2018 has been a great year for tech, and nowhere has that been more apparent than in the laptops space. From high-end Apple laptops to great value Chromebooks, it really feels like there is a model out there for everyone, regardless of need or budget.
The best laptops you can buy right now in 2018
We regularly test the most promising laptops, from sleek ultrabooks to cheap Chromebooks to massive gaming laptops and beyond. Here are the best models you can buy in every category, along with advice on how to choose which type of laptop is right for you.
Andrew Cunningham is a former senior staff writer on Wirecutter's tech team. He has been writing about laptops, phones, routers, and other tech since 2011. Before that he spent five years in IT fixing computers and helping people buy the best tech for their needs. He also co-hosts the book podcast Overdue and the TV podcast Appointment Television.
On the hunt for one of the best laptops for graphic design? This is the place to be. We've carefully selected a range of different laptops, idea for designing. True, you'll need deep pockets for some of the most powerful, but many of these machines have power without costing the earth. We realise not everyone has a huge budget right now, so we've included affordable picks.
Where possible, these laptops have been tested by us so you can have faith that we know our stuff, and are recommending the very best devices out there. For more on our process, check out our guide to how we test laptops. In our tests, we ran extensive tests and completed projects that helped us to understand exactly how they would handle demanding graphic design projects.
Buying a laptop can be quite confusing if you just want a common or garden machine, rather than the specialist rigs coveted by graphic designers or hardcore gamers. For a start, prices for the best laptops vary from a couple of hundred quid up to the price of a family car and the machines mostly look identical.
We've got a separate guide to the best Chromebooks, as well as the best gaming laptops and also the top 2-in-1 choices, too. For all the top choices for every type of user, so let's dive into the picks below.
Perhaps the biggest variable between different models of laptops, even from the same manufacturers, is how big they are. The size of a laptop's display tends to dictate the size of its body overall, so it's worth working out what size is going to be best for you.
As important for a laptop as it is for any other tech purchase is knowing how much you want to spend - between upgradeable components and different versions, many popular laptops can easily become frighteningly expensive as you customise them, so it'll help in the long run if you have a clear idea of your budget ahead of time.
If you need something with more oomph than your traditional business laptop, then check out our best workstations page. If you're not sold on a business laptop, read our best laptops page for options that can pull double duty at home or in the office. Are you a fan of a specific brand? See our best Lenovo ThinkPad or best Dell laptop guides.
With 5 out of 5 stars, how is the Dell Precision 5470 not higher than 4th on this list? It's simple, not everyone needs this much power in a business laptop. This is a workstation laptop with the Nvidia RTX A1000 GPU and Intel Core i9-12900H CPU to prove it. It can't go toe-to-toe with the best gaming laptops, but it will run circles around any typical business laptop.
If battery life is a priority, the Dell Latitude 9430 2-in-1 is going to be a serious contender for the best business laptop for you. The 2-in-1 laptop cruised to 12 hours and 39 minutes in our Laptop Mag Battery test. That's hardly the only reason to choose it though; the bright InfinityEdge display lets Dell squeeze a 14-inch display into a super slim 0.54-inch chassis.
The $4,727 system is gorgeous, powerful, MIL-SPEC tough, and in my humble opinion is one of the best content creator laptops on the market. Oh, I forgot to mention, its OLED 4K touchscreen is bright, vivid and positively stunning.
We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise.
Here are 12 of the best laptops for back-to-school 2018. Some of these picks focus on overall general quality, while a few are focused on specific areas such as high-end power, gaming and value.
Laptops, tablets, All-In-Ones, Desktop PCs and more; every year we review hundreds of new products in the Microsoft ecosystem (and some outside), all to answer one question: which products are ultimately the best? Which phone, laptop, tablet or PC should you buy? 2018 has seen lots of new announcements, so for the past few weeks, our team has been debating which products truly stood out.
