With its affordable price point, decent performance, and robust build, the Acer Aspire 3 is a good budget option for most people. It might not be the most aesthetic laptop, but the build is surprisingly rugged. It has a solid, durable feel reminiscent of laptops with much higher price points. The full-size keyboard is nice, too. It has a spacious layout, which is perfect for longer typing sessions. With a budget laptop you will need to accept sacrifices in terms of performance, but the Aspire 3 is plenty fast enough for general use tasks like writing emails and browsing the web. If you’re shopping around for a solid everyday laptop that won’t break the bank, the Aspire 3 offers plenty of bang for relatively few bucks.

The Dell XPS is not only an excellent ultraportable, but it comes with leading-edge performance and a stunning OLED panel. The 14-core Intel Core i7-1280P CPU means it’s no slouch in processing performance either. It’s not only great for general-use, but it can easily handle photo editing tasks as well. This device also comes equipped with Intel Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage.

Despite being only 13.4 inches, the OLED touchscreen is absolutely gorgeous. With a resolution of 3456×2160, the picture is sharp and vibrant. Unfortunately, since the design is so compact, it lacks some connectivity and the battery life is only mediocre. If you can forgive those limitations, then the Dell XPS 13 Plus is a good option for most people who need a laptop to travel with.

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.

The Lenovo Yoga laptops have always been excellent 2-in-1s, but the latest Gen 8 version has outdone itself. Lenovo’s new Yoga 9i not only remains one of our favorite convertibles, but manages to surpass the high bar set by previous versions. Under the hood, it comes loaded with solid performance features like a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 processor, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The Yoga 9i also has a svelte design that measures just over half an inch thick and weighs about 3 pounds. And if that wasn’t enough, it comes with some great extras too, such as the 1080p webcam and a superb 2880x1880p OLED touchscreen display.

Sure, it’s a bit more expensive than its previous Yoga versions, but its performance and features make it good value for the money. If you’re looking to get a 2-in-1, the Yoga 9i should be at the top of your list.

For people who enjoy the simplicity and convenience of the cloud-based ChromeOS over Windows, the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is a worthy option. It certainly bucks the stereotype of Chromebooks being lesser laptops, with a sophisticated and sturdy design, peppy CPU performance, and a spectacular keyboard and touchpad. In addition to that it features dual USB-C ports with Power Delivery and DisplayPort Alternate Mode—meaning you can use either port for powering and charging the device or running video out to a secondary USB-C monitor.

The Spin 514 comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 5625C CPU, AMD Radeon graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The display, which folds back 360 degrees thanks to the 2-in-1 form factor, features a resolution of 1920×1080 and is touch-enabled. Of course, this degree of capability and versatility to commands a higher price than other more bare-bones Chromebook variants. But if you can swing the $699.99 price tag, this machine won’t disappoint.

The ROG Zephyrus G14 is both lightweight and powerful—a very rare combination. It weighs just a little over three pounds, which makes it a capable traveling laptop. Between the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor and AMD Radeon RX6800S GPU, you can expect strong performance as well. The only weakness is the keyboard. It feels a little mushy and the backlighting is rather unimpressive. That said, if you’re in the market for a portable laptop that delivers zippy performance, the Zephyrus G14 is a great pick.

Looking for a reliable budget gaming laptop? The ASUS VivoBook Pro 15 OLED is a fantastic option. According to our tester, this laptop is great for “gaming, streaming, and day-to-day productivity.” Thanks to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 (4GB GDDR6) GPU, we were able to hit 60 frames-per-second at 1080p on high graphics during the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark. Plus, the OLED display is absolutely beautiful and battery life is surprisingly good. There are a few minor shortcomings, however.

The overall design is a little plain and the port selection is limited, and you’ll need to drop down to Medium or High graphics in strenuous modern AAA games on the RTX 3050. Nitpicks aside, if you’re looking for reliable performance on a gorgeous OLED screen, the VivoBook Pro 15 is where the party’s at. If you don’t mind giving up those luscious OLED visuals for a bit more graphics firepower, you should take a look at the Acer Swift X, which is our next entry.

