10 BEST LAPTOP BRANDS

Apple is one of the best-known premium brands for laptops, computers, tablets, smartphones and music players. Unlike other brands, Apple has its own operating system, macOS, which comes pre-installed on all its Macs, including the iMac, MacBook Air, MacBook Pro and the latest MacBook. Apple tops categories like customer support, build quality, ease of use, design, power and display. Its laptops look great, and macOS is known for being polished, stable and very easy to use compared with Windows. Apple Silicon MacBooks have been reported to have a first-year hardware failure rate of just 0.9%, about half that of Intel Macs.

When researching the best laptop brands, Apple comes out as the most frequent favorite across articles and reviews. According to PCMag, Apple has won every Business Choice award for laptops since 2006.

The reason Apple ranks first comes down to its engineering, steady improvements and build quality. When you consider reliability and durability, MacBooks have few competitors, and most of them last for a very long time. Apple scores 9.3/10 on PCMag’s 2025 reliability survey, second only to LG.

For portability, Apple’s MacBook Air helped popularize thin and lightweight laptops. The Retina technology is a well-known display technology that gives a crisp, clear picture. Apple’s MacBook Air M4 is Reddit’s top recommended laptop for everyday work, praised for its strong performance and long battery life.

You should also know that Apple offers a 14-day return policy on most products bought directly from it, which is helpful for many buyers. That is why we list Apple as the best laptop brand of 2025-2026.

2. DELL – Best Windows Laptop for Support and Design

If you are looking for the best Windows laptop, Dell is a strong choice. Its technical and after-sales support is widely praised by customers worldwide. Dell’s XPS 13 is CNET’s top budget premium pick for students, offering a thin, light, all-metal design with a high-res 13.4-inch display.

Most Dell laptops are budget-friendly, and most of the designs and hardware are straightforward and powerful. Dell also makes the Dell Pro Rugged 13, its toughest model as of 2025, with 6-feet drop protection and military-grade certification (IP65). For business users, the Latitude and Precision series are the most durable and reliable. Not everybody likes a simple design, though, and that is one reason some customers avoid Dell. In the past, Dell was not as competitive as it is today, and a big part of the change is its XPS line, which changed the game for the brand.

The Inspiron series has also helped Dell get where it is today. Its gaming brand, Alienware, is one of the biggest names in the gaming industry. Note: Alienware scores among the lowest reliability ratings in Consumer Reports surveys.

There are many reasons why Dell is one of the best Windows laptop brands, including its support, professional design, fair prices and durability. If you want to stick to one brand, you can go with its three main lines: Inspiron, XPS and Alienware.

Inspiron is a great choice for budget users, XPS is for high-end use, and Alienware is for gamers. According to recent lists, Dell is one of the best-selling laptop brands in 2025. Dell has a laptop for almost everybody. Dell scores 82/100 on the ACSI customer satisfaction index, tied with Apple for second place.

Dell’s lineup is hard to beat, and most of its notebooks have all the latest features, including touchscreens, backlit keyboards, powerful processors like Intel Core Ultra and long-lasting batteries.

3. LENOVO – Best Windows Brand for Business and Typing

Lenovo is one of the most popular laptop brands, and its prices are slightly higher than some competitors. Its laptops suit all kinds of tasks and can be used by anyone, including professional gamers, business users and college students. Lenovo leads the global laptop market with 27.2% market share and is the Business Choice winner among Windows-based brands, scoring ahead of Asus, Acer, Dell and HP.

It is best known for business-class laptops that offer both power and a very flexible design. The ThinkPad line is widely considered to have the best keyboard in the industry as of 2025, and Lenovo prioritizes durability with magnesium alloy, carbon fiber and an internal roll cage. The Yoga and Flex series include some of the best portable laptops of 2025. The Chinese brand also owns Motorola and makes smartphones, and its laptops are known for long-lasting batteries. According to Reddit, the community has an affinity for Lenovo laptops, particularly ThinkBooks and ThinkPads.

Lenovo makes desktops, laptops, smartphones, tablets, monitors and projectors. Its laptops are strong in graphics, touchpad, keyboard, display and audio quality. Many businesses also use laptops from Lenovo‘s IdeaPad series for office work.

Lenovo also has a gaming brand called Lenovo Legion, which competes with ASUS’ ROG and Acer’s Predator. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is one of the top gaming laptops of 2025.

