Best laptops in 2024 (2024)

Buying a great new laptop can be an exhilarating feeling, but it can also be a daunting task. Whether you're shopping for a new work partner, gaming laptop, or something in between, there's an absolute glut of options to browse through. But getting the perfect laptop for your needs can be difficult, especially if you're only going by the manufacturer's claims. We've reviewed most of the laptops in this list (and many others that didn't make the cut), and we have a great idea of what's good and what's not worth your time.

There are many factors to consider, including screen size, form, performance, and overall design. It's not the same for everyone, either. The specs that make a great laptop for work don't make a great one for gaming, and vice-versa. And while a gaming laptop can handle other kinds of tasks just fine, it will be very expensive and heavy. The choices we've rounded up below cover a good range of use cases, and we're confident that you'll find something that's perfectly suited to your needs.

Our favorite laptops in 2024

HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)

Editor's choice

Best laptop for most people

$1150 $1450 Save $300

The Spectre x360 14, refreshed for 2024, gets a big performance bump thanks to Intel Core Ultra hardware. The webcam is now 9MP, the four speakers pump out quality audio, and the keyboard and touchpad are comfortable. It's topped off with a 2.8K OLED touch display with 120Hz refresh rate.

Pros

• Improved performance (especially GPU) from Intel Core Ultra
• 9MP webcam, quad speakers, great keyboard
• 2.8K OLED touch display

Cons

• Design isn't as flashy as previous models
• Professionals might want a more business-focused PC

$1630 at Best Buy$1150 at HP

HP's Spectre series represents some of the most well-known Windows laptops, and the new Spectre x360, available in 14- and 16-inch sizes for 2024, again demonstrates why this reputation sticks. It's a convertible laptop with plenty of versatility, put together with close attention to detail for a premium feel. Focusing on the smaller device, HP returned the display to 14 inches for this generation. The screen has a 2880x1800 (2.8K) resolution with OLED panel, allowing it to hit 100% sRGB, 95% AdobeRGB, and 100% DCI-P3 as tested in-house. This makes it suited to more specialized work like photo editing, and the 120Hz refresh rate makes it incredibly smooth.

HP removed chassis accent colors for this generation, doing away with the silver strips around touchpad, frame, and hinges. It still has angled rear corners, where you'll find Thunderbolt 4 and 3.5mm audio ports. The laptop otherwise offers one other Thunderbolt 4 port and one USB-A 3.2 (Gen 2). Quad speakers pump out quality audio from the keyboard surround, and above the display is a 9MP webcam packed with features to make your video conferencing as smooth as possible.

HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)

Intel's new Core Ultra hardware is available in the Spectre x360 14, giving a bump to CPU performance and a big improvement to integrated GPU performance. In our HP Spectre x360 14 review, XDA Editor-in-Chief Rich Woods noted that it "is an upgrade that actually allows you to do more with your PC than you could before." Battery life isn't phenomenal, but at about six or seven hours on a charge you can still head out without always needing to bring a charger.

The Spectre x360 14 is the best HP laptop on the market, and it's also our current favorite for most people. It has the most power we've seen so far in a 14-inch convertible, it has an outstanding keyboard, speaker setup, and webcam, and the 2.8K OLED touch display is a true beauty. If you need a larger screen and the option for discrete GPU, be sure to check out the 16-inch Spectre x360 that also saw a refresh for 2024.

Apple MacBook Air (M3, 2024)

Runner-up

A lightweight alternative with great battery life

$1050 $1099 Save $49

Apple keeps improving its MacBooks with better performance and efficiency, and the M3 MacBook Air is an absolute delight that offers a lot of power while still having unrivaled battery life so you can work all day without a charger. You can choose between 13-inch and 15-inch models, too.

Pros

• Apple M3 processor delivers excellent performance and battery life
• Sharp display with P3 Wide Color in both 13- and 15-inch options
• Very thin and light

Cons

• Two external displays are only supported if the laptop is closed
• macOS may not be for everyone

$1099 at Best Buy (13 inches)$1299 at Best Buy (15 inches)$1050 at Amazon (13 inches)$1250 at Amazon (15 inches)

Not everyone is a Windows fan, and the latest MacBook Air is one of the best laptops if you prefer macOS, or even if you just want to try something new. Thanks to the super-efficient Apple Silicon, the latest iteration of the MacBook Air is öne of the best mainstream laptops in the world", as our reviewer Ben Sin put it.

