The most productive student computer offers four things: solid performance, durability, reliable battery life, and, of course, good value for money. Back to school in 2023 is just around the corner, so we’ve rounded up our favorite picks for your consideration.
Most of the most productive laptops will generally be great possible options for students, but it’s worth thinking about the desires of the average student compared to those of a user who rarely studies much. That’s why we use a slightly different set of Criteria to which the laptops on this list belong.
For example, MacBooks can be wonderful equipment for students of artistic disciplines such as animation and graphic arts. Conversely, if you plan to use your computer at school for responsibilities like 3D rendering or clinical modeling, getting a computer with a rugged discrete graphics card is a smart move.
No matter what subject you’re studying, you also want a computer that can endure a full school day at no cost and cope with the hustle and bustle of student life. Most of the most productive 2-in-1s are smooth and compact. enough to take it with you smoothly in a mad race between classes.
Price is also a vital factor here – academic tops don’t have unlimited budgets when it comes to buying a sensible new lapmaximum, so it’s vital to know you’re getting what you pay for. You can check out our list of reasonable and productive lapmaximum maximums if you buy food on a budget; If not, here are our most practical picks for scholars of all disciplines.
If you need to get straight to the point and see the most productive student laptop in its class, check out our quick roundup of the most sensible picks below. Don’t worry, you can seamlessly access a more detailed view of the selection, as well as a price comparison tool that will help you find the best student laptop deals, regardless of your budget.
Best Laptop for Overall Students
With a forged structure and decent weight, this incredibly 14-inch computer offers decent battery life and functionality for the price.
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Best Chromebook for students on a budget
It’s possibly not the flashiest, but it’s built to last, especially in terms of battery. ChromeOS is also a wonderful all-rounder operating system, especially for younger students.
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Best Chromebook for Students
The Chromebook Duet 5, the best Chromebook for students overall, has an impressive OLED display, battery life, and a portable design.
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Best high-end Chromebook
It may not come cheap, but its functionality more than justifies the extra expense and offers one of the most productive Chromebook experiences.
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Best High-End Windows Laptop
It’s still one of the most productive Windows laptops you can buy at an affordable price. It’s thin and smooth without compromising performance.
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Best Laptop for Creative Students
Although it is the market computer for the maximum number of people, it is the dream device for art students. Just be prepared to pay full price.
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Upload the following five products. . .
Best 2-in-1 Affordable for Students
This computer has an attractive price, smart design, functionality and battery life, and offers wonderful versatility.
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Best 2-in-1 Premium for Students
Sometimes you want more than you want from a 2-in-1, and that provides functionality and construction; It is usually more expensive.
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Best gaming laptop for students
It can’t just be paint and no gaming, but on a student budget, the MSI GF63 Thin offers the perfect functionality and value you want from a gaming laptop.
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Best OLED Laptop for Students
If you’re looking for an amazing demo on a student budget, this 2-in-1 comes with an amazing OLED display and perfect performance.
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Our opinion:
✅ You’re on a budget: This basic style costs around $600/£450, making it an effective option for students on a budget.
✅ You like it a lot: It’s not an ultrabook, but its rugged design and weight of just 1. 7kg mean the Aspire Five will live happily in your backpack all day.
❌ You’re a gamer: Acer talks about a discrete GeForce graphics card, but a maximum of five Aspire models rely on more basic built-in graphics.
❌ You need a battery that lasts a day: six and a half hours isn’t bad for a computer in this price range, but you’ll have to spend a little more if you want a computer that lasts longer.
The Acer Aspire 5 (2022) is a 14-inch Windows computer that makes some concessions to reach its price, but fortunately does not skimp too much, so its functionality is more than enough to allow students to spend several years of school. . work, either at the higher level of school or university.
The model we reviewed was a basic unit (to better check its value for money) equipped with an eleventh generation Intel processor. While we weren’t too surprised in our verification process, we made the decision that it would be a “respectable desktop computer. “laptop” given its reliable mid-range functionality and decent battery life; We even made the decision that a bit of casual play deserves to be an option here, provided you’re willing to tweak the graphics settings a bit.
If you’re a student who rarely looks for high-end specs and have to stick to a limited budget, but still want your computer to keep you running all day and running smoothly, the Acer Aspire five definitely has you covered.
Read our full review of the Acer Aspire five (2022)
Our opinion:
✅ You’re looking for a budget 2-in-1 Chromebook – it’s superbly priced and performs much better than the paper specs suggest.
