Best Windows laptops for 2025: Our top pick lasts longer than the M4 MacBook Pro – Mashable

The best Windows laptops run an impressive gamut, from Qualcomm-powered workhorses that refuse to die to dual-display stunners and subtle gaming stations. (Some of them, dare we say, will tempt even the most devoted Apple Macbook disciples.) Users who need a new laptop for everyday productivity, creativity, or entertainment have no shortage of options. And that’s for better or worse.To help you pick out your next PC from the crowded Windows market, we’ve broken out our best laptops rundown into this separate guide to the best Windows machines of 2024. All of these laptops have been thoroughly hands-on tested by members of the Mashable team for performance, build quality, and battery life, and we stand by their value — or at least think they’re worth hunting down on sale.As of February 2025, Mashable’s favorite Windows laptop is the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, an elegant workhorse powered by the impressive Snapdragon X series processor. It’s got high-end power, a premium design, interesting AI features, and an incredible battery life. It’s actually the longest-lasting laptop we’ve ever reviewed: Even the brand-new M4 MacBooks can’t keep up.For almost as much Snapdragon oomph at a lower price point, opt for the HP Omnibook X 14, the best mid-range Windows laptop. It’s not much to look at, but it’s plenty power-efficient and equipped with a great keyboard. It also comes with the same AI tools as the Surface Laptop 7.Those on an even tighter budget should look into the Lenovo Yoga 7 14 (Gen 9): Solid performance, a good amount of ports, and a versatile 2-in-1 design have made it our new favorite cheap Windows laptop. It dethrones our previous pick, the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 3, a pretty ultraportable with specs that are too dated for 2025 buyers.If you’re shopping for a convertible across all price points, Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (Gen 9) is our top 2-in-1 laptop overall, earning praise from our reviewer for its gorgeous 2.8K OLED touchscreen, its peppy (albeit piping-hot) CPU, and its clear Bowers & Wilkins soundbar. For a twist on the hybrid form factor, we also highly recommend the 2024 Asus Zenbook Duo, a beautiful dual-screener.We’ve got additional picks for specialty users — the Alienware m16 R2 is the best gaming laptop we’ve tested thus far, and the Acer Swift X 14 is our go-to Windows laptop for photo and video editing.We’ve got several newer Windows laptops in hand for testing, including a Lunar Lake Dell XPS 13 with a tandem OLED display and the upgradable, repairable Framework Laptop 13. We’ll update this guide in the near future if we think any of them are worthy picks.We’re also waiting on a review unit for the new Asus ZenBook A14, which debuted in January at CES 2025 as the “world’s lightest Copilot+ PC” and supposedly lasts up to 32 hours on a single charge. (It wound up winning our Best of CES award in the laptop category.) Having briefly tried it in Asus’ private CES showroom, I’m extremely eager to run it through some thorough benchmarking.I’m fresh off testing the HP OmniBook Ultra Flip 14, a slick new convertible with awesome build quality, a great battery life, and a beautiful design that includes a 3K OLED touchscreen. It’s a knockout, but its weird port placements, lousy speakers, oversaturated webcam, and middling Geekbench 6 multi-core score kept it from earning a Mashable Choice Award. (I rated it a 4.2/5 overall.)To give more context to the latter point, my $1,899.99 testing unit had an Intel Core Ultra 258V processor with 32GB of RAM and 2TB of storage. (That’s a brand-new upper mid-range CPU.) In our Geekbench 6 benchmark, it scored slightly worse than the 15-inch M2 Apple MacBook Air from 2023 and significantly worse than its predecessor, last year’s HP Spectre x360 14, which had a mid-range Intel Core Series 1 CPU as tested. For nearly $2,000, I wanted way more from the OmniBook.I do think the OmniBook Ultra Flip 14 is a decent splurge for future-proofers, but it’s not well-rounded enough to be one of our top picks. Stick with the Yoga 9i 14 if you’re looking for the best hybrid laptop out there, or look into the Spectre x360 14 if you want to stay within the HP family — it offers better performance and audio quality for about the same price as the OmniBook model.Read on for Mashable’s in-depth guide to the best Windows laptops of 2025. FYI: We’ve listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop’s base model.Read Mashable’s full review of the 13-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7.Fast and fresh-feeling, the Mashable Choice Award-winning Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is a huge W for the Copilot+ PC series and a worthy short-list candidate for most shoppers looking to upgrade to a modern-era laptop. Just make sure it works with your favorite apps. (Microsoft did just announce an Intel version, but it’s geared toward businesses and significantly more