This latest edition comes with with Apple M3 processor, which is the first of the Apple Silicon line to use a 3nm manufacturing process to be even more efficient. It still has the same number of CPU cores, but it's a good bit faster now, and on the GPU side, there are completely new cores that take performance to the next level. If you're editing video, this machine can handle that kind of workload comfortably.

The MacBook Air is available in two sizes: 13.6 inches and 15.3 inches. Both have great panels with up to 500 nits of brightness and support for P3 Wide Color and True Tone, and they're nearly identical otherwise. The smaller model has a resolution of 2560x1664, while the larger model goes up to 2880x1864 resolution. They share the same pixels-per-inch count making them equally as sharp. One thing you may not like is the notch at the top of the screen that houses the clear 1080p webcam.

The M3 MacBook Air retains the same design as its predecessor, featuring a flat unibody construction that's very thin and light, yet still feels premium. The chassis is entirely made of aluminum, and it comes in four color options, including Silver, Space Grey, Midnight, and Starlight. There aren't a ton of ports in this design, which includes two Thunderbolt / USB4 ports, a headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones, and a MagSafe connector for charging. Unlike previous models, you can use two external displays, but you'll have to close the lid on the laptop to turn off the built-in screen.

Dell XPS 14

Best clamshell

Sleek, stylish, and powerful

The Dell XPS 14 is the perfect blend of performance and portability. Featuring a stunning 14.5-inch display and Intel Core Ultra processors, plus optional Nvidia graphics, the Dell XPS 14 is an excellent option for almost anyone, as long as you can afford it.

Pros

• Stunning 14.5-inch display, especially with OLED
• Sleek and modern design
• Plenty of performance for day-to-day use

Cons

• No classic ports
• A bit heavy if you want portability

$1699 at Dell$2300 at Best Buy

Dell's XPS lineup has always been the cream of the crop of Windows laptops, and for 2024, the company completely redid its lineup, introducing the brand-new XPS 14. This is a sleek and modern PC, but it still packs a good amount of power for all kinds of work.

That starts with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor with 16 cores and 22 threads, delivering top-tier performance for day-to-day use. If you want to use the laptop for some photo or video editing, you can add an nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 Laptop to boost the performance in these workloads, which can even help with some gaming in a pinch. In addition to that, you can get up to 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, so this is a very high-end machine.

That goes for the display, too, which is a 14.5-inch panel with a 16:10 aspect ratio, You can choose the base Full HD+ model or opt for the stunning 3.2K OLED panel, which also adds touch support. The display looks beautiful, as we noted in our review, and the tiny bezels make this an extremely modern-feeling laptop.

Adding to that is the overall design, which takes its cues from the Dell XPS 13 Plus we saw in previous years. It has a totally clean and sleek look, using a zero-latticew keyboard, touch-based function keys, and a seamless touchpad, which all make this laptop feel like it comes from the future. The high-end performance makes this a somewhat heavier laptop, starting at 3.7 pounds. However, it's still fairly portable and very compact.

All in all, the Dell XPS 14 is an excellent laptop that's easy to recommend to almost anyone, as long as you can afford its relatively high asking price.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12

Best business

Durable and reliable

The refreshed ThinkPad X1 Carbon (Gen 12) is equipped with Intel's new Core Ultra CPUs, an upgraded 8MP webcam, 2.8K OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, and many other security features to keep you safe. It's durable, it's built well, and it's light enough that you'll hardly notice it tagging along.

Pros

• New Intel Core Ultra CPUs for boosted performance
• Up to a 2.8K OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, HDR 500
• Durable and functional design with outstanding keyboard

Cons

• Very expensive
• Overkill for casual PC users

$2263 at Lenovo$1799 at Amazon

Lenovo's ThinkPad family is easily the most well-known family of business laptops, and the ThinkPad X1 Carbon is pretty much the quintessential business laptop. The latest model, or Gen 12, focuses on performance and feature upgrades. On the inside, it has Intel's new Core Ultra CPUs, with up to a Core Ultra 7 155H chip, 32GB of LPDDR5x RAM, and up to a 1TB M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD. The new processors deliver much faster performance overall, particularly when it comes to the GPU thanks to the integrated Intel Arc graphics.

But the improvements aren't just on the inside. Lenovo improved the webcam for this generation, bumping it up to 8MP from 1080p in the last generation. It has an IR sensor for facial recognition through Windows Hello. Speakers have Dolby Atmos for improved spatial sound, and port selection is quite broad with a mix of Thunderbolt 4, USB-A, and HDMI 2.1. All of this fits in a new chassis that keeps the traditional ThinkPad look, but is now more compact, making portability even better on an already very lightweight laptop.

