The best laptop 2025: top portable picks for all budgets
We've reviewed hundreds of laptops from all brands, all shapes and sizes and all price points, so that we can bring you our definitive list of the best laptops you can buy in 2025.

Want to know what the best laptops of 2025 are? Then you're in luck, as on this page you'll get our expert and unbiased buy advice on laptops, MacBooks and Chromebooks for every use case and budget.
This year is shaping up to be an extremely exciting one for laptops, as we're beginning to see devices packed with the latest mobile technology that were shown off at the CES 2025 tech show hit retailers. PC gamers will be particularly interested in the next generation of gaming laptops that are expected to launch throughout February (and the rest of the year) with Nvidia's incredibly powerful RTX 5000 GPUs.
With all these choice, cutting through the jargon and hype can be difficult, and buying a new laptop can be a big investment, which is why we're here to help guide you to picking the best laptop to suit your needs and budget.
You'll only find the very best laptops on this page, and every one of them has been thoroughly tested by our laptop experts here at TechRadar, so you can trust our recommendations (you can read about how we test laptops, and all the ways we put laptops through their paces during our reviews).
Microsoft's excellent Surface Laptop 7 remains our pick as the best overall laptop money can buy in 2025, as it's a fantastic all-rounder with a gorgeous design and all-day battery life.
Recent updates
This page has been updated as of 04/02/2025 with new information for February.
The best laptop overall
Specifications
After years of this year being dominated by various MacBook Air models, Microsoft has surprised us all with the release of the Surface Laptop - a device that's stylish, powerful and with a long lasting battery, and has earned its place as the best laptop for most people in 2025.
Microsoft is calling the latest edition simply the Surface Laptop, in a bid to highlight that despite this actually being the seventh version, it's a major reinvention - and for once, this isn't just marketing bluff. Thanks to the revolutionary Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip that powers the new Surface Laptop, not only does Windows 11 feel fast and responsive, but thanks to how efficient it is, battery life is seriously impressive - and the fans rarely kick in, so you're not distracted by their whirring.
As a flagship entry in a new range of 'Copilot+ PCs', the Surface Laptop also has deeply integrated AI (Artificial Intelligence) features included, such as the Copilot assistant and Cocreator tool that turns your scribbles in Paint into AI-generated art. Most of this is all done on-device thanks to the Snapdragon X chip, which means you don't need an internet connection, and your data is kept safe and secure. The AI features are currently in their infancy and far from essential, but the potential is huge - and even without them, the Surface Laptop is a brilliant device that will the ideal laptop for most people. Microsoft has finally come up with a MacBook killer.
Get the best deal on your next Microsoft product with our Microsoft coupon codes.
Reasons to buy
✅ You want the best laptop in the world: The new Surface Laptop is a stunning reinvention, offering build quality, performance and battery life that puts most competitors to shame.
✅ You want a long-lasting portable laptop: The Surface Laptop comes in 14-inch and 15-inch configurations, and even the larger model is thin and light enough to carry around - and its battery life means you won't need to look for a plug socket.
✅ You want a great productivity machine: The Surface Laptop offers excellent performance thanks to the new Qualcomm chip that powers it. Designed for AI tasks, it works particularly well with Windows 11's Copilot features.
Show expert analysis ▼
Reasons to avoid
❌ You need lots of ports: Sadly, the thin and light design of the Surface Laptop comes at a price, as you only get two USB-C ports and a USB-A port (though the 15-inch model also sports a microSD slot).
❌ You want to play games: The ARM-based chip comes with an integrated GPU, which is fine for most tasks, but isn't able to handle demanding games.
❌ You hate Windows 11: The Surface Laptop offers a stylish design and dependable performance you'd usually expect from an Apple device... but running Windows 11. If you don't like that operating system, then get the MacBook Air (M3) instead (which is also in this guide).
In-depth analysis
Microsoft's Surface devices have always been stylish products, and 2024's Surface Laptop (which remains the latest model) is no different. It has a thin and light chassis that is easy to carry around, yet feels sturdy and premium. The keyboard feels comfortable and responsive to use, the screen screen with HDR support and 120Hz refresh rate is stunning and the overall design is very reminiscent of MacBooks. The only issue is a lack of ports.
Thanks to the ARM-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X Elite chip, the Surface Laptop is an incredible productivity performer, and in our review we found that Windows 11 felt fast and responsive, and all the apps we loaded up worked without issue. This is great to see, as previous ARM-based Windows laptops could not run apps that were designed for Intel or AMD chips. Thankfully, that's no longer the case. While you can't play demanding games on this thing, for day-to-day use, it's an incredible laptop.
Thanks to the power efficiencies of the ARM chip inside the Surface Laptop, the battery life of this device is excellent, offering 15 hours of life on a single charge during our time with the device. In real-world use, I found I only needed to charge the 15-inch model once, then happily used it as my main work laptop for three work days before needing to charge it again - which is seriously impressive. The 15-inch model has a larger battery, but due to the larger screen, battery life should be similar between 13-inch and 15-inch models.
The smaller model of the Surface Laptop starts at $999.99 / £1,049.99 / AU$1,899, while the larger model starts at $1,299.99 / £1,349 / AU$2,399. While these certainly aren't budget prices, they still offer excellent value for money compared to similarly-powerful laptops - and it means the Surface Laptop is also cheaper than the MacBook Air (M3) as well.
Attributes | Notes | Rating |
---|---|---|
Price | The price of the new Surface Laptop is excellent considering what you get for your money | ★★★★☆ |
Design | As with other Surface devices, this laptop looks and feels premium | ★★★★★ |
Performance | Thanks to the new ARM chip from Qualcomm, the Surface Laptop offers a huge upgrade from its predecessors | ★★★★★ |
Battery life | You can expect between 15 to 20 hours of battery life from this laptop | ★★★★★ |