expensive than its Qualcomm counterpart.)How much time do you have? “Apple must be sweating through its armpits with the launch of the Surface Laptop 7 because — holy cow — this is one hell of a laptop,” wrote former Mashable Tech Editor Kim Gedeon. The upgraded Snapdragon X Elite variant we tested went nearly 23 hours on a single charge, securing the longest battery life we’ve ever recorded. It also cruised past every other non-gaming Windows laptop we’ve tested (when in Best Performance mode); speed-wise, it comes in just behind the all-new M4 Apple MacBook Pro. It has a Neural Processing Unit (NPU) to support some new AI features that “make Windows fun again,” said Gedeon. Its stylish and sturdy aluminum design is available in four fingerprint-resistant aluminum finishes. Its 120Hz touchscreen display is plenty bright. And you can choose from 13- and 15-inch sizes starting at just $999.99 with base specs.There’s a tiny asterisk next to our recommendation of the Surface Laptop 7, which is that some apps aren’t compatible with its ARM chip. (Google Drive, Adobe Photoshop, Spotify, Netflix, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Zoom are all a go, for what it’s worth.) Double-check before you commit to it, but if you don’t think you’ll run into any workflow hangups, the Surface Laptop 7 is the PC to beat.Read Mashable’s full review of the HP OmniBook X 14.The HP OmniBook X 14 is for users searching for a reasonably priced PC that balances serious performance and fun features. It’s just not the most exciting laptop to look at.Another Qualcomm-powered Mashable Choice Award winner, the OmniBook X 14 is a more affordable way to hop on the Copilot+ PC train. While it wasn’t quite as zippy as the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, our Snapdragon X Elite-powered test unit crushed M3 MacBooks in CPU testing, and lasted a commendable 17-ish hours on a charge. It packs the same entertaining AI features as the Surface Laptop 7, too: “I had a blast playing around with the new-and-improved [Microsoft] Paint,” said Gedeon. Other highlights include a satisfyingly clicky backlit keyboard, a good mix of legacy and modern ports, and a vivid (though dim) 14-inch touchscreen display.Alas, all of this is wrapped up in an aggressively plain package: “[The] OmniBook X [14] is a bit of a snoozefest in the looks department,” Gedeon wrote. “HP wants this to be the laptop that you bring into the office — and it blends right in with the sterile, clinical vibes.” Its speakers aren’t great, either (though they’re plenty loud). That said, the OmniBook X 14’s great performance and price point make these pretty easy to brush off — so easy, in fact, that it was set to be our top Windows laptop last year before the Surface Laptop 7 came along.Read Mashable’s full review of the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (Gen 9).A frugal alternative to our top 2-in-1 laptop, Lenovo’s latest Yoga 7i 14 is a convertible Copilot+ PC that has just the right price-to-power ratio for students and other undemanding everyday users. It’s also packed with a good mix of ports, if you’re someone who likes using an arsenal of peripherals.For well under $1,000, a laptop doesn’t need to be revolutionary or impressive — it just needs to get the job done. Mashable contributor and reviewer Sarah Chaney found that the Yoga 7i 14 fit that bill nicely, offering a “bouncy, comfortable [backlit] keyboard, fantastic port selection, and semi-powerful, highly efficient processor” for $899.99. (“A great deal,” in her words.) Regarding the latter, the Yoga 7i 14 notched the third-highest Geekbench 6 multi-core score out of all the sub-$1,000 laptops we’ve tested to date — not too shabby, considering the two models that beat it were gaming laptops with desktop-level Intel Core H-series processors. It also lasted a respectable nine hours and 17 minutes in our battery life test. That’s better than the current median runtime among all the Windows laptops we’ve tried.The question remains: What sort of corners did Lenovo cut to keep this thing priced this way? Per Chaney, you’ll have to put up with a dim display, a clicky trackpad that was “occasionally glitchy” in her testing, and a somewhat weak hinge (though it was only really apparent when the laptop wasn’t on a solid surface). If those cons make you wary, look for the Yoga 7i 14 on sale. When we last checked, it was marked down to only $549.99 at Best Buy — steal territory, honestly.Read Mashable’s full review of the Alienware m16 R2.With nice performance and good build quality for the dollar — plus the ability to “un-game” itself for everyday use — the Alienware m16 R2 is the Windows laptop we recommend for most gamers. You will need to wear headphones and stay put while you play, though.Powered by an Intel Core Ultra 7 155H CPU and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, the m16 R2 we tested “[delivered] impressive benchmark figures on our tests, particularly for a mid-level gaming laptop,” said Gedeon. She also appreciated the silkiness and vibrancy of its 