The plain black and red design of the ThinkPad X1 Carbon may be a bit boring to some, but it's a perfect fit for business environments. Plus, you get classic ThinkPad features like the pointing nub many business users still appreciate. For this generation, however, the physical mouse buttons can be removed to give you more touchpad space. It's no wonder our reviewer Cale Hunt called it the "best business laptop you can buy today" — and that's why it's on this list.

HP Dragonfly G4

Best modern business laptop

Made for work with a sleek design

$1274 $2548 Save $1274

If you want a business laptop with a more modern design and features, the HP Dragonfly G4 delivers with its sleek look, plenty of ports, and great performance. It also has a sharp display and a 5MP webcam that makes it ideal for hybrid and remote work.

Pros

• Modern, but subdued design looks great anywhere
• Very light starting at under 2.2 pounds
• Plenty of ports and a 5MP webcam

Cons

• Pricy outside of sales
• IPS display could be a bit better

$1274 at HP$1832 at B&H$2060 at Amazon

Lenovo's ThinkPad laptops may be iconic, but some models can look dated. If you want a laptop for work that looks great in any modern environment, the HP Dragonfly G4 is for you, with top-notch specs and a sleek design. XDA Editor-in-Chief Rich Woods reviewed the HP Dragonfly G4, calling it "one of the best laptops on the market" for any professionals who are often on the move.

Specs include 13th-generation Intel Core processors up to a Core i7-1365U with vPro, which includes 10 cores and 12 threads for excellent performance in day-to-day workloads. You also get up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD, more than enough for office use for years to come. A 13.5-inch display with a 3:2 aspect ratio is even taller than the 16:10 format of most modern laptops. The base model comes in an FHD+ resolution and uses an IPS panel, with options for an HP Sure View Reflect privacy screen to keep your data safe in public. For the best viewing experience, though, you'll want the 3K2K OLED panel, which is both incredibly sharp and vibrant compared to the average IPS display in the base models. Speaking of sharpness, you also get a 5MP webcam with Windows Hello support, like most HP laptops.

In terms of design, the HP Dragonfly G4 weighs a mere 2.2 pounds to start, making it very easy to carry, and it looks great in its Slate Blue colorway, which is almost black. Despite its sleek looks, it still has a bunch of ports, including two Thunderbolt 4 connections, USB Type-A, HDMI, and a headphone jack. It also comes with optional 5G or LTE support so you can stay online wherever you go. All in all, this is a fantastic business laptop, and a terrific alternative to Lenovo's ThinkPad X1 Carbon.

HP Envy x360 14 (2024)

Best convertible

Versatility at a lower price

$700 $960 Save $260

The HP Envy x360 14 is an excellent, but more affordsable alternative to the Spectre x360, and it's an easy recommendation if you don't want to break the bank for a laptop. It has fast Intel Core Ultra processors and a 14-inch display, including a beautiful 2.8K OLED option.

Pros

• Intel Core Ultra processors
• Great display options including a 2.8K OLED panel
• Excellent battery life

Cons

• U-series processors aren't as powerful as other laptops
• Keyboard could be better

$700 at HP$1000 at Best Buy

HP already took the top spot on this list with a convertible, but there's another one for those who want something a bit more affordable. The HP Envy x360 14 is an excellent alternative to the Spectre x360, coming in a more affordable but similarly great package.

Inside this 2-in-1, you'll find Intel Core Ultra processors up to a Core Ultra 7 155U, with a combination of efficiency and performance cores that ensure this laptop is an endurance champ. It's not the fastest laptop around, but it's still plenty fast and modern. Plus, you can get it with up to 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD for a premium experience all around.

The display is great, too, especially if you can spring for the beautiful OLED display. This is the unit we tested in our review, and our reviewer Sherri Smith said it might be one of the best OLED laptops around. You also get a 5MP webcam with WIndows Hello support, and even the speakers are great, so this is a terrific laptop for watching movies and consuming media.

It all comes wrapped in a premium metal chassis that's surprisingly light, at just over three pounds, and it also has all the ports you need, including Thunderbolt 4, USB Type-A, and HDMI. You can't ask for much more than this.

Alienware x16 R2

Best gaming laptop

So much power

Alienware is no stranger to making incredible gaming laptops, and the Alienware x16 R2 is one of the most impressive yet. With intel Core Ultra processors and up to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, this is a beastly machine, yet it manages to be decently portable so you can take it with you.

