Best laptops for writers 2024
These are the best laptops for writers that you can buy this year
Every so often, one of my creative writing colleagues will ask me, "What are the best laptops for writers?" Maybe not exactly like that, but it's clear they need a new laptop. Sometimes, when they call me, their laptop is down to its last battery cell, running slower than molasses, or they're wondering, "What the heck is a Snapdragon?"
The good news is that modern laptops have improved drastically in the ways that matter most to writers: keyboards are snappier, performance doesn't crumble under dozens of browser tabs, and battery life runs late into the night. They're also much more portable; some are just a half-inch thick and weigh less than three pounds, even with a large display!
The bad news is that the laptop landscape is denser than it used to be, so if you find yourself paralyzed by choice, I totally get it. Not all writers have the same needs either, so if you're having a hard time figuring out what to buy you've come to the right place.
Our current pick for the best overall laptop for writers is the MacBook Air 13 M3 due to its excellent keyboard and outstanding performance, battery life, and build quality. But, if you need something cheap, something for writing and gaming, or something more versatile, like a 2-in-1 laptop, scroll on.
This page is constantly updated based on our latest reviews to reflect Laptop Mag's current picks for the best laptops for writers in 2024.
Quick List
best overall
Best overall
The MacBook Air M3 is also our pick for best overall laptop, so no surprise it's also the best for writers. The 13-inch version starts at $1,099 and the 15-inch at $1,299, but both offer an incredible balance of performance and portability, and 15 hours of battery life — the triple-threat of laptops.
Best Budget
Best budget
For budget-minded writers (especially college and graduate students) who save their work in the cloud, there's the $399 Acer Chromebook Plus 515. It runs ChromeOS, which supports both Google's and Microsoft's suite of productivity apps. It also has a snappy and responsive keyboard.
best keyboard
Best keyboard
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x has a comfortable and compact keyboard layout. It's keys also have a great amount of travel and tactile feedback; they're snappy and don't need much force to press down.
best 2-in-1
Best 2-in-1
For writers who also love to jot down their story ideas by hand, there's the HP Spectre x360 14. This 2-in-1 laptop's versatility goes beyond its form factor, too. Performance, a vibrant OLED display, fantastic speakers, great battery life — it has it all.
best high-end
Best high-end
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M4 Pro) is way more laptop than most writers need, but for those who want go all-out, it's one of the best Laptop Mag has ever tested: nearly 21 hours of battery life, phenomenal performance, and display and speakers that put on a sensory showcase.
best gaming
Best gaming
The Asus TUF gaming A14 combines the portability and battery life a lot of writers need with the performance a lot of PC gamers need. If you're a writer who also games, this laptop has the best of both worlds.
Joanna Nelius has reviewed laptops and computer hardware since 2018. Her work has appeared in The Verge, USA Today, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and Maximum PC. She also holds an MFA from Chapman University and works as a creative writing instructor.
The best laptop for writers in 2024
Why you can trust Laptop Mag
Best overall laptop for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Apple MacBook Air 13 M3 is one of the most well-balanced laptops on the market today. Its performance is as speedy as its keyboard is snappy. It gets 15 hours of battery life thanks to its excellent power efficiency. And its one of the thinnest and lightest laptops we've ever reviewed.
✔️ You are a heavy multitasker or regularly work with long manuscripts. Whatever your browser tab or word count, this laptop's performance will keep those pages scrolling smoothly.
✔️ You write in all sorts of places. On planes, on your couch, in coffee shops, in the library — you treat your laptop as an extra limb. The 13-inch MacBook Air M3 is so thin and light, it won't weigh you down where ever you take it.
✖️ You need a variety of ports. MacBook Airs aren't known for their port selection. While this one does have three USB-C ports (two of them are Thunderbolt), you will need adapters or a dock if you have a wired mouse or other accessories that use USB-A.
✖️ You always listen to music when you write through your laptop speakers. This laptop has volume, but it lacks the bass and depth of the 15-inch MacBook Air M3 and MacBook Pro's speakers.
The Apple MacBook Air M3 is one of our best overall laptops, and we cannot recommend it enough. It provides performance, portability, and long battery life, with a satisfying keyboard and stunning 13.6-inch display.
Performance-wise, this laptop decimates the premium laptop average with its Geekbench 6 overall multi-core score of 12,087 and still holds its own today. It also boasts staggering SSD speeds, managing 3,031 megabytes per second in our file transfer test.
