Which Top 10 Laptops are for Students

Students have computer laptop needs different from the average consumer; they often need high performance at times along with some sweet battery life. As a student, you’ll also sometimes be required to run demanding apps such as MatLab, Ansys AutoCAD, etc. These top 10 laptops for students will be able to do so smoothly.

Of course, not everyone can buy a laptop worth one of their kidneys. I kept that in mind while writing the following review. This isn’t just an alternate list for “Most Expensive Laptops to Date.” Budget will be one of the most important deciding factors for picking out the top 10 laptops for students.

I’ve compiled the top 10 laptops on the basis of concrete and measurable factors so this is an unbiased list. Factors like price to performance ratio, battery life, display have also been taken into account.

Enough talking. Here are the top 10 laptops for students:

MacBook Air M1: My Recommendation

The Macbook Air M1 will give you the best bang for your buck. There’s not even a slight doubt about that. This is why it is on top of the list of the top 10 laptops for students. It is best for any type of major student, in particular for those who have to work on video-making or graphics on a daily basis.

You get everything with this laptop: performance, a crisp display and long battery life.

The M1 chip beats every processor out there in multi-core performance. For day-to-day tasks, it only gets warm – barely warm. The display is as sharp and color accurate with the True Tone technology as it is on the Pro version (which only happened with this line of Macbooks).

The battery life is the longest-lasting one which you will need when you are running from campus to campus. That’s a pretty bold claim, and I’m going to prove what I said. Yes, laptops like the LG Gram 14 do exist which have a battery life longer than Macbook Air’s 18 hours, but they soon start deteriorating.

However, it can be hard to run cracked software on the MBA (I don’t support doing so, but it should be pointed out). The transition from Intel to M1 chips has been taking place at a rapid pace, but it still has a long way to go. Some programs don’t run natively on the M1 chip, so they run slower and consume more battery life as compared to if they run on Intel chips.

The base model comes with 8 GB unified RAM and 256 GB SSD. Apple’s 8 GB RAM can’t be compared to other 8 GB RAM modules because it’s unified and integrated with everything else.

Dell XPS 13

Next on the line of our top 10 laptops for students is Dell’s XPS 13. The XPS 13 gets its name from the screen size. The 13.3” models are, thus, named XPS 13. This is one of the premium laptops as well. The XPS series is Dell’s flagship line of laptops. Among the top 10 laptops, it is best for business major and medical students.

The XPS 13 has extremely narrow bezels giving it a sleek look. The carbon finishing gives it a premium feel. The keyboard quality is amazing as well.

As far as the thermals go, the XPS is ok. Compared to the Macbook Air M1, it’s pretty bad. If you compare it to its other competitors, it’s ok.

The battery life is amazing. One reason for that is that the screen’s resolution is 1080p (just like every laptop on the list except the MBA M1). However, the battery performance starts to decrease after just a few months of use (typically around 8 months).

The minimum specs that you get with the XPS 13 are 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD. Keep in mind that the XPS series is a bit expensive because of the supreme build quality and aesthetics.

Dell’s quality control is a hit or a miss one. So, you might end up getting a laptop with poor thermals and battery life.

Dell XPS 15

The XPS 15 is a series of 15.6” laptops that are similar to the XPS 13 ones. The only difference between the two is the screen size. It gets a mention in the top 10 laptops for students because of the bigger screen, even though the battery life has decreased a bit.

The configurations are almost the same as those of the XPS 13 ones.

HP Envy x360

Ideal for media major and medical students, the HP Envy x360 is a 2-in-1 laptop. It can be folded all the way to the back and become a tablet which is quite convenient for students who do some sort of content creation (graphic designing, to be specific), and notes taking during classes.

If you’re someone who likes to unwind and watch movies after studying, this is ideal for you too. The aspect ratio is a 16:10 compared to the traditional 16:9 one.

The HP Envy x360 starts with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD. The battery life is not as good as compared to non-touch laptops because of … well, the touch screen.

