A good laptop is an essential tool for students at college or school, and now's a great time to shop for the coming academic year. However, with so many models to choose from, it can be tricky to narrow down the best laptop for your needs. We've gathered up what we think are some of the best options around today, our list covers everything from budget-friendly to performance-oriented machines, in order to suit a wide range of students.

If you know you'll be needing a lot of extra horsepower for your course, you might consider checking out our guide on the best laptops available, or perhaps even the best gaming laptops, which are especially suited to game designers, video editors, animators and the like.

Likewise, if you'll only need something for basic tasks like web browsing and word processing, it might make more sense to dive into the best Chromebooks.

For our student selections, we've prioritised affordability, portability, all-around performance, looks as well as robustness. Let's explore things a bit more below.

Best laptops to buy photo 28
Acer Swift 5 (2022)
1. Best student laptop
$1199.99 $1499.99 Save $300

Compact, well built and incredibly stylish, the Acer Swift 5 is a solid all-rounder.

Pros
  • Compact portability
  • Gorgeous looks
  • Excellent performance
Cons
  • Speakers aren't the best
  • Fairly pricey

The Acer Swift 5 is one of the most impressive laptops that we have tested in the past year. Not only does it look fantastic, with its unique brushed metallic accents, but it's a performer, too.

The 12th Gen Intel Core i7 processor can handle heavy computational tasks such as video editing and Photoshop work, while lighter tasks can be accomplished at lightning speed.

Add to this an excellent webcam, a lovely keyboard and trackpad and a slim and lightweight design, and you're on to a winner. There's lots to love about the Acer Swift 5.

Best MacBook - MacBook Air 13-inch M2
Apple MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
2. Best Apple student laptop

The 2022 MacBook is simply one of the finest laptops money can buy. Powerful, portable and pretty with very little to complain about.

Pros
  • Excellent performance
  • Superb battery life
  • Great keyboard and trackpad
Cons
  • No Face ID login options
  • More expensive than its predecessors

There's a reason that the MacBook Air is one of the most popular laptops in the world, it's speedy, lightweight and packs astonishing battery life. Combine this with Apple's renowned design expertise and exceptional build quality, and you have a formidable machine on your hands.

Apple has many great MacBooks to choose from, but the Air is our favourite, owing mainly to its portability and pricing. It remains on the more affordable end of the spectrum but still packs enough power for the majority of users.

Of course, you'll have to be on board with macOS, and Apple's signature minimalist port selection means you'll likely need to invest in some dongles. But, if you're willing to live with these aspects, you can't go wrong with the MacBook Air.

Best Prime Day Laptop Deals
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
3. Outstanding student laptop
$944 $999.99 Save $55.99

A lovely, premium-feeling, high-performance laptop for those who don't need the convertibility of 2-in-1 devices.

Pros
  • Exceptional build quality
  • Brilliant keyboard and trackpad
  • Amazing speakers
Cons
  • It's basically the same as the Surface Laptop 4
  • IO could be improved

Microsoft's Surface Laptop 5 is essentially the Windows equivalent of a MacBook Pro. It has a gorgeous minimalist design and a build quality that's unmatched by other Windows machines.

The speakers are very impressive and the keyboard and trackpad are among our favourites on the market today. When it comes to performance, Intel's 12th Gen processors make light work of creative tasks like video editing.

Unfortunately, the Apple influence extends to the port selection, which is also very limited on this model. So you'll likely want to invest in a good USB-C hub. On the plus side, Thunderbolt 4 connectivity means that you can connect to a plethora of high-performance accessories.

Best Prime Day Laptop Deals
Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Pro
4. Appealing student laptop
Pros
  • Lovely design
  • Incredible display
  • Exceptional speakers
Cons
  • Expensive
  • Battery life could be better

Samsung's latest Galaxy Book Pro is a seriously impressive piece of hardware. It has a gorgeous 16-inch OLED screen, a spacious typing surface and probably the largest trackpad that we've ever come across.

It's exceptionally slim but somehow remains extremely rigid with confidence-inspiring build quality. It has incredible speakers, too, which is surprising for such a slender device.

The Galaxy Book 3 Pro continues to impress when it comes to performance. Not only is it highly capable but it stays very cool and quiet under load. Our only complaints, really, are the lacklustre battery life and the high price tag.

Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 photo 7
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2
5. Best budget student laptop
$549.99 $699.99 Save $150

The Surface Laptop Go 2 is an attractive and affordable alternative to the much more expensive Surface Laptop 5.

Pros
  • Capable hardware
  • Lightweight and slim
  • Well priced
Cons
  • No keyboard backlight
  • RAM and storage upgrades are pricey

If you're looking for something more affordable, our go-to pick is the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2. It retains some of the gorgeous design elements and superb build quality of the much pricier Laptop 5, as well as an excellent keyboard and impressive speakers.

There are some compromises, for example, the base of the chassis is plastic on this model, and there's no backlighting on the keyboard. However, it's still one of the most nicely finished machines in this price bracket.

We'd advise swerving the base model, as most people will find 4GB of RAM to be too limiting. But the 8GB model provides an excellent computing experience at a very reasonable cost.

How we chose these laptops

When picking what we believe to be the best laptops for students, we didn't choose any low-spec options, instead opting for performance and portability. Students demand a lot from their computers, whether they're 3D modelling, editing photos or crunching large calculations - all of these tasks require ample compute power, and it needs to be performed on a machine that they don't mind lugging to lectures. For that reason, most of these laptops require some investment, but we believe they're well worth the entry price. However, if you're on a tighter budget, we'd recommend checking out our guide to the best budget laptops available.

We've tried and tested every laptop on this page, so we can vouch for their performance and build quality. We also factor in customer feedback and brand reputation when making our decisions, and we believe that these manufacturers offer some of the best service around.

How to choose a laptop for school or college

Choosing a new laptop can be a daunting task, especially when you have a million other things on your mind as you're about to head off to university. To make it easier, here are a few things to think about before making your decision.

What work will you need to do?

Being a student can mean almost anything in terms of computer requirements. For the majority of students, you will likely just need a machine that can handle word processing, slideshow presentations and web browsing. The good news is that pretty much any laptop can handle these tasks - it's what they're for, after all. If this will be the case for you, you can likely save some money with a Chromebook and might want to check out our Best Chromebook guide to see those options.

For maximum compatibility though, you'll want to stick with a Windows or macOS machine like the ones we've outlined here.

If your degree is more computer-intensive, you will likely know it. Things like video editing, animation and game design require a lot more horsepower. You will want to go for a higher-end processor, more RAM and maybe even a higher-resolution display.

Where will you be working?

It's no good having a laptop if it's too heavy to take anywhere. That's why we've selected the best thin and lightweight options to allow you to roam about campus without feeling like you're carrying a sack of potatoes.

If you're on a course that will see you spending a lot of time outdoors, you'll want to pay particular attention to the battery life of your laptop. There's nothing more frustrating than running out of juice when you're a long way from an outlet.

How much can you spend?

The sky is the limit when it comes to spending on laptops, so it's important to know that you're getting the right machine for the job.

All the processing power in the world is no good if it breaks the second you knock it, so we've placed a high value on build quality. Similarly, it's important to make sure you're not overspending on fancy chassis that can barely stream a youtube video.

As with most things in life, it's all about finding balance. Hopefully, with these things in mind and some of our suggested models, you'll be much closer to finding the perfect match.