Classes, Streaming And Gaming: The Best Laptops For College Students

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | RAM: 16GB LPDDR4X | Graphics: Intel Arc Graphics | Storage: 1TB SSD | Display: 14.4-inch OLED touch | Resolution: 1920 x 1200 | Refresh rate: 60Hz | Battery: Up to 15 hours  | Weight: 2.8 pounds

Pros:

• Attractive and bright OLED touch screen
• Lots of storage 
• Lightweight and portable design

Cons:

• Base configuration is limited to 1080p
• Unimpressive connectivity

The Asus ZenBook 14 OLED is the bigger version of our favorite laptop out there at the moment, so it’s no surprise that it’s a great pick for students, too. This one comes with a gorgeous 14-inch OLED display, which is great for photo and video editing, watching a movie in your downtime or actually getting some college work done. It’s limited to 1080p, which is a shame for more detailed work, but there are higher resolution models available—at a cost to both your wallet and the battery life. In this model both are stellar, though, with a price just north of $1,000. And it lasts up to 15 hours on a charge, making it one of the most efficient models on this list.

Performance is excellent from the Intel Core Ultra CPU and its impressive 16 cores—it’s not affected by the recent Intel CPU problems, either. There’s no dedicated GPU, but the onboard Arc graphics are plenty for casual gaming. You can enjoy extreme portability with this design, too, as it’s not only sleek and modern-looking, but weighs just 2.8 pounds, so it’s easy to carry around between classes.

CPU: Apple M2 | Graphics: M2 10-core | RAM: 8GB LPDDR4X | Storage: 256GB SSD | Display: 13.3-inch | Resolution: 2560 x 1664 | Battery: Up to 18 hours | Weight: 2.7 pounds

Pros:

• Sharp display
• Impressive performance for the price
• Long battery life

Cons:

• M3 models offer better performance
• Limited ports
• The 256GB SSD is slow

The MacBook Air is still Apple’s premiere portable laptop, and though there is a newer M3 model, the M2 is the best if you’re on a budget. The M3 isn’t that much faster, and although the M1 is more affordable, its availability is extremely limited, making this M2 model the best pick in 2024. This model comes with the M2 processor with its eight-core CPU and ten-core GPU, giving it excellent performance in general computing tasks and even the ability to do some light gaming in your downtime. Its 8GB of RAM isn’t ideal, but it’s plenty for standard college work. If you can afford a couple of hundred dollars more, though, try to upgrade to the 512GB version, as its SSD is much faster than the one in the 256GB variant.

Whichever configuraiton you pick, though, the display is the same retina-grade 13.3-inch panel and the battery life is extensive, lasting up to 18 hours of mixed use. That’s plenty for multiple days of classes, and then some. It’s super lightweight, too, weighing in at just 2.7-pounds. Port selection could be better, but you get Thunderbolt 4, so the bandwidth is there to convert it to just about anything with an adapter.

CPU: Intel Core Ultra 9-185H | Graphics: Intel Arc Graphics | RAM: 32GB LPDDR5X | Storage: 1TB SSD | Display: 14-inch | Resolution: 2880 x 1800 | Battery: Up to 13 hours | Weight: 3.6 pounds

Pros:

• Excellent performance
• Dual OLED displays are beautiful and versatile
• Keyboard and pen make it the complete package

Cons:

• Some software quirks with dual screens

More screen space is always useful during creative endeavours, so why not pick a laptop with two displays instead of one? The Asus Zenbook Duo gives you two 14-inch, OLED touch-screen displays, letting you use it in anyway you want. Want a taller display for video editing timelines? Done. Want to open up your laptop like a book for reading articles? Easy. Want to have one screen for the app and a second for touch controls? The Zenbook Duo can do it. This is a do-it-all laptop in every sense of the word, with fantastic performance, strong battery life and a good selection of ports.

The keyboard and pen come as standard, which you won’t get with other 2-in-1 designs, like Microsoft’s Surface Pro range. That makes the Duo a complete package in ways other laptops are not, and it’s all any college student could need. The battery life is longer in some laptops with single-display configurations, as you might expect, but for a laptop that works well as a tablet, a book, a double-wide display and many more ways that other laptops can only dream of, the Zenbook Duo is a real treat for any student.

