 15 (2021) is almost a category unto itself, a 2-in-1 that blends impressive processor and GPU horsepower with a sleek but sturdy design, an amazing display, and great battery life — all at a staggering price. The HP Chromebook 14 might not be quite as powerful as some of its fellow Chromebooks, but the diminutive notebook has some tricks up its sleeve, helping it earn its deserved spot at the top of our best laptops for students list. While it is not strictly a laptop, Microsofts Surface Pro 7 has more than earned a place on this best laptops for students list.
If you are looking for a high-quality Windows laptop that you can take with you between classes or to the coffee shop, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is your best option. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is the closest Microsoft has come to making a flagship Windows laptop.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 packs premium components in a slim package, and comes with a clean installation of Windows 10 free of bloatware. It has a comfortable keyboard with nicely-sized, satisfying keys, and a good choice of Alcantara panels, which provide some extra comfort for your wrists than you will find on your typical metal-all-in-one laptop. The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano is light enough to carry around, and it should get you through an entire day of school; it ran for 12 hours in our battery test, putting it right up there with some of the really best laptops on the market today. Overall, Lenovos IdeaPad Gaming 3i is a nice, versatile laptop for students, which offers decent gaming performance as well, and does it at a fair price.
If you are looking for something a bit different for a 2021 college laptop, then the second-generation Surface Go is well worth checking out. To see how this system stacks up against our top student laptop picks, make sure you take a look at T3s HP Pavilion 14 versus Apples MacBook Air(M1, 2020) comparison feature. To find out how this premium student laptop stacks up against a more budget-focused option, check out our Dell XPS 13 (2020) vs Acer Chromebook 315 comparison feature.
Running means that Chromebooks are typically much cheaper than Windows 10 devices, and in our opinion, the Acer Chromebook 314 is the best cheap Chromebook for students. The hardware is right up there in this price range, with lower specifications across the board — but since the Acer Chromebook 315 runs Chrome OS, this does not really matter, and the laptop still offers a quick, responsive experience. While Acer Chromebook 314 is higher up on this list due to its super-low price, the Pixelbook Go is a better overall Chromebook, packing in premium design and strong components that would put a lot of Windows 10 laptops to shame. Running Chrome OS instead of Windows 10, the HP Chromebook 14 may not be the best-specced laptop on the market (it is worth mentioning you cannot download software-only third-party apps from the Google Play Store), but it is an excellent workhorse that will get you through the courses you need with ease.
The Lenovo ThinkPad C13 Yoga Chromebook jumps right into our best student laptops list because it is one of the strongest Chromebooks you can buy in 2021. The Dell G3 15 is a budget gaming laptop that offers great performance on current games, but does not leave you short on cash for rentals or school necessities. This Evoo 15-inch PC offers all of the best elements of a modern gaming laptop, including a 15.6-inch 1080p display, reasonable weight so that it is not too cumbersome to carry around the college playground, and a discrete GeForce GTX 1650 GPU for when it is time to turn on your games after studying.
While you will be paying a premium for that type of power, particularly if you want some of the better features found in higher-end models, it is worth the cost if you are looking for a future-proof Chromebook that will last you through years of use — at least four years in college.