Best laptops 2024: top portable picks tested by experts

We'll help you quickly find a top laptop you can rely on that meets your budget and your needs. Read on to see our latest recommendations.

You don't have to spend a lot on a good all-rounder for day-to-day tasks. Our cheapest Best Buy costs less than £500, and if you're willing to compromise a little, you can find a good laptop for as little as £200. 

See our best laptop picks below, whatever your budget, and get our expert advice on finding the right model for your needs.

Head to our laptop reviews to compare all of the models we've tested

Best laptops for 2024

Only logged-in Which? members can view our best laptop recommendations in the table below. If you’re not yet a member, you can get instant access to our expert pick of the best laptops by joining Which? - you'll also get access to all our online reviews, including laptops, antivirus software, computer monitors and electric cars.

(Recommendations checked September 2024.)

• Didn't see the model you're interested in? Browse and compare laptop reviews from our independent lab tests
• On a tight budget? We can help - see our expert pick of the best budget laptops
• Students will have specific laptop requirements, depending on your course and needs. Head to our round-up of the best student laptops

Laptop reviews by type

• Windows laptop reviews
• MacBook reviews
• Chromebook reviews
• Large laptop reviews
• Thin and light laptop reviews

Laptop reviews by price

• Laptops under £300
• Laptops under £500
• Laptops under £800
• Laptops under £1,000
• Laptops over £1,000

Which? Don't Buy laptops

These laptops are cheap but not cheerful, packed with slow processors, limited RAM, unpleasant keyboards, and hard-to-read screens. They are to avoid.

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Why you can trust our laptop reviews

Michael Passingham, Which? laptops expert and senior researcher/writer says:

Finding the best laptop is an impossible quest for one person. No individual can properly test 130 laptops in a year, and that's why I enlist the services of a specialist laboratory to work through a comprehensive laptop test that covers all the bases you're likely to care about. 

Whether it's numbers stuff, such as speed and battery life, or everyday use tests, such as the touchpad, screen and keyboard, we've got every base covered. Once the tests have been completed, the results come to me - a researcher with a decade of experience testing laptops - to sort the wheat from the chaff and the neat from the naff. Read on for the things to look for when making your next purchase.

How much should I spend on a laptop?

• Less than £200 Intel Celeron processors, 4GB of Ram and 32GB of storage. It won’t be particularly fast, but it is fine for very light note-taking and browsing the internet. Avoid Atom processors and anything with less than 4GB of Ram.
• Less than £300. Newer Intel Celeron and Pentium processors, 4GB of RAM, and up to 64GB of storage. Again, it won't be hugely fast, but it offers better performance for lightweight tasks.
• Less than £500 Intel Pentium, Core i3, AMD Ryzen 3, 128GB of storage and 4GB Ram. Fast enough for web browsing and research work. Aim for a Full HD screen and an SSD if you can. Read more on this in our guide to the best laptops under £200, £300 and £500.
• Less than £600 Intel Core i5/ i7, AMD Ryzen 5/7, 256GB or 512GB of storage, and 8GB of RAM. This should be ideal for photo editing and some light video work. Look for a thin and light design and a Full HD screen, and don't settle for less than 256GB of storage.
• Less than £800 As above, but in increasingly high-end designs. Look for great battery life, thin and light designs, and perhaps 1TB of SSD storage.
• More than £800 Some stunning designs, great screens and good speakers although the latter two aren't guaranteed. High-end laptops will suit more intensive tasks, such as video editing or playing games. 

Latest laptop reviews

We rigorously test more than 120 laptops each year — these are the most recent ones we've tested.

Windows, Chromebook or Mac?

There are three major players when it comes to the software (operating system) your computer runs on.  Find out more in our guide to Chromebook vs MacBook vs Windows laptops, or look at our brief summaries below. 

A Windows 11 laptop is best if you...

