While 2-in-1 devices are more popular than ever, that’s never fully materialised. During the pandemic, people around the world rediscovered just how useful laptops can be, and they seem here to stay. However, if you’ve decided to buy a new laptop, deciding what to go for can be very difficult. Even if you’ve decided on a screen size, rough design or brand, there are still so many devices that could be right for you. This article aims to simplify that process, with 15 of the very best laptops you can buy, alongside detailed buying advice at the bottom of the page. They are ranked, but the options towards the top of the list might not be right for you – we can recommend them all. But value is your primary concern, we’ve also scoured the web for laptop deals and have a separate guide to the best budget laptops.
Best laptops 2023
Plenty of power & ports Killer keyboard 90Hz display Fixed webcam
Plain design Thunderbolt 4 only on top SKU Webcam only 720p
Almost everywhere else, the 14s is mightily impressive almost everywhere else. 11th-gen Intel CPUs and up to 16GB of RAM means performance is excellent, provided you don’t need a device for gaming or 4K video editing. Other highlights include a 2.5K touchscreen display, complete with 90Hz refresh rate for smooth visuals. You also get a decent port selection, solid battery life and one of the best keyboards you’ll find in any laptop. There’s even a 90W fast charger included in the box. It’s worth noting that there is now a 2022 version of the MateBook 14s, but aside from new Intel CPUs it’s essentially the same device.
Insanely light Stunning battery life Excellent screen
Spongy keyboard McAfee pop-ups
It remains an incredibly lightweight marvel of engineering, but LG has now improved our main problems with the 2020 model – namely the speakers and trackpad. Design refinements mean the Gram 17 looks better than ever, while performance from 11th-gen Intel chips is impressive. But on a 17in laptop that weighs just 1.35kg, getting such great battery life is a pleasant surprise. There are plenty of ports here for most people (including Thunderbolt 4), plus above-average speakers and an excellent display, although the latter isn’t touchscreen. If you can look beyond a spongy keyboard and the relatively high price, the Gram 17 is the large laptop to beat. There is a 2022 version, but new CPUs and the option for a discrete GPU are the only real upgrades.
Superb display Fast charging Lots of ports Solid performance
No discrete GPU No NumPad Can get expensive
Other highlights include a generous 84Wh battery with impressive fast charging, alongside a diverse range of ports and Huawei’s trademark premium design. It’s big, bulky and there’s no discrete GPU, but if you can look beyond these things the MateBook 16s could be for you.
Powerful components Long battery life iOS apps
Very limited ports Throttled performance
Offering a significant boost compared to the 10nm Intel CPU that powered earlier MacBook Air models, the 5nm M1 chipset is blisteringly fast in operation, handling light video editing and gaming via Apple Arcade without breaking a sweat. It’s faster than many Intel-based Windows alternatives, offering great bang for your buck from Apple’s entry-level ultralight laptop. There’s also a big jump in battery life and the display is top-notch, as are the keyboard and trackpad. It’s fanless, which brings the benefit of silent running, but it also means that the laptop will throttle performance to keep things cool. But that’s not an issue unless you plan on gaming or video editing for hours. The MacBook Air has now had a 2022 refresh, but it’s $200/£200 more expensive than the original and introduces a notch. With frequent discounts, this original model is where you’ll find the best value for money.
Excellent keyboard and trackpad Slick design Decent performance 90W fast charging
Underwhelming battery life No discrete GPU option No USB-A ports
A slick, premium design has been made even better thanks to a lighter magnesium alloy, which means a 14.2in laptop now weighs as little as 1.26kg. There’s still room for an excellent full-size keyboard and trackpad, though, which help the MateBook X Pro stand out from the competition. Other highlights include that 90Hz display, a much more logical webcam position and solid performance from Intel’s 12th-gen CPUs, although there’s no option for a discrete GPU. Huawei has also gone all-in on USB-C, meaning there’s no room for any USB-A ports. Fast charging is a nice touch, but sub-par battery life means you’ll be reaching for the 90W adapter more often than you might like. Despite these drawbacks, the MateBook X Pro remains an excellent laptop that’s definitely worth considering.
Plenty of power Impressive screen Great keyboard Robust design
Expensive Middling battery life Only USB-C High Delta E
It excels in many other areas, too: its Core i7-11800H processor is very fast, while the laptop also boasts plenty of storage and a great keyboard. A 15in display is vibrant and a joy to use, especially when combined with excellent speakers. It’s also got the battery power to handle a day of work in most scenarios. XPS machines are never cheap, though, and the 9510 is not perfect. You’ll want to look elsewhere if colour accuracy is a top priority, and you’ll be able to find better battery life and a broader selection of ports elsewhere.