✅ You need a flexible 2-in-1 device: With a touchscreen and tablet capability suitable for students or kids, the Flex 3 is truly versatile.
❌ You want a device that delivers decent performance: While the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 is perfectly suited to internet browsing and media streaming, it would be a poor selection for something more demanding.
❌ You want anything with a wonderful display: small, dim, and low-resolution.
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook is nothing flashy, and its MediaTek processor and 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM are enough to run Chrome OS, but there’s no denying that it’s a solidly built Chromebook that will get you through your school day without too much trouble.
A computer like this doesn’t want to have wonderful specs thanks to its lightweight operating system. Plus, as a 2-in-1 Chromebook, you’ll be able to take full advantage of cloud note-taking and other collaborative apps like Office 365. , Google G-Suite and more with built-in WiFi 6.
When we reviewed it, we noticed that despite its modest specs, ChromeOS ran smoothly and the overall productivity workloads were a breeze. The battery life was also simply epic, lasting 16 hours in our video playback test. Best of all, this durable Chromebook is some of the cheapest academic laptops you can find.
Read our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 3 Chromebook
Our opinion:
✅ You need the 2-in-1 Chromebook on the market: its lightweight, easily convertible shape is as comfortable as it gets, with a decent amount of strength and phenomenal battery life.
✅ You need exceptional battery life: Very few Chromebooks get this kind of battery life, and with the right settings, you can seamlessly achieve 18 to 19 hours of battery life.
❌ You need an affordable Chromebook: The Chromebook Duet five has some top-notch features, which pushes the price to the max for a Chromebook.
❌ You need a more tablet-centric form factor: the 16:9 facet ratio and 13. 3-inch display make it bulky for use in tablet mode.
The Chromebook Duet 5 is rarely the most powerful on the market, nor the cheapest, but the combination of good performance, adaptability, adequate battery life, and a very moderate price makes it a Chromebook that’s not only necessary to use, but also a must-have. to show off.
This removable 2-in-1 Chromebook features a Full HD OLED display, giving you colorful colors and near-unmatched clarity, even on the most productive Chromebook that employs a popular IPS display. Plus, with 8GB of RAM and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen2, you also get very solid performance. We enjoyed the lightweight chassis and detachable keyboard when we reviewed it.
And since it’s necessarily a Snapdragon processor, its battery life is phenomenal, lasting just over 16 hours in our tests. To be clear, this is completely unheard of for an OLED laptop, so you can’t miss it with this one. It’s best for note-taking, thanks to its tighter 16:9 display ratio, but it can do that and much more, making it a great choice for students with a little flexibility in their budget.
Read the full Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook review five
Our opinion:
✅ You want a rugged Chromebook: It’s a capable Chromebook that helps keep its value in a comfortable mid-range. You could even get more out of it than with a valuable Windows laptop.
✅ You care more about functionality than aesthetics — not that it looks awful, but it doesn’t have the sleek finishes of anything like the HP Dragonfly Pro Chromebook.
❌ You’re on a tight budget: while it’s not as expensive as other high-end Chromebooks, it may not succeed if you buy less than $500/£500.
❌ You want a Windows or Mac laptop – If you want to do most of your workload and occasional computing on a full operating system, this one is for you.
The Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is an easy-to-love Chromebook, thanks to its sometimes rugged hardware, ease of use, and proper features, as it’s an Acer Spin 2-in-1 device, but as the most productive 2-in-1. laptop in 1. , the Chromebook Spin 514 can be expensive, at least for a Chromebook anyway.
However, for a student budget, where “dear” can still charge a few hundred dollars/pounds less than a large one, the Chromebook Spin 514 is at the maximum budget of this budget without being the most expensive Chromebook on the market (it would be the HP Elite Dragonfly Chromebook). But the Spin 514 deserves its value thanks to all-round functionality and battery life that surpasses that 8-hour mark.
Despite the premium access price, you get a pretty rugged 2-in-1 with the right specs that allow it to last most, if not all, of a four-year university program, which is a decent investment in this area. Device at the start of a program, money well spent.
Read the full Acer Chromebook Spin 514 (2022)
Our opinion:
✅ You need ultraportability: There are very few laptops that are so simple to carry. It’s also fantastic, so you’re hesitant to show it off.