240Hz display when she used it to play CyberPunk 2077, even though she thought it could use a little boost in the brightness department.The other great thing about the m16 R2 is that it recognizes that most gamers aren’t gamers 24/7. There’s a “Stealth Mode” hotkey that turns off its lighting effects and activates Quiet performance mode, reducing the whir of its fans. It brings support for Nvidia Advanced Optimus, too — a feature that lets it automatically swap between its integrated and discrete GPUs for browsing and gaming, respectively. (You can also do this manually using its built-in MUX switch.) It could definitely double as your go-to everyday computer when you punch out of Valorant for the day. Heaviness, poor battery life, and shoddy speakers aside, we think it’s totally worthy of a Mashable Choice Award.Read Mashable’s full review of the Acer Swift X 14.The Acer Swift X 14 is a lesson in not judging a laptop by its boring gray chassis. Photo and video editors with intense workload needs will appreciate its beautiful OLED display and unassuming brawn.That “Swift” in its name is not false advertising. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 155H configuration is the second-fastest Intel laptop we’ve tested to date (the speediest being a $4,485 gaming laptop). And while it can’t quite compete with Apple’s supercharged M4 Pro chips, it’s significantly more powerful than the M3 MacBook Pro we tried back in late 2023. All this power means the Swift X 14’s fans can get quite noisy, but fortunately, its battery life doesn’t take a hit. It lasted for about 8.5 hours in our trial, which “isn’t half bad for a laptop with discrete graphics,” Gedeon wrote in her review.Media editors and other creative types will also make good use of the Swift X 14’s ample port selection (there’s a microSD card slot) and 14.5-inch 120Hz OLED display, which Gedeon deemed “a visual treat.” The same can’t be said of its overall design; this is an objectively boring-looking aluminum laptop, so seek artistic inspiration elsewhere. But that was hardly enough to stop us from giving it a Mashable Choice Award.Read Mashable’s full review of the Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 9).A stunning hybrid laptop with stellar speakers, Lenovo’s latest Yoga 9i 14 is geared toward users who need a sleek, flexible machine for moderately intense productivity. Bonus points if you have a dedicated work spot, as it needs to stay plugged in.This Mashable Choice Award winner isn’t a cheap laptop, but realistically, it’s a sneak for the money. The configuration we tested has a pretty 2.8K OLED display, a solid mid-range Intel Core Ultra Series 1 CPU, “and a rotating soundbar that gives your favorite tunes a full-bodied, atmospheric sound you won’t find on most other laptops — all for just $1,449!” wrote reviewer Sarah Chaney. “In my book, that’s an excellent deal, especially if you’re searching for a laptop with flexible 2-in-1 functionality.” (It can flip between laptop, tablet, tent, and stand modes.) It also includes a Lenovo Slim Pen and a protective case, upping the value factor even further.Zeroing in on that processor, the Yoga 9i performed admirably in our testing, scoring just a tad faster than the M3 MacBooks in our Geekbench 6 benchmark, and on par with several modern gaming laptops. The trade-off there is that the battery doesn’t last very long and it runs quite hot. (Good thing it has those fantastic speakers — you’ll want to drown out the sound of its hardworking fans.) Still, “[for] me,” Chaney said, “its premium positives easily outweigh its few negative traits.”Read Mashable’s full review of the Asus Zenbook Duo (2024).Prolific multitaskers who want a nontraditional (but ungimmicky) Windows laptop will delight in Asus’ dual-screened Zenbook Duo. It’s a convenient all-in-one package with a futuristic look but a down-to-earth price.Decked out with a pair of 120Hz OLED displays that make it easy to bounce between different apps, the Zenbook Duo dazzles. “[Single-screen] laptops are now canceled,” Gedeon gushed, adding that she would “gladly give up my M2 MacBook Air for Asus’ dual-screen beauty.” Moving under its hood, the Zenbook Duo is powered by a new Intel Core Ultra CPU, and we got nine-ish hours of battery life out of the starting 7 155H configuration. Considering it’s powering two screens at once, that’s commendable. It also has a surprisingly good array of ports for a hybrid device that can switch between laptop, dual-screen, desktop, and sharing/laid-flat modes. But what’s extra great about the Zenbook Duo is that it includes compatible accessories like a built-in kickstand, a stylus, and a clicky detachable keyboard (complete with a full touchpad), so you don’t have to spend any more cash on top of its extremely reasonable $1,500 entry fee. Too bad about its quiet speakers and dull webcam, but those are just minor nit-picks that don’t distract from its productivity potential and general cool-as-hellness. It should come as no surprise that the Zenbook Duo is a Mashable Choice Award-winner.