If you want springy and quiet keys to keep your fingers happy, MacBooks are well-known for their great keyboards (in their post-butterfly switch-era, anyway) alongside their incredibly smooth Force trackpads. And even though in his review, Laptop Mag's managing editor Sean Riley said the colors "don't pop off the Retina display" as he's seen in other laptops, it still "delivers an outstanding image."
Battery life is another crucial laptop feature, and one of our top priorities when we determine what makes the best laptop for writers. In our battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits, the MacBook Air M3 lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes, far longer than a standard workday — and an hour longer than the Air M2.
All of these features make it a great overall pick for writers.
See our full MacBook Air M3 review.
Best budget laptop for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is an excellent value for the performance and portability it offers, and a great keyboard, too. It comes with a bunch of extra perks, like a free, 12-month subscription to Google One, and you don't always need an internet connection to access your files.
✔️ You don't need anything fancy. ChromeOS was designed to be simple. If you need a laptop for just writing in Google Docs and watching movies on Netflix, this one has you covered without any extra fuss.
✔️ You want to save money. $400 dollars is much more affordable than the rest of the laptops on this list — hundreds or even thousands of dollars less. If you don't need a laptop to do much, there's no need to spend more on one.
✖️ You need longer battery life. This laptop maxes out at 8 hours, which is far less than other laptops on this list. It might make it through an entire day, but that all depends on how many apps you run on it at the same time.
✖️ You want a full-fledged operating system. While simple to use, ChromeOS is a web browser at its core. It doesn't have nearly as much app compatibility as its Windows and macOS counterparts.
When it comes down to it, many writers, including college and graduate students, just need a laptop with a great keyboard and enough processing power to run some of the best writing tools — at a price that won't demolish their wallets.
The $399 Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is one of the most affordable laptops for writers that still delivers good performance. On the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, it managed a multi-score of 5,052, slightly below the 5,246 Chromebook average, but our reviewer, Mark Anthony Ramirez, didn't notice any lag or sputtering with 30 open Google Chrome tabs with five 1080p videos playing.
Chromebooks generally have older or slower processors, but even with an Intel Core i3-1215U chip than came out over two years ago, this laptop is still one of the faster Chromebooks available. (ChromeOS isn't as demanding to run compared to other operating systems.) Our
The chiclet keyboard might not be fancy, but the keys are snappy and responsive. There are plenty of ports for a mouse or an external hard drive, too. Its battery life could have been higher, though. It lasted 8 hours in our tests. (We consider 9 or more hours ideal.) But it's hard to go wrong with the Chromebook Plus 515 when you don't have or want to spend over $1,000 on a laptop.
See our full Acer Chromebook Plus 515 review.
Best keyboard for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x has a fantastic keyboard just like many of the company's other laptops. Its rounded, chiclet-style keys have more travel and spring than they appear at first glance. It also has amazing performance and a fantastic, color-accurate OLED display.
✔️ You want a laptop with more than just a great keyboard. If you're a writer like me, you often get 30-plus browser tabs deep in a research rabbit hole before you write your first sentence. This laptop has more than enough power to handle that and plenty of battery life to spare.
✔️ Your main concern is cost, but need something more robust than a Chromebook. This ARM laptop provides still the core Windows experience, but is cheaper than many of its Windows x86 rivals.
✖️ Windows on ARM doesn't support your writing app. LibreOffice recently made its way onto the platform, but others don't have native support. They may run emulated, they may not. If they do they might not run well.
✖️ You usually write under harsh lighting conditions. This laptop's OLED screen is too reflective, which might make it hard to look over your work. Cranking up the brightness helps get rid of that issue, but it at the expense of battery life (and maybe your eyes).
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x's headlining feature for writers is its keyboard, but it offers so much more than that: great performance to handle your largest manuscripts and dissertations; battery life that makes you feel free to lose track of time; and it's cool enough to put in your lap if you wanted to use it as a digital notebook.
The keyboard was our reviewer's, Stevie Bonifield, favorite feature. From the keycaps' soft texture, to the 1.5mm of key travel and tactile feedback, "The typing experience on the Yoga Slim 7x is so good that I broke my typing speed record on it." Having also reviewed many Lenovo laptops over the last six years, I agree with Stevie. Our previous best laptop keyboard for writers pick was the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11, too! (I've also broken my typing speed record on my Yoga Book 9i.)
