Top 10 Best Laptops for High School Students | Ultimate Buyer’s Guide

Complete list: Top 10 Best Laptops for High School Students

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The best student laptops are as varied as the courses that folks who use them will be studying, so it’s no surprise that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by all the choices available. 

Students learning skills in the gaming and media industry such as VFX and 3D modeling will need some seriously powerful graphics cards and plenty of RAM in their systems, while photography and video editing students may need to prioritize a display with fantastic color accuracy and high levels of brightness.

Younger children at schools may instead require a lightweight 2-in-1 or Chromebook for note-taking and general web browsing over something with a lot of power or creative-focused features.

Luckily, there are options available that can tick most of these boxes, and all the laptops on this list have been picked for students at either school, college, or university and cover a range of budgets. Many also have a good-quality webcam and integrated microphone for joining digital lectures and double as entertainment devices for streaming your favorite shows after a hard day of study.

Laptops and tablet devices are now an essential part of education, allowing folk to tune into lectures and lessons remotely even if they can’t physically attend, and providing ways for young people to stay connected with each other and family during uncertain times, so despite many Covid-related restrictions being lifted, it’s likely that we could see this new hybrid working environment staying around as the new normal.

Knowing which is the best laptop for high school students is a common demand of those; after all, it was the time that only a good laptop was enough to meet the needs of a student‘s routine. Currently, text, spreadsheet, and slide show editors are minimal tools for those who are finishing school or starting college, apart from other functions necessary for this routine, such as a good screen and sufficient storage.

As this period of life is usually of short money, we separated options, because we know that we still need to save money for prints and salty. Follow the reading and know which is the best laptops for high school students.

1. Dell XPS 13

The Dell XPS 13 is the best laptop for high school students. An ideal, and best laptop for a high school student needs to be robust, offer great value, be hard enough for everyday use, and have a sound design that younger consumers would like to use. The XPS 13 is a super-portable laptop with a beautiful screen, a backlit keyboard, and excellent performance.

Then you have a Full HD display with barely any bezel, which can be bumped to 4K. Speaking of specifications, the XPS 13 was refreshed by Dell to include Intel’s 11th Gen processors. These components are matched with up to 16GB of RAM and Wi-Fi 6 connectivity. The latter improvement with the XPS 13 is a significant benefit for students, thanks to its excellent wireless range and reliability.

The keyboard is likely what will be used the most, and this is probably the laptop’s weak spot. It’s not the worst keyboard by any means, but it’s also not among the best. With only 1.3mm of key travel (how far the key can be pressed down), it can feel somewhat “mushy” to those who are used to desktop mechanical keyboards or other portable PCs with enhanced means of input. There’s also an issue with oil stains after considerable amounts of use.

Overall, you’ll get a super-portable laptop with a gorgeous display and excellent performance. Couple all that with improved battery life (thanks to expanded capacity and the newest processors), and you’ve got one fantastic device for any student.

The laptop can also be customized with a color option, silver, or rose gold, along with battery life. It wouldn’t be controversial to say that Dell’s XPS 13 is the best laptop for high school students because it combines portability with versatility and power.

2. ACER ASPIRE 5 SLIM

Students with size and weight problems when selecting a laptop should no longer be concerned. The Acer Aspire 5 slim is the thinnest, lightest, best laptop for high school students you can buy. It features a 15.6-inch Full HD screen with 1920 x 1080 resolutions with AMD Radeon Vega 3 mobile graphics. This will make the project work and seminar presentation more attractive and professional.

The Acer Aspire 5 slim is the best laptop for high school students when it comes to compatibility and portability. It also has an HDMI USB 2.0 port, 1 USB 3.0 port, 1 USB 3.1 generation 1 port, and a USB c type that allows you to connect your laptop to other devices for data sharing. There are other exciting things to help students do assignments or project work.

3. Microsoft Surface Go

Surface Go is the smallest, lightest, and most portable 2-in-1 best laptop for high school students. It weighs less, ensures good battery life, and allows you to complete school tasks quickly. Moreover, this laptop for high school students features a 10-inch screen with an 1536 x 1024 resolution and a 3: 2 aspect ratio. This allows high school students to do their school work with ease.

The hardware even includes an Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB SSD, with 4G LTE options, enough to help a high school student deal with his daily productivity tasks. Ports include USB-C, a micro SD card reader, and a 3.5 mm audio jack. The portability of this best laptop for high school students is its selling point.

4. Lenovo IdeaPad 310

For high school students who like to stream music or watch lots of videos online but don’t want to spend money on unnecessary resources, the Lenovo Ideapad 310 is the perfect system for you.

It runs state-of-the-art Intel 6 TH processors and a 15.6-inch Full HD display (1080 x 1920) screen. In addition, you can choose the right screen resolution for you. Your documents and drawings will undoubtedly come with ease and also with clear images. The storage capacity of the system is incredible. Students won’t have to worry about the storage space for their data, documents, photos, and videos because, with 1 TB HD storage, you’re covered.

