1. The list in brief
2. Best overall
3. Best budget
4. Best keyboard
5. Best 2-in-1
6. Best high-end
7. Best graphics
8. How to find the right laptop
9. How we test
10. Why trust Laptop Mag
The best laptops for writers let you plop down on a couch and type away during any given workday, and there are plenty of options to get the job done, each with its own advantages and disadvantages.
You'll generally want a portable laptop with a comfortable keyboard, and solid performance to run all your text editing and planning software with ease. Another must-have for writers is excellent battery life, so your laptop can keep up with your late-night or travel work. Some of the best on this list can even hit as high as 15 hours of longevity, and for some, that's a necessary part of their purchasing decision.
Not all writers have the same needs, so we've picked a selection to best fit your individual demands. Maybe you need something that can balance both gaming and writing, or something that won’t break the bank with its price, or maybe even a 2-in-1 laptop for extra versatility.
There are even laptops that compromise between each of these categories, with some being fine for light gaming with more of a focus on writing, or some being great at gaming yet still functioning well for productivity.
Regardless, this list of the best laptops for writers will help in finding the right device for you.
Momo Tabari graduated with a bachelor's degree in Journalism & Media Studies at Brooklyn College and has been covering tech for four years. She has written over a hundred reviews and has plenty of experience testing and critiquing laptops.
Quick List
Best overall
The Macbook Air M3 has some of the best battery life, a satisfying keyboard, and performance that can keep up with anything you'll throw at it. On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits, the Macbook Air lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes.
Best budget
You don't need to break the bank to get a great laptop for writing — the $400 Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is proof. It includes everything a writer needs and more at a price that's easy for the average writer to afford, whether you're a pro or just getting started.
Best keyboard
The X1 Carbon also boasts outstanding battery life, managing 13 hours and 45 minutes of runtime on the Laptop Mag battery test at 1080p (web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits). The keyboard is top-notch
Best 2-in-1
Delivering a gorgeous 2880 x 1880 OLED display with mouthwatering vibrancy, phenomenally loud and impactful speakers, superb SSD speeds, a satisfying keyboard, excellent productivity scores and decent battery life, this 2-in-1 impressed.
Best high-end
As the name suggests, this laptop takes everything that we like about the recent entries in the Galaxy Book line and then adds an Intel 13th Gen H-Series CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU, while keeping the laptop below 4 pounds.
Best graphics
Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is the perfect gaming laptop for writers, boasting powerful RTX 4070-performance, a gorgeous display, sturdy build, and an exceptional keyboard for the average person who both plays and writes.
The best laptop for writers in 2024
Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Best overall laptop for writers
The Apple MacBook Air M3 is one of our best overall laptops and we cannot recommend it enough. It provides performance, portability, and long battery life with a satisfying keyboard and stunning 13.6-inch display.
On the Laptop Mag battery test, which involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits, The MacBook Air M3 lasted 15 hours and 13 minutes which is far longer than a standard work day. When determining what makes the best laptop for writers, longevity is one of the top priorities.
It needs to be able to sustain you on-the-go, and no matter if you're working longer hours than expected and don't have an outlet anywhere nearby, the relief you'll feel from knowing your laptop can last more than 15 hours is unbeatable. MacBooks are perfect for this, and the company has only gotten better, with the M3 lasting a whole hour longer than the M2.
MacBooks are notorious for their great-feeling keyboards, and if you want a springy and quiet one to keep your fingers happy while typing the day away, look no further. This is all alongside your documents looking fantastic on the 13.6-inch Retina display.
As for performance, the MacBook Air M3 decimated the premium laptop average with its Geekbench 6 overall multi-core score of 12,087 and still holds its own today. It also boasts staggering SSD speeds, managing 3,031 megabytes per second in our file transfer test. It even has spatial audio capabilities and a smooth trackpad. Plain and simply, all of these features make it a great overall pick for writers.
See our full MacBook Air M3 review.
Best budget laptop for writers
While premium features are nice, all you need to write is a great keyboard and enough processing power to comfortably run some of the best writing tools. It's safe to say that most people looking for a good laptop for writers want something that lets them get their work done without spending much money, especially if you're in college and don't have the cash for the other choices on this list.
Thankfully, you can get all you need and more without demolishing your wallet. The Acer Chromebook Plus 515 is just $399, making it one of the most affordable laptops for writers out there. But don't let the Chromebook Plus 515's low price fool you.