Writing is one of the most basic tasks anyone can do on a laptop. But the longer the document, the greater the chance you'll run into lag. That's not an issue with this laptop. The Yoga Slim 7x cranked out a benchmark score of 13,750 in Geekbench 6. That's about 20% faster than its Aura Edition counterpart with a brand new Intel Core Ultra 7 256V chip (10,711), 10% faster than the MacBook Air M3 (12,087), and 11% faster than the HP Spectre x360 14 with an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (12,358).
It doesn't have the longest battery life compared to some of its rivals, but it's nothing to scoff about. It lasted over 14 hours in our tests, 4 hours more than the average premium laptop. The MacBook Air M3 does last longer (over 15 hours), and the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition also gets 14 hours — but the Spectre x360 falls behind it at 11 hours.
There are two crucial things to keep in mind about using the Yoga Slim 7x as your next writing machine: app compatibility and its reflective OLED display. Glare isn't as much of an issue for writers as it can be for artists (this laptop is also our favorite drawing tablet). But if your eyes are sensitive to light, turning down the display brightness might create some annoying reflections.
You'll also want to make sure your favorite writing app has a native ARM64 version, since this laptop runs Windows on ARM. Microsoft Office, Google Docs, and LibreOffice users won't have an issue, but apps like Final Draft and Scrivener don't have official support. They might run fine via emulation, but check to make sure before buying this laptop.
See our full Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x review.
Best 2-in-1 laptop for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) is versatile. Its fast processor is great at multitasking. It's OLED display makes the colors of your favorite shows pop. Its speakers make the bass line of your favorite song loud and clear. And if you feel like taking notes by hand, grab your stylus and flip the lid back — you now have a tablet.
✔️ You don't want to worry about app compatibility. If you're already using it with Windows 11 on an Intel or AMD laptop, it will more than likely work with this one.
✔️ You handwrite as much as you type. For some writers, their ideas flow faster when they put pen to paper (or stylus to screen). As a 2-in-1 laptop, you can fold the display back and use it as a digital notebook to plot your novel. When it's time to start writing the first chapter, just flip it back to take advantage of its excellent keyboard.
✖️ You need a lot of ports. It has one USB-A port, two USB-C ports, and a power port. That's it.
✖️ You want more battery life. 11 hours is still a long time for a laptop to hold a charge. But if it's your main priority, there laptop on this list that easily outlast it.
The HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) is highly regarded at Laptop Mag. It appears on a few other buying guides as the best 2-in-1 laptop for a very good reason: it's near-perfect, offering the most consistent balance between performance, battery life, design, audio, keyboard clickiness, a 4K webcam, and a gorgeous display.
HP built the 2024 Spectre x360 14 with a powerful Intel Core Ultra 7 155H processor, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage, a 2.8K OLED touchscreen, and 11 hours of battery life packed into a 14-inch chassis. That's incredible on its own, but it's staggering that it's somehow only $1,858 — and we've seen it go on sale for hundreds of dollars less.
On the Geekbench 6.1 overall performance test, its 12,358 multicore score flew far over the average premium laptop (8,443). Its SSD speeds are also decent, transferring 25GB of data at 1,362 megabytes per second. That's close to the average (1,378 MBps).
We normally advise writers searching for laptops to focus less on-screen color, but in case that is something you are looking for, just be aware that the Spectre doesn't have the brightest or most colorful touchscreen. Its display reaches 366 nits of brightness, which is lower than the average touchscreen (431 nits). It also covers 85.8% of DCI-P3 color gamut, below the average premium laptop (98.5%), but higher than the MacBook Air M3 (77.8%). The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x, the other 2-in-1 laptop on this list, covers 155%
However, its OLED panel still filled the "Road House" (2024) trailer with "expected vibrance," as our editor, Rami Tabari, said in his review.
Writing app compatibility is something you won't need to worry about with the HP Spectre. It runs the x86 version of Windows (not ARM), so Final Draft, Scrivener, and other popular writing software will work just fine.
See our full HP Spectre x360 14 (2024) review.
Best high-end laptop for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro M4 Pro has outdone itself with its performance and battery life — on top of its incredibly bright display, fantastic keyboard and trackpad, robust sound, and one of the best webcams we've ever seen in a laptop.
