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These portable student laptops from Apple, Dell and Lenovo are class acts
Whether you’re getting ready to head to university or you’re about to start sixth form, you need a reliable laptop to stay on top of your studies. The best student laptops are fast enough to handle academic work, easy to carry between lecture halls and home, and affordable enough to be gentle on the bank balances of skint university students.
With such a wide array of student laptops to choose from, it can be hard to know where to begin. If you have a preference for MacBooks, your decision is considerably easier – we think the 13in MacBook air with the M3 chip walks the line between price and performance – but look beyond the Apple-dome and you’ll find a huge variety of excellent and affordable Windows laptops and Chromebooks, all built to suit different needs.
You might not need a very powerful student laptop. For everyday jobs such as web browsing, emails and penning essays, a cheap and cheerful Chromebook with a display that’s comfortable to look at during long writing sessions could be perfect for you.
Meanwhile, if your coursework involves specialist jobs such as complex simulation, video editing and sound engineering, you’ll obviously want a laptop with a decent CPU (or even a discrete GPU) that won’t buckle under the strain.
Keep scrolling for our full review and verdict of the best student laptops for all needs and budgets.
We spent weeks testing all of these laptops, considering their suitability for a range of different types of users. Value for money was our primary consideration for most students, but we also took into account each laptop’s potential for watching entertainment, gaming, and handling specialist tasks such as programing and graphic design.
Yes. Most of the big laptop brands offer discounts to current and newly accepted university students, as well as teachers and staff, so it’s always worth checking if the laptop you’re buying can be made cheaper with your student ID.
Apple’s discount is the best known and can be accessed through the Apple Store for Education, where you can save up to 10 per cent on most Apple products. Other companies have also followed suit: Asus offers up to 15 per cent off some laptops; Dell offers students 20 per cent off electronics; and HP offers up to 40 per cent off a selection of its products.
Verification is either manual, or through partnerships with student deals sites such as Unidays and Student Beans.
A two-in-one laptop is one that can be converted from a traditional laptop into a touchscreen tablet, either by detaching from the keyboard completely or by opening a full 360-degrees, so the keyboard is hidden behind the screen.
They’re a useful form factor for students. They save on space and money by combining two devices into one. They’re also great for watching media and entertainment (especially in cramped rooms) as the 360-degree design allow you to prop up the screen at any angle and on small desktops.
Lastly, they’re excellent presentation devices, allowing you to display information and data in a more immersive and engaging way, by folding the keyboard out of sight.
Steve Hogarty is a tech writer with more than a decade’s experience in the video games and technology industry. He has written for The Independent’s IndyBest reviews section since 2021, covering everything from laptops and smartphones to tablets and everything in between.
The Dell XPS 13 is our pick of the best laptops for students. At £999 it’s an investment, but this stylish and powerful device is an all-round performer that’s well suited to even the most demanding tasks.
On a budget? We recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet. It’s a zippy little Chromebook with a detachable keyboard that doubles as a tablet, it’s ideal for slogging through late-night workloads and wasting hours watching YouTube videos in the bath.
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