Excellent OLED display Great battery life Solid AMD performance Stylus included in box
No USB-A ports No Thunderbolt No discrete GPU
Combined with a full-size keyboard with decent travel, the Zenbook S 13 is easy to use as an everyday laptop. That’s helped by AMD’s 2022 Ryzen 7 chip and a bumper 16GB of RAM under the hood, which means performance is great despite the lack of a discrete GPU. Despite having such a thin and light design, the device also boasts great battery life. Charging is via USB-C, but there are no USB-A ports or Thunderbolt support. You’ll also need to rely on the fingerprint scanner to unlock it, with no depth sensor beside the solid 1080p webcam for face unlock. Still, this is a laptop which ticks all of the most important boxes for many people. But that display is the main reason to buy it over rivals.
Thin and light Stunning matte display Solid battery life
No discrete GPU Refresh rate only 60Hz More expensive than some rivals
It uses 12th-gen Intel CPUs, but not from the most powerful H-Series and still with an integrated GPU. Many premium laptops are shifting to a high refresh rate display, but the Gram 16 is still stuck at 60Hz. At this price, it’s harder to accept these compromises. But we’d still recommend considering it due to the way it excels in other areas. The Gram 16 is still incredibly thin and light, while a matt coating on the screen contributes to an excellent viewing experience. Battery life is among the best you’ll find in any laptop, and it’s impressively durable for a device that’s so portable.
Great display Solid battery life Thin and light design S-Pen support
Underwhelming webcam Poor trackpad Array
The 13.3in OLED display is a real highlight, especially as it supports input from both touch and an S Pen – you’ll have to buy the latter separately, though. A battery capacity just over 60Wh doesn’t sound like anything special, but it can comfortably last a full working day and have charge to spare. When you do run low, the 65W charger in the box will get you back up and running in no time. Other highlights include a decent port selection, solid keyboard and that all-important 360° hinge. The trackpad isn’t great and you’ll probably want to connect a separate webcam, but if you can look beyond these inconveniences the Book 2 360 is definitely worth considering. However, if you don’t need convertible functionality, it’s also worth considering the Galaxy Book 2 Pro.
Excellent display Solid performance Great battery life
Noisy fans Limited ports Top-specs overpriced
However, there are still plenty of reasons to consider it. Performance has had a useful boost and offers plenty for everyday tasks, while the touchscreen display (you can choose between 13.5in and 15in) remains one of the best – even without OLED. The keyboard is perhaps the only exceptional thing about this laptop, but it gets the fundamentals right. You’ll have to deal with thick bezels and no AMD option anymore though, and it doesn’t come cheap.
Great 120Hz screen All three modes work well Impressive battery life Solid performance
Expensive Limited to three fixed positions Not enough ports
The screen might not detach like the Surface Book but a slick hinge design means you can quickly alter the Studio between three useful modes, although we’d like to adjust the angles on some. The laptop also has a gorgeous 120Hz display, which can automatically adjust depending on what you’re doing. This should boost already-solid battery life, while a dedicated RTX 3050 Ti GPU at the higher end helps deliver impressive performance. Combined, these features make it a well-rounded and versatile laptop. It is at the premium end in terms of price and we’d like more ports but the Surface Laptop Studio could make an excellent choice for some users.
Gorgeous OLED screen Stunning design Great keyboard
Underwhelming battery life Array Expensive
Undoubtedly the highlight is a new edge-to-edge keyboard, which delivers a truly excellent typing experience. An invisible trackpad is surprisingly good, but the row of physical function keys with haptic equivalents doesn’t quite hit the mark. However, it’s easy to excuse, given the quality of the 3.5K OLED screen and gorgeous design. For a device that’s only 15mm thick and weighs just 1.26kg. Ports and battery life are the big reasons it’s not higher in this list though. The XPS 13 Plus definitely isn’t the most practical laptop, but it is one of the most exciting.
Great Intel Core i7 performance Nvidia RTX 3050 GPU Great keyboard Lots of ports
Mediocre battery life Display could be better Expensive
Its modern design doesn’t stand out among Windows 11 laptops, but you do get a great keyboard and large, responsive trackpad. The screen has a high resolution and 120Hz refresh rate, but panels around this price often deliver better colour accuracy. Alongside underwhelming battery life and that high price tag, most people will find better value for money elsewhere. But you’ll struggle to find more performance in a consumer-focused laptop of this size.
