- Quick list
- Best overall
- Best value
- Best for Windows
- Best Chromebook
- Most repairable
- Best for gaming
- Best battery life
- Best MacBook Air alternative
- Best 2-in-1
- Best MacBook Pro alternative
- Best powerful MacBook
- Best dual screen laptop
- Battery life results
- How to choose
- Frequently asked questions
- How we test
1. The list in brief
2. Best overall laptop
3. Best value
4. Best Windows laptop
5. Best Chromebook
6. Best upgradability/repairability
7. Best gaming laptop
8. Best battery life
9. Best MacBook Air alternative
10. Best 2-in-1 laptop
11. Best MacBook Pro alternative
12. Best powerful MacBook
13. Best dual screen laptop
14. Battery life chart
15. How to choose
16. Frequently asked questions
17. How we test
The best laptops are fast enough to handle both work and play, comfy enough to carry all day and efficient enough to ensure you won't run out of juice when you're in the lurch.
Not a lot to ask, right? Luckily lots of great laptops are on the market these days, but that abundance also makes finding the best laptop for you awful tricky. You can get a Chromebook or a compact, speedy Windows 11 laptop for not a lot of money, and those who can afford to spend a bit more have access to a slew of the best laptops from the likes of Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo and more.
That's why we test and review dozens of laptops from top manufacturers every year, then gather the very best together here in one easy-to-read list to help you make a more informed purchase.
You can count on the fact that every laptop on this list has been tested and reviewed by myself or one of my colleagues, so you know a real person has used it in real life and really likes it. Whether you're shopping for a sleek new ultraportable, a cheap Chromebook, a new gaming laptop or the best MacBook for your needs, you'll find at least one great option here!
The quick list
In a hurry? Here's a brief overview of the laptops on this list, along with quick links that let you jump down the page directly to a review of whichever laptop catches your eye.
The best laptop for most people
The MacBook Air 13-inch M3 is the laptop we recommend first to most people because it delivers unbeatable value. You get great performance from Apple's M3 chip, a bright display and more than 15 hours of battery life (according to our testing) in an ultraportable package.
The best value
The Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is a bit dated at this point, but if you can find one it delivers unbeatable value thanks to its speedy AMD CPU, killer 15-hour battery life (based on our testing) and beautiful 1080p OLED display.
The best Windows laptop for most
The Dell XPS 15 is our current pick for best Windows laptop overall. It's svelte and powerful enough for day-to-day work, with thin bezels that help the display shine. It's even better if you shell out extra for the OLED upgrade.
The best affordable Chromebook
Lenovo's Chromebook Duet 3 delivers a great display, a decent port selection and enough power to get work done. It's one of the best Chrome tablets you can buy, and the included keyboard cover helps it double as a surprisingly effective 2-in-1 Chromebook.
The easiest laptop to upgrade and repair
The Framework Laptop is a truly unique ultraportable that's remarkably repairable and upgradeable. It's basically the anti-MacBook, designed to be easy to customize, upgrade and repair while delivering style and performance without compromise.
Read more below
The best gaming laptop for most
We've long been fans of the Zephyrus G14 because it has the chops to run most games at solid framerates, the efficiency to be used as a work laptop in a pinch, and a slim, compact chassis that's more portable than most gaming laptops.
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The longest-lasting laptop
The MacBook Pro M3 replaces the 13-inch M2 model with a low cost version of the 14-inch Prosumer laptop. With this, you're afforded over 17 hours of battery life, which makes it the longest-lasting laptop on this list
The best MacBook Air alternative
Stylish, lightweight, and powerful, the Acer Swift 5 is a truly impressive Windows 11 laptop that rivals the latest MacBooks in terms of size, style and speed. This mid-range productivity notebook delivers compelling value thanks to its power and vivid 14-inch 1600p touchscreen.
Best 2-in-1
We recommend the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED as the best 2-in-1 for the money because it's a light, beautiful and well-made ultraportable with the ports you need, plenty of speed and a vivid 2.8K OLED panel that makes watching movies or reading comics look stunning.