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Mashable staff subjected all of the laptops on this list to rigorous hands-on testing, which involved inspecting their build quality and using them as part of an everyday workflow for several weeks at a time. This included working in different kinds of documents, checking emails, watching videos, taking photos on their webcams, participating in video calls, listening to music (via Spotify), playing games (if possible), and experimenting with any unique software features or use cases they claimed to support.Additionally, all of the laptops featured here were made to run industry-standard benchmark software. We run these benchmarks because they replicate real-world tasks to produce scores we can use to easily compare different laptops’ performance. We recently started implementing these benchmarks in our testing, and you can expect to see them in all of our new laptop reviews going forward.We evaluate Windows laptops’ overall performance by having them run the Windows version of Primate Labs’ Geekbench 6, which measures processor performance in a handful of common tasks. We record each of their multi-core scores in our reviews — the higher the score, the better.To get a sense of gaming laptops’ graphical prowess, we also play Cyberpunk 2077 on them. We picked this game because it’s a graphically intense Triple-A title that pushes many systems to their performance limits. If the laptop has a discrete/dedicated Nvidia GeForce RTX graphics card (as opposed to an integrated GPU that’s built into the CPU), we play Cyberpunk once with its DLSS tech off and again with DLSS on using the High preset without ray tracing. This tests the machine’s raw GPU power and its performance with AI upscaling, respectively.We follow this up with 3DMark’s Time Spy benchmark for gaming PCs and record their scores. Again, higher is better.We look to see about nine to ten hours of battery life in the Windows laptops we review, with 12-plus hours being ideal. Gaming laptops are a different story: They only need to last at least two hours per charge to get our approval, earning extra brownie points for reaching the four-hour mark. We’ve assessed laptops’ stamina a couple different ways in the past. (More on that shortly.) On the Alienware m16 R2 and the Asus Zenbook Duo, we ran UL Solutions’ PCMark 10 battery life test. This benchmark has the machine complete a series of apps and functions until it conks out. On the Acer Swift X 14, HP OmniBook X, Lenovo Yoga 9i 14, Yoga 7i 14, and Microsoft Surface Laptop 7, we conducted a video rundown test that involved playing a looped 1080p version of Tears of Steel, a short open-source Blender movie, at 50 percent brightness.In order to standardize our battery life testing methodology, we will only be using the Tears of Steel rundown on all Windows laptops going forward. We’ll stick with PCMark 10’s battery life test for gaming laptops.After evaluating a laptop’s hands-on performance and benchmark testing results, we make our final recommendations based on whether we think they offer a good overall value for the money. A too-expensive laptop will sometimes get a pass if we think it looks and works so great that it’s worth the trouble of finding it on sale.It bears mentioning that these aren’t the only Windows laptops we’ve tried — we’re constantly testing and assessing new models across different categories, and many don’t make the final cut. With that in mind, you can expect this guide to evolve on a pretty continuous basis. We’re always on the lookout for new top contenders.Haley Henschel is a Chicago-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable who reviews and finds deals on popular tech, from laptops to gaming consoles and VPNs. She has years of experience covering shopping holidays and can tell you what’s actually worth buying on Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day. Her work has also explored the driving forces behind digital trends within the shopping sphere, from dupes to 12-foot skeletons.Haley received a B.A. in Journalism from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and honed her sifting and winnowing skills at The Daily Cardinal. She previously covered politics for The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, investigated exotic pet ownership for Wisconsin Watch, and blogged for some of your favorite reality stars.In her free time, Haley enjoys playing video games, drawing, taking walks on Lake Michigan, and spending time with her parrot (Melon) and dog (Pierogi). She really, really wants to get back into horseback riding. You can follow her on X at @haleyhenschel or reach her via email at [email protected].

Source: https://mashable.com/roundup/the-best-windows-laptops