✅ It needs wonderful value: the Dell XPS thirteen (2022) looks like a very high-end item whose price is mistakenly affordable.
❌ It needs wonderful functionality – it’s a wonderful device with day-to-day functionality that will take care of general workloads, but beyond that, this computer will struggle.
❌ You enjoyed the old design of the XPS 13 – if you’re a fan of older XPS 13s, you probably don’t like this laptop.
Further down this list is the Dell XPS 15, which includes a larger screen and discrete GPU, an ideal selection for academics who want a little more processing power to take care of video editing or number-crunching workloads. This template uses built-in graphics, which means it’s best suited for more everyday responsibilities such as answering emails and writing essays.
But, what a wonderful little device to perform those low-intensity tasks. Dell’s XPS line of laptops has long been one of our favorites, and this new style for 2022 is no exception, with an ultra-fast 12th Gen Intel processor and incredibly competitive pricing in lower-performance styles. In our review, we found that it was smartly priced in terms of overall performance, although you might need anything with a compromised graphics card if you plan on running resource-intensive software like Adobe. Pro Premiere.
The Dell XPS 13 is also incredibly thin and light, making it ideal for fast-moving students. If you’ve ever had to rush around campus to get from class to class (this editor, in fact, did), understand the price of a lightweight but sturdy computer that can be temporarily stowed away in a bag for your next campus sprint.
Read our full Dell XPS Thirteen (2022) review
Our opinion:
✅ You want a rugged computer for content creation: While the 13-inch MacBook Pro surpassed the new MacBook Air by being the first MacBook M2, the MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is a much better buy for most people.
✅ You need a thin, delicate laptop: The MacBook Air (M2, 2022) is still one of the most productive thin and delicate laptops you can buy, and with its new design, it’s slimmer and incredibly modern.
❌ You’re in favor of the cheaper MacBook: The new MacBook Air has not only gained new hardware and design, but also a new premium price.
❌ You want ports: The thin and light design comes at a cost in ports, and the new MacBook Air comes with just two Thunderbolt ports.
If you’re looking for the most productive student computer for those with serious artistic ambitions, look no further. When Apple launched its M1-powered product line in 2020, the company caused a stir. As the first computer to get Apple’s internal system-on-chip (SoC) technology, the company’s thinnest and lightest MacBook Air is one of the most interesting Apple computers in recent years.
This next-generation MacBook Air is powered by the new M2 SoC, making it better than ever and delivering exceptional performance. The only genuine complaint we had to make was the price, which is a bit high: if you need a MacBook and still have one, on a tighter budget, you might need the 2020 M1 model.
While its fanless design may result in a thermal limitation compared to the Pro, we were able to run our test procedure with difficult software without encountering major throttling incidents. Another merit for Force users is the battery life, which is quite amazing and beats many. of its competitors. It’s possibly not the cheapest option for students, but for those who someday need to enter the arts industries, the MacOS platform is pretty much the industry standard, making it a great hotspot.
Read our full MacBook Air (M2, 2022)
Our opinion:
✅ You need a full 2-in-1 laptop – it works incredibly well in spaces where you like speed and an HD display, and even in spaces where you don’t like gaming or battery life.
✅ You want longer battery life: Its battery lasts long enough for a 2-in-1, lasts about 8 hours or a full day of operation, and provides fast charging time.
❌ You need something thinner and lighter: While it’s a wonderful laptop, it’s a little heavier and thicker, weighing just over 3 pounds and less than an inch.
❌ You want a 2-in-1 with a stylus – this is a computer designed to work, which would have been better for an included stylus.
If you like the look of the Inspiron 16 2-in-1 but think it’s too big (or too expensive), then its little brother may be the computer for you.
A hybrid laptop with a very similar touchscreen, the Inspiron 14 excels in the same spaces (smart functionality, versatility, smart price) and also fails in the same spaces: again, the lack of an included stylus is a real shame, as may have been the case. It added a lot to the package. However, we found in our testing procedure that the functionality remained solid, even when handling some soft games. We also praise the 1080p webcam and perfect battery life, as well as fast loading times.
The overall specs of the Inspiron 14 are less impressive than those of its big brother, the Inspiron 16; disk capacity is limited to 512GB and the i7 processor is a less powerful i7-1255U than the 16-inch model’s i7-1260P. Considering the lower starting price of $849. 99 (£699/AU$1278), this is still straightforward advice. of us.