• Prefer the familiarity of Windows
• Have specialist software you can’t live without
• Want a wide variety of laptops to choose from

If you're buying an older model, particularly if it's refurbished or second-hand, check whether it will be compatible with Windows 11. See our free Windows 11 requirements checker and read all of our Windows laptop reviews.

A MacBook is best if you...

• Have a budget of at least £899
• Value longevity and build quality
• Use other Apple products or are happy to learn a new operating system

See our MacBook reviews and read our guide to the Best MacBooks to narrow down your options and find the best deals at reputable retailers.

A Chromebook is best if you…

• Are on a budget
• Value simplicity
• Don’t mind working in web-based applications or Android apps

Check out our expert Chromebook reviews and read our curated guide to the best Chromebooks.

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Best laptop processors and Ram: what you need to know

In a nutshell: 

• Light use and note-taking: look for an Intel Pentium or Intel Core i3 and at least 4GB of Ram for a decent experience
• Heavy users: go for Intel Core i5 and i7 and AMD Ryzen 5 and 7 and at least 8GB of Ram, but look for 16GB if you want to edit photos and videos.
• Gamers: look for dedicated graphics from Nvidia and AMD

Laptop processors

What processor your laptop has really matters if you’re planning to use a laptop for photo or video editing or if you're a very heavy user, opening lots of programs and browser tabs. When looking at laptop processors, you’ll see two main specifications beyond the product name: 

• Clock speed (measured in Gigahertz or GHz) - think of clock speed as the speed limit on a road
• Number of cores -  think of this as the number of lanes 

As on a road, depending on traffic conditions (ie the tasks being done on your computer), you might see a greater benefit from more lanes or a higher speed limit.

In the simplest way possible, more of both is better. Each of our laptop reviews will help you out by making it clear what sort of tasks a laptop is good for.

Ram

Think of Ram (Random Access Memory) like a desk and your hard drive like a filing cabinet. You pull files out of the cabinet and it takes a while, but once they’re on your desk you can reach for them instantly. 

The bigger the desk you have, the more items you can access more quickly - the same goes for Ram. Once you have loaded a file from the hard drive, it’s now in the Ram and can be accessed almost instantaneously. 

Most laptops come with at least 4GB of Ram - don't pick a model with less, as 4GB is the minimum for even very light users who just do a few emails or online banking. We recommend 8GB for most people, particularly because many sub-£350 laptops now come with 8GB. 

More and more laptops now come with 16GB of Ram, particularly those costing up to £600. While it may seem like too much for many, there is no disadvantage to having more Ram and it only makes your laptop more future-proof and easier to sell on when you decide to upgrade.

If you fill up your Ram, some of the things you’re working on will be moved back to the hard drive, making things feel a lot slower. When you close a program or file, it's removed from the Ram and makes room for other things to be accessed immediately. This is part of the reason why closing programs you aren’t using can make your computer faster.

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What laptop screen size and resolution should I buy?

In a nutshell: 

• Unless you have a very low budget, don’t settle for less than Full HD, no matter the size
• The smaller the screen, the more portable the laptop
• Larger screens make it easier to multi-task

A laptop’s screen is one case where bigger isn’t always better, and it's more important to pick a size that fits your lifestyle. 

Pick a small-screen device of 12 inches or less if you prioritise portability, particularly if you're buying for a child. If you don't need a laptop that's easy to move around, you'll want to go for something bigger. This is because the smaller screen size can make text hard to read unless you zoom in, which reduces the amount of text you can have on the screen at one time. 

• 13-inch models are becoming less common these days 
• 14-inchers are much more frequently found and offer a good mix of portability and screen real-estate 
• 15-, 16 and 17-inch models can be quite bulky, but their large size means there's lots of room for text and images on the screen, and it makes multi-taking with two windows side-by-side much easier. 

Generally, the higher the resolution, the sharper the picture. Most new models costing more than £300 now have a Full-HD, 1,920 x 1,080-pixel resolution display. High-end models can have even sharper screens with even more pixels up to and beyond 4K Ultra HD. 

