Yahoo Life’s editors are committed to independently selecting wonderful products at great prices for you. We may receive a share from purchases made via links on this page. Pricing and availability are subject to change.
A powerful laptop is an essential tool for students about to start a new academic term, whether you’re studying medicine, English or the arts.
A trustworthy device for studies needs to have a long battery life, a big-enough memory to store research, coursework, and essays, a long life span to see you through your degree, and added features so you can enjoy using it in your downtime too, such as gaming or Netflix-bingeing.
Not to mention, it needs to be portable enough that it’s easy to carry between seminars or back and forth from accommodation halls and flat shares.
We’ve compiled the best laptops for university students in our shopping edit ahead, with budget and functionality a core focus of these 12 products.
From leading laptop brands like HP, Dell, Lenovo and more, they’re the best money can buy.
The best laptops for students
LENOVO IdeaPad Duet 10.1″ 2 in 1 Chromebook | £299 from Currys
For less than £300, this tablet-laptop hybrid is one of the best budget-friendly models on the market. It comes with Chrome OS built in, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, a HD touchscreen and a battery life of 10 hours. The keyboard is detachable so it can be used as a laptop or tablet whenever it suits you both, it is extremely portable and perfect if you want something simple and compact.
DELL Inspiron 15 5518 15.6″ Laptop | £649 from Currys
This Dell laptop has a Windows 10 Home Plus operating system, a hefty 512GB of storage, a 6-hour battery life and a 15.6-inch screen size. It’s by far the biggest on our list, but it’s only 0.9 inches thick so won’t weigh you down on the way to lectures.
HP Pavilion 14-dv0511sa 14″ Laptop | £429 from Currys
This mid-range device comes with an 11th gen Intel® Core™ i3 processor, high-quality IPS display for viewing media, a battery life of nine hours, fast charging time, and a full HD touchscreen too. One reviewer on Currys wrote: “The size and weight of this laptop are perfect for students. Love the design and battery as well.”
ASUS X415 Laptop | £279.99 from John Lewis
For something lightweight and efficient, this is a great option for less than £330. It has 4GB of RAM to allow you to have multiple tabs open at once without slowing it down, a 14-inch HD screen, 128GB of storage, and Intel’s UHD graphics processing unit for gaming in your free time.
2020 Apple MacBook Air Laptop | £999 from Amazon
Coming in as one of the priciest laptops on our list, we believe it’s well worth the investment if you’re shopping with a bigger budget. The screen size is 13.3 inches, boasts up to 18 hours of battery life on a full charge, has 8GB of RAM, a retina display, and is compatible with apps such as the Adobe Creative Cloud, Microsoft 365 and Google Drive. It’s a slick bit of kit and very easy to get to grips with.
Lenovo IdeaPad 5i Chromebook Laptop | £249.99 from John Lewis
This is an all-rounder, able to support your studying and entertainment needs. It’s fast to load, has 128GB of SSD storage and 4GB of RAM, 10 hours of battery life, and an extensive library of Google Play apps included.
Microsoft Surface Go 3 | £469 from Very
From early morning library sessions to movie nights, this touchscreen Microsoft Surface can do it all. It has up to 11 hours of battery life on a full charge, a fast processor for speedy web browsing and streaming, 64GB of storage, an adjustable kickstand, and a 10.5-inch screen.
Asus Chromebook Flip C433 | £399 from Very
This Asus Chromebook is made for easy web browsing. It has a HD 14-inch display which can be folded to become a tablet, 4GB of RAM, weighs only 1.5kg and lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge.
Lenovo 13.3 Inch Yoga Slim 7i Carbon Intel Core i5 Laptop | £899.99 from Ryman
Durable, lightweight and slick in design, this Lenovo laptop has an all-day battery life, an ergonomically designed keyboard, 11th Gen Intel® Core™ processors and boasts a hands-free facial recognition login.
HUAWEI Matebook D15 | £449 from Amazon
One Amazon shopper said of this Huawei laptop: “This laptop is really amazing. I’m an apple user but I can tell you this is the perfect copy of MacBook Pro, the machine is fast no noise, the screen and design are top class.”
14.1″ Full HD Windows 10 Laptop | £199.95 from Amazon
This bargain laptop is ideal if you’re looking for one under £200. It has a 14.1-inch screen, 64GB of hard disk space, fast download and upload speeds and weighs only 1.2 grams.
Google Pixelbook Go | £829 from John Lewis
Made with students in mind, the battery life on this lasts up to 12 hours, it has an 8th generation Intel Core i7 processor, a 2MP webcam for virtual seminars, and uses Google’s Chrome OS (Operating System) which gives you access to Android apps via the Google Play Store