In my decade-plus of reviewing laptops, I’ve tested hundreds of models. If someone asked me what to buy for a college student, these are the ones I’d suggest.
Be sure to check out our other computing guides, including the Best Laptops, Best Budget Laptops, Best MacBooks, Best Windows Laptops, Best Gaming Laptops, Best Chromebooks, and Best Laptop Bags.
Updated July 2026: I’ve added the HP OmniBook 3 and Dell 14 Plus as picks, and the Dell 14S as an honorable mention. I’ve also removed some options that have become too expensive after price increases.
The MacBook Air (9/10, WIRED Recommends) is my choice for best overall laptop for everyone. But college students have specific needs—and often, specific budgets. In addition to being affordable, a college student’s laptop should be lightweight and easy to carry around. The MacBook Neo (7/10, WIRED Recommends) fits the bill perfectly. It’s only 2.7 pounds and starts at just $699. It also has a smaller display, which helps it fit on those tiny lecture-hall desks. What makes the MacBook Neo special, however, is its lack of compromise around quality. It’s a gorgeous piece of hardware, with fun colors, an excellent trackpad, a beautiful display, and that Apple “it” factor. I recommend the $699 model, which gets you twice the storage and a Touch ID fingerprint reader.
Of course, this isn’t a laptop without downsides. Apple invested its efforts in the front-of-screen experience, but made cuts to performance, ports, and memory to keep costs low. The limitation of 8 GB of memory is my biggest sticking point with this device; it means you’ll need to be mindful of how many applications, tabs, and background tasks you have running at once. Also, ghe Neo can connect to only one external display at a time.
Laptop pricing has skyrocketed over the past few months, which has made it harder to recommend some of the flashier new laptops of the year. Fortunately, many really great laptops from 2025 are still available to buy. The Dell 14 Plus is a great example. It’s one of the few laptops you can get for less than $1,000 that doesn’t force you to make serious compromises. It’s not the world’s prettiest device, but the display is surprisingly sharp, bright, and colorful. The computer’s touchpad and keyboard are both high-quality, and it has tons of ports.
The newer Dell 14S came out more recently with the intention to replace the 14 Plus. The new model comes with an OLED display and superb battery life. While it’s a solid option (see Other Laptops to Consider, below), it starts at a pricey $1,350, and the screen has a lower resolution. For a college student, the Dell 14 Plus is the better buy right now.
If the idea of buying a laptop with only 8 GB of RAM in 2026 seems questionable (I don’t blame you for feeling this way), I recommend the Asus Zenbook A14 (WIRED Recommends, 8/10). Not only does it come with 16 GB of RAM, but it’s the lightest laptop you can buy right now at just 2.4 pounds. You’ll hardly notice it in your laptop bag when you’re trekking across campus.
The price of the Zenbook A14 varies quite a bit, typically between $600 and $1,000, but there’s often a deal available that makes it an affordable option. There’s also the 2026 model, which comes with the second-gen Snapdragon X2 chip. At $1,600, though, it’s just not worth the extra cash—especially for a college student on a budget.
The options listed above are fairly affordable, all coming in at less than $1,000. But even if your budget is $600 or less, trust that you can still get a solidly performing laptop with good battery life. The HP OmniBook 5 frequently sells for around $600 or less, making it an adequate MacBook Neo alternative. Better yet, HP’s laptop ships with more memory and storage. The OLED panel display is fantastic too, and the laptop is remarkably thin. The only significant downside is the touchpad, which feels clumsy to use. I could get used to it over time, but it is the Achilles’ heel of this OmniBook 5 (and nearly all budget laptops, for that matter).
If you need a super-cheap Windows laptop, though, there’s really only one I’d recommend that’s cheaper than the OmniBook 5, and it comes from the same family. I tested the HP OmniBook 3 and found that it shares a lot of the positive qualities of its older sibling. The OLED screen is great, as is the keyboard and overall build quality. Most important, the battery life is top-notch for a device of this price. It’s not as thin as the OmniBook 5 though, and the 1920 x 1200 resolution stretched across the 16-inch screen is unfortunate. There’s also a 14-inch version, which I think is a smarter buy.
But there’s not a single other Windows laptop I’d feel good about suggesting someone buy at this price. Intel-powered laptops at this price tend to struggle with performance and battery life, while other cheap Qualcomm Snapdragon X laptops like the Asus Vivobook 14 use terrible displays to drag the prices down.