Pros

• Incredible performance from both the CPU and GPU
• Super-fast 240Hz or 480hz displays
• Optional mechanical keyboard is great for gaming

Cons

• Expensive
• All the ports are on the abck

$2100 at Dell$2700 at Best Buy

Gaming is a demanding workload, but if you're buying a laptop, you probably also care about portability. Nailing that balance between portability and performance isn't easy, but that's exactly what Dell has done with the Alienware x16 R2. We already loved the Alienware x16 last year, and the new R2 model is basically more of that goodness, which is very hard to complain about.

This new model is powered by up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H processor and a massively powerful Nvidia GeFoprce RTX 4090 Laptop GPU. Whatever games you want to play, this laptop can handle them, and it manages to stay cool and relatively thin thanks to the powerful cooling system using Dell's proprietary Element 31 cooling interface. Our reviewer Brady Snyder called it "one of the most powerful 16-inch laptops" on the market. You can also configure it with 32GB of RAM and a massive 8TB SSD (if you can afford it).

The display has also been upgraded from the previous generation, with the abse model now sporting a Quad HD+ resolution and 240Hz refresh rate, though you can opt for a Full HD+ 480Hz panel if you want even faster response times. Even nice extras like a 1080p webcam and Windows Hello facial recognition are here, plus there's a ton of RGB lighting to give you all the flare you want.

With a relatively compact design, the only major downside is that all the ports are on the back of the laptop, but if you can deal with that, the Alienware x16 R2 is an impeccable gaming rig.

MacBook Pro (M3, 2023)

Best for creators

So much performance with great battery life

$1799 $1999 Save $200

Despite already having the best creator laptop on the market, Apple updated the MacBook pro for a second time in 2023 with the M3 family of processors, making the CPU and GPU even more powerful and efficient. The latest MacBook Pro is an absolutely fantastic machine for creative workloads, and it can last much longer on battery than any comparable Windows laptop.

Pros

• Apple M3 Pro and M3 Max processors are ideal for all kinds of content creation
• Battery life is fantastic thanks to the new 3nm Arm processors
• Stunning mini-LED display with up to 1600 nits of brightness
• Six-speaker system makes for an excellent media experience

Cons

• Some might not like the notch
• Expensive, especially with storage and RAM upgrades
• The base M3 14-inch model isn't great for demanding workloads

$1999 at Best Buy (14-inch, M3 Pro/Max)$2499 at Best Buy (16-inch, M3 Pro/Max)$1799 at Amazon (14-inch, M3 Pro/Max)$2299 at Amazon (16-inch, M3 Pro/Max)

Apple was already way ahead of the pack when it comes to creator laptops, but that didn't stop the company from introducing even more powerful and efficient MacBook Pro models in late 2023 despite the previous models being less than a year old. XDA Senior Editor Ben Sin reviewed the MacBook Pro 16 (M3 Max) and mentioned that those with an M2 model likely won't see a need to upgrade. For everyone else, however, it's the go-to model.

The latest MacBook Pro models feature the M3 family of processors, and creators will want to focus on the M3 Pro and M3 Max versions. These processors are based on a new 3nm process, making them even more efficient than before, delivering unparalleled battery life while offering excellent performance for demanding workloads like video editing and 3D rendering. Of course, they're also faster than ever, particularly the M3 Max model, featuring a faster CPU and a totally new GPU with ray-tracing support. You also get more RAM than ever, with up to 192GB of unified memory, along with up to 8TB of storage.

In terms of the display, the MacBook Pro comes with a 14.2-inch or 16.2-inch mini-LED panel, which are both fantastic. The screen has hundreds of individual dimming zones, delivering high contrast and brightness up to a whopping 1,600 nits, making for a terrific viewing experience. For this generation, the SDR brightness has also been increased to 600 nits, so visibility should be even better outdoors. The resolution varies depending on the size, but both are equally sharp, and to go along with that, you get a six-speaker system, resulting in one of the best media experiences on any laptop. The webcam is also a great 1080p sensor, though there's no facial recognition support. You can use Touch ID, though.

The design of the MacBook Pro is fairly standard, being an all-metal laptop with a clamshell design and starting at 3.5 pounds (for the 14-inch M3 Pro model), which is reasonable considering how powerful it is. The M3 Pro and M3 Max variants also come in a new Space Black colorway, in addition to the classic Silver. As for ports, you get three Thunderbolt 4 connections, along with HDMI 2.1, a headphone jack with support for high-impedance headphones, an SD card reader, and MagSafe 3 for charging.

Dell XPS 16

Best 16-inch

Dell's new XPS size looks great

Dell's XPS 16 is the new best option for power users and pros who desire extra performance and a larger display. It's taking over for the XPS 17, and it's been redesigned to match the futuristic XPS 13 Plus look that was introduced a couple of years ago.

