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I've been reviewing laptops for well over a decade, sometimes testing over 30 devices per year. As you can probably guess, they aren't all winners, and many should be avoided—no matter how cheap the discount is. Good news—it's my job to recommend laptops that fit your budget and won't make you regret your purchase six months later. So, don't fall for the marketing, fake sales, or knock-off brands on Amazon. These are my favorite laptops that I've tested myself and would highly recommend you buy.

For more guidance, also see my recommendations in specific categories, such as Best MacBooks, Best Gaming Laptops, Best Chromebooks, Best Budget Laptops, Best Windows Laptops, and Best 2-in-1 Laptops. My guide to How to Choose a Laptop may also help if you're undecided.

The Laptops I Recommend Most

Photograph: Luke Larsen

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Apple

MacBook Air (M5, 2026)

$1,099 $1,049 (5% off) Amazon

$1,099 Best Buy

$1,099 Apple

When friends or family ask what laptop to buy, I always start with the MacBook Air. This little laptop is far more powerful than most people realize. With the update to the M5, its GPU is now as powerful as the M3 Pro MacBook Pro, speeding up everything from games to video renders. That's not at all what the MacBook Air is designed for, but the performance is there when you want to dabble. It's what makes it feel like a do-it-all machine, all contained in a fanless chassis that's still one of the thinnest laptops you can buy. Oh, and did I mention it'll last well over a full work day away from the wall and perform as well on battery as when plugged in? In almost every aspect, it's the gold standard.

You might dissuaded from the MacBook Air for the attractive price of the new MacBook Neo. But if you work in front of a computer for eight hours a day, the performance, extra memory, super fast storage speed, and Thunderbolt ports make the MacBook Air the right option. Unlike with the Neo, you'll never have to stop and wonder if you've got the right computer for the job. (If you don't already know that you need a MacBook Pro for your work, you probably don't.)

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Microsoft

Surface Laptop 13.8-inch (7th Edition)

$1,700 $1,300 (24% off) Amazon (15-inch)

$1,200 $950 (21% off) Microsoft

$1,200 $1,100 (8% off) Best Buy

$1,200 Walmart

I know not everyone wants a Mac. Not everyone wants to submit to walled garden of Apple, or maybe there are specific applications you rely on that require Windows. Windows has a really solid alternative to the MacBook Air: the Surface Laptop 13.8 (also known as the 7th Edition). It's almost as good as the MacBook Air in many different areas, and it even surpasses it in others. The MacBook Air might be slightly thinner, but the Surface Laptop comes with an additional USB-A port. There are lots of little tradeoffs like that. My favorite aspect of the Surface Laptop 13.8 is the screen, though. This is easily the superior screen compared to the MacBook Air, offering a touchscreen, a 120-Hz refresh rate, and a taller 3:2 aspect ratio. Like the MacBook Air, there's a 15-inch version as well that's otherwise identical.

My one caveat with this current version of the Surface Laptop is that it came out in mid-2024, and we've been waiting for the update to the Qualcomm Snapdragon X2 chips with improved performance. These are rolling out on other laptops, but Microsoft has yet to announce a refreshed Surface Laptop. My best guess would be an announcement around the Microsoft Build developer conference in early June, but we'll have to wait and see.

Photograph: Christopher Null

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Asus

Zenbook S 16 (UM5606)

$1,500 $950 (37% off) Best Buy

$1,248 $1,186 (5% off) Amazon

$1,600 Asus

Lastly, I'll point you in the direction of the Asus Zenbook S 16. I've always appreciated this laptop for its stunning design. That all-white aesthetic, oversized trackpad, and those thin bezels make it stand out. There's also the fact that it's only 0.48 inches thick, which is very close to as thin as the MacBook Air. My only problem with this laptop has been that the pricing refused to drop throughout much of last year. It was hard to justify at over $1,500, regardless of how polished it felt. These days, the price is hovering around or under $1,000, making it much easier to swallow. What you get is an absolutely stacked laptop, with more memory and twice the storage as the MacBook Air. The OLED display is also gorgeous. It's high-resolution at 2880 x 1800 and has a 120-Hz refresh rate. It doesn't get much more high-end than that.

Buy one of those three laptops, and you'll find very li

Best Laptops (2026): My Honest Advice Having Tested Hundreds | WIRED