Only very cheap laptops should have a lower screen resolution of 1,366 x 768, but these are becoming rarer. We recommend you always seek out a laptop with a Full HD screen as they're usually about as cheap as those with sub-HD resolutions. 

We also test computer monitors - you can hook up one to your laptop to use as a second screen. See our pick of the best computer monitors to make sure you get a good one

How much storage do I need on a new laptop?

In a nutshell: 

• Go for an SSD if you can - eMMC is slower and has lower capacity and should only be chosen if you're on a tight budget

Storage capacity determines how many things your PC can hold. Documents, photos, music, films, and programs all take up space.

Bigger is usually better, although solid-state drives (SSDs) are often more expensive for considerably less space. This is because they load much quicker and are silent. 

We're also seeing a lot of cheaper laptops (including Chromebooks) carrying eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Controller) flash storage, which is slower than SSDs and gives you very little storage space.

A hard drive's storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (one TB is equal to 1,000GB).

If you cleared out all the stuff on your computer, you don’t actually need, how much space do you think you would have? How much do you have now? If you're using Windows, type 'Storage settings' in the Start Menu search box and see how much space you're using.

Most laptops costing more than £350 will come with at least 128GB of storage. 256GB and 512GB become more common above £500.

Best laptop brands

Every year we ask thousands of Which? members about the laptops they own. From this survey, we get a unique insight into the experience and problems people have with their computers, and it also shows that there are points of difference between each brand even if, on the surface, it appears that they all sell more or less identical laptops at similar prices. 

Most recently, we've found one of the most expensive brands has some of the lowest customer satisfaction. Worth knowing if you're thinking about going to spend quite a bit of money on your next computer.

Read our guide to the best laptop brands to see which manufacturers are going the extra mile and which could use improvement. 

Best place to buy a laptop in the UK

Currys, John Lewis and Laptops Direct are some of the most searched-for laptop retailers at the time of writing. We’ve included links to these because of their stock availability, best-value price, or warranty options. 

Currys

Currys stocks a wide range of laptop brands, including HP, Dell, Apple and Lenovo. Prices start at under £200. 

Click & Collect orders are free, with options to have your laptop delivered to your car in the car park or a walk-in store service. Standard anytime day delivery is also free and next-day delivery starts at £5. 

The Currys Price Promise ensures that if you find a product cheaper elsewhere, Currys will match the price or beat it, as well as match discount codes. 

Most laptops come with a manufacturer guarantee of at least a year.

Browse laptops from Currys here.

John Lewis

If you buy from John Lewis, you will receive a free two-year warranty on a range of more than 200 laptops from a huge selection of brands, including gaming, two-in-one, and home office models. John Lewis also provides a technical support service to answer your queries seven days a week.

Plus, if you find a product cheaper at a different high street store, you can make a price match request online, in-store or over the phone.

John Lewis also offers a variety of shipping options. Standard UK mainland delivery is free when you spend £50 or more (£3.50 on orders under £50). If you need your order quickly, next-day delivery will cost £6.95-£10.95.

Click & Collect deliveries will send your product to a selected pick-up point (usually a Waitrose or Co-op) and are free for orders over £30 (orders under £30 come with a £2 fee). Alternatively, for £3.50, John Lewis' Collect+ service will send your product to a closer shop of your choosing, such as your local corner shop.

Browse laptops from John Lewis here.

Laptops Direct

This computing specialist sells thousands of both new and refurbished laptops from a wide range of brands, with prices starting from a couple of hundred pounds. 

There is free delivery to most of the UK.

The No Quibble policy at Laptops Direct entitles customers to a full refund for up to 14 days after buying. And there's expert technical support available over the phone, seven days a week.

Browse laptops from Laptops Direct here.

Ready to shop right now? See our independent, expert laptop reviews. You can also browse our pick of the best laptop deals - we only highlight genuine deals on good models.

Advice guides for buying a new laptop

Discover all you need to know about laptops with help from our expert advice. You can also use our handy guide on how we test laptops to find out more about our rigorous testing methods.