✔️ You're a writer who does much more than write. Web browsing, video calls, photo and video editing, and even gaming — if you need a single device that can do all those things quickly and reliably, this laptop has you covered.
✔️ You want the best battery life. The number speaks for itself: 20 hours and 46 minutes. The only laptop we've tested that has outlasted this MacBook is the Lenovo ThinkPad T14s Gen 6 — and that's not even a MacBook Pro competitor.
✖️ You know you don't need this much laptop. It's a tremendous laptop, but it was made for so much more than just writing in Microsoft Word.
✖️ You want to avoid the Apple tax. The company did bump up the base specs to give you more for your money, but for $1,999, the base configuration still only comes with 512GB of storage space.
For writers who do other types of creative work (and have disposable income), there's the newest, 16-inch Apple MacBook Pro with an M4 Pro processor.
Laptop Mag's managing editor, Sean Riley, describes it best in his review: "It's almost simultaneously the most powerful premium laptop we've reviewed while also offering the second-longest battery of any laptop we've tested." Our benchmark numbers mostly speak for themselves.
With 20 hours and 46 minutes of battery life, it lasts 7 hours longer than the average premium laptop and its main competitors, the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 Gen 9 and Asus ProArt PX16 (2024) between 10 and 11 hours, respectively. It also outlasts the MacBook Pro M3 Max by nearly 3 hours.
It outshines them all in the Geekbench 6 multicore benchmark, scoring 22,822. That's 47% faster than the Yoga Pro (12,141), 32% faster than the ProArt PX16 (15,286), and over 100% more than the average premium laptop (10,492). Compared to the M3 Max (21,182), that's an 8% speed increase; remember that the 16-inch Max configurations start at $3,499.
Everything else about this MacBook Pro is just as good or better than previous generations. It's still expensive, but it's our best high-end laptop pick for a reason.
See our full Apple MacBook Pro 16-inch (M4 Pro) review.
Best gaming laptop for writers
Specifications
Reasons to buy
Reasons to avoid
The Asus TUF Gaming A14 is an excellent, powerful and portable machine with the best battery life we've seen in a gaming laptop in the last few years. It looks sleek, refined, and its RTX 4060 exceeds way past 60 frames per second in most games we tested. It offers all that at a reasonable price, too.
✔️ You're a writer and a PC gamer. This laptop is thin and light, has a good keyboard, and hits at least 60 frames per second in the graphically demanding games we tested. Its IPS display also makes games look fantastic.
✔️ You want the battery to last more than five hours. Gaming laptops are notorious for having short battery life, but this one has double the life of most of them — ten hours compared to an average of five!
✖️ You love to max out the graphics — at the display's native resolution. Nvidia's DLSS and Frame Generation will help a bit, but they can only do so much on a RTX 4060. Especially in a demanding game like Cyberpunk 2077, which averaged just 30 fps in our tests.
✖️ You're not a gamer. Seems obvious, but as great as this laptop is, non-gamers most likely won't take full advantage of everything it offers. Plus, you can spend the same amount of money (or less) on a laptop with a better keyboard and better battery life.
For writers with an ever-increasing Steam library, the Asus TUF Gaming A14 offers respectable gaming and productivity performance, a bright and colorful IPS display, and a battery life that makes other gaming laptops weep. Its compact size also makes it a good laptop for writers; thanks to its thin and light chassis, it's extremely portable.
This gaming laptop is ideal for writers who want more power than integrated graphics can offer, but don't need the graphics cranked to the max. In Far Cry 6 at 1080p and Medium settings, the TUF Gaming A14 averaged 77 frames per second, where the Zephyrus G14 averaged 69 fps and the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 averaged 82 fps.
The TUF Gaming A14 fared better in Assassin’s Creed Mirage, averaging 87 fps, equivalent to the Predator Helios Neo 16 and 10 frames ahead of the Zephyrus G14. It's a similar story with more graphically intensive games like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Cyberpunk 2077.
While an IPS panel can't match the vibrancy of OLED, the TUF Gaming A14 has one of the more color accurate and brighter ISP displays out there. It showcases the moody and colorful landscapes from games like Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree well, and its max brightness (411 nits) ensures characters are still visible even in the darkest of movie scenes.
