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8 Best Laptops and Tablets for College Students (2023): Cheap, Gaming, Portable

Posted on August 11, 2023

8 Best Laptops and Tablets for College Students (2023): Cheap, Gaming, Portable

  • Photograph: Asus

    Best Windows Laptop

    Asus Zenbook 14 OLED

    The Asus Zenbook 14 is a unique combination of performance, great battery life, and an OLED display—all for $700 (8/10, WIRED Recommends). The model we like uses an AMD Ryzen 5 7530U CPU, with 8 GB of RAM and a 256-GB SSD. That may not sound like much, but we were impressed with the performance, especially given the price. That said, if you're heading to film school or plan to spend your nights gaming this is not the laptop you want (see our gaming pick below). Battery life is outstanding though, clocking in at 12.5 hours (measured looping a YouTube video at full brightness), which is helpful for the long days on campus.

    This is a small, portable machine too (3.1 pounds and 19 mm thick), and it manages to pack in plenty of ports despite the slim form. There are two USB-C ports (one of which is needed for charging), one full-size USB 3.2 port, a full-size HDMI output, and a microSD card reader. If you want something just a little more powerful, you can bump the specs to 16 GB of RAM and a 512-GB SSD for not much more money.

    Specs to look for: AMD Ryzen 5 7000 series, 8 GB RAM, 256-GB SSD

    $699 at Walmart

  • Photograph: Lenovo

    Best Budget Laptop

    Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5

    Lenovo's AMD-based IdeaPad 5, which comes with a Ryzen 5 processor, is a great laptop for students. There's plenty of power, a very nice 14-inch IPS display, 16 GB of RAM, and a 256-GB SSD. The 360-degree hinge converts it to tablet mode or stand mode for watching movies in your dorm. To take full advantage of the 2-in-1 design, be sure to grab the digital pen ($40). Another reason we like the IdeaPad is the plethora of ports: You get two USB-A ports, an HDMI, an SD card reader, one USB-C, a headphone jack, and a charging port (though you can use the USB-C to recharge the laptop too). If you're a computer science major or plan to do some video editing, the more powerful Ryzen 7 version can be had for just a little more.

    Specs to look for: AMD Ryzen 5, 16 GB of RAM, 256-GB SSD

    $598 at Amazon (14 Inch, 5000 Series)
    $850 at Amazon (16 Inch, 7000 Series)

  • Photograph: Apple

    Best Mac for College

    Apple MacBook Air (13 and 15 Inch)

    Apple's M2-powered MacBook Air (7/10, WIRED Recommends) comes with a ton of upgrades on both the inside and out. It's boxier than the old version and comes in a couple of new colors—midnight and starlight—in addition to the traditional space gray and silver options. The display is bigger (you can choose between a 13-inch and 15-inch model) and the webcam is a little better. There are still only two Thunderbolt 4 USB-C ports, but at least you can charge it without using one of them via the MagSafe charger.

    Apple’s M2 chip offers decent performance on typical college workloads, running apps like Slack, Spotify, Telegram, and Pages alongside a browser, though we did experience some slowdowns with a lot of tabs open. If you can, upgrade the unified memory to 16 gigs for a smoother experience. Also, Remember, you can take $100 off if you use an education email and buy the MacBook through Apple's Education store. If you want a cheaper MacBook the M1-powered Air is still a good choice for less than $800.

    Specs to look for: Apple M2 processor, 8+ GB of RAM, 256-GB SSD

    $1,099 at Apple (13 Inch)
    $1,099 at Best Buy (13 Inch)
    $1,299 at Apple (15 Inch)
    $1,199 at Amazon (15 Inch)

  • Photograph: Framework

    Best Linux Laptop

    Framework Laptop 13 (2023)

    Framework's 13-inch laptop is a good choice for budding programmers and sysadmins. The 13-inch model (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is available with either Windows or Linux, but I much prefer it with Linux—a DIY laptop needs a DIY OS. The hallmark of this laptop is how you can repair and replace components down the road, making it more environmentally friendly and cost-effective.

    Right now you can get an Intel Core 13th-gen series system with 32 GB of RAM, a 2-TB SSD, and whichever mix of ports suits your needs for around $1,400. That will ship with no operating system. When it arrives you can install Linux yourself (or opt to ship it with Windows if you need to dual boot). See our Best Linux Laptops guide for more options.

    Specs to look for: Intel Core i5, 16+ GB of RAM, 250-GB SSD

    $850 at Framework

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