Those are our best products of 2018, and there's something for everyone. Whether you're looking for that laptop that can do it all, or the always connected PC to accompany your home setup, these are the best products announced this year. To find out the other products that won, including accessories, games and more, check out our Best of 2018 Awards winners!
Now, my advice for you is to shoot a little higher and go for a 11.6 or 12 inch device, preferably something with AMD E-350 hardware inside, like the HP DM1, the Lenovo Thinkpad x120e or the Asus 1215B. They are 15-20% more expensive, but I for one consider them the portable laptops with the best price/features-performance ratio.
Here's ZDNet's current list of the best ultraportable laptops -- running Windows or macOS (no Chromebooks made it onto the list at this time) -- on the market. Note that we have excluded 2-in-1 hybrid (convertible and detachable) laptops from this list, as these have been covered in a separate roundup.
Best 2-in-1 laptops, convertibles, and hybrid laptops for business 20182-in-1 devices that can function as laptops or tablets are a growing segment of the PC market. But which type and model of hybrid laptop should you buy? We explore the options and list some of the best.
New laptop innovations launch regularly and if you last upgraded your current laptop a few years ago, consider a more recent model to experience the latest designs and features. The best laptops are efficient enough to handle all types of work, whether for school or your job, in addition to watching movies or uploading photos; in short, they can handle it all. High-performing processors and long battery lives set newly released laptops apart from previous versions. At the same time, the latest OLED displays and graphics can support creative work and produce clear and brighter visuals.
To find the best laptop for you, think about your non-negotiables when shopping. If you're looking for a gaming laptop, consider a large and powerful model with a fast processor. If you are creative and require the features of a computer and tablet, the Lenovo Yoga 7i could be the best fit for you. We combined our extensive first-hand experience with in-depth research to determine our picks for the best laptops for every lifestyle. These are the best laptops of 2023.
The best gaming laptop title usually goes to the most powerful gaming laptops, and that's understandable. But more modest gaming laptops like this Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 are arguably better for general use, as they not only deliver excellent gaming performance, but also have longer battery life and a lighter chassis.
The HP Pavilion x360 is among the best 2-in-1 laptops you can buy in 2022, and with comparable features to our best budget laptop offering, it ticks a lot of boxes as a great affordable laptop, too. It has a solid mid-range Intel Core i7 12th generation processor, and half a terabyte of fast SSD storage, giving it snappy operation in day- to-day use and a fast startup time. The 14-inch 1080p display is crisp thanks to the high pixel density at this size, and with over 10 hours of battery life, there's more than enough to finish a full workday at the office or in lectures.
We sourced the best laptops of 2023 from reputable, top-rated brands and examined critical features of each model including battery life, visual display, processors and overall value. We looked at customer reviews as well, ensuring each pick had an average rating of at least 3.5 stars out of 5.
Our overall pick for the best laptop is the Dell XPS 13. It has ample storage space for everyday office use, entertainment and web browsing. The sleek laptop has an overall sturdy build but is still lightweight, great for taking on-the-go. While we named this our overall best, all laptops included in this roundup were selected for different lifestyles and daily tasks.
When you are a travel writer, you need to be able to easily get work done on the go. The touch screen is helpful as well when you cannot have a full desk setup. It is one of the best ultra-portable travel laptops I have had, without having to sacrifice power or usability."
Chromebooks offer the best value for money. Out of the two listed above, we recommend going for the HP Chromebook, simply because the software in HP laptops works well. We have also used HP in the past and have never had any issues with it.
Some of the familiar downsides to the MacBook Pro's physical design aren't improved with the 2018 refresh, however. Chief among them is the extremely limited port selection. All you get is a 3.5mm audio jack and four USB Type-C ports, two on the left edge and two on the right edge. This is the same selection you get with the Touch Bar-equipped 13-inch MacBook Pro. That's unfortunate, because many photographers use MacBook Pros as in-the-field editing workhorses and would therefore benefit from an SD card slot to offload photos. Even charging your iPhone requires an adapter, since iPhones still use conventional USB Type-A charging cables. 2ff7e9595c
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