HP Probook G5

The HP Probook is a favorite among engineering students as it comes in three different variants: G3, G5 and G7. The number indicates the type of processor used. For example the G5 uses Core i5.

Even in the G5 category, there are different laptops. If you’re going to render stuff on your laptop, get the variant with a graphics card.

For regular students, an i3 is probably not going to be enough, while an i7 is going to be overkill. An i5 is perfect.

Among the top 10 laptops for students, this is pretty close to the Macbook Air M1. The speakers are front-facing, battery life is good, the keyboard is similar to Apple’s scissor keyboard and the build quality is supreme.

Dell Inspiron 3501

By compromising on the build quality, Dell managed to bring the price down a lot with the Inspiron line of laptops. The Dell Inspiron 3501 is on our list of the top 10 laptops for students because it is a great choice for anyone whose budget is low. This is an excellent choice for engineering students.

If you are in computer graphics and require rendering often, you should get the variant with the MX 330 card.

The thermals and battery life aren’t great. It’s only around 4-5 hours, but it’s less priced as compared to other laptops in the market.

The base specs are 4GB and 1TB HDD. I recommend adding 4GB RAM and 128GB SSD.

Microsoft Surface 4

The Microsoft Surface 4 has a unique design. This is ideal if you constantly need to switch between tablet mode and laptop mode, like users of the HP Envy x360. The screen resolution is almost as sharp as the MBA’s is. Among the top 10 laptops for students, this is another great option for media and business major students.

The size is smaller than other laptops though. The screen size is 12.3” which might be a problem for some users. Its small size isn’t its downside. Because of its small size, it can fit in almost any college bag.

The screen ratio is 3:2. It’s almost the size of an A4 sheet of paper, so it’s comfortable to draw on.

The specs of the Microsoft Surface 4 are 4 GB RAM and 128 GB SSD.

If you aren’t going to need serious processing power, this is a decent choice. It’s much lighter on the pocket compared to other laptops. The Microsoft Surface 4 is perfect for watching movies too.

Dell Inspiron 5406 2-in-1

This 2-in-1 laptop is affordable than its competitors because of its screen resolution. Ideal for business and medical majors, the 14” Dell Inspiron 5406 has a 720p resolution which might be a problem for some people.

If that’s not an issue, this is a decent laptop. You can use it for streaming games when not working or studying.

Lenovo Yoga Slim 7

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 x360 is a pretty solid laptop. Its battery life is pretty impressive. Even after a year or so of usage, the battery doesn’t deteriorate at that bad of a pace. This is a decent choice for computer technology, media or engineering students.

The screen resolution is also a sharp 1080p one. If battery life and a color accurate screen within a budget is what you’re looking for, this would be a great fit as among the top 10 laptops for students.

It comes with 8GB RAM and 256 GB SSD.

Acer Nitro 5

The Acer Nitro 5 is more of a gaming laptop. This would be the perfect option for those students who are going to need to do some serious rendering or game development on their laptops. With that, comes the trade-off of thermals and battery life.

This one is perfect for video editing and that sort of graphic intensive work, and is a favorite among media major students.

The battery life and the overheating issues are serious on this when doing some heavy task. However, keeping it plugged in and using a cooling pad will solve the problem.

It comes with 16 GB RAM, 1 TB HDD, 256 GB SSD, and 4GB GTX 1650. Pretty cool.

Bottom Line

Your laptop needs will be according to your studies major and your hobbies. A laptop that’s “perfect” for someone else might not be the right one for you.

So if you are looking at the above top 10 laptops for students to find your perfect laptop, you need to decide what exactly it is that you’ll be using your laptop for. If you’re confused, I would suggest you go for the MacBook Air M1. In my opinion, that is the best laptop for students.

Which laptop do you use, and what’s your major? Drop these down in the comments.

Guest author: Shaheer ul Haq

A tech geek turned-content writer who writes to provide value and not for the mere sake of writing. Other than writing, you’ll find me trying to solve physics equations.

Photo by Sincerely Media on Unsplash