We’ve also selected the best 15-inch laptop, best 2-in-1, and the best gaming laptop.
MacBook Air
The best MacBook
Why should you buy this: You need MacOS, and Windows just won’t cut it.
Who’s it for: Students and Apple fans
Why we picked the MacBook Air:
No, the new MacBook Air isn’t the most powerful Mac laptop — that’s the 16-inch MacBook Pro with a discrete graphics card and up to an eight-core processor. For video editors, that’s the best MacBook. But for everyone else, the MacBook Air is the new starting point. Apple has cleaned up its lineup and discontinued the ultra-portable MacBook and non-Touch Bar MacBook Pro, leaving the Air as the default option for most people. That’s a good thing because it’s an incredibly well-rounded laptop.
The MacBook Air is a compromise of the new and the old, which makes it a balanced option for today. It has Touch ID but not the Touch Bar and comes with USB-C but doesn’t limit you to just one like the old MacBook. It’s relatively thin and light, has a higher-resolution Retina screen, and enjoys the best battery life of your Mac options. It also shares the same excellent trackpad of the MacBook Pro. You can find more powerful, quad-core laptops in the Windows 10 space, but Apple enthusiasts finally have a decent entry-level laptop we can get behind.
Google Pixelbook Go
The best Chromebook
Why should you buy this: You want an inexpensive but well-built 2-in-1.
Who’s it for: Students, people who need only basic functionality, anyone who wants a cheap laptop to use as a second PC.
Why we picked the Google Pixelbook Go:
Chromebooks are best-known as cheap alternatives to Windows PCs, and there are plenty of good options. The Pixelbook Go, though, makes a serious case for a Chromebook with a bit more finesse. It’s beautifully designed, rigidly built, and a joy to use.
Thanks to its ultra-light 2.3-pound weight and fantastic battery life, it’s a great option for students and people taking their work on the go.
You do, of course, face the usual limitations with Chrome OS. It’s designed around Google’s Chrome web browser, meaning you can’t download your normal Windows applications. It’s wonderfully simple and intuitive to use, however, and with the inclusion of the Google Play Store, you can fill some of the gaps in software with Android apps.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7
The best 2-in-1 laptop
Why should you buy this: You want a great laptop and a good tablet.
Who’s it for: Anyone who needs versatility on top of performance.
Why we picked the Surface Pro 7:
The Surface Pro line has earned its dedicated following over the years with its excellent detachable keyboard and full Windows 10 performance. It’s the familiar PC experience you’re used to, with the added interest of 2-in-1 capability, Surface Pen stylus compatibility, and a tablet mode. It’s a supremely well-built device, complete with a beautiful, high-resolution display and rock-solid kickstand.
The latest model, the Surface Pro 7, doesn’t make any substantial changes to the formula, but it does offer a couple of key upgrades. You now get a USB-C port rather than a mini-DisplayPort, as well as upgrade performance with 10th-generation Ice Lake processors from Intel. That means snappier performance and improved integrated graphics.
Do we wish the Surface Pro 7 had the slimmer chassis and smaller bezels of the new Surface Pro X? Of course. But the Surface Pro 7 is the cheaper and more dependable option of the two, and it easily maintains its status as the best 2-in-1 you can buy.
Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch
The best laptop for photo editing
Why should you buy this: You want the most extensive software support in a laptop and a picture-perfect display.
Who’s it for: Photo editors who want a display that will give them real-world results.
Why we picked the Apple MacBook Pro:
Apple’s MacBook line has been a favorite among photo editors forever. The company has built up such a huge following by ensuring that the best software runs on MacOS, and by offering some of the best and most accurate displays you can buy.
The MacBook Pro maintains that focus on creative professionals, especially if you opt for the new 16-inch model. It offers plenty of power in a very thin and light form factor, up to 8th-gen Intel Core i7 CPUs, 16GB of RAM, and 2TB of fast storage. And, its display is great for editing photos thanks to a 16:10 aspect ratio providing more vertical space and wide color gamuts (100 percent of sRGB and 91 percent of AdobeRBG) with the most accurate colors you can get. The 16-inch MacBook Pro has a similarly-great display with new Intel 9th-gen CPUs, and provides the larger screen that some photographers will appreciate. It also features an improved keyboard and powerhouse performance.
Windows laptops are catching up, but the MacBook Pro retains its place at the top of the photo editing market. It’s not the least expensive photo editing platform around, but it’s the best.
Asus ZenBook 13 UX333
The best laptop for students
Why should you buy this: You want an affordable Windows PC that will help you keep up with your homework.
Who’s it for: High school and college students who want portability, power, and long battery life — but don’t want to spend an arm and a leg.
Why we picked the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333:
Students don’t often have the budgets to accommodate premium laptops like the Dell XPS 13 or Huawei MateBook X Pro, and thus for them, we suggest the Asus ZenBook 13 UX333. It’s an ultrabook that comes with our highest recommendation. While most
The bang-for-your-buck value here is particularly impressive. The base model comes with an eighth-gen Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive. That’s twice the memory and storage of the Dell XPS 13 — and better battery life than what you’ll find in other competitors. It’s remarkable how much laptop you can get for so little money, and that should be of particular interest to cash-strapped students.
Razer Blade 15
The best gaming laptop
Why should you buy this: It provides a fantastic gaming experience on the go.
Who’s it for: People who want a fantastic laptop that can also game.
Why we picked the Razer Blade 15:
From the exterior, you might not even know the Razer Blade is a gaming laptop. It’s as light and thin as a MacBook Pro, with thin bezels, a world-class keyboard and touchpad, as well as a bright, vivid, 15-inch display. Even if it weren’t a gaming laptop, the Razer Blade would probably still be a contender for one of the best 15-inch laptops. The fact that it can play games at respectable framerates makes it a bit of a miracle.
With new RTX Max-Q graphics, maxing out all the way at the 2080, and a high refresh rate display, the Razer Blade is a killer gaming machine. The Razer Blade made short work of just about everything we threw at it — as long as you stay away from 4K, of course. Razer redesigned its thermal system to ensure that despite some throttling, the Blade can play nearly any game with settings maxed.
Simply put, this is the most elegant, beautiful gaming laptop you’ve ever seen. The recent update to options for an OLED 4K panel or a 240Hz refresh rate sweetens the deal even more. For our money, this is the
Dell XPS 15
The best laptop for video editing
Why should you buy this: You want a portable PC that can churn through your video editing projects.
Who’s it for: Video editors who want powerful components and a big, beautiful display.
Why we picked the Dell XPS 15:
When you’re editing video, you want plenty of space to view both the results and your favorite application’s interface. But, if you’re using a laptop rather than a desktop PC, then you want to be able to do your editing on the go. That’s where 15-inch laptops come in — they’re both powerful and, thanks to today’s thin-bezel movement, highly portable.
The best 15-inch laptop around is the Dell XPS 15 — and it’s even better than before. With up to an eight-core, Core i9 processor and the latest GTX 1650 graphics, you now have way more processing cores at your disposal. For multi-threaded applications like Adobe Premiere, you can expect some impressive rendering times. You even have two options for a screen at the same price: A gorgeous OLED 4K screen or a touch-capable
Overall, the XPS 15 is easily the best all-around 15-inch laptop on the market today, making it the ultimate video-editing tool.
