The 8 best Windows laptops of 2025, tested by us

We put each laptop through multiple real-world stress tests and have them run Primate Labs' Geekbench 6, a benchmark that makes it easy to compare CPU performance.

Our battery rundown test involves playing a looped 1080p version of "Tears of Steel," a short open-source Blender movie, until the laptop dies.

We evaluate the laptop's display, keyboard, touchpad, webcam, speakers, and ports. We also assess its overall aesthetic and portability.

We compare the laptop to other models with similar pricing, specs, release dates, and use cases. We also look at key upgrades from its predecessor(s) and consider its future-proofing.

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition is a huge W for the Copilot+ PC series and a worthy candidate for anyone who needs a well-rounded Windows 11 laptop. It overachieves on performance, battery life, and build quality, making its premium price tag easy to stomach. (That said, it's very easy to find on sale.) Just make sure it works with your favorite apps before you make it your new daily driver.

Read Mashable's full review of the 13.8-inch Microsoft Surface Laptop 7.

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 she tried is faster than 83 percent of the models in our laptop testing database (when in Best Performance mode), scoring on par with the M4 Apple MacBook Air in a Geekbench 6 CPU benchmark.

The Surface Laptop 7 also outlasts most other laptops with a battery life of nearly 23 hours per charge. The only laptop with more stamina is the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition, our top 2-in-1, which beats it by 44 minutes. For comparison's sake, the 16-inch M4 Pro MacBook Pro is our longest-lasting MacBook at 20 hours and 51 minutes.

Looks-wise, "[the] Surface Laptop 7 oozes sophistication and polished refinement," said Gedeon. Its stylish and sturdy aluminum design is available in four fingerprint-resistant aluminum finishes. And its vivid 120Hz touchscreen display is plenty bright.

Gedeon tested the 13.8-inch model, which starts at $1,399.99 with the Snapdragon X Elite chip and $1,199.99 with the lesser Snapdragon X Plus chip. Microsoft also makes a 15-inch Surface Laptop 7 for those who need more screen space (or a microSDXC card slot) and a cheaper, more compact 13-inch version. All sizes can get expensive fast as you add more RAM and storage, but they're often on sale at retailers like Amazon and Best Buy.

As with all laptops powered by ARM-based Qualcomm chips, there's a tiny asterisk next to our recommendation of this Surface Laptop 7 because it isn't compatible with certain specialty apps. This is mainly a problem for students and PC gamers. (Microsoft also makes an Intel version, but it's geared toward businesses and significantly more expensive than its Qualcomm counterpart; we haven't tried it.) Double-check before you commit to the Surface Laptop 7, but if you don't think you'll run into any workflow hangups, it's the Windows 11 laptop to beat in 2025. Google Drive, Adobe Photoshop, Spotify, Netflix, OneDrive, Dropbox, and Zoom are all a go, for what it's worth.

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The Asus Zenbook A14 is a great buy for undemanding everyday users on a sub-$1,000 budget who want a beautiful Windows laptop they can take with them anywhere. (It's priced at $999, but it frequently goes on sale at Best Buy for much less. I saw it dip down to $579.99 during October's Techtober Sale.) Its all-day battery life, gorgeous OLED display, and remarkably lightweight yet durable design make it an exemplary ultraportable. I just wish it had better speakers.

Our favorite laptop from CES 2025 lived up to the hype: The Zenbook A14 is a pretty ultraportable that can go all day. Its 14-inch chassis is made from a unique material called "Ceraluminum" that's durable, scratch-resistant, textured matte, and embellished with metallic, jewelry-like accents. This gives it an elegant, minimalist look and a feathery (but not fragile) feel. The base configuration, which comes in Zabriskie Beige with a Snapdragon X Plus chip, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB storage, weighs just 2.4 pounds. Its overall build quality impressed me in testing, too; I especially liked its clicky keyboard and silky touchpad.

The Zenbook A14 earned a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 11,256 in our CPU benchmark, making it the fastest Windows laptop under $1,000 in our database (excluding any gaming models). It's not quite as powerful as the M4 MacBook Air, which also starts at $999 — it's more on par with an M3-era model — but it one-ups Apple with a vivid OLED display, an HDMI port, double the starting storage, and an even "airier" design (coming in 0.3 pounds lighter). It also has a better battery life, lasting 21 hours and 47 minutes in our video rundown test.

The Zenbook A14's speakers are its Achilles' heel: They sound awful, so don't use them without a good pair of headphones. As a Qualcomm-powered laptop, you also run the risk of possible compatibility problems depending on the apps you use (same as the Surface Laptop 7).

