As the year 2023 approaches, it is important for students to stay up-to-date with the latest technology, including laptops. With so many options available in the market, it can be a daunting task to choose the perfect laptop for your needs. In this article, we will discuss the best laptops for students in 2023. We will cover the features that make these laptops stand out, their specifications, and their price range. By the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of which laptop is right for you.
As a student, having the right laptop can make a significant difference in your academic life. With the ever-increasing demands of online classes, assignments, and research, having a reliable and efficient laptop is crucial. In 2023, the best laptops for students will have a combination of performance, portability, battery life, and affordability.
Factors to Consider When Choosing a Laptop for Students
Before we delve into the best laptops for students in 2023, let us first look at some factors to consider when choosing a laptop. These factors will help you determine which laptop suits your needs best.
1. Portability
As a student, you may have to carry your laptop with you to various classes, libraries, or coffee shops. Therefore, it is essential to consider the weight and size of the laptop. Laptops with smaller screens and lightweight designs are more portable and easier to carry around.
2. Performance
The performance of a laptop is another crucial factor to consider. Students may need to run multiple applications simultaneously, such as web browsers, document editors, and media players. Therefore, a laptop with a powerful processor, sufficient RAM, and storage is necessary for seamless performance.
3. Battery Life
A long-lasting battery is essential for students who spend long hours studying or attending online classes. Laptops with longer battery life will allow you to work without interruptions and minimize the need for frequent charging.
4. Price
Finally, price is a significant factor to consider when choosing a laptop for students. As a student, you may have a limited budget, and you want to make sure you get the best value for your money.
Top 5 Best Laptops for Students in 2023
Acer Swift 3
Key features
- 14-inch screen
- 13-hour battery
- 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM.
Acer Swift 3 review
The Acer Swift 3 is the perfect all-round laptop for students. Considering the great specs, it’s reasonably priced and gives you everything you need for your time at university. It’s reliable, has a decent keyboard for taking lecture notes and writing essays, and the Ryzen 5 processor even lets you use some heavier software.
You can easily pop it into your bag to bring to your lectures, as it only weighs 1.25 kg. And if you forget your charger, you can still power through your library sessions with the laptop’s 13-hour battery life.
The 1TB storage is another big plus, giving you more than enough space for all your documents, music, photos and movies. Add the HDMI, a USB-C and two USB ports into the mix and you’ve got yourself a solid laptop for your time at university.
Apple MacBook Air M1
Key features
- 18-hour battery life
- Stellar performance with M1 chip
- 256GB SSD and 8GB RAM.
Apple MacBook Air M1 review
If you’re looking for the best battery life or want to quickly connect your other Apple products to your laptop, the MacBook Air M1 is a great choice. The M1 chip has been a game-changer for Apple and, on top of that, the 18-hour battery life is almost unbeatable. That’s especially the case if you consider how thin and light this laptop is.
Luckily, this MacBook Air also comes with the new and improved Magic Keyboard. While MacBooks used to have problems with the old Butterfly Keyboard, Apple fixed the issues in this newer model. And that’s great news for students! You’ll need a good keyboard, especially when taking lecture notes or writing long essays.
While Apple products always have a certain price tag, the fantastic features that come with this laptop make it one of the best laptops for students.
HP Chromebook 14
Key features
- 10.5-hour battery life
- Two USB and USB-C ports
- 32GB eMMC and 4GB RAM.
HP Chromebook 14 review
Buying a laptop for university doesn’t have to break the bank and, luckily, Chromebooks are a fantastic budget-friendly alternative. They run on ChromeOS, allowing you to do anything you can do on a browser: check your email, use Google Docs, do online research, watch Netflix, etc.
While there are quite a few different Chromebooks out there, the HP Chromebook 14 stands out. HP is known for putting good keyboards in its laptops, and this Chromebook is no exception – especially for such a low price point, the quality is pretty solid.
It only has 32GB of storage, but since you can store a lot of documents and files on the cloud, you probably won’t need a lot more. But the HP Chromebook 14 comes with a USB and USB-C slot on each side, allowing you to use an external hard drive, and a slot for a microSD card.
Keep in mind that Chromebooks are slightly limiting since ChromeOS can’t run certain programs that otherwise would on Windows or macOS. But if you don’t need to use any heavy software, or have a desktop computer at home, it’s the perfect budget-friendly laptop for students.
Microsoft 12’4 Surface Go
Key features
- Superlight at 1.13 kg
- Full-width keyboard
- 128GB SSD and 8GB RAM.
Microsoft 12’4 Surface Go review
The Microsoft Surface Go is an ultraportable laptop, weighing just over a kilogram. Its slim design makes it easy to pop into a bag to bring to uni. But despite its weight, the body is solid and still includes a full-size keyboard and a large trackpad.
The Intel Core i5 gives you good performance, letting you work in Chrome and stream content without any problems. You could even do some light gaming or run editing software. And, with the 17.5-hour battery, you don’t have to worry about constantly bringing your charger everywhere.
And while the screen is only 12’4 inches, the 3:2 aspect ratio makes it feel much bigger because it contains more pixels in height compared to a 16:9 display. However, the small size of the Microsoft Surface Go only gives you one USB and USB-C port. That being said, the great performance, price point, and portability make it an awesome student laptop.
Lenovo Legion 5
Key features
- NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card
- 15.6-inch full HD display
- 512GB SSD and 8GB RAM.
Lenovo Legion 5 review
If you like playing video games in your spare time (and definitely not while you should be researching your next uni project), you may want to get a laptop that you can use for both uni work and games. Luckily, there are some great options on the market, including the Lenovo Legion 5.
Gaming laptops are known to be more expensive than regular laptops because you have to fit desktop PC-like performance in a much smaller device. While it’s one of the most expensive laptops on our list, it does give you stellar performance, and it’s very durable.
The Lenovo Legion 5 stands out because it doesn’t look like your average gaming laptop. It has a very clean and mature design. What’s more, the screen is 15.6 inches, which is larger than any of the other laptops on our list.
The backlit keyboard is also very solid, perfect for writing essays and playing games. On top of that, you get four USB and two USB-C ports, and it’s also possible to attach an HDMI cable. All in all, a great option for gamers.