Read the full Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1 review
Our opinion:
✅ You want a rugged 2-in-1: Not only does the Acer Spin Five (2022) take care of general computing responsibilities easily, but it also has enough power to take care of artistic responsibilities.
✅ You want a great screen and speaker combination: between the cute 14-inch 2. 5K display and the perfect DTS-compatible speakers, there’s plenty to enjoy on the AV side.
❌ He doesn’t like noisy cooling enthusiasts: when running general programs like internet browsers and video conferencing software, Acer Spin five (2022) enthusiasts make noise.
❌ You’re a 2-in-1 with a bit of design: much like its big brother, its angular shape with metal gray and rose gold accents lacks enthusiasm.
The Acer Spin series has long been one of the most productive student laptops for its features, perfect performance, and cutting-edge design, and this has never been more true than with the Acer Spin Five (2022).
The cost of access here is quite high, making it a high-end device for students who are willing to invest more upfront to have a 2-in-1 device that will accompany them for several years of schoolwork, but if that’s so, where you are, then this device is all you need.
From the integrated stylus with a charging space on the device, to the stellar webcam and microphone array, to its incredible battery life, this 2-in-1 will last you an entire school day and leave you with some energy to watch. On top of that, the phenomenal productivity functionality was noticed in our tests, and you have one of the most productive student laptops you can find.
Read our full review of the Acer Spin Five (2022)
Our opinion:
✅ You need to play on a budget: Gaming laptops can be very expensive, but the MSI GF63 Thin expertly crosses the line between performance and performance.
✅ You want a flexible computer: decent functionality in almost every area and a discreet design mean the GF63 Thin can gladly serve as a computer for studying.
❌ You want smart battery life – the battery life presented here is far from depressing, but it’s not what we’d call impressive.
❌ You need high-resolution gaming: While some gaming laptops offer models with other screen resolutions, the GF63 Thin is only available in 1080p.
Even the most studious students want downtime, but even reasonable gaming laptops can cost far more than a student’s budget can allow. Fortunately, for them, the MSI GF63 Thin is designed to the max for their educational and non-educational needs.
While it may not have the portability of a MacBook Air or Dell Inspiron 14 2-in-1, the GF63 Thin is still convenient enough for a gaming laptop. In addition, its specifications come with an Intel Core i7-11800H processor. up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU and plenty of RAM, so functionality probably isn’t a big deal. When we reviewed it, we felt it offered a price for cash in terms of functionality and the compromised GPU. This means it deserves to take on graphically extensive responsibilities, bigger than most of the other laptops on this list.
These robust specifications will also be wonderful for productivity work, especially if you enter technical fields like engineering that require special PC hardware for classes. The MSI GF63 Thin is therefore a fair balance between doing your homework and having something to do once you’re done. They are made, all without surely making a hole in your budget.
Read the full MSI GF63 Thin (2022)
Our opinion:
✅ You’re an incredibly portable 2-in-1: This computer is lightweight, thin, and maintains a moderate screen size, making it a highly portable machine.
✅ You need an OLED computer with long battery life – this 2-in-1 computer has battery life, especially impressive thanks to the OLED demo that comes with it.
❌ You prefer a high-quality touchpad – the touchpad of this device is not bad, but it is sloppy, even with the highest sensitivity.
❌ You need a flashier computer: This computer is very convenient and has very few visual embellishments, so those who prefer a more aesthetically pleasing device set their eyes on anything else.
If you’re looking for a slim, easy-to-carry computer to get the task done, with a brilliant OLED display and excellent battery life, the HP Envy 13 x360 might be the most ideal and affordable choice for you. Much more available than in the Spectre range, in terms of price, the Envy thirteen x360 is a 2-in-1 computer, especially for budget-conscious students.
The fact that it can compete with 16-inch 2-in-1 laptops in terms of functionality is even more impressive. We were able to run spreadsheets, word processors, conference calls, and gambling videos with browser tabs at the same time without any problems. And our battery life experience with the Envy 13 x360 was pretty good too, with just over nine hours in our film battery test.
It’s not exactly a budget purchase, but considering the OLED generation you get that offers bright colors, it’s priced pretty affordably. In addition, the keyboard is solid and its number of ports is varied, ideal for students with many USB sticks. and to connect to an external monitor.
Read our full HP Envy thirteen x360 (2022) review
The most productive student computer will give you the right balance between functionality sufficient for productivity tasks, affordable value for a student’s budget, and durability to cope with the kind of wear and tear a student may experience with their computer and how it looks. The good never hurts.