Performance on Lenovo devices is high, and most of its notebooks come with solid build quality. Lenovo is the top business pick among Windows systems for the third year in a row.

4. ASUS – Best for Value and Gaming

ASUS laptops are best known for being affordable compared with other brands, partly thanks to the company’s in-house manufacturing of motherboards. Its mini-laptops and Chromebooks are well known as some of the best budget-friendly machines. ASUS also has a standout score for cost and repairs in PCMag’s Business Choice survey.

Most of its hardware is of good quality, including HD displays, storage drives and motherboards. The Taiwanese brand also makes other electronics, including smartphones and tablets.

There was a time when ASUS wasn’t even considered in the list of best laptop brands, but with its large range of attractive and powerful laptops, it has reached the 4th spot on our list.

Today it has a big lineup of computers, from budget notebooks to high-end gaming machines. It has also improved its technical support in recent years, and you can get help over the phone, on X (formerly Twitter) or on Facebook.

Even budget machines offer solid performance, a full HD display and several hours of battery life, which shows that ASUS cares about the user experience. When it comes to design, it often uses quality materials even on its cheaper laptops. The Asus Zenbook 14 OLED is one of the best student laptops of 2025, and the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14/G16 are consistently top-rated gaming laptops.

In addition, ASUS offers very powerful gaming laptops thanks to its ROG series, and many gamers now prefer ASUS ROG over MSI and Alienware machines. The ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 is also recommended by Reddit as one of the best laptops for everyday work.

Overall, ASUS has become a major laptop brand in 2025-2026.

5. HP – Best for Customer Satisfaction

HP, also known as Hewlett-Packard, is one of the oldest electronics brands. HP still makes dependable desktops that are widely used by gamers and professionals. HP leads the ACSI customer satisfaction index with a score of 83/100, ahead of Apple and Dell (82).

As a laptop brand, HP generally stands up well against Acer and ASUS for durability and performance. HP uses CNC-machined aluminum for its premium Spectre and Envy lines, creating a rigid single-block construction with an oleophobic surface that repels fingerprints. The HP OmniBook Ultra 14 is CNET’s favorite overall laptop for 2026. However, battery life is a weakness on many HP laptops, which is why some buyers avoid the brand. HP, Asus and Acer only make semi-rugged laptops, not full-fledged tough laptops like Panasonic or Dell.

Apart from laptops, HP’s printers, desktops and monitors are also worth considering. Its customer service gets good reviews in countries like the United States, Canada, Australia and England, and there are not many complaints about inadequate support in other markets either.

HP has laptops that range from about $200 to $2,000, so nearly anyone can find a device from HP. Most of its machines offer good performance, design, hardware and display. HP’s DreamColor panels on ZBooks offer billion-color accuracy for media production.

Its popular series are Envy, Spectre, Pavilion and Elite. We take a point off HP for limited innovation in the last couple of years, and many of its machines look similar to other brands’ devices.

All in all, HP computers may not offer the most fashionable and eye-catching design, but they are very reliable and come at a reasonable price with good warranty and support. HP leads the ACSI customer satisfaction index with 83/100.

6. ACER – Best for Tight Budgets

Acer laptops are usually good value for the money, and with Acer you generally get what you pay for. Acer ranks lowest in customer satisfaction (75/100 on ACSI) and in the mid-lower half of reliability rankings from both Consumer Reports and PCMag.

The Taiwanese brand is one of the largest laptop makers in the world, and its machines are very popular with budget buyers. Acer sells a huge number of low-cost laptops and Chromebooks, available from around $150.

Don’t be misled by that, though, because Acer also makes high-end gaming laptops and premium notebooks. Its best-known series is Aspire, which has hundreds of notebooks for every kind of buyer. The Acer Swift Go 14 is the best budget laptop of 2025 according to Laptop Mag. You can find Acer machines all over the world, and it has some very good laptops, such as the Aspire S7.

Acer’s support is average at best, and it is one of the brand’s weaker points. Most of its laptops have a basic design that is similar to traditional notebooks, with little innovation. However, the Acer Predator Helios Neo 16S AI earned a “Highly Commended” award for gaming laptops in 2025.

Acer recently launched the Predator series for its gaming customers, and the brand hopes these machines will change its future. It should also improve the build quality of its Chromebooks, because their performance is appreciated by users but their build quality is not. For comparison, Lenovo’s Chromebooks have the lowest 5-year failure rate at 6.3%, followed by Samsung at 9.7%.