The best laptop for high school students has excellent connectivity, which allows you to connect to different devices and share data with other students via wireless Bluetooth. This laptop offers breakneck internet speed; offers 802.11 a / c Wi-Fi connectivity as standard on the system, making it the best for high school students for its fast browsing, endless streaming, Decent battery life, and downloading of whatever they want.

5. ASUS ZENBOOK 13 LAPTOP

The Asus Zen-book 13 is the best laptop for a high school student. With its compatibility and portability, students can carry it comfortably, without stress. It comes with excellent performance from the Intel i7 CPU, 8 GB of RAM, and 256 GB SSD with a 13.3 inch full HD screen.

6. ACER CHROMEBOOK 15

This is also the best laptop for high school students. It runs on Chrome OS (a Google operating system). Chromebooks come with internal storage for offline access to the most important files and an additional 100 GB of space on Google Drive to ensure that all of your files have been copied automatically.

The Acer Chromebook student laptop is the 2 in 1 best laptop for high school students that can also be used as a tablet. It features a 15.6-inch screen with 1920 x 1080 resolution, making it perfect for educational purposes. It has an excellent performance rate enhanced by the Intel Celeron 2.4GHz processor with dual-core, 4 GB DDR4 RAM, and 32 GB solid-state flash memory. It has the ability to perform multiple tasks at the same time and never slows down a bit.

This laptop, one of the best for high school students, comes with built-in virus protection, updates automatically, starts up in seconds, and continues fast over time. With its Bluetooth and wireless ports, and fantastic battery life, students can share data and connect with other devices.

The best laptop for high school students is very portable and lightweight. You can carry it with you anywhere.

7. MacBook Air (M1, 2020)

The MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is the most affordable laptop For college students from Apple’s current range, and while we arguably have different ideas from the fruit-themed brand as to what ‘budget-friendly’ looks like, we believe this stunning device is absolutely worth the money.

Rather than using hardware made by Intel, Apple created its own M1 SoC (system-on-a-chip) which proved to be so successful that every MacBook and Mac desktop since has been released with it. Performance is excellent, easily beating older MacBook Air models, and it has a hugely improved average battery life as well. 

It can now also run iOS apps, giving you a larger library of apps than ever before, giving you advantages if you own other products from the Apple ecosystem such as an iPhone or iPad tablet. Its screen also supports the P3 color gamut, making this an excellent laptop for photography or video editing students.

This is also a gorgeous laptop, something you’d be more than happy to be seen working on in a public space if the style of your devices has a big impact on your purchasing decisions.

8. HP Pavilion Aero 13

HP worked some seriously dark magic with the Pavilion Aero 13 and it’s all in the name, Aero. This thing is stupendously light. Even with a powerful AMD Ryzen 5 processor and integrated Radeon graphics, you’ve got a laptop that weighs in at less than 1kg. Throw in 8GB of RAM and 256GB for storing all your files and you’re onto a student winner here.

If you have a little bit of spare cash, it’s possible to configure the Aero 13 with up to an AMD Ryzen 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD. Compared to the Dell XPS 13, this laptop is upwards of 200g lighter, making it ideal if you’re on the move across campus or require something to use out in the field.

The 43Wh battery will ensure you’re able to keep going through the day, and Wi-Fi 6 means you won’t have any issues getting online. Ports-wise, HP went with a USB-C port capable of power delivery and video out (DisplayPort 1.4), USB-A, HDMI 2.0, AC power, and an audio jack for good measure.

9. Surface Laptop 4

The Surface Laptop 4‘s 13.5-inch notebook chassis holds a touch display with a 2256×1504 resolution, a 3:2 aspect ratio, and a relatively thin bezel. It’s compatible with the Surface Pen for a great inking experience, and color accuracy hits 97% sRGB and 72% AdobeRGB, which is great for media professionals or people who prefer a great display.

Grab either an 11th Gen Intel Core or AMD Ryzen 4000 Series processor (CPU) for stellar performance, add up to 32GB of DDR4 RAM, and up to a 1TB solid-state drive (SSD) that can hit read and write speeds around the 2,310 MB/s and 1,060 MB/s marks, respectively. For ports, you get USB-A 3.0, USB-C, Surface Connect, and 3.5mm audio.

The battery lasts more than 14 hours on a full charge when tackling regular productivity tasks, allowing you to mostly forget about a charger when heading to the office or class. Seated above, the display is an IR camera for logging in securely with Windows Hello, and the palm rests are covered in Alcantara fabric for a more comfortable typing and pointing experience.

10. Razer Blade 15

When it comes to PC gaming on a laptop, the Razer Blade 15 (the review is for the Advanced model) is one of the best options out there. Not only can it be configured with an NVIDIA RTX 3070 discrete GPU, but also an 11th Gen Intel Core i7-11800H CPU, 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB SSD for maximum performance. While you’ll be able to play most modern PC games, you’ll find the battery life depletes rapidly when all these power-hungry components are put under load.

