The 10 best laptops for college students in 2017

Consider for a moment the next four years of your life. Whether the entirety, or merely a snippet, of that time will be spent striving towards a degree, having one of the best laptops for college in your possession is integral to your success. It’s the go-to tool for taking notes and sharing them with friends in Google Docs. What’s more, most schools require that you own one.

In that case, if you need a laptop anyway, you might as well buy one on Black Friday that lasts all four years. We would certainly argue, given the amount of time we’ve invested in testing, reviewing and ranking them, that the best laptops for college fit that criteria quite nicely. Some are reliable in spite of their low price tags, and other entries on our list are as powerful as they are practical.

Occupying the top spot on our list of the best laptops for college is the Dell XPS 13 found below. Because it comes in any number of different configurations, each featuring various degrees of processing power, memory and the like, it’s ideal for students with any budget. That said, there are 9 others on our list too and they’re all worth your consideration, hence our recommendation.

• Dell XPS 13
• Samsung Notebook 9 Pro
• Asus Chromebook Flip
• Microsoft Surface Pro
• Samsung Notebook 7 Spin
• Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming
• Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2017)
• Asus ZenBook UX310
• Microsoft Surface Laptop
• Acer Swift 3

Decked out in an all-black aluminum finish encompassing hardy internal components, the Dell XPS 13 of today is still a force to be reckoned with. And, now that it packs 7th- and 8th-generation Intel Kaby Lake processors as well as improved integrated graphics, it evidently boasts an advantage over competing laptops, aside from giving you the option of a sumptuous Rose Gold finish. The 13-inch screen, crammed into an 11-inch body, makes it a worthy rival to a certain other aluminum laptop line. Ultimately, this leaves the Dell XPS 13’s utility extensive.

Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 review

The Samsung Notebook 9 is what other 2-in-1 laptops have aspired to be since their conception. It hones in on the S-Pen, Samsung’s own proprietary stylus with 4,096 levels of pressure sensitivity (the same as Microsoft’s new Surface Pen), a nifty little accessory that conveniently doesn’t require charging. Although the touchscreen display is only 1080p, at between 350 and 450 nits of brightness, you won’t be paying any mind to the pixels, or lack thereof. Plus, the lengthy battery life more than makes up for this hybrids few setbacks.

Read the full review: Samsung Notebook 9 Pro

• This product is only available in the US as of this writing. UK and Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the HP Spectre x360 15.

The Asus Chromebook Flip C302 could be seen as an apology for Google’s own missteps with the Chromebook Pixel that preceded it. Rather than costing over a grand for unnecessarily high performance that would put a lot of Windows notebooks to shame, Asus has cut the price in half while adding a 360-degree hinge that effectively makes it a 2-in-1 laptop, but with Android apps from the Google Play Store that only sweeten the deal.Now you can experience a Chromebook whose style rivals that of the MacBook Pro without spending even remotely what you would on one of Apple’s machines. 

Read the full review: Asus Chromebook Flip

The 2017 Surface Pro is – in every way, shape and form – the next-generation Windows tablet we’ve been craving. From its rounded edges to its refined selection of accessories, there’s no denying it’s the next step in the Redmond hardware lineage. There’s also the fact that the Surface Pro draws inspiration from all-in-one PCs insofar as it bends back 165 degrees. The only real downside then (besides having to buy the Surface Pen separately this time) is that only the i7 version of the Surface Pro can compete with Apple’s cheaper, entry level iPad Pro.

Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Pro

• This product is only available in the US and Australia as of this writing. UK readers: check out a fine alternative in the Lenovo Miix 510.

For less than a grand, you could get a MacBook Air, complete with a sub-1080p screen and a Broadwell processor ... or you could buy a Samsung Notebook 7 Spin. A 2-in-1 laptop with an HDR, full HD touchscreen, the Spin is home to both a discrete Nvidia graphics chip and a 6th-generation Intel Core “i” CPU. Though the spinning hard drive and 480p webcam aren’t ideal, they keep the price of the Samsung Notebook 7 Spin modest and its reputation positive.

Read the full review: Samsung Notebook 7 Spin

• This product is only available in the US and UK as of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Asus ZenBook Flip UX360.  

Ditching the Alienware moniker for once, the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming doesn’t cost all that much considering its rather lofty specs. Even if it can’t max out every game you throw at it, the Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming is both cheaper than a MacBook Air and way more capable. And, if you were worried about the battery life, the Inspiron 15 Gaming lasted a whole 5 hours and 51 minutes in our tests, longer than some Ultrabooks priced significantly higher. Whether for coursework or leisure, this laptop can do it all. 

Read the full review: Dell Inspiron 15 Gaming

The 2017 MacBook Pro doesn’t offer much in the way of distinguishing itself from its predecessor, but it is a testament to just how much you can improve something by simply swapping up internal components and calling it a day. Because it’s finally equipped with the newest generation of Intel Kaby Lake processors and faster-than-ever PCIe 3.0 SSD storage, the MacBook Pro comes easily recommended, undeterred by its reluctance to bring back legacy ports like HDMI and standard USB. This is, through and through, a laptop built for the future.

Read the full review: Apple MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid-2017)

Now that the MacBook Air is all but dead in the water in terms of innovation, there has to be something to replace it. The Asus ZenBook UX310UA is that spiritual successor you’ve been longing for. Surprising us with the an all-aluminum chassis that follows in the wake of the UX305 before it, this laptop comes stacked with a high quality display and an impressive swath of ports, including the latest USB-C interface. The best news is that it does all of that without slipping above the price point of the current MacBook Air, making it an even better value.

Read the full review: Asus ZenBook UX310

The Surface Laptop is Microsoft’s first stab at a “traditional” laptop, if you can even call it that knowing full well that its PixelSense touchscreen and Alcantara keyboard are anything but conventional. Featuring a full stack of U-series 7th generation Intel Core “i” processors, the Surface Laptop beats out Apple’s 12-inch MacBook any day of the week, and for a lower starting price at that. Despite the ports and operating system being limited, the Surface Laptop is appealing for its laudable design, beautifully vivid screen and impressive performance.

Read the full review: Surface Laptop

The Acer Swift 3 looks like a normal laptop, and while you could make the argument that it is, most “normal” laptops are either overpriced or underpowered these days. The Acer Swift 3, however, demonstrates a solid mix of performance and value, brandishing full-on Ultrabook-class Core i processors serving up and a passive battery life of over 8 hours

Read the full review: Acer Swift 3

• This product is only available in the US and UK as of this writing. Australian readers: check out a fine alternative in the Dell Inspiron 13.

• Now, check out the best 2-in-1 laptops

Gabe Carey has also contributed to this article

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