The best Windows laptops for 2024 Buying Guide

One of the best things about the Windows laptop landscape is all of its diversity. From 8-inch handhelds to 18-inch laptop behemoths to dual-screen machines, this space is full of variety. That also means that you’re almost certain to find a specific feature you want — like stylus support or a touchscreen — in at least one Windows notebook out there.

But with that diversity, plus the sheer number of companies producing Windows laptops, can come confusion when you go to buy a new laptop. And as CES announcements have shown, a slew of new models are coming down the pipeline for this year, but many of them will not be available for a few months. For now, before even starting your search, we recommend considering the top things you need your laptop to do for you and letting that — plus some general rules of thumb regarding power and performance — guide you. We’ve tested a bunch of Windows laptops and have distilled our buying advice, along with our top picks, below.

Performance

The challenge when thinking about performance is figuring out your sweet spot. That’s because while a laptop with blazing speed is nice, you may be paying for more oomph than you need. But if you skimp and get a weak processor, even simple tasks can become a chore and you might end up in a situation where you need to upgrade again sooner than you’d like. Performance is more than just clockspeeds too, so we also consider things like fast wake times, storage speeds, multitasking and more advanced features like support for ray tracing.

Display and webcams

Regardless of whether a notebook has a touchscreen or a more traditional panel, we look for bright displays (300+ nits or more) that are easy use outdoors or in sunny rooms, accurate colors and wide viewing angles. Screens with high refresh rates are great for competitive gamers, while those with wider color gamuts are important for content creation. And even if you don’t plan on spending a ton of time on video calls, every laptop needs a decent webcam (1080p or higher).

Ports and connectivity

Even with advancements in cellular modems and WiFi, dedicated ports for transferring data or connecting peripherals can make or break a laptop. Ideally, all but the thinnest and lightest systems come with three USB ports, while things like built-in SD card readers can be extremely handy when trying to import media from a camera. And if a notebook is saddled with a slow or outdated WiFi modem (we’re looking for Wi-Fi 6 or later), that’s basically an immediate disqualification.

Battery life

It doesn’t matter how powerful a laptop is if it conks out when you need it the most. Typically we look for runtimes of at least eight hours on a charge, but longer is always better. That said, on gaming machines with thirsty GPUs, you may have to settle for a bit less. And on bigger machines, it’s also important to consider if the system can charge via USB-C or if it needs a larger, proprietary power brick.