The 5 Best Windows Laptops of 2025

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) is the best Windows laptop we've tested. This 15-inch model is super easy to carry around thanks to its compact design, and you likely won't need a charger, as the battery lasts around 17 hours of light use. Sporting a bright 120Hz display, a comfy keyboard, a haptic touchpad, and an outstanding webcam, the overall user experience is top-notch. There's a facial recognition IR camera, so you can log in quickly and get to work. Props to Microsoft for keeping the USB-A port, and yes, you can charge the laptop via USB-C, so you don't have to carry the proprietary Surface Connect charger if you don't want to.

The 7th Edition Surface Laptop is a big change from its predecessors, as it now has an ARM SoC, the Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite. This chip has ample processing power to handle everyday tasks like text processing, web browsing, spreadsheets, and presentations. The downside is that many programs don't run natively on this platform. You'll probably be fine if you can access everything through a web browser, but for more specialized third-party apps, it's best to check for compatibility first. This laptop uses soldered RAM, meaning you can't replace it, but the base model now comes with 16GB, which should be enough for most people with a light workload.

If you don't want to spend too much on a premium model like the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024), the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024) is a solid option with only a few minor compromises. One of the standout features of this laptop is performance. Its Intel Meteor Lake CPUs are fast and capable of handling both general productivity tasks and more demanding workloads like programming and photo editing. Plus, you don't have to worry about app compatibility like you would on the Surface Laptop. You also get a wider port selection with two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI.

The build quality and overall user experience are where this laptop feels a tad inferior compared to the Microsoft model above. There's a bit more plastic in the construction, so it doesn't feel as premium, and the design isn't as sleek or modern. It also has a mushier keyboard and a plastic, non-haptic touchpad. A diving board touchpad isn't necessarily a dealbreaker; it just makes it a little harder to perform some actions since you can only click in the bottom half. Another drawback is its battery life, which is respectable at around 11 hours of light use but pales in comparison to the Surface's 17 hours.

The best budget Windows laptop we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). This 16-inch model is a reliable everyday laptop that's portable despite its larger screen and relatively sturdy, easy to service. Its AMD Ryzen CPUs are adequate for general productivity tasks like text processing, spreadsheets, presentations, and web browsing. It also has a decent port selection that supports power delivery and fast charging over USB-C, but not video output or Thunderbolt 4. Its battery life is good enough to get through an eight-hour day with light use, but anything more intensive (including video playback) will require you to plug it in to charge.

Although its display is large, the IPS panel looks slightly washed out and isn't bright enough to combat glare in well-lit settings. Also, the speakers sound boxy and unnatural, so this laptop doesn't provide you with the best multimedia experience.

For those needing a powerful workstation for demanding tasks like 3D modeling, simulations, or content creation, we recommend the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024). This 16-inch model is configurable with Intel Meteor Lake CPUs, up to a Core ultra 9 185H, and various NVIDIA discreet GPUs, including GeForce and RTX Ada Generation models. You can get up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, and these components are user-upgradeable, so you can add more later if needed. There are three display options: a 60Hz FHD+ IPS, a 165Hz QHD+ IPS, and a 60Hz 4k+ OLED panel—the latter is best for color-critical work like video editing, as it has full coverage of the DCI P3 color space.

Working on this laptop is a joy. It has a comfortable keyboard, a large haptic touchpad, Lenovo's iconic Trackpoint, and an excellent 1440p webcam. There are plenty of ports for peripherals and external displays, including one USB-A, three USB-Cs (two Thunderbolt 4s), an HDMI 2.1, a fast SD Express 7.0 card reader, and a proprietary charging port. You can charge the laptop via USB-C, but since the USB-C ports can only take up to 135W, the battery will lose charge if you perform intensive tasks at the same time. Linux users can also get this laptop with Ubuntu, Fedora, or Red Hat installed. The keyboard doesn't get very hot under load, but unfortunately, the fans are pretty loud.

If you like the 2-in-1 tablet form factor, check out the Microsoft Surface Pro 11th Edition (2024). This line of premium tablet PC has been around for a while, but there are quite a few noteworthy changes in this 11th Edition, the most important being the new Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC. Unlike the Surface Laptop, this isn't the first Surface Pro to sport an ARM-based chip, though it seems like Microsoft is pretty serious about making it work this time around, introducing its new Prism emulation to improve compatibility. That said, like the Surface Laptop mentioned above, it's best to check that the apps you use are compatible.

Also new is the addition of an OLED panel option, though the choice of the display is tied to the SoC—the Snapdragon X Plus model comes with an IPS panel, while the X Elite model has an OLED panel. The latter will give you those deep, inky blacks; however, its digitizer creates a distracting 'screen door effect.' There's also a new 'Flex' type cover; it has a larger haptic touchpad and now supports Bluetooth, allowing you to use the keyboard even when detached from the tablet. Unfortunately, like the stylus, you must purchase the keyboard separately. You still get an industry-leading front-facing camera, a facial recognition camera for added security, and a back-facing camera you can use to scan documents.