But that can be tricky to balance for students and families, especially if they’re not as familiar with computer hardware as they’d like. Fortunately, there are some general rules you can follow to get the right student computer for your wishes and budget. .
There are a few other boxes that computers for more productive students deserve to tick in addition to being able to meet the needs of their courses. One of the main considerations when opting for a student computer is battery life – you want something that lasts all the time. day their categories and will still have power to examine the expired ones in the afternoon in the library.
Ideally, student laptops also deserve to be flexible and lightweight, as they want anything that can multitask with all systems without being a burden to carry around campus. Versatility is very important with a laptop for students, especially with careers that will have it. alternating between a published article and the essay you want to finish on time.
Budget is also a primary factor when choosing the most productive student computer for their school experience. Not everyone can shell out a lot of cash for a student computer (we understand this perfectly), so make sure you settle on anything that meets all your criteria without going over budget. Nowadays, it’s easy to find a great student computer in your price range, and even more so when you find a deal and get a good deal.
This is a bit of a tricky question, because at the end of the day, the best operating system for students (whether it’s Windows 10 or 11, macOS, or ChromeOS) will depend on the operating system the student in question prefers to use. We are all wedded to the effective features of Windows; others may prefer the aesthetic UI of Apple devices, or the simplified Android-like user experience presented through the Chromebook.
If you’re already comfortable with a fast operating system, taking the plunge can be tricky. ChromeOS is arguably the easiest to learn and use, but switching to MacOS after a decade of getting familiar with Windows can be confusing. Keep this in mind when opting for a new computer for school or college.
Hardware-wise, we’re happy to say that MacBooks are more competitive than ever. Apple’s M1 and M2 chips are far more capable of taking on less-than-easy responsibilities than processors with built-in graphics, making Apple computers the perfect all-rounders for busy students. However, if you have to run very complex software, it’s worth considering a Windows computer with a dedicated GPU, preferably an Nvidia RTX, as this will give you a lot more power in GPU-accelerated programs.
Simply put, at this point, most students at the school will want a computer for their studies. Although right now, having a computer is almost a necessity (with distance learning and content creation among college students), a computer can be stowed in a backpack. and brought to meetings and workshops, unlike a desktop PC.
Yes, a desktop often provides more processing power and the advantages of a larger screen, but you might end up finishing more (especially when you feel you need peripherals) and then find yourself still craving a portable device for note-taking and work. while traveling. If you already own a small tablet or a computer that you can carry with you, you may want to buy one of the best desktop computers, but if not, we recommend that you buy a larger computer and use it instead of a computer. office.
We know that buying a new computer can be a huge investment. This is even more true in the case of student-directed computers. That’s why we take our paintings seriously and review every computer we feature on this list.
This procedure comes to them in our daily lives to see how long their battery lasts, how strong they are (after all, students have a hectic life), and how cool they stay under pressure. We also take a look at its design, adding its elegance, thinness and lightness, as well as its comfort when running. Because a computer’s webcam and microphone are also incredibly important, especially nowadays, we also take the time to review them.
When it comes to performance, we use a combination of genuine testing and artificial benchmarks to see how rugged (or not) those laptops are. That means employing Windows 10 (or Chrome OS on Chromebooks and macOS on MacBooks) and running apps and seeing how they perform. They load quickly and notice any problems.
Battery life is also important, so we’ll keep track of how long we can use the computer without needing to rate it. For quick numbers, we also run our own battery life check that plays a 1080p loop movie until it runs out. such as the Mark 10 PC battery life check, which replicates real-world usage such as internet browsing and document creation. These checks give us a wonderful idea of the battery life of those computers.
In the end, we take everything learned about the computer and compare it to its price, to see if it offers the most productive price for students.
Christian is TechRadar’s IT editor discovered in the UK. He came to us from Maximum PC magazine, where he fell in love with PC hardware and building. He was on our independent review team before switching to TechRadar and is regularly discovered. drooling over the high-end graphics card or the newest gaming computer before digging into your bank account balance and crying.
Christian is an avid LGBTQ rights advocate and owner of a captivating rescued dog named Lucy, whom he followed after beating cancer in 2021. She helps keep him compatible and healthy through a combination of face licks and long walks, and only barks occasionally. . Asking for treats while trying to paint from home.
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