The best MacBook Pro alternative
The Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is the company's fastest laptop to date, delivering all the power of the latest and greatest Nvidia GPUs inside a sleek, elegant chassis.
The best powerful MacBook
If you need the most powerful MacBook Pro ever released, look no further than the MacBook Pro 16-inch powered by the M3 Max chip. This laptop renders videos at blazing-fast speeds and is also great for high-end gaming. It also features a sleek new Space Black design.
The best dual screen laptop
Dual screen laptops are quickly becoming all the rage, and there's no better option than the new Asus Zenbook Duo — providing Intel Core Ultra performance to keep everything on those gorgeous dual 14-inch 3K OLED displays running fast, and offering it all at just $1,499.
The best laptops you can buy today
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
The best laptop overall
✅ You need a long-lasting laptop: The MacBook Air M3 lasted more than 15 hours in our battery test, which is longer than its predecessors. This laptop can last you all day and more.
✅ You want a small, fast MacBook: The M3 chip inside this MacBook Air gives it more than enough power for multitasking, and it pairs well with the long battery life and light weight. While it can't crunch video or play games as well as the MacBook Pros with M3 Pro and M3 Max chips, this is the ultimate MacBook for getting things done on the go.
❌ You want to play games: While this laptop does a stellar job of running games optimized for Apple silicon, non-supported games have trouble running at acceptable frame rates. There's also the lack of developer support. If games are important to you, consider looking elsewhere.
❌ You own a MacBook Air 13-inch M2: The MacBook Air M3 is certainly powerful, completely outclassing its M1 counterpart. However, if you own an Air M2, you don't need its M3 variant since the performance difference between the two is minimal.
💻 The MacBook Air M3 is a bit pricey, but it justifies the premium with an unbeatable combination of performance, battery life, display quality and portability.
1. The best MacBook: See all models compared
2. The best laptops for battery life
3. The best 2-in-1 laptops, for when you can't decide between a laptop and a tablet
What you need to know
The MacBook Air M3 is an excellent all-rounder that feels truly worthy of the Air name. Though it's virtually indistinguishable from the excellent MacBook Air 13-inch M2 that previously topped this list, the M3 variant is hard to dismiss.
The MacBook Air M3 (from $1,099) is a breath of fresh you-know-what, and that’s because Apple paired that speedy M3 chip with the same ultraportable design of its predecessor. It's a potent blend of performance and portability, one we recommend as one of the best laptops for getting work done on the go for most folks.
Design: The MacBook Air M3 is so thin it could easily be mistaken for an iPad when closed (especially if the Apple logo is facing out). That’s how slim this notebook is. Measuring just 0.44 inches thick with the lid open, an everyday Bic pen looks chunky next to this machine.
Don't expect to get much in the way of ports, however. As before, you get just a pair of Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports along the left edge, alongside a MagSafe power adapter. At least you also get a headphone jack.
Display: The 13.6-inch display offers a 2,560 x 1,664-pixel resolution and gets nice and bright in person, so it's a pleasant place to watch videos, write emails, edit photos and whatever else you want to do.
The MacBook Air M3 did well in our display tests, too. When we tested it with our light meter we found it delivers an average brightness of 476 nits, peaking around 496 when viewing HDR videos. That’s brighter than the Dell XPS 13 OLED’s 357-nit average.
Performance: On Geekbench 6, which measures overall performance, the MacBook Air M2 hit 3,082 on the single-core CPU test and 12,087 on multi-core. That’s faster than both its predecessors, though the performance gulf is widest between the old Air M1 and Air M3. For more details, check out our in-depth MacBook Air M3 benchmark results!
Battery life: The MacBook Air M3 is one of the longest-lasting laptops for the money. On the Tom’s Guide battery test, the new Air averaged 15 hours and 13 minutes, which is better than average.
Read the full review: MacBook Air 13-inch M3
| Test | Notes | How it stacks up |
|---|---|---|
| Battery life | 15:13 tested battery life | ★★★★★ |
| Performance | Speedy, good for light work | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | Thin and elegant, light on ports | ★★★★☆ |
| Display | Bright, colorful 13.6-inch panel | ★★★★☆ |
