Best windows laptops of 2022: Top models tried and tested

As well as offering a popular operating system, Microsoft also makes its own laptops under the Surface brand. And the latest model from this range is the Surface Laptop 5. Its top features include 13.5-inch or 15-inch touchscreens, 12th Gen Intel Core i5/i7 processors, a Thunderbolt 4 port for linking the laptop to an external 4K display, Windows 11, 17 hours of battery life, two far-field microphones, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, an HD webcam and more. The Surface 5 sports a premium aluminum design and is available in several colors: Platinum Alcantara, Black Metal, Sage Metal and Sandstone Metal.

Prices start at £999.

If you’re a creative professional and need a top-quality laptop for your craft, look no further than the Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio. It’s been designed to deliver the best possible performance, with a quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core H Series processor, NVIDIA’s Ampere architecture, and the DirectX 12 Ultimate and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Laptop GPU, up to 32GB of RAM and up to 2TB of SSD under the hood.

There’s also a large 14.4-inch touchscreen display with Dolby Vision and a 120Hz refresh rate, so you should find it bright to look at and super smooth to use. Paired with the Surface Slim Pen 2, the display is perfect for drawing and making notes. Other features include Windows 11 Home, two USB C ports, a 3.5mm headphone jack, Dolby Atmos sound, a 1080p webcam, Bluetooth 5.1, WiFi 6 and a high-end magnesium and aluminum build.

Microsoft offers its own compact laptop in the form of the Surface Laptop Go 2. It sports a 12.4-inch 1536 x 1024 touchscreen, a quad-core 11th Gen Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor, up to 256GB of storage, up to 8GB of RAM, one USB C port, one USB A port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, an HD webcam, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 technology, an aluminum body and more. You can get it in a range of snazzy colours, including Sage, Ice Blue, Sandstone and Platinum.

For students looking for an affordable Windows laptop, the Asus X515 is a great option. Costing just £339, it offers a large 15.6-inch display with full HD visuals and an anti-glare coating to prevent users from experiencing eye strain after using the laptop for long periods of time. The device has impressive specs for such an affordable price, including a 10th Gen Intel Core i3 processor, Intel UHD graphics, 256GB of storage, 8GB of RAM and 12 hours of battery life. The Asus X515 also comes with Microsoft’s latest operating system, Windows 11, running out of the box.

The Lenovo Legion 5 AMD Advantage Edition is a Windows gaming laptop that won’t break the bank. One of its headline features is a large 15.6-inch display that delivers a 1920 x 1080 resolution. Under the hood, there’s an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H processor, 512GB of storage, 8GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card. In terms of software, the laptop runs on Windows 10. Other features include an HD webcam, two 2W speakers, two USB C ports, four USB 3.2 ports, a single HDMI 2.1 port, a 3.5mm headphone jack and Bluetooth 5.1 technology. Something to bear in mind is that this laptop is pretty heavy.

The Portégé X40L-K is a powerful Windows laptop designed specifically for people who work in a hybrid environment. It sports a compact design and is ideal if you spend a lot of time working on the go. The screen is 14 inches in size, which should be fine for most people, and has special blue light-reducing technology to prevent eye strain.

In terms of other features, the laptop provides 12th Gen Intel Core processors, up to 1TB of storage, a micro SD card slot for extra memory, 11 hours of battery life, two USB C ports, two USB 3.2 ports, a single USB 2.0 port, WiFi 6, Dolby Atmos Sound and a fingerprint sensor.

The LG Gram 16 is another premium Windows laptop aimed at professionals. It has a large 16-inch display with a 2560×1600 resolution and an anti-glare layer. Other features include a 12th Gen Intel Core processor, Windows 11 Home, 1TB of storage, 16GB of RAM, an Intel Iris Xe GPU, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.1 technology, Amazon Alexa support and 1.5W speakers designed to deliver powerful audio.

Using the two Thunderbolt 4 ports, you can easily link the LG Gram 16 to an external 5K display and charge your devices. The battery should provide up to 20.5 hours of power, so your laptop won’t run out during a busy day of working on the go. While the Gram 16 is light to hold, the design seems a little cheap for such an expensive laptop.

If you can’t decide between purchasing a laptop or a tablet PC, it’s worth considering a convertible laptop like the HP Envy x360 13. The 13.3-inch 1920 x 1200 touchscreen has a 360-degree hinge, so you can either use it as a laptop screen or turn it into a tablet This gives you the best of both worlds. You also get an Intel Core i7 1250U processor, an Intel Iris X GPU, 16GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, a microSD card slot for extra memory, Windows 11 Home, two speakers, up to 17.5 hours of battery life, a variety of ports and more. Overall, it has a sleek and premium design.

The HP Envy 16 is ideal for anyone who wants a laptop with a large display that also happens to be touch sensitive. Its touchscreen measures 16 inches and offers a resolution of 2560 x 1600 pixels. Other features include an Intel Core i7 or i9 processor, up to 32GB of RAM, up to 2TB of storage, a microSD card slot, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 graphics card, four speakers, more than nine hours of battery life, a variety of ports, a five-megapixel front-facing camera and more. It’s slightly on the heavy side, but this is understandable due to the sheer size of the laptop. The silver version looks classy, ​​too.

The Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 is a high-end convertible laptop that runs on the Windows 11 operating system. With a 13.3-inch or 15.6-inch touchscreen that can be used in laptop and tablet modes, it’s perfect for creative professionals. It also boasts a 12th Generation Intel Core processor, Intel Iris Xe Graphics, up to 16GB of RAM, up to 1TB of storage, WiFi 6, an FHD webcam, a 68W battery, a single Thunderbolt 4 port, two USB C ports, an S Pen and more. You can get the Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 in either silver or burgundy.