The MSI Titan GT77 HX 13V is the ultimate gaming laptop in terms of pure performance. It has just about everything you could ever dream of in a gaming rig including the latest gen Core i9 processor, a monster RTX 4090 graphics card, 64GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 2TB PCIe Gen5 M.2 SSD. If that wasn’t enough, it also has a gorgeous industry leading 4K IPS Mini-LED display capable of a 144Hz refresh rate. There’s plenty of connectivity options as well and a fantastic Steelseries mechanical keyboard with Cherry MX switches built-in. If we were to nitpick, we’d say that the only downsides are a mediocre 720p webcam and a short battery life (if run during power hungry 3D gaming or intense workloads).

All of that high end hardware comes with a price though and you’ll need to pay a premium for MSI’s best. With such a steep price tag, this laptop isn’t a practical choice for most people. But if you want the best in performance and have a lot of money to burn, there currently nothing that can rival the MSI Titan.

It might look like something out of a cyberpunk dream, but the Asus ROG Strix G16 sports our favorite keyboard for gaming on any laptop yet. A host of programmable hotkeys, a creatively hidden numpad within the trackpad, and springy keys with a generous 2mm of travel make this full-size keyboard and trackpad ideal for competitive gaming.

The Asus ROG Strix G16 backs up its style with substance, too. Combining the latest-gen Core i7-13650HX processor with a Nvidia RTX 4060 GPU means you’ll get plenty of horsepower. We were also impressed with the vivid 16-inch 2560x1600p 240Hz refresh rate display. Sure, the chassis has a bit more plastic than we’d like and the battery life sits firmly in the average category, but those quirks are forgotten as soon as you boot up this neon-lit beauty.

Want a giant 18-inch screen on your laptop? How about if that giant screen is a QHD+ display with a refresh rate of 240Hz? Well, you already had us at 18-inch screen. The Asus ROG Strix 18 is about as close to a true desktop replacement as you can get. This laptop is absolutely loaded with great performance features that include a Core i9-13980HX processor, an RTX 4090 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD. But that’s not even the best part—the ROG Strix 18 comes with a mouth-watering 18-inch QHD+ (2560×1600) ROG Nebula panel with 100% DCI-P3 and sRGB coverage and an outstanding 240Hz refresh rate.

At first glance, the price of the Asus ROG Strix 18 might turn some people away, but it can be found for a lot cheaper than some competitors’ models such as Razer and MSI with the same configuration. The size can either be an upside or downside depending on what you’re looking for from a laptop, but if you want a desktop replacement complete with an outstanding display then there are currently none better than the Asus ROG Strix 18.

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.

If you’re looking for a big screen on a modest budget, the Acer Swift 3 is a fantastic option. It features an attractive 16-inch 1080p display, a solid chassis, and an enjoyable keyboard and touchpad. However, battery life is subpar, so you’ll want to keep the charger on hand. This is unfortunate, as the Swift 3’s slim profile makes it a good laptop for travel. If you don’t mind the battery life, this is a great laptop for watching movies and streaming shows.

If a marathon battery life is what you’re after then the Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip is your best bet. The fantastic battery on this Chromebook just doesn’t seem stop. In fact, it lasted an unbelievable 19 hours on a single charge in our testing—just to make sure we even ran the benchmark twice. For most laptops it’s impressive if you can eek out 10 hours on a single charge—the CM34 Flip almost doubles that number.

Despite its affordable price tag, it’s no slouch when it comes to performance either. It comes with an AMD Ryzen 3 7320C processor and 16GB of RAM. This 2-in-1 also comes with a colorful touchscreen display, comfortable touchpad, and high-quality 1080p webcam. Weighing in at just over 4 pounds it’s not the most portable though. But if you’re on the hunt for a long-lasting everyday machine that won’t break the bank, you can’t get much better than the CM34 Flip.

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.

Microsoft’s Surface tablets were already atop our list of best 2-in-1 laptops, but Microsoft reworked the Surface Pro 8 in numerous ways by adding a larger, higher-resolution, faster screen, a pair of Thunderbolt ports that replace the legacy Surface Connector, and a new inking experience, among other features.

While this generation of the Surface Pro tablet forgoes an always-connected LTE option as well as the choice of a cheap Core i3, performance still soared to the top of the heap. Benefits like how the increased display refresh rate improves inking are subtle improvements that matter, too. It’s the most dramatic revamp of a Surface in years and it’s all for the better.