Most gaming laptops average 5 hours of battery life, but the TUF Gaming A14 lasts an astonishing 10. To quote our reviewer, Claire Tabari, this the "longest lasting gaming laptop we've seen in over four years." The last time we saw this much battery life in a gaming laptop was when we reviewed the 2020 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (11 hours and 32 minutes).
See our full Asus TUF Gaming A14 review.
Benchmark comparisons
Click to view chart data in table format
Row 0 - Cell 0 | Apple MacBook Pro Air 13 M3 | Acer Chromebook Plus 515 | Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x | HP Spectre x360 14 | Apple MacBook Pro 16 M4 Pro | Asus TUF gaming A14 |
Geekbench 6 (Higher is better) | 12,087 | 5,052 | 13,750 | 12,358 | 22,822 | 11,330 |
Handbrake time ((MM.SS), lower is better) | 06.32 | Not tested | 05.16 | 07.30 | 02.38 | 04.21 |
Battery life - Web surfing (HH.MM) | 15.13 | 08.21 | 14.14 | 11.01 | 20.46 | 10.04 |
SSD transfer speeds (MBps, higher is better) | 3,058.8 | Not tested | Not tested | 1,362 | 6,640.5 | 1,339 |
DCI-P3 Color Gamut (Higher is better) | 77.8% | 43.4% | 155% | 85.8% | 81.4% | 82% |
Display Brightness (Nits, higher is better) | 476 | 270.6 | 464 | 366 | 565 | 411 |
Hottest temperature (95 degree comfort threshold) | 83.5 | 92.5 | 86 | 102 | 90.5 | 116 |
Recently Reviewed
Not every laptop can make the best laptops for writers page. (We wouldn't be doing you that much good if that were the case!) We review new laptops every week and over 100 laptops yearly, so here's a look at our most recently reviewed laptops that didn't make this page either due to their battery life, performance, keyboard, or something else.
HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | Intel Arc | 32GB RAM | 2TB SSD
Score: ★★★★
Pros: Surprisingly solid gaming performance; sharp OLED display; good webcam and microphone
Cons: Mediocre overall performance; no USB Type-A ports
See our full HP Omnibook Ultra Flip 14 review.
Dell G16 (7630) | Intel Core i7-1365HX | Nvidia RTX 4060 | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★★½
Pros: Gorgeous display; phenomenal keyboard experience; powerful performance; decent battery life; reasonably priced
Cons: Tiny touchpad; hollow speakers
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition | Intel Core Ultra 7 256V | Intel Arc 140V | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★½
Pros: A bright vibrant display; top-firing speakers that are LOUD; built-in smart modes are super helpful
Cons: Subpar performance scores; hit-or-miss gaming performance
See our full Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition review.
Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 (2024) | Intel Core Ultra 7 155H | Nvidia RTX 4070 | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★½
Pros: Vivid ISP display; comfortable and springy keyboard; over eight hours of battery life; stays cool; good gaming performance
Cons: Rough trackpad; collects many fingerprints; bass doesn’t come through the speakers
See our full Acer Predator Helios Neo 14 review.
Dell XPS 13 (9350) | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | Intel Arc | 32GB RAM | 512GB SSD
Score: ★★★★
Pros: Solid performance; impressive battery life; vivid tandem OLED display option; impactful speakers; respectable graphics
Cons: Display could be brighter on both models; poor color on non-OLED display; cramped keyboard; only two USB-C ports
See our full Dell XPS 13 (9350) review.
Asus Zenbook S 14 (UX5406) | Intel Core Ultra 7 258V | Intel Arc | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★★½
Pros: Responsive performance; nearly 14 hours of battery life; vivid display; sleek, portable design; powerful audio; fast SSD
Cons: Shallow, mushy chiclet keyboard; grainy webcam
See our full Asus Zenbook S 14 review.
HP OmniBook X | Snapdragon X Elite X1E-78-100 | Qualcomm Adreno | 16GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★½
Pros: Sharp, colorful display; clicky keyboard; strong performance; incredible battery life
Cons: Poor brightness; slow SSD; middling graphics
See our full HP OmniBook X review.
Acer Swift Go 16 | Intel Ultra 9 185H | 32GB RAM | 1TB SSD
Score: ★★★★
Pros: Excellent performance; solid battery life; colorful display; clear speakers; thin and light
Cons: Malleable deck; could be brighter; squishy keys
See our full Acer Swift Go 16 review.