A second Iceland Gray variant of the Zenbook A14 boasts an even lighter design, weighing only 2.18 pounds. It comes with a lesser Snapdragon X processor but double the RAM and SSD space (32GB and 1TB, respectively). In testing, it was only 7 percent slower and lasted 20 minutes less than the $999 "Plus" variant. It feels like a fair buy at $1,199 if you want an even lighter laptop with oodles of memory and storage, but the cheaper model is a tad more competitive at its price point and adequately specced for most people with basic workloads.

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The Acer Swift Go 16 is perfect for any user who wants a well-specced, fairly priced Windows laptop with a large, vivid OLED display that doesn't detract from its portability. It's primed for everyday multitasking and even some light photo and video editing, though I wouldn't recommend it for professional creatives (see the Acer Swift X 14 with dedicated graphics, below). Don't get it if you want a battery life superstar, either.

The "Swift" in this laptop's name is not false advertising. With a Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 15,833, the near-maxed-out model we tried is speedier than 90% of the laptops in our testing database. It doesn't outperform the new M5 MacBook Pro, but it comfortably beats its M4 predecessor as well as the other Windows laptops on this list.

"A laptop with that much pep will cost a fat check," you're probably thinking. You'd be wrong: The Swift Go 16 is only $1,199.99 when configured as tested with a high-end Intel Core Ultra 9 285H CPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage. That's an incredible deal for such future-proofed internals. An Intel CPU also means it avoids the compatibility snafu of its Snapdragon-powered peers, if that's something that concerns you (though at 11.5 hours, its battery life pales in comparison).

The Swift Go 16's big, bright, and beautiful display adds even more to its value. "I mean, c'mon. A 16-inch 2.8K OLED display on a $1,200 laptop — that's not something I come across often," said Chaney, our tester. "It displays colors vibrantly (and accurately) and blacks appear true and rich, resulting in a stunning media-watching experience."

The Swift Go 16 remains portable despite its bigger screen, coming in at just 3.3 pounds; other 16-inch laptops we've tried recently weigh well over four pounds.

Chaney also called out the Swift Go 16's unique touchpad in her testing notes: It has LED-lit controls that pop up when you watch a YouTube clip, play a song on Spotify, or hop on a video call. It's pretty neat.

Truthfully, I'd be tempted to name the Swift Go 16 the best Windows laptop overall if it weren't for three things: its so-so battery life, its weak mic, and its weak hinges. (Of the latter, Chaney wrote: "It was way too easy to get the display to tilt all the way back simply by setting the laptop down on my lap a little firmer than I'd usually do.") These shortcomings kept it from securing Mashable Choice status, too. However, I still think it's a great option for anyone who wants a zippy, future-ready big-screener that gets you a ton for the money.

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Need a sleek, flexible laptop that just won't quit? Look no further than the latest iteration of Lenovo's premium convertible, which can handle a full day of moderate productivity on a single charge — including tablet-oriented tasks like drawing and note-taking. In fact, it has the longest battery life of any laptop we've ever tested, outlasting every single MacBook and Windows laptop we've ever tried.

Read Mashable's full review of the Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition.

The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition is our battery life champ. It held out for 23 hours and 34 minutes in a video rundown test. It easily bests MacBooks as well as all of the Snapdragon-powered Windows laptops we've reviewed, which tend to be ultra-efficient. So, if your ideal PC doesn't chain you to an outlet or leave you panicking when you forget your charger, this one perfectly fits the bill.

That unrivaled stamina is especially impressive when you take into account the Yoga 9i's display, which is a super bright 2.8K OLED touchscreen with a 120Hz refresh rate. (You'd expect it to slurp up its battery life much faster.) It sits on a strong hinge that lets the device flip around into tablet and tent modes, and it works equally well with fingertips and styluses. Lenovo throws in a free Yoga Pen — see how easy that is, Microsoft?

The Yoga 9i's keyboard is another highlight: Its island-style keys are "well-spaced, pleasantly bouncy, and responsive," said Mashable contributor Sarah Chaney, our reviewer. "It almost feels like I’m typing on a minimalist mechanical keyboard, like the Logitech Mechanical MX Mini with tactile switches, because of the slight travel and noticeable actuation."

The Yoga 9i's outstanding battery life comes with one notable trade-off. Our review unit's Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor got a Geekbench multi-core score of 10,765, ranking right in the middle of our testing database. It's a hair slower than our budget pick, the Asus Zenbook A14, which costs $750 less; if you'd prefer a MacBook comparison, it's most akin to the M2 MacBook Air from 2022.

I will say that most of the Intel Core Ultra Series 2 processors we've tried have scored similarly, so the Yoga 9i isn't an outlier here, and it's not going to be sluggish. It has at least enough power to handle some exclusive "Aura Edition" AI features that can flag peeping toms, silence distracting notifications, and analyze your posture. (Chaney also noted that the Yoga 9i runs super quiet even with multiple apps and tabs open.) It just won't be as great for demanding video-editing apps and other intensive workloads as higher-scoring laptops.

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