The top portable PCs for university and school

Apple decided to boost its 13-inch student-friendly laptop and introduced the MacBook Air 15-inch (2023). Little changes from the smaller model other than an, expectedly, larger frame, larger display and a slightly higher price. Though, you do get a boosted speaker setup too.

We were already big fans of the MacBook Air, with the 13-inch model getting a 4.5-star review. The 15-inch version brings that same excellence along for the ride. What you get is a wonderfully powerful productivity and student-friendly machine that, with its fanless design, is ideal for using in almost any workspace.

The 15-inch display gives this laptop a key edge over the 13-inch version when it comes to multitasking, a key component of any student’s workflow when it comes to referring to notes while you write an essay, or sneakily catching up on your favourite show alongside creating that all important presentation. The larger display just makes this a whole lot easier.

Along with its productivity capabilities, the M2 chip supports basic editing and the crisp 15.3-inch 2880 x 1864 LCD is great for watching video too. Media consumption is enhanced by even better speakers in the new 15-inch version, sporting a six-speaker system, up from four on the smaller model. MacBook laptop speakers are already some of the best on the market, and the 15-inch Air provides surprisingly good bass for such a thin device, as well as clear vocals.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: Apple MacBook Air 15-inch (2023) review

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is one of the best laptops we’ve reviewed in recent months. Costing just above £1000/$1000, it’s an expensive option for students, but offers such a well-rounded package that it’s worth stumping up the cash if your budget can stretch so far. 

Thanks to the inclusion of the Intel Core Ultra processor, it offers one of the faster performance available at this price point. In fact, it aced our benchmark tests, surpassing the vast majority of Windows ultrabooks from 2023. 

Despite its powerful performance, the laptop only weighs 1.29kg, making it portable enough to lug between lecture halls without back strain. It’s got a gorgeous OLED screen too, which will come handy when watching movies/TV shows during your downtime. Even battery life is impressive, lasting just shy of 13 hours during our tests. 

The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is such a well rounded laptop that it’s hard to look past it unless you prefer macOS or need extra graphics power if you’re on a creative course. And if the price is too high, it’s worth checking out the Asus Vivobook Go 15 OLED further down this list. 

Reviewer: Stuart Andrews
Full review: Asus Zenbook 14 OLED Review

When opting for a budget laptop for your studies, roughly around the £500/$500 mark, you’ll be forced into making numerous compromises – but not so with the Asus Vivobook Go 15 OLED. 

This laptop has a well-built plastic design that’s light enough to carry around on the regular, and to our great surprise, a lovely OLED screen that makes movie marathons an absolute delight. The large 15-inch should also make it easier to fit more text on your screen, which should be helpful for both essay typing and scanning documents. 

The biggest issue with this laptop is that it’s not very powerful, falling behind the likes of the Surface Laptop Go 3 in our tests. But during our time with the laptop, we found it perfectly adequate for browsing the web, writing up essays and watching videos. As long as you’re not going to push it too hard – such as photo/video editing – the performance should be fine. 

So if you’re looking for a supremely cheap Windows laptop with a top-notch screen, you’ll struggle to do better than the Asus Vivobook Go 15 OLED. The Surface Laptop Go 2 is another great cheap Windows laptop worth considering, but Microsoft is sadly phasing it out of stores, so you may only be able to pick it up second-hand in the coming months. 

Reviewer: Josh Brown 
Full review: Asus Vivobook Go 15 OLED review

Students shouldn’t feel pressured into spending this much on a laptop, but the MacBook Air M2 (2022) is a great pick for those who can afford it and want a reliable machine that can tackle tasks tougher than simple browsing and word processing.

The M2 chipset at the heart of this machine not only chews through everyday tasks, but it’s more than fast enough for photo editing, 4K video editing and even some gaming. During the review process, our reviewer spent (far) too long playing Football Manager 2022 – for testing purposes, of course.

If your day mainly consists of typing, then the MacBook Air M2 (2022) is one of the best machines on this list. Our reviewer found the keyboard a joy with just enough travel and big function keys. Below the keyboard sits a huge trackpad that’s very responsive, and while this particular MacBook doesn’t feature a Touch Bar, it offers simple function keys in its place like pre-2016 MacBooks.

Battery Life is strong enough to make it through a full day of work. During our testing, the M2 MacBook Air lasted for 14 hours in a video loop test (two hours longer than the previous model). In addition,  the display is great for bouts of Netflix after class, and while it isn’t Mini LED like with the new MacBook Pro, the 13.6-inch IPS LCD panel here is still more than serviceable for work as much as it is for play.

If you don’t need the extra graphics firepower that the latest Air offers, it’s also worth checking out the more affordable MacBook Air M1 laptop. It may be a couple of years older, but it still provides a stellar productivity performance.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: Apple MacBook Air M2 (2022) review

The Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 is an evolution of the ChromeOS formula. Not only does it represent a device that students can be safe in the knowledge that will help them get their essays written, but it now wields added creative chops and specs too.