How to Choose the best Laptops for writers
Do your intensive daily workloads require more RAM than the average Joe? Are you a video editor who needs extra storage? Are you a power user who wants a beefy GPU? Sorting through the best laptops to fit your lifestyle is a tricky business.
Budget: What you get for your money
You can find decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500. However, better mainstream laptops usually cost more than $700, and premium Ultrabooks can run for over $1,000. The best gaming laptops can cost $2.000 and up, but you can play the latest titles at decent frame rates on gaming laptops under $1,000.
Screen Size: 13 to 15 inches for portability
Knowing a laptop's screen size tells you a lot about its portability overall. If you want to use your computer on your lap or carry it around a lot, go for one with a 13, 14, or 15-inch display. If you want to use the computer on tables and desks and won't carry it around much, a 15-inch model may give you more value. Some gaming rigs, media machines, and workstations even have 16-, 17-, or 18-inch screens, but those are the hardest to carry.
Design: 2-in-1 or Clamshell?
More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like the idea of using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption, or just standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. However, you can often get better features or a lower price with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.
Battery Life: 9+ Hours for Portability
Battery life matters unless you plan to use your laptop only on your desk. Even in the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table without being chained to the nearest outlet. We recommend getting a laptop that lasted over 9 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test for the best portability. The longest-lasting laptops endure for up to 15 hours.
FAQs
Q: What is a Copilot+ PC?
A: Microsoft has specific requirements as to what it considers a Copilot+ PC. One of those requirements is that a laptop's processor must have an NPU capable of reaching at least 40 TOPS to run more advanced Windows AI features like Recall, Automatic super resolution, and Live Captions.
Copilot+ PCs have a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or Plus, an Intel Core Ultra 200V series, or AMD Ryzen AI 300 series processor. However, the advanced AI features are currently only available on Snapdragon laptops. A free update for Intel and AMD laptops should be available to Windows Insiders by December 2024.
Q: How is Windows on ARM laptop different from a regular (x86) Windows laptop?
A: Windows on ARM laptops are configured with a Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite or Plus processor. Laptops with the x86 version of Windows are powered by either an Intel or AMD processor. Each Windows version uses a different instruction set (ARM or x86), so it needs a processor that can run it.
For most people, using one versions of Windows or the other shouldn't be an issue. But depending on what apps you use day to day, some might not be compatible with Windows on ARM. App compatibly is growing, but it's best to verify what you need will work before buying one of these laptops.
Q: What graphics card do I need in a gaming laptop?
It depends! If you want high frame rates and stunning graphics, then an RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 are your best bet. Those graphics cards make the most out of high refresh rate, OLED displays. If you are willing to compromise on one or the other, look for gaming laptops with either an RTX 4070, 4060, or 4050.
However, an RTX 4070 gaming laptop usually provides the best balance between frame rate and great graphics. Some are pricier than others, so do shop around to find something that fits your budget.
Q: I already have a stylus; will it work with one of these laptops if it has a touchscreen?
A. That depends! Not all touchscreens have stylus support. The ones that do might not support the same type of pens. We recommend checking the manufacture's website of both the laptop and stylus to be absolutely sure.
This will help you determine what pen protocols the stylus and laptop support. The two main ones are Microsoft Pen Protocol (MPP) and Wacom AES. They're not intercompatible, but some pens support both, while others only support one.
How We Test the best laptops for Writers
We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing—both synthetic and real-world—before we send it to our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers, and heat management.
In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the laptop's display's brightness and DCI-P3 color gamut. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 6 and 3DMark professional graphics tests.
To determine real-world performance, we convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and duplicate a 25GB file. Our real-world graphics test is Cid Meier's Civilization V: Gathering Storm benchmark at 1080p resolution and Medium graphics. We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop.
For our battery test, we continuously web surfing over WiFi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered longer than 5 hours deserve praise.
We complement these tests with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers, who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.
See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.
Why Trust Laptop Mag
Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops yearly, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field; we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest gaming.
We are 100 percent independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades and continues to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.
Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.
One of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing, enforces our editorial trustworthiness. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.
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Joanna Nelius is a contributing writer to Laptop Mag. She has reported on and reviewed laptops for The Verge, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and USA Today.
- Claire TabariContributing Writer