Whether you are heading to high school or college, a laptop is one of the most suitable and versatile gadgets that you have to get your hands on. You will need one that can handle everyday tasks and a smorgasbord of student workloads, at least.
And it is our goal to help you find the most appropriate laptop that you can use for all of your classes. These can help you be on top of your priorities whilst staying within budget.
Our Favorite Student Laptops
From budget laptops to a bit steep, but not necessarily premium ones. You can find one that suits your needs.
Apple MacBook Air 13 M4, 2025
If you need to multitask , this is definitely one of our go-to laptops. This is a reliable device for college students and perfect for accomplishing everyday tasks.
You can browse the net, write essays and reaction papers, stream videos, and consume media. The fast M4 chip allows you to even do light video editing and 3D design. As such, we see this as suitable for a lot of students regardless of what they are majoring in.
What makes it ideal is that it is not a burden to carry, it is quite compact and lightweight. So you can jump from one class to the other with ease. Even if your next literature class is located on the other side of the campus, you won’t mind carrying this in your backpack.
It also has an excellent battery life, so you can always bring it with you to the open field should you need a breath of fresh air to finish your term paper. And oh, it pretty much has an affordable starting cost that a lot of students will be able to afford.
Framework Laptop 12
If you need a laptop with a modular design and one that can be upgraded in the future, we highly recommend this one. It is also easily repairable, thus upgrades are accommodated so you can use the same laptop even if your requirements have changed.
Such a laptop can give you leeway. If you don’t have the budget to buy one with the complete specs and the fancies, you can settle for the basic unit and upgrade as needed, or once your budget allows you to.
This is an ideal laptop if you are a bit clumsy, too. It has rubberized TPU edges, so if you accidentally drop it, it has excellent shock absorption and can be very durable. That’s why if you have kids, this is also a great choice. Once knocked over, it’s still good to go.
This is quite decent for everyday tasks. But keep in mind that the display is not that bright, and it has limited color accuracy. So we’d best see this as suitable for activities such as browsing the net and writing papers. It might not be a good unit if you need to do light video editing or if you often need to stream videos.
Microsoft Surface Laptop 13”
This is an aesthetic and pretty compact laptop that you can easily sneak into your bag and knapsack. As much as it is eye candy, it is also very nice to the touch and easy to use. The keyboard has one of the best mechanical trackpads that we have tried for laptops in its price range. The build of the metal chassis is quite exceptional, too. This is perfect for general productivity and computing tasks.
The caveat is that this may be an odd one. Instead of the usual media controls, it has Home, Page Up, and Page Down keys instead. So this might take some getting used to for some students.
This also has a rather good battery life. So we reckon this’d be great for students who are around the whole day and need to be on the go. Since it is quite compact, you would not mind carrying it along for the entire day.
Who should avoid buying it? If you are a creative designer who needs to run demanding programs, this might not be the best laptop to use.
ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 2023
This is a well-built and solid laptop that will serve students who are on a budget. For its price, we cannot argue that this is a value for money. It has a good build and can last for a while.
And it is decent to carry around the entire day since it is quite portable and compact. The battery life is also good and perfect for students on the go.
User experience is also good, and it has a lot of ports for connectivity. You will have to multitask and use this for most student workloads, such as typing, web browsing, and video playback.
The display is also decently large, and the keyboards are quite comfortable to use. But we do not recommend using this in well lit rooms, this might not be the most comfortable laptop to use due to its dimness.
Also, the memory is quite limited, and you can only get it with 8GB or 16GB. It will also be challenging to find one with the latter.
Acer Aspire 3 (A315-24P)
For a laptop of this price, this has a rather good build and an acceptable and decent display. It’s not the fanciest laptop on the lot and may have an outdated design. So if aesthetics is not your priority, this can help you with most of the student workloads.
The lackluster display may be a turnoff for some, but the unit does have an extensive battery life. It is very reliable if you often don’t have access to a charging port or an outlet.
It does not skimp on storage and instead provides plenty of it. Though lacking in the physical aspect, it did make up for some of the most useful features you might need.
This is an affordable daily driver that lacks luster. This is often expected for a budget laptop, so it didn’t surprise us that much.
Buying Guide: What We Looked For
Acceptable to great battery life
While you may have access to charging ports and outlets, sometimes you don’t. And there are students who are always on the go, jumping from one class to the other and not having access to charging ports at the time.
Some may want to browse or study in the open field. So, regardless of where you are, the lack of charging ports must not always hinder you from accessing your laptop. So we best choose units that have impressive battery life, thus eliminating the need for frequent charging.
Portable enough, but useful at the same time
Who wants to carry a big laptop to class each and every time? No one, right? Thus portability is essential for every student. Laptops must not be a burden to carry.
We weighed how compact a laptop is with how useful it can be. It is useless to bring a portable laptop and not be able to use it conveniently.It should have at least a decent display and acceptable memory storage. We also chose units that can handle multitasking.
Suitable laptop for every student
For most students, budget is the primary determining factor in picking a laptop they can use for college. While this may be the first consideration, you have to pick units that are reliable and can help you with versatile student work ads. Otherwise, what’s the point in buying one if you will not be able to rely on it?
Thus, the price-to-performance ratio is crucial. And it can be challenging to find that, so we did the hard work for you.
