Photo by Buro Millennial on <a href="https://www.pexels.com/photo/selective-focus-photo-of-man-using-laptop-1438081/" rel="nofollow">Pexels.com</a>
College season is rolling in soon, and if you’re preparing to make the move to your new campus, you definitely need to make sure you’re getting all the necessary things ready to begin this next phase of your life. We’ve compiled a list of the best college laptops for students in 2022 that you definitely need to check out before you make a final decision.
Things to look for in a laptop
First of all, there are a few things you should consider before placing down a decent chunk of money for a laptop:
- Size and weight
- CPU
- Storage type and size
- GPU (if you need one, i.e., engineers)
- Amount of RAM
1. Best lightweight option with a GPU
If you’re looking for a great laptop model and can maybe stretch your budget out a bit, then you should consider getting the ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14. This gaming laptop is fully decked, lightweight, and small enough to fit in practically any backpack.
The ROG Zephyrus 14 comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 9, 16 GB of RAM for gaming sessions and intense essay writing, a whopping 1 TB of SSD storage, and an NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, which is great for most modern games and can run fairly high settings. This is certainly one of the best college laptops for its power, but it’s not your average school laptop due to its impressive specs.
Pros
- 14″ screen for small backpacks
- 1 TB of SSD can fit lots of projects, files, and games
- Great for multimedia creation
- QHD screen for extra quality
- Great battery life
Cons
- 120 Hz refresh rate may be a negative to those used to higher rates
- Backlighting is hard to see
- Webcam is fairly low quality (720p)
- Expensive for a small laptop
Get the G14 here:
- Best Buy: Get $300 off right now (Plus 1 month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate included)
- Amazon
- Microsoft (Alan Wake special edition): Get $400 off right now
2. Best for overall creatives
If you don’t need any gaming to get done, then Apple’s lineup of MacBooks is a wonderful option for students. Although pricey, the MacBook is a long-lasting, ultra thin and lightweight laptop that gets the job done in many sectors.
Related:5 Tech Essentials that You NEED in 2022
The MacBook Pro is an excellent laptop for any student, including computer science, life science, art, history, and whatever else your heart desires to study.
Pros
- Great performance in many apps
- Long battery life
- Lightweight
- Great keyboard
Cons
- Price
- No dedicated GPU
- Only two thunderbolts
Get the Macbook Pro here:
3. Best 2-in-1 for handwriting notes
The Microsoft Surface Pro 8 is one of the best options for a 2-in-1 laptop. It can double as a standard laptop and as a touchscreen tablet. For students that want an option for digital notetaking, then the Surface Pro 8 is excellent.
Related: The best studying tips from a college student
With a superior QHD display, working on projects–especially digital art or related content–looks amazing on the Surface Pro 8. Its performance is excellent and works for students in many different disciplines in college.
Pros
- Excellent 1080p webcam
- Great kickstand
- Ability to use stylus to handwrite notes
- Large (13-inch) display
- Accessible SSD card
Cons
- Pricey
- USB-C ports only
- Keyboard and accessories sold separately
Get the Surface 8 Pro here:
4. Great Budget Option
The Lenovo Ideapad 3 is a great budget laptop that includes all the features needed for productivity and classes, all without breaking the bank on some more expensive options. Now, this won’t be the most powerful machine out there, but for things like note-taking, finishing assignments, and working on things like Microsoft Office apps, this will certainly do the job.
The Ideapad 3 features an Intel 11th Gen Core i3 CPU, 8 GB of RAM (which is usually the recommended starting point for RAM sizes), and Intel UHD Graphics. You won’t be going deep into AAA gaming, but you can try out some game streaming (Xbox Cloud Gaming, for example).
Pros
- Performance is good
- Multitasking is easy
- Can handle advanced photo and video editing
- Budget friendly
Cons
- Not the most powerful CPU
- Display is not very vibrant
Where to buy the Ideapad 3:
5. Best Chromebook Option
For some, a Chromebook is all you need. If you just want a device that can browse the internet and type notes on without any intense softwares, then a Chromebook might be a good option for you. The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 is no ordinary Chromebook, and definitely earns a spot as one of the best college laptops.
Featuring 8 GB of RAM, 128 GB of SSD, a detachable keyboard, and a full HD screen resolution, this Chromebook is great for light productivity. However, don’t expect to do anything like intensive work with software. The Chromebook relies on Google’s apps, which means you’ll be doing lots of work on Google Drive. If that’s not your cup of tea, then we recommend the other machines on our list for the best college laptops.
Pros
- Great performance
- Lightweight and easy to carry
- Long battery life
Cons
- Chrome OS is limited
- Processor is mobile
Where to buy Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5:
If you’ve used any of these laptops, let us know your experience in the comments below.
(Please note that we use affiliate links, which means that we earn a small commission at no additional cost to you).
Zainah Yousef
Zainah Yousef is the author of The Fallen Age Saga and specializes in gaming, social media advice, and reviews. She's been writing all her life and she probably won't stop anytime soon.
