Best laptops 2024: Premium laptops, budget laptops, 2-in-1s, and more

Price When Reviewed:

$329.99

Price When Reviewed:

$1,249.99

Price When Reviewed:

$499

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus puts a lot on the table, as it offers everything from a convertible design to a beautiful touchscreen. For under $500, that’s an amazing value. The 2-in-1 design, which really ups the versatility factor, allows you to prop the laptop up like a tent or swing the screen around and use it like a tablet. The 14-inch touchscreen also has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a refresh rate of 60Hz, which is fine for casual use. As for the hardware, you’re getting an Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, Intel UHD graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The reviewer was pretty darn impressed with the snappy day-to-day performance as well as lightning-fast boot-up times.

If you’re in the market for a peppy, affordable 2-in-1, the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus will surely deliver.

Weighing in at just 2.64 pounds, the HP Dragonfly G4 is so lightweight it may very well float up into the clouds. It doesn’t get more portable than this. In addition to its featherlight form factor, it also boasts a whopping 16 hours of battery life on a single charge, which means it’s well-equipped to handle long international flights or commutes. According to our reviewer, it’s the ideal laptop for office work. The webcam even has a Sure View privacy filter that prevents others from getting a clear view of your screen, which is useful when you’re working on sensitive documents. The inner components aren’t bad, either.

The Dragonfly G4 offers zippy performance thanks to the Intel Core i7-1355U CPU and 32GB of RAM. If you spend a lot of time in specific programs, the 32GB of memory should help them run faster. The 13.5-inch only has a resolution of 1920×1080, which isn’t very high but is perfectly fine for casual use and office work. The only real drawback is the ridiculously high price tag, which will leave your wallet screaming in agony.

Price When Reviewed:

$1,299.99

The Acer Swift Edge 16 has a lot to offer for a sub-$1,000 machine. Not only is it thin and light, but the OLED screen is gorgeous and super vibrant. It weighs just 2.71 pounds, which is considered featherlight as far as laptops go. You’re even getting a 16-inch 2000p OLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate. According to our reviewer, the display “delivers an infinite contrast ratio and deep, inky black levels that produce convincing shadows in dark scenes.” While the screen is a delight to watch movies on, the 54 watt-hour battery is small and lacking, managing only six to seven hours of battery life on a single charge. That’s not a horrible result, but we’ve seen better.

This machine comes with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. It’s basically designed with day-to-day productivity in mind. The design itself is on the blander side, as it’s just a black square, but some folks may dig the simplicity of it. If you’re looking for a thin-and-light laptop with a stunning 16-inch OLED display, then the Acer Swift Edge 16 is your best bet. The price (just over $1,000) isn’t too bad, either.

Price When Reviewed:

2799.99

The Razer Blade 14 is a real standout as far as gaming laptops go, as it’s both portable and powerful. This machine weighs a little over 4 pounds, which is super lightweight for a gaming laptop. For context, most gaming laptops tip the scales at 6 pounds or more. It’s impressive under the hood, too. You’re getting an AMD Ryzen 9 7940HS CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. In other words, it’s powerful enough to run most games (even those fast-paced, competitive ones) on the High or Ultra graphics preset. The 14-inch display has a resolution of 2560×1600, a refresh rate of 240Hz, a response time of 3ms, and an aspect ratio of 16:10. Our reviewer really liked the tall aspect ratio in particular, as it allowed him to have a “large viewing area” to enjoy his games and videos. It also has AMD’s FreeSync technology built in, which keeps games running nice and smooth.

If you have the budget for it, the Razer Blade 14 truly offers the ultimate gaming experience.

Price When Reviewed:

$999

If you’re looking for a reasonably priced laptop that’s both portable and powerful, the MSI Thin GF63 is the winning ticket. It weighs just over four pounds, which is lightweight for a gaming laptop. For context, most gaming machines tip the scales at six pounds or more (and sometimes much more). In addition to the lightweight form factor, it also packs a good amount of power for 1080p gaming.

The MSI Thin GF63 has an Intel Core i7-12650H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. This machine is capable of running games on the Medium or High graphics preset. For more graphically demanding games in which every second of response time matters, we’d recommend dialing back the graphics a bit. The 15.6-inch display has a resolution of 1920×1080 and a refresh rate of 144Hz. Although it manages just 300 nits of brightness (which is common for a budget gaming laptop), gameplay should be smooth thanks to the high refresh rate. It’s not the most vibrant or color-accurate screen we’ve ever seen, but it’s passable, especially for a sub-$1,000 gaming laptop.

If you can live with those compromises, then the MSI Thin GF63 is a great budget option for most gamers.

Price When Reviewed:

1199.99

From the stunning OLED display and affordable starting price to the long battery life and fast-performing CPU, the Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is a fantastic 2-in-1 laptop. It weighs 3.31 pounds and measures 0.63 inches at the chassis, so it’s a pretty lightweight machine. The review unit we looked at came with a 1800p OLED display, which covers 100 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut (according to Asus). Our reviewer found a “high level of detail” in images and colors were “remarkably bright and saturated.” As for CPU performance, it blasted right through Maxon’s R20 multithreaded benchmark, earning a score of 3,437, which means it’s more than capable of handling demanding programs.