This budget-friendly laptop delivers packs in a lot of value and more than enough performance to keep up with a writer's demands. The display is bright, clear, and vivid and you've got plenty of ports for things like a mouse or external hard drive. The top-firing speakers are also perfect for writers who need a little background noise to get in the zone.
It's also not much of a surprise that it has a lightweight Intel Core i3-1215U processor, and while this is a couple of generations old, it's fitting that on the Geekbench 6 overall performance test, it managed a multi-score of 5,052. This is below the 5,246 Chromebook average, but it's hard to argue with its price point.
The chiclet keyboard might not be fancy, but it delivers an excellent typing experience. The keys are snappy and responsive with white backlighting and comfy but clear lowercase white legends. Overall, it's hard to go wrong with the Chromebook Plus 515. The only downside is its battery life, which could have been higher but still lasted over 8 hours in our tests.
See our full Acer Chromebook Plus 515 review.
Best keyboard for writers
The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon’s secret ingredient lies in its keyboard. And it hasn't changed much in years because the snappy, tactile key switches are a signature of the X1 Carbon line. The X1 Carbon Gen 11 also boasts an impressive battery life of 13 hours and 45 minutes on the Laptop Mag battery test.
On the Geekbench 5.5 overall performance test, its multi-core score of 8,628 is solid and beats the premium laptop average of 7,768. It also benefits from an incredible SSD transfer rate, which can be excellent for moving files around, duplicating 25GB of multimedia files in 16 seconds at 1,704 megabytes per second. This is far above the average of 1,382MBps.
However, its long battery life and solid performance make it no surprise that it makes sacrifices in some avenues. Its 69% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut is significantly below the 94% category average, and if you're a stickler about color depth, you won't be satisfied watching movies on it. Its also relatively dim at 327 nits of brightness, again falling behind the average of 391 nits. Both color and luminescence are what you'll have to give up for its incredible battery life.
Like most ThinkPads, the X1 Carbon can survive harsh conditions, as it’s been tested against 12 military-grade durability tests. Don't go thinking this is a rugged laptop, as it weighs only 2.5 pounds and is just 0.6 inches thick. So it's a good choice for writers on the go. Although the X1 Carbon Gen 11 starts at a premium price, it’s worth it for the keyboard alone. Though the lightweight but durable design, solid performance, and decent battery life don't hurt.
See our full Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon (11th Generation) review.
Best 2-in-1 laptop for writers
Lenovo's Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a serious improvement over the previous generation, with a gorgeous OLED display, excellent performance, and decent battery life. This makes it a great option for writers who want a 2-in-1 platform.
While it isn't our first pick as the best laptop for writers, it is good to keep in mind that it is personally my favorite laptop ever. With the combination of its clicky keyboard, sturdy chassis, and awesome display, I have loved using it to write. In fact, it is our best 2-in-1 laptop.
It also has a solid longevity of 10 hours and 10 minutes, and while that's pretty good, it's nowhere near some of the other laptops on this list (with the MacBook Air M3 going above 15 hours).
We normally advise writers searching for laptops to focus less on screen color, but if you're someone who wants the best of both worlds, its OLED display channels a mouthwatering 142.1% coverage of the DCI-P3 color gamut, absolutely demolishing its competition in panel vividness. While its 353 nits of brightness isn't quite as high as some might like, it's still bright enough to take on the go without issue.
It's also especially important that 2-in-1 laptops are sturdy, as feeling like they might snap from the slightest movement will give you an anxiety attack. And luckily, the Yoga 9i's aluminum chassis is so rigid (in a good way) that I'm never worried when placing it in diverse positions.
The only complaint we have with this 2-in-1 is that the display could stand to be a bit brighter, but its easily one of the best laptops out there for writers who need a 2-in-1 that can keep up with all of their daily needs.
See our full Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 8) review.
Best high-end laptop for writers
Samsung's super-charged Galaxy Book 3 Ultra comes with an Intel 13th Gen H-Series CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, all while keeping the laptop below 4 pounds. This portable powerhouse is the thinnest and lightest RTX 40-series laptop that we've reviewed so far, which does mean it has a bit less battery life than some of its competitors on this list.
On the Laptop Mag web surfing battery test, the Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra averaged 9 hours and 3 minutes. But it will absolutely crush any task you can set before it in that time, though heavy GPU use will mean even less battery life. So if you need to travel or work long hours this may not be the best laptop for your workflow.