CPU: MediaTek Kompanio 520 | RAM: 4GB DDR4X| Storage: 64GB eMMC | Display: 14-inch touch screen | Resolution: 1920 x 1080 | Battery: Up to 13.5 hours | Weight: 2.9 pounds

Pros:

• Very affordable
• Attractive color options
• Lightweight design

Cons:

• Limited on-board storage
• Basic processor only handles light tasks
• Limited to 1080p

The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook is a budget design, but a great one for college students who just need a simple laptop for typing up notes and staying connected with friends and faculty. It has a comfortable keyboard for typing, and an attractive range of color options, helping it to stand out from the pack. The performance and onboard storage are limited, but since this is a Chromebook, it’s lean and responsive, and you can always use the free cloud storage for backing up larger files. 

The 14-inch touch screen is fine for watching a movie or TV show on in your downtime. The battery life is strong with this laptop, too, lasting up to 13.5 hours of mixed use. If you like Google’s online office alternatives, and want a cheap laptop that can also use Android apps, look no further than the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3 Chromebook.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7730U | Graphics: AMD Radeon | RAM: 16GB DDR4 | Storage: 1TB SSD | Display: 16-inch | Resolution: 1920 x 1200 | Battery: Up to 10 hours | Weight: 4.1 pounds

Pros:

• Big display
• Lots of storage space
• Thin, attractive design

Cons:

• A little heavy
• Lacks performance of higher-end models

The Asus Vivobook 16 M1605 packs a lot of punch for its price, with impressive performance, loads of storage space, a large and attractive display and a comfortable keyboard. For just $600, you get a full terabyte of storage space and 16GB of RAM, which augments the Ryzen 7 processor beautifully to give it all the power you need for everyday apps, web browsing and watching streaming content. The 16-inch screen gives the student loads of screen space to work with, and though it is only 1080p, the 16:10 aspect ratio makes it better for reading longer documents and research.

It doesn’t have the performance of higher-end models, but the Zen 3 architecture in this CPU is modern enough to drive strong performance, and with its eight cores, it’s great for multitasking. 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS | Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 | RAM: 32GB LPDDR5X | Storage: 1TB SSD | Display: 14-inch OLED | Resolution: 2560 x 1440 | Refresh rate: 120Hz | Battery: Up to 10 hours | Weight: 3.3 pounds

Pros:

• Awesome performance for gaming and school work
• Impressive battery life for a gaming laptop
• Sharp display with fast refresh rate

Cons:

• Less battery life than many productivity-focused laptops

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 packs a gaming performance punch without the high costs associated with some more premium laptops. It combines one of AMD’s fastest ever eight-core Ryzen processors, with Nvidia’s stellar RTX 4070 graphics chip. This laptop can play anything at its native 1440p resolution and will take full advantage of the 120Hz refresh rate. With its 10-hour battery life, this is a laptop that can do it all, and it looks fantastic doing it, too, with a svelte design and a gorgeous OLED panel that gives you rich colors and a vibrant picture.

The overall design is light and portable, and it has excellent connectivity. You get one USB-C and two USB-A ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack and an HDMI 2.1 output for using larger external displays. It charges over USB-C, which is fast and convenient, and the keyboard and touchpad are some of the best out there. This is a stellar laptop for students that’s also fantastic for gaming.

CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite | Graphics: Snapdragon X Elite graphics | RAM: 16GB LPDDR5X | Storage: 512GB SSD | Display: 13-inch OLED touchscreen | Resolution: 2880 x 1920 | Refresh rate: 120Hz | Battery: Up to 14 hours | Weight: 2 pounds

Pros:

• Strong performance 
• Gorgeous display works great as a laptop and tablet
• Incredibly lightweight

Cons:

• Keyboard must be purchased separately
• Expensive

The Microsoft Surface Pro 11 is the best 2-in-1 on the market, so it’s the best 2-in-1 for students, too—if you’re willing to pay for it. It comes with a unique hardware configuration, since it’s the flagship example of Microsoft’s Windows on Arm initiative. The Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite is a high-powered version of the processors you find in most high-end smartphones, and yet it delivers laptop-grade performance alongside fantastic battery life. The display is absolutely gorgeous, with vivid colors, high brightness and a responsive touch interface.

This laptop works fantastic as a laptop or a tablet—although the keyboard is sold separately. The display isn’t just bright and clear; it’s fast, too, making this a decent laptop for casual gaming. It’s also so lightweight you can carry it around all day or even use it one-handed.