The Best Laptops for Students of 2023

• Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H
• Graphics: Iris Xe Graphics
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 6400MHz
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Display: 16-inch, 3200 × 2000, 120Hz OLED
• Battery: ~7.4 hours

The Acer Swift Go 16 is faster than our top pick in almost every way—but it’s usually the more expensive of the two, and its graphics power can’t match the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus, making it a less versatile machine. But if one of your must-haves is an Intel 13th-gen processor and an OLED screen, take a look at the Swift Go 16.

It chews through large Excel spreadsheets with complex formulas and data, and its processor keeps pace with Apple’s MacBook Pro 14 M2 Pro (or beats it, depending on the test). Its integrated graphics performance is sufficient for “light” gaming if you need a break from your work.

One thing we didn’t like about the Swift Go 16 was how warm it got under load. (We chalked that up to the power-hungry H-series chip inside). Its battery life is a touch shorter than the Dell Inspiron 14, too, but how this laptop managed thermals was less impressive than our top pick. You’ll never have to worry about the laptop getting too hot to set on your laptop, but some might find it uncomfortable.

Read our full Acer Swift Go 16 review.

• Processor: Intel Core i5-1335U
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR4 4267MHz
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 14-inch, 1920 × 1200, 60Hz, IPS LED-backlit touchscreen with stylus support
• Battery: 7.5+ hours

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i is a solid and reliable 2-in-1 laptop that starts at $650, a much more affordable price point for students looking to purchase a new laptop compared to others on this list. The model we reviewed cost $800, and that’s still a steal of a price for the performance, reliability, and versatility it offers.

Its processor keeps up with Intel’s 12th-gen Core i7 H-series chips, it has every type of port you could ever realistically need, and it also looks more expensive than it actually is. We were most impressed with the responsive touchscreen, a crucial aspect of any 2-in-1 laptop.

The display brightness was lower than we like, but that only starts to cause glare problems if you use the laptop outside on a super sunny day. You’ll also want to listen to rich, layered audio like music through headphones. The laptop’s speakers are tinny and quiet compared to a 5th-generation iPad Air’s.

Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i review.

• Processor: Intel Core i7-1360P
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
• Memory: 32GB DDR5 4800MHz
• Storage: 1TB SSD
• Display: 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1200, 60Hz IPS
• Battery: ~5.4 hours

MSI's Prestige 13 Evo is one of the slimmest laptops on the market, and its overall design is one of its biggest selling points—enough to rival the Dell XPS and Apple MacBook Air. The keyboard subtly balances an orderly design with perfect key spacing to accommodate a wide range of hand sizes (although some might find the keyboard cramped like one of us did).

We also couldn’t tell the trackpad apart from a MacBook trackpad on touch alone. It’s one of the best Windows laptop trackpads we’ve ever tested.

CPU performance is comparable to the other laptops on this list, like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and Acer Swift 3 OLED. The Prestige 13 Evo is also in our top five list of Windows machines with the best integrated graphics performance.

We wish the laptop came with a higher resolution display or an OLED display, especially for $1,500. There are similarly-priced or cheaper laptops on this list with OLED displays, although none of them look nearly as polished and refined.

To make an OLED display work in the Prestige 13 Evo, MSI would have probably had to use a larger battery or risk making the already-short battery life even shorter. A larger battery often increases a laptop’s thickness, and that would have changed its entire intent: stunning people with its looks.

Read our full MSI Prestige 13 Evo review.

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
• Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
• Memory: 16GB DDR5 6400MHz
• Storage: 512GB PCIe Gen 4 NVMe
• Display: 14.5-inch, 2560 x 1600, 90Hz, IPS touchscreen
• Battery: 9.5+ hours

If you need something with enough power for light video or audio work, with a battery that can last through an entire day of classes and beyond, then the Lenovo Slim Pro 7 is another great laptop to look into.

The Slim Pro 7's AMD processor is much faster than the last-generation AMD Ryzen chip in our Best 2-in-1 pick, the HP Envy x360. The entire laptop is configured to offer the most performance possible in a slim profile for around $1,200.

The price puts this mid-range laptop on the same shelf as the MSI Prestige 13 Evo, Acer Swift Go 16, and even the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus—but its processor isn’t nearly as fast. Still, battery life is nothing to ignore, so if you happen to find the Slim Pro for under $1,000, then you’ll be getting a great deal.

Read our full Lenovo Slim Pro 14 review.

• Processor: Intel Core i5-1230U
• Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
• Memory: 16GB LPDDR5
• Storage: 512GB SSD
• Display: 13.4-inch, 1920 x 1200, IPS, LCD (optional touchscreen)
• Battery life: About 16 hours

This Dell XPS 13 (9315) is hands-down the best XPS laptop Dell has made (that we’ve tested). It has the same polish and refinement as MSI’s Prestige 13 Evo, and a much longer battery life than the MacBook Air.

This is the base model, so the price is right: $850 on sale at Dell. It’s the kind of laptop you can purchase without much thought and without regretting your decision.

The biggest reason it’s not higher up on this list is that its processing performance is much slower than the others, ranking in the bottom five compared to every laptop we’ve reviewed in the last year.

If you need a tad more performance and don’t mind potentially sacrificing some battery power to get it, you can get the Dell XPS 13 with an Intel Core i7-1250U processor for $899 (on sale). It’s a faster processor when it comes to running actual applications compared to something like the M2, but it isn’t as power-efficient. Expect the XPS 13 configured with a Core i7 to get under 15 hours of battery life.

Read our full Dell XPS 13 review.