These days, new laptops are more powerful than desktop computers from only a few years ago. Whether you’re looking for a high-end gaming laptop, a budget laptop for college, or a 2-in-1 touchscreen laptop, there are a lot of options on the market. To help you narrow down your choices, here is our list of the best laptops for 2020.
HP Envy 13: Best Laptop for College Students
The HP Envy 13 is one of the best budget laptops for college students because it has a battery that lasts all night. With its 16.5-hour battery life, you can bring this laptop to class all day and use it to study all night on a single charge.
Your friends will be envious of this 2.9-pound laptop’s gorgeous silver design. The Envy 13 comes with an 8th-generation Intel Core i7 quad-core processor, which is more than enough for any programs you need. It also has a 128GB solid-state drive and 8GB of DDR4 RAM.
It also has all the ports you need, including a USB-C 3 port, two USB-A ports, a headphone/mic jack, and a microSD card slot that lets you save all your photos. And you can keep your privacy with the built-in fingerprint reader and webcam kill switch.
Acer Aspire 5: Best Budget Laptop Under $500
The Acer Aspire 5 has everything you need in a sleek and compact design. This budget laptop features an AMD Ryzen 3 3200U dual-core processor, which is fast enough to handle most basic needs. It also has a long battery life, which should last more than seven hours on a single charge.
For its price, this laptop has awesome specs. Weighing in at less than 4 pounds, it has a bright and large 15.6-inch HD display with deep blacks, vibrant colors, and narrow bezels around the screen. It also has lots of ports, including an Ethernet port, an HDMI port, two USB 2.0 ports, and one USB 3.1 port.
This laptop comes with 128GB of SSD storage and 4GB of DDR4 RAM. If that’s not enough for you, it’s easy to upgrade your RAM or add a traditional hard drive. This will give you a high-performance laptop for cheap. This also makes the Aspire 5 one of the best budget laptops for college.
While this laptop does come with Windows 10 S Mode installed, it is easy to remove it. For more information about what Windows 10 S Mode is and how to turn it off, check out our guide here.
$369.99
MacBook Air 2020: Best Mac Laptop Under $1,000
Apple’s newest MacBook Air has a more powerful processor and better graphics than its predecessor, at a lower price.
For less than $1,000, you get a powerful laptop with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage space. If you are an educator or student, you can get this laptop for as low as $899 as part of Apple’s Educational Pricing.
The advanced display has more than 4 million pixels, and it automatically adjusts to match the ambient light. It also comes with Touch ID technology, so you can log in and use Apple Pay securely.
This 13.3-inch MacBook is only 0.6 inches thick and weighs less than three pounds, so it’s easy to take with you wherever you go. And, while you only get two Thunderbolt 3 (USB-C) ports, you can easily add any ports you want with an adaptor hub.
If you want to know more about the new MacBook Air, check out our previous article here.
Lenovo Yoga C940: Best Touchscreen Laptop
The Lenovo Yoga C940 laptop has a bright and crisp HD screen, which is perfect for streaming videos, editing digital photos, and everything in between. It also has 16GB of DDR4 RAM and a huge 1TB solid-state drive, so you won’t have to worry about filling up your storage space.
This 3-pound laptop has a large, backlit keyboard that makes typing easy. The 13.9-inch touchscreen can be flipped around to stand the laptop up, or you can transform it into a tablet. It also comes with a stylus for sketching or writing on the screen.
There is a headphone jack, a full-sized USB-A port, and two Thunderbolt 3 ports to connect external monitors and hard drives.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7: Best 2-in-1 Laptop
The Surface Pro 7 is Microsoft’s latest laptop in the Surface Pro series. You can use the 12.3-inch screen as a standalone tablet, prop it up with a kickstand, or turn it into a laptop by connecting it to the signature keyboard. You can also write or draw on the screen with your fingers or the Surface Pen.
This durable 2-in-1 laptop has a 10-generation Intel core processor, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB or 256GB of solid-state storage. It also has an ultra-slim design that is only one-third of an inch thick and weighs less than two pounds. This makes it one of the best 2-in-1 laptops for business travelers, college students, and anyone in between.
Microsoft promises the Surface Pro 7 will last all day, with a battery life of up to 10.5 hours under normal use. This laptop has a 5MP front-facing camera with Face ID and an 8MP rear-facing camera that records HD video. You can connect this 2-in-1 laptop to your devices using the USB-C or the USB-A ports.
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon: Best Laptop for Business
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 is one of the best laptops for business travelers because it has a lightweight design and a battery that can last more than 18 hours on a single charge. It also has a far-field microphone, which is helpful for recording meetings or asking your digital assistant to set an appointment reminder.
This laptop is powered by an eighth-gen quad-core Intel i7 processor, which is more than enough for any applications you want to run. It also has 16GB of RAM and a 512GB solid-state drive. It also has a large, 14-inch HD touchscreen and an HDMI port that lets you share your screen in 4K resolution.
If you’re worried about security, this laptop comes with a fingerprint reader and an IR camera, so you can log in securely. You also get a Kensington lock slot, which allows you to lock your computer up whenever you leave. It also comes with PrivacyGuard technology that decreases the visibility of your screen at an angle, so you can hide your work from the people around you.
This laptop has a comfortable and responsive soft-touch keyboard and a smooth and accurate touchpad. Its port selection includes two USB Type-A ports, two Thunderbolt 3 ports, a full-size HDMI connector, and a microSD card slot.
Acer Predator Triton 500: Best Gaming Laptop
The Acer Predator Triton 500 delivers first-class gaming performance in a slim and light design. Thanks to its 9th-generation Intel Core i7 6-core processor and Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q graphics, this laptop can handle anything you throw at it.
This 15.6-inch laptop is very compact, light, and portable at only 4.6 pounds and less than an inch thick. It also has a full-HD display with a refresh rate of 144Hz and an ultra-low 3-millisecond response. This makes the Triton 500 one of the best gaming laptops for the price on the market.
In order to keep your laptop from overheating while you game, the Triton 500 has three cooling fans and lots of ventilation along the bottom and all three sides. According to Acer, the custom-designed AeroBlade fans will increase airflow by 45 percent. So your laptop won’t get too hot when you’re gaming.
It also has a three-zone RGB keyboard lighting that can set to a number of different colors. The keyboard also features a dedicated PredatorSense key that lets you quickly control the lighting, fan speed, overclocking, and more.
On the sides of the laptop, you get three USB-3 ports, an Ethernet port, microphone and headphone jacks, an HDMI 2.0 for 4K video, a ThunderBolt 3, and a Mini Display Port. So, you can potentially hook this laptop up to 3 external displays at once.
Now that you know the best 2-in-1 and budget laptops for college students and gamming, check out our blog to find out more about new laptops. If you’re looking for more ways to game on the go, check out our list of the best gaming laptops.
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