Chromebooks are becoming increasingly tough to sell. Snapdragon X-powered laptops like the HP OmniBook 3 above have made budget-tier Chromebooks, with weak battery life and poor screens, harder to justify. Furthermore, Chromebooks have the added problem of incompatibility with certain software you might need in college.
However, Chromebooks are still the way to go if you need something—anything—for as little money as possible. If you’re low on cash and just need basic internet access, the $200 Asus Chromebook CX15 is your best bet. The screen and touchpad are the main downfalls, but it’s fairly portable and modern-looking, and the battery life is decent enough. My bar is fairly low for a $200 laptop, but the CX15 outdoes other competitors at this price.
Not everyone needs a powerful laptop to tote around campus. But if you’re in a STEM field, or even just like to play games on the weekend, buying a single, powerful laptop to serve as your main machine at college is a good idea. Unfortunately, no gaming laptop is powerful, portable, and affordable—you can only have two of those three things. Letting go of the portability priority, the best option I’ve tested is the Lenovo LOQ 15 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s hard to beat a discrete graphics processing unit (GPU) for raw performance, which is exactly what the RTX 5060 in the LOQ 15 delivers. Though the price often creeps above $1,000, it’s still the most affordable gaming laptop you can buy that doesn’t suffer from severe performance compromises.
Now, if you can afford to dish out some more money, I’d point you to either the Razer Blade 16 or the MacBook Pro. Despite the thin profile of the Razer Blade 16 (8/10 WIRED Recommends), you can configure it with up to an RTX 5090 graphics card. Aside from the compromise of a high price, battery life is a limitation. You might run out halfway through your day, forcing you to find an outlet in a hurry. If you happen to need performance for gaming on the weekends in addition to your schoolwork, the Razer Blade 16 is expensive but totally worth it. I prefer the smaller Razer Blade 14 as a college laptop, but it’s no longer available to purchase right now.
The MacBook Pro, whether you opt for the M5 Pro, M5 Max, or an older chip, resolves the issue of battery life. Gaming isn’t its strongest capability, but it delivers exceptional performance in creative applications and can be equipped with up to 128 GB of unified memory for serious on-device AI workloads.
Dell 14S for $1,350: While this laptop is more expensive than I’d like, it’s a solid choice. The chassis is more polished than that of the Dell 14 Plus, and the glossy OLED screen gives the device a premium look. I wish it were brighter, or at least handled glare better.
MacBook Air for $1,260: In previous years, the MacBook Air has been my top pick for college laptops, but in 2026, the prices and available configurations have gone up considerably. While it’s still overall the best laptop you can buy, the MacBook Neo is a better option for most college students, given its lower price.
Apple iPad Air for $899: iPads can be solid laptop replacements, as long as you get the right one. The latest M4 iPad Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is the best example, as it’s not too expensive but still gives you the option of a larger, 13-inch display. The recent changes to iPadOS bring desktop-like multitasking to the platform, and when paired with a Magic Keyboard, you get a very capable 2-in-1 laptop. It’s an expensive accessory, but the keyboard and trackpad are both top-notch, on par with a high-end laptop.
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x for $1,075: When it launched, this well-rounded, 15-inch laptop was selling for just $850. These days, it’s a few hundred dollars more, which is why I dropped it from a top pick to an honorable mention. The screen is brighter and more colorful than I expected, and even the touchpad feels smooth and responsive. It even gets excellent battery life and delivers a good balance between screen size and portability.
Microsoft Surface Pro 12 for $750: I can’t think of a better device to bring to class for note-taking than the Surface Pro 12 (6/10, WIRED Recommends). While I recommend the larger Surface Pro 13 for most people, college students are the exception. The thinner and lighter size of the Surface Pro 12 gives you a super-portable Windows device. It has really solid hardware too. The Snapdragon X Plus provides just as much power and long-lasting battery life as the larger model. I wish it were a bit more affordable, as you’ll still need to add on the Surface keyboard and a USB-C power supply.
Framework Laptop 12 for $549: You can’t expect most budget laptops to last longer than four years of college. The Framework Laptop 12 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) promises something longer-lasting, as all Framework laptops do. This one is the smallest and cheapest in the lineup, and despite the price, the display and trackpad are both better than I expected. The only problem is the limited RAM.
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