Pros

• Beautiful displays with plenty of room to work
• Lots of performance thanks to Intel Core Ultra CPUs and discrete Nvidia GPUs
• Overhauled futuristic design

Cons

• Very expensive even for introductory models

$1899 at Dell$2400 at Best Buy

Part of Dell's 2024 overhaul of the XPS brand is a new 16-inch form factor. It's replacing the XPS 17 as the largest XPS laptop on the market, and it should remain the right choice for power users and pros who need extra screen real estate and power. It features the same seamless glass touchpad with haptics, capacitive touch function row, and near-gapless keyboard that we first saw on the XPS 13 Plus.

Dell offers up to an Intel Core Ultra 9 185H CPU with 16 cores, up to 64GB of LPDDR5x-7467MHz RAM, and 4TB of M.2 PCIe 4.0 NVMe SSD storage. Integrated Arc graphics come with all models, but you can also spec up to either a Nvidia RTX 4050, RTX 4060, or RTX 4070 Laptop GPU.

The 16.3-inch display comes in two flavors, with an FHD+ resolution being the cheapest option. It has about 500 nits brightness, 100% sRGB color, maximum 120Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision, and an anti-glare finish. You can also upgrade to a touchscreen with UHD+ resolution. It favors 100% DCI-P3 color, up to a 90Hz refresh rate, Dolby Vision, and an anti-reflective finish.

Lenovo Yoga 6 Gen 8

Best budget laptop

Versatile and capable at a reasonable price

$450 $700 Save $250

The Lenovo Yoga 6 (2023) is an excellent budget Windows convertible with AMD Ryzen 7030 series processors. It also has a Full HD+ display with a 16:10 aspect ratio and a 1080p webcam with Windows Hello support.

Pros

• AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors
• Full HD webcam with Windows Hello support
• Solid supply of ports

Cons

• Pen is only included with some models
• It lacks bells and whistles of more premium laptops

$530 at Lenovo$450 at Best Buy$530 at Newegg

Spending more than $1,000 on a laptop isn't for everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't get a great experience all the same. The 2023 Lenovo Yoga 6 is a fantastic example of exactly that, and it remains one of the best budget laptops out there.

On the performance front, the latest Yoga 6 model comes with AMD Ryzen 7000 series processors, starting with a Ryzen 5 7530U, with 6 cores and 12 threads, enough for great performance in all kinds of day-to-day tasks. It also comes with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD, which is a solid starting point. If you can find some discounts, it's worth considering higher-end configurations, but the base model is more than enough for web browsing and writing up documents.

The display on the Lenovo Yoga 6 is a 13.3-inch panel, and it comes in the 16:10 aspect ratio with Full HD+ resolution. This is great for this price point, and it's sharp enough considering the size. Since it's a convertible, touch and pen input are supported, though not all models include that pen in the box. The webcam is also a 1080p sensor, and it even supports Windows Hello, a rarity at this price point.

Turning to the design, it's pretty much the same as the Yoga 6 (2022) model we reviewed last year. It uses a plastic base and a metal top cover, and some models have this top cover wrapped in fabric for a unique look. The laptop weighs 3.02 pounds, so it's fairly portable, and it has a good port selection including two USB-C ports, two USB Type-A ports, HDMI, a headphone jack, and a microSD card reader, giving you variety and quantity.

Choosing the best laptop for you

HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)

Buying a new laptop is always a fun experience, but asking for a bit of help to find the perfect device is completely understandable. Laptop technology moves at a frantic pace, and if you aren't always on top of the news, you can easily get stuck with an older or unsuitable model. XDA gets to review countless laptops every year, and we have a clear idea of what's good enough to consider and what's worth pushing to the side.

If we're choosing just one laptop to suit most people, it has to be the HP Spectre x360 14 refreshed for 2024. It's priced competitively, it's the perfect size for most people who want to balance weight and functionality (the convertible aspect is a huge boon), and it has one of the best touch displays around thanks to a 2.8K resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, touch functionality, and OLED tech. New Intel Core Ultra CPUs will also allow you to do more on your convertible PC than ever before.

HP Spectre x360 14 (2024)

Editor's choice

$1150 $1450 Save $300

HP's Spectre x360 is the most powerful 14-inch convertible laptop we've tested thanks to Intel Core Ultra improvements. The laptop now has a 9MP webcam, a 2.8K OLED touch display, quad speakers, and a premium design. Get it in 14- or 16-inch sizes.

$1630 at Best Buy$1150 at HP