All in all, Acer is a good laptop brand and we recommend it to buyers on an extremely low budget.

7. MSI – Best for High-End Gaming

MSI is one of the top laptop brands for gaming and is well known for high-end gaming laptops. MSI scores 9.1/10 on PCMag’s 2025 reliability survey, third overall behind LG and Apple. It is a leading brand for gamers, though it has fewer options for budget buyers.

Its laptops are usually expensive, but the quality is impressive. MSI keeps coming up with new ideas and distinctive designs that appeal to gamers. The MSI Titan 18 HX AI is one of the top premium gaming laptops of 2025.

Its notebooks may not suit every buyer, but they are worth watching for modern features and distinctive gaming keyboards. MSI also takes design risks, and they often pay off. In addition, it has some thin laptops for power users, though we don’t recommend these to gamers.

On customer support, MSI needs to improve, and offering 24/7 support would help. Most past customers love MSI laptops, and the large majority of its machines have positive reviews. However, the brand loses some sales because of its limited range.

Most MSI gaming notebooks include a high-end graphics card and powerful, up-to-date hardware. Overall, it is one of the best laptop brands for gamers.

8. MICROSOFT – Best Windows Experience on Surface

Microsoft is best known for its Surface laptops, including the Surface Laptop and the Surface Pro 2-in-1 line.

It sells only a few laptops, which are designed mainly for professionals, and most are priced relatively high. The American company is best known for the Windows operating system, which runs on most of the world’s PCs. Microsoft jumped from seventh to fourth in PCMag’s 2025 reliability rankings.

Recent Surface models are extremely slim, light and durable. Because Microsoft builds Windows, support is generally good, and the company also offers help through its social media accounts.

Most Surface laptops come with a warranty, but upgrading and repairing them can be a challenge, and opening them may void the warranty.

With software, Microsoft is a leader, with many useful applications such as Microsoft 365, Teams and Copilot+ PC integration. The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 is one of the best laptops for students in 2025.

The battery life is worth praising, as the latest devices can last over 12 hours with ease. Overall, Microsoft is passionate about technology, innovation and design, which makes it one of the best laptop brands of 2025-2026.

9. TOSHIBA (NOW DYNABOOK) – Budget Everyday Laptops

Toshiba laptops are known as all-purpose machines and a good choice for everyday use. Toshiba’s laptop business is now operated as Dynabook (owned by Sharp), so many Toshiba-branded laptops you find for sale are older or refurbished models. Toshiba has been one of the best budget laptop brands for buyers who need a basic machine for everyday tasks like watching movies, browsing and chatting.

The Satellite C series offered lightweight, slim laptops. The days when Toshiba machines had problems with keyboards and touchpads are behind it, and its laptops have been able to last more than a few years.

Toshiba laptops have often been recommended in our guides because they were cheaper than competitors and good value for money. There is a large selection of notebooks for every type of user, and they usually fit a tight budget.

The Japanese company worked hard to win back customers, and with improved customer support it earned a place among the best laptop brands. The past few years were hard for the brand, but quality laptops, better support and innovation brought it back onto the list.

Its Chromebooks have sold well compared with other brands, and we hope the company cuts down the bloatware that comes with many Toshiba laptops.

10. SAMSUNG – Best for Ultra-Thin Galaxy Book Laptops

Samsung is a big name in smartphones, tablets, televisions, air conditioners and refrigerators. With service centers worldwide, it is one of the most popular electronics brands.

When it comes to laptops, though, it doesn’t have a large customer base. Samsung scores the lowest in PCMag’s 2025 reliability rankings at 7.7/10, and its Chromebooks have a 5-year failure rate of 9.7% (second to Lenovo’s 6.3%). Many customers avoid Samsung because of its battery life and conventional design.

The Korean brand has launched a few fashionable laptops, such as the Galaxy Book5 Pro and Galaxy Book5 Pro 360, which tied for #4 in Consumer Reports’ 2025 laptop rankings. These laptops are known for their ultra-thin design and great specs.

Samsung’s warranty is considered weak by some buyers because of the shipping costs you may have to cover, and it may not accept laptops that have been upgraded, which is another minus. Samsung may be good for other electronics, but we do not recommend its laptops over the brands above.

If Samsung wants to grow its laptop sales, it needs to launch more models at better prices with powerful hardware. Overall, we do not recommend a Samsung laptop for most buyers because of its limited options and high prices.