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The 11 best laptops to buy right now
Microsoft turned plenty of heads this year with the announcement of the Microsoft Surface Book, its first laptop.
What makes it so special? The screen actually detaches to become a powerful, lightweight tablet on its own. And some models of Microsoft Surface Book go so far as to include a dedicated graphics unit right in the keyboard base, making it a gaming and video-editing powerhouse. In fact, Microsoft says it's twice as powerful as an Apple MacBook Pro.
Price: Starts at $1,499
The MacBook Air is still one of the best laptops you can buy. Not only is it razor-thin and light, but it offers excellent performance and battery life, too. Last year, Apple updated its MacBook Air to add new fifth-generation processors from Intel, which means the Air is capable of lasting even longer on a single charge than it was in the past.
In its review, PCMag wrote that it got more than 17 hours of battery life out of the MacBook Air, which is extremely impressive. It comes in 11- and 13-inch screen sizes, but if you plan on using it primarily for work, we'd suggest the larger option.
Price: Starts at $899
Toshiba's Chromebook 2 is among the best out there. It has a beautiful screen and great battery life, and it feels comfortable in your lap. The design is sturdy enough to withstand being tossed in your bag during commutes without getting scraped up.
Toshiba refreshed this last fall. You now get a superb 1080p IPS display, an Intel Celeron 3215U processor, 4GB of RAM, a 16GB solid-state drive, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, and an excellent nine to 10 hours of battery life.
If you mostly use your laptop for doing light work and browsing the web, this is a great choice.
Price: $330
The Lenovo T450s is sturdy, fast, and reliable and comes with tons of ports that those using their laptop for business-oriented tasks will appreciate, according to reviews from PCMag and The Wirecutter. It also comes with a swappable battery, which makes it easily serviceable, and a touchscreen that tilts. Lenovo describes the T450s as an ultrabook, which means it should be slim and light so it's easy to carry around.
But we should note that a refreshed version will be coming out in February, so if you are in the market for this type of laptop, you should probably wait another month before buying.
Price: Starts at $818.10
Apple's newest MacBook is a departure for the company. It only has one port, for USB-C, meaning you'll need adapters and USB hubs to use most of your existing accessories. And its performance can't stack up against beefier laptops.
But it's also thin, light, and fast and gets amazing battery life. The new MacBook's trackpad also supports Apple's new "Force Touch" feature that detects how hard you're pushing down and reacts accordingly.
Most of all, it's gorgeous and actually thinner than a MacBook Air. It's a great, stylish choice for those who need it for basic everyday tasks like reading email, browsing the web, and watching video.
Check out our full review of the new Apple MacBook here >>
Price: Starts at $1,299
If you're looking for a really portable high-end, super-thin laptop that isn't a MacBook Air, the updated Dell XPS 13 is one of your best bets. It has a sleek design, a high-resolution display that almost seems to float over the keyboard, and great performance. Higher-end models even have a touchscreen.
Price: Starts at $799
The MacBook Pro is as good as Apple laptops get, with high performance and good battery life in a svelte, attractive, 13- or 15-inch package. If you want a Mac laptop with a bigger and better screen than the Air, this one is for you.
This year, the MacBook Pro didn't get a huge change, with a little more power under the hood and a new "Force Touch" trackpad that can detect how hard you're pushing. But if you dig Apple, this is the premium stuff.
Price: Starts at $1,299
Asus' ROG G751JT is a beast. The Wirecutter crowned it as the best gaming laptop, since it combines powerful hardware, premium build quality, and the ability to play most graphics-intensive games on high settings. It's also got a gorgeous screen and a deep, comfortable keyboard.
If you're looking to play the most recent games with stunning graphics and high frames per second, this is your best bet.
Price: Starts at $1,526
Asus' ZenBook UX305 is thinner and lighter and has a better screen than the MacBook Air.
There are a few areas where the UX305's more expensive rivals outshine it, but Asus has made sure all of the important features are spot on: storage, screen quality, and battery life (nine to 10 hours).
It's good-looking and carries three USB ports, making it a great in-betweener choice for those who don't use their laptops for anything too intensive, but also want something a little bit above the budget models.
Price: Starts at $599
And if you want, you can grab an updated model with a faster but not new fifth-gen Core i5 processor for $750 — though at that price, we'd just recommend you step up to the XPS 13.
The Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro is the newest entry in a series of reliable laptops that actually fold back over on themselves to become perfectly functional tablets.
The Yoga 2 Pro was held back by the Windows 8 operating system. The new Windows 10 is much better-suited to laptops and tablets, owing to a streamlined look and a better touch interface.
Price: Starts at $938
If you have a bit more to spend, you might want to check out the Lenovo Yoga 900, which supercharges the performance for $1,199.
If the Razer Blade QHD+ looks familiar, that's because it's basically a PC stuffed inside the shell of a MacBook Pro. But for fans of Apple's design who would still prefer a PC for gaming, this is a perfect compromise — and the laptop packs a punch, too.
With a high-resolution touch screen that's comparable to the MacBook Pro's Retina Display, a powerful GTX 970M graphics card, and 16 GB of RAM, this portable laptop will allow you to play the most recent games at a high-graphics setting. The only downside is that, like Apple, that flashy design comes with a price premium.
Price: Starts at $2,199
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