Chromebook Plus launched last month as Google’s new initiative for products using its ChromeOS. The standard requires a minimum specs and Asus was quickly on the bandwagon. The Chromebook Plus CX34 we tested simply met that minimum spec, nothing more and nothing less. That means 8GB RAM and an Intel Core i3 processor. The latter part of that may scare you but, with the 8GB RAM and lightweight ChromeOS, the CX34 performed in a breezy fashion. This is a great device for essay writing, web browsing and media consumption.

But, the creative capabilities that a Chromebook Plus device brings with it means that this Asus is capable of running Adobe Photoshop for the web and wielding the power of Google’s Magic Eraser to swiftly tidy up your photos.

Outside of the performance and software, the Chromebook Plus CX34 helps with essays by having a keyboard that’s a joy to type on while helping you get easily connected to whatever peripherals you need for your course, due to the pleasing range of ports. Battery life won’t hold you back either, with this device managing over one day’s work.

Reviewer: Reece Bithrey
Full review: Asus Chromebook Plus CX34 review

Few powerhouse laptops can stand toe-to-toe with the 16-inch MacBook Pro in all areas, but the Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 is that device. It’s an all-rounder that shines as a high-end creative device but can comfortably reside in the gaming arena too.

The raw power of this laptop is provided by an Intel Core i9-13905H chip and an RTX 4070 GPU alongside 64GB RAM. That’s a mammoth trio which will comfortably deal with intensive 4K editing workloads. It provides the colour accuracy you’ll need as well, with a Mini LED panel that scored highly in our colour gamut coverage benchmarking. The rest of the display specifications come in at 16 inches, 3.2K resolution and 165Hz refresh rate. All of that adds up to a screen that offers plenty of real estate, bags of detail and a smooth speed that’ll serve you well for gaming. You won’t have to worry about using this device in awkward lighting either, with up to 594nits SDR brightness and 1048nits HDR.

The Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i keeps pace with its Apple rival in an area in which many don’t, and that’s with its speakers. Many typically fall foul but the Lenovo provides a six-speaker system that gets immensely loud while offering up broad, crisp and balanced sound.

In terms of design, the Yoga Pro 9i is a bit of a looker too. It feels high-quality with an all-aluminium unibody that is just 18.2mm thin. It is ever so slightly heavier than the MacBook Pro 16-inch, at 2.23kg, but remains thinner. Despite its thinness, creatives will be pleased by the range of ports Lenovo has managed to squeeze in, including a Thunderbolt 4, two USB-A, HDMI 1.4, a headphone jack and an SD card slot.

Reviewer: Alun Taylor
Full review: Lenovo Yoga Pro 9i 16 review

There are a great number of advantages with having a big-screen laptop as a student. It makes it easier to scan your essay for typos and read long-winded documents for research, as well as improving the experience of watching movies if you can’t fit a TV in your bedroom. But the drawbacks of an inflated price and cumbersome design prevent most 16-inch laptops from being a worthwhile option. 

The Acer Swift Edge 16 impressively skates past these issues, weighing just 1.23kg and costing less than £1300/$1300. What’s more it has a lovely 120Hz OLED screen, providing extra vibrancy and colour to videos. 

With an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U chip under the hood, we found it to be faster than the vast majority of productivity laptops from 2023. This means it’s comfortably speedy enough for student work, and is even capable of dabbling with light content creation. Battery life is excellent too, lasting an impressive 11 hours in our tests. 

The Acer Swift Edge 16 offers fantastic value for money for its price, but it’s fair to say that it’s likely still too expensive for the vast majority of students. If you’re looking for a more affordable laptop with a big OLED screen, make sure to check out the Asus Vivobook Go 15 OLED as an alternative option. 

Reviewer: Adam Speight
Full review: Acer Swift Edge 16 review

Being both a gamer and a student can be a pricey affair, as you’ll likely need a console, laptop and TV to survive the semester. So how about combining all of those devices together to save on money? The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) is the perfect remedy, capable of doubling up as both your gaming rig and workstation with very few compromises. 

Firstly, the G14 is shockingly lightweight for a gaming laptop, hitting the scales at just 1.7kg. Most gaming laptops are significantly heavier, making them unideal for porting around university. The optional Mini LED screen ensures fantastic picture quality too, which is important for watching movies and playing games. 

Performance is plenty powerful enough to play all of the latest games. The intense graphics power here also opens up the opportunity for more creative pursuits such as editing video/photos and graphics design. The biggest issue here is battery life, with our tests seeing a result of just 3 hours and 20 minutes for productivity work. That could be a big issue if you’re working on the go away from a power mains. 

Nevertheless, if you fancy the idea of owning a laptop that can fulfil the duties of both gaming and student work, then we strongly recommend the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023). Or if you want something cheaper, make sure to check out our Asus TUF Gaming A15 (2023) review as an alternative option. 

Reviewer: Ryan Jones
Full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2023) review