On the Geekbench 5.5 overall performance test, its Intel Core i7-13700H processor achieved a multi-core score of 12,212. This is quite a bit better than the premium laptop average of 10,621, and frankly, it's on par with some of the best scores you can get from 13th Generation Intel processors. You won't have to worry about productivity speeds with this beast.
And of course, as this is built with a RTX 4050 graphics card, you can expect decent budget gaming performance. On the Assassin's Creed Valhalla test at 1080p, it managed 54 frames per second at the highest graphics. If you're someone who mostly just plans to play indie titles or older games, this GPU will absolutely kill. New games won't run perfectly, and you might have to make sacrifices for high performance, but it should still be able to handle it.
The only other problem with the Galaxy Book 3 Ultra is its starting price. Beginning at $2,199, this light-weight high performance laptop can easily break the bank. For writers, we've found that this beast boasts more than enough power and portability to be a great pick for those can afford it.
See our full Samsung Galaxy Book 3 Ultra review.
Best Graphics for writers
The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is not only one of our favorite budget gaming laptops, but it is perfect for writers. Boasting superb RTX 4070 performance that outperforms its many competitors without a sweat, alongside excellent productivity scores to satisfy your needs in everyday tasks.
And of course, a vital aspect of any laptop for writers is the keyboard, and you will not be disappointed by the Legion 5 Pro, as it boasts my favorite ever. In fact, I wrote a piece describing it as my keyboard soulmate. Between the touchpad, the arrow key nook, and only 1.5mm of key travel, it stands out and excels as one of the best for quickly getting work done without feeling slowed down by awful design.
And if you want something both great at gaming and writing, this hits a perfect balance. Its RTX 4070 graphics card performed the best when compared to RTX 4070 GPUs on competitors. It managed 110 frames per second in Borderlands 3 when compared to the Razer Blade 14 (98 fps), Origin EON16-S (106 fps), and MSI Katana 15 (99 fps). It also beat these laptops in Red Dead Redemption 2, Metro Exodus, Dirt 5, Shadow of the Tomb Raider, and Grand Theft Auto V. It was defeated once by the EON16-S in Far Cry 6.
While the Legion 5 Pro doesn't have the best display, it is surprisingly high quality for a laptop at this price point. It also has a surprisingly powerful audio system. And with an AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD, this laptop has excellent non-gaming performance as well. It achieved a Geekbench 6 score of 13,063, took only 4 minutes and 5 seconds to convert a 4K video into 1080p resolution through the HandBrake app, and has 2,150 megabytes per second transfer rate. Its performance is unbelievable.
See our full Lenovo Legion 5 Pro review.
How to Choose the best Laptops for writers
Do your intensive daily workloads require more RAM than the average Joe? Are you a video editor who needs extra storage? Are you a power user who wants a beefy GPU? Sorting through the best laptops to fit your lifestyle is a tricky business.
Budget: What you get for your money
You can find decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500. However, better mainstream laptops usually cost more than $700 and premium Ultrabooks can run over $1,000. The best gaming laptops can cost $2.000 and up, but you can play the latest titles at decent frame rates on gaming laptops under $1,000.
Screen Size: 12 to 14 inches for Portability
Knowing a laptop's screen size tells you a lot about its portability overall. If you want to use your computer on your lap or carry it around a lot, go for one with a 12, 13 or 14-inch display. If you want to use the computer on tables and desks and won't carry it around much, a 15-inch model may give you more value. Some gaming rigs, media machines and workstations even have 17 or 18-inch screens, but those are hardest to carry.
Design: 2-in-1 or Clamshell?
More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like the idea of using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption or just using it standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. However, you can often get better features or a lower price by going with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.
Battery Life: 8+ Hours for Portability
Unless you only plan to use your laptop on your desk, battery life matters. Even within the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table, without being chained to the nearest outlet. For the best portability, we recommend getting a laptop that lasted over 8 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test. The longest-lasting laptops endure for up to 15 hours.
How We Test the best laptops for Writers
We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.
In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 5.5, 6.1/6.2, and 3DMark professional graphics tests.
To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Cid Meier's Civilization V: Gathering Storm benchmark at 1080p resolution.
We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise.
These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.
See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.
Why Trust Laptop Mag
Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming.
We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on.
Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it.
Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.