The 15.6-inch display can have a Full HD, QHD, or 4K resolution and up to a 165Hz refresh rate for smooth graphics. No matter which display you choose, you’ll fail to notice any bezel and instead appreciate outstanding color reproduction. The RGB keyboard can be fully customized, and you can use the large Precision touchpad for standard tasks when not gaming with an external gaming mouse — and we recommend you buy a mouse for gaming.

For ports, you’re getting HDMI, Thunderbolt 3, USB-C, Gigabit LAN, and USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, which allow you to connect external monitors and other accessories for a gaming battle station when you’re not on the move.

Do High School Students Need Laptops?

Yes, high school students need laptops. While having a computer isn’t compulsory, it is necessary for high school for many reasons. It is essential for reading, turning in assignments, completing school projects, and a variety of other school-related tasks. Not to mention it affords flexibility for quick research.

Furthermore, it enables students to access programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe, AutoCAD, and other software that aid classroom work. Laptops also provide long-term benefits for high school students. The perfect laptop can serve as an excellent investment for college and can be essential for learning extra-curricular skills.

What Makes a Good Laptop for High School Students?

• Portability: The portability of a laptop is typically defined by its size and weight. Laptops that weigh between two to three pounds are often slim and easy to handle. Such lightweight designs with mid-sized screens, between 13 and 15.6 inches, are an excellent choice for students to bring their laptops to class.
• Cost: A wide range of affordable laptop deals offer plenty of storage, a great processor, and a lasting battery making them ideal for high school students. With several computers within the $300-$500 price range, you don’t have to break the bank to get a good deal.
• Capabilities: Because of the amount of work an average high schooler does, there are specific capabilities you should look out for when getting a laptop. It should have the right operating system (OS), about eight hours of battery life, and at least 512GB of storage capacity. The screen size should be portable (12-14 inches) for optimal online learning.

How to Choose the Right Laptop for High School?

Pick a Laptop With Lasting Battery Life

One of the most beneficial features you can get with your new computer or laptop is its long battery life. That keeps you going throughout your classes and homework assignments without needing to be charged every few hours. When making a purchase, you should aim for a 12-hour battery life benchmark. Chromebooks typically offer fantastic battery life at budget prices.

Stay Within Your Budget

You should get a quality high school laptop that is within your budget. It is advisable to buy from a manufacturer directly or from a reliable retailer to get the best prices. It is essential to check for stores or sites with exchange and return policies in the event of a malfunction. Don’t focus on features such as facial recognition or specs for photo editing, as these are not part of a student’s daily tasks.

School Computers: Should You Buy a Laptop for High School?

Yes, you should buy a laptop for high school, especially as remote learning becomes increasingly popular in schools today. Having a laptop helps to enhance your learning experience and increases your productivity. Moreover, you can develop extra-curricular skills such as coding and graphic design with resources on the Internet or start a remote job for high schoolers.

Ultimately, buying a good laptop in high school can be an excellent investment for college. Hence, it is advisable to go for affordable laptops with faster processors, large storage, HD display, and good battery life. Things like gaming performance or a comfortable keyboard can also be taken into account if your budget is flexible.

Best Laptops for High School Students FAQ

1. What is the difference between a Chromebook and a laptop?

A laptop and a Chromebook are both computers, but they’re designed with very different purposes in mind. Unlike laptops with SSD and hard disk storage, Chromebooks have relatively low built-in storage but use Google Drive for cloud storage. They require a constant connection to the Internet, while laptops can function online and offline. Chrome OS devices are built primarily for activities like browsing the web and running lightweight productivity software.

2. What is better, Dell or HP?

This depends on what feature you’re seeking in a laptop, as Dell and HP have different specifications. HP has a variety of designs for you to choose from, while Dell has a simple design. Dell laptops have an average battery life of seven to eight hours, while HP laptops can last up to 12 hours. Dell seems to be better than HP in terms of durability as some HP users claim their laptops malfunction after a year or two.

3. Which is the best laptop with all features?

Apple’s MacBook Air is the best laptop you can get. It offers speed, quick refresh rates, reliability, sleek, lightweight aesthetics, long-lasting battery life, a gorgeous display, and excellent performance. Adding to that, the laptop was designed to be energy-efficient and consume relatively low power.

4. Which laptop lasts the longest?

Apple’s MacBook Pro has the longest-lasting battery life. It has a light weight and offers up to 18 hours of improved battery life. It also offers users 256GB storage and 8GB of RAM with a portable 13-inch display. It is a great laptop option and one of the preferred laptops for college students.

Conclusion

The XPS 13 by Dell is a stunning laptop and is one of our favorite Windows laptops. A gorgeous design, solid performance, and reliability make it fit for purpose at school. You’ve got Intel 11th Gen processors, speedy storage, plenty of RAM, and great wireless connectivity, making it ideal for schoolwork (and play).

Other notebooks in our collection are worthy considerations like the excellent HP Pavilion Aero 13. Should you need a little more, Microsoft’s Surface lineup is where it’s at, taking into account student discounts. Then you have some steep savings with Dell’s own Inspiron range. It all boils down to your available budget and just what kind of work you need the laptop for.