Great display Solid speed & battery Sleek design Quiet keyboard
No HDMI or Thunderbolt Expensive i7 model Disappointing trackpad
The glossy white glass on the rear gives way to what Lenovo is calling ‘Oatmeal’ on the keyboard and chassis. It certainly looks the part, and reinforces the feeling that this is a premium laptop. An attractive 14in OLED touchscreen is another highlight – it’s housed within slim bezels, but there’s still enough room for a 1080p webcam for clear video calls. Intel’s 12th-gen processors deliver solid performance, while audio is better than you’d expect from a device of this size. However, underwhelming battery life and a lack of ports take the shine off the experience, and at this price they’re more difficult to ignore.
Excellent performance Stunning hi-res screen Decent battery life Relatively affordable
Average build quality Slow USB ports Underwhelming trackpad
A heavy, bulky will put many people off, but it means the device has some incredible specs. A powerful AMD Ryzen 7 processor is paired with Nvidia’s RTX 3060 discrete GPU to help the A15 handle very demanding workloads. It’s supplemented with 16GB of RAM and a generous 1TB SSD. The 15.6in 1440p display is a joy to use, especially with its 165Hz refresh rate. Battery life is better than many gaming laptops and there are plenty of ports, although the USB ports could be faster. You also miss out on a fingerprint scanner, while the webcam and trackpad aren’t great. But for gamers, this remains one of the best ways to play anywhere without making big sacrifices to the quality of your experience. As a result, it’s easy to recommend, but only to specific people. These days, you can get a capable budget laptop for $500/£500 or even less, although it’ll probably only be suitable for everyday tasks such as web browsing, emails, word processing and the occasional video call. But pay $700/£700 or more and you should get great performance, plenty of RAM, loads of storage and a gorgeous display. You should also expect excellent build quality and premium materials. Many laptops these days are above $1,000/£1,000, which is when you start getting the likes of 4K touchscreens and ultra-premium builds. A big-screened laptop, on the other hand, is probably a desktop replacement and so not designed to be taken everywhere with you. Generally, 13in or 14in is the sweet spot between usability and portability. Some cheap laptops have a low 720p resolution, but it’s worth aiming for at least Full HD (1920×1080) or higher. A QHD or 4K screen is nice to have, but not necessary for most people. While they’re increasingly rare in 2023, a matt display trades some vivid colours in exchange for a less reflective screen. A touchscreen isn’t always required , but it might be preferable to connecting a mouse or using the trackpad all the time. But on 2-in-1 laptops, this is a necessity. High refresh rate displays are beginning to make their way into consumer laptops, but 60Hz remains the standard. Something above this will give the screen extra fluidity and help it feel more responsive, but the effect isn’t as noticeable as on smartphones. OLED panels are generally considered higher quality than LCD, but each have their own benefits and drawbacks. Some laptops are beginning to move to mini-LED technology these days, too. An SSD will help your laptop run faster, but typically offers less space for your files (consider supplementing it with a portable USB drive). You can also use cloud storage – but only when you have an internet connection. Memory (RAM) is where programs and files are stored only while you’re using them, so more is usually better. Consider 4GB as a minimum, although 8GB or even 16GB will be the sweet spot for most people. But regardless of your budget, you’re probably looking at a device powered by Intel or AMD. The former’s latest 13th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs will be found in many 2023 laptops, but the Ryzen 7000 Series won’t be far behind in terms of popularity. There are also ARM-based Qualcomm processors such as the Snapdragon 8cx Gen 3, but they still struggle slightly for performance and app compatibility. Of course, Apple’s MacBooks run the company’s own Apple Silicon instead. Various iterations of M1 and M2 chips have already been released, and it looks like more are on the way. However, other people want an device that’s powerful and can handle demanding applications without breaking your back when you carry it around. Both are available. Compromises are inevitable if you want a thin and light laptop, though. There’s less space for a battery, so it’s common to find shorter runtimes. Thin laptops also tend to have shallow key travel – look at specific reviews to see how much of an issue this is. You’ll may miss out on ports and connectivity, too. These can be extremely limited, and you’ll want to avoid carrying a hub or adapter with you if possible. If HDMI or USB-A is important, make sure the laptop you’re considering has them. As the resident expert on Windows, Senior Staff Writer Anyron’s main focus is PCs and laptops. Much of the rest of his time is split between smartphones, tablets and audio, with a particular focus on Android devices.