The Zenbook 14 Flip comes equipped with an Intel Core i7-1360P CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe SSD storage. In addition to running more resource-heavy programs, the Flip will whiz through day-to-day tasks as well. It also last to the 12-hour mark during our battery test, which runs a 4K movie on repeat. Still not convinced? Well, the $999 starting price is pretty darn good if I say so myself, especially for such a premium machine. The Flip really has it all, which is why we’d highly recommend it.

Price When Reviewed:

$1,399

Want the attractive design, high efficiency, and strong performance of a MacBook Pro but in a Windows device? Then you should definitely consider the HP Dragonfly Pro. It comes about as close as possible to Apple’s line of premium laptops. HP partnered with AMD to trick out this laptop with a next-gen Ryzen 7 processor with eight high-performance cores and a Radeon 680M graphic card, making it much more powerful than its slim 0.7-inch thick figure would make you believe.

It impresses with an attractive design and high-quality feel made from aluminum and polycarbonate. You’ll even find that HP took a cue from the MacBook’s minimalist approach to ports as there are only two USB 4 Type-C ports and one USB-C 3.2 port. This makes for a clean look, but it may not appeal to users since it makes plugging in a lot of accessories a bit tricky. And while the display is good enough, it unfortunately can’t live up to Apple’s best. Still, for a laptop that is significantly cheaper than the current line of MacBook Pro models, this Dragonfly Pro laptop from HP is a more than worthy competitor—plus you have the flexibility of Windows and the ability to play games during your downtime.

Price When Reviewed:

From $2,449 | Model reviewed $3,099

Dell’s updated XPS 17 boasts a huge 17-inch screen, 13th-gen Intel Core i7-13700H CPU, and a GeForce RTX 4070 GPU. Not only is that enough performance to breeze through all of your content projects, but it also brings a 1TB SSD giving you plenty of storage for all of them as well. By packing its 4K, touch screen panel into such a compact laptop, and loading the notebook itself with every feature professionals ask for (hello, SD card reader and abundant Thunderbolt 4 ports), the XPS 17 is the poster child for what a content creation workhorse laptop should be.

The one real downside is that the XPS 17 weighs just under five and a half pounds, so it’s a real beast. The webcam is only 720p, as well, which may be a downside if you have to do any online classes or video-conferencing. Buy if you can live with those minor shortcomings, the latest XPS 17 is a phenomenal choice for all content creators.

Price When Reviewed:

From $1,699.99

Price When Reviewed:

From $1,049 | Model reviewed $1,469

If you’re someone who likes to tinker with your computers to continually upgrade them, repair broken parts, or add the latest performance components, then the Framework Laptop 13 is a dream come true. Framework doesn’t just make reparability possible, it makes it a mainstream feature that anyone can do as long as they have a screwdriver—which is included with the laptop. It even comes with swappable, modular ports that can be changed as needed. You can also buy mainboards with new processors installed, achieving the holy grail of a truly upgradeable laptop.

Plus, beyond just its tinkering capabilities the Framework laptop is just a great all-around laptop straight out of the box. It comes stocked with the latest 13th-gen Core i7-1360P processor, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, an a respectable 512GB SSD. It also has a surprisingly good 3:2 IPS panel with a resolution of 2256 x 1504p that comes with a glare-cutting matte screen. Overall, it’s a laptop that not only delivers right away but actually promotes upgradability and reparability which should serve you for years and years to come.

Price When Reviewed:

$1,879

The Asus ROG Flow Z13 (2023) is a bit of an odd duck, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s a gaming-focused tablet with a detachable keyboard, which means it’s pretty lightweight. The Flow Z13 weighs 2.6 pounds without the AC adapter and 3.7 pounds with it. That’s unusual for a gaming machine, as most of them tip the scales at around six pounds or more. The hardware is impressive, too. Underneath the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-13900H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4060 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. When we played the visually demanding Cyberpunk 2077, the Flow churned out 50 fps with “good visual fidelity.” That’s impressive for a gaming laptop this size.

If you’re looking for a powerful gaming machine with a removeable keyboard and a lightweight form factor, then the Asus ROG Flow Z13 is the one to pick.

Price When Reviewed:

$869

Price When Reviewed:

4799.99

The HP Spectre Foldable is one sleek and versatile machine. In fact, according to our reviewer, the 2-in-1 is “rocking one of the most unobtrusive folds” he’s seen to date. It isn’t cumbersome or awkward to handle when in traditional laptop mode and, when you feel like ditching the detachable keyboard and unfolding the screen to its full size, tablet mode is perfect for following recipes in the kitchen or watching one of those how-to YouTube videos.

The Foldable boasts some decent hardware, too. Inside you’ll find an Intel i7-1250U CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. Power users may find the specs to be limiting, but if you’re just looking for a lightweight machine for office work or basic tasks, then the Foldable is the one for you. The 2560p touch OLED display offers wonderful color depth, which is good news for both artists and movie-watchers.