Looking for the best laptop for working from home? These are the best on the market right now.
Our workspaces have had a little bit of a makeover in the last few years – long gone are the rigid 9-5s in the office and instead a world of remote working has opened up.
Though, that means a great laptop is vital… and with so many out there, how do you decide which is the best laptop for work from home days?
Whether you’re in the market for a new laptop or just fancy seeing what’s out there right now, we’ve created a guide to help you decide which should be your next choice.
Ready to discover the best work at home laptop for you?
What is the Best Laptop for Working From Home? At a Glance
| Best For… | Laptop |
| All-Round | Macbook Pro 14-inch |
| Design | Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 |
| On-the-go | Google Pixelbook Go |
12 Best Laptops for Working From Home
MacBook Pro 14-inch
£1399
If you’re looking for an all-round powerhouse laptop, the MacBook Pro 14-inch is among the very best on the market.
Whether you’re a creative needing a machine that can tackle photography, video editing, or music production, or you simply need a reliable laptop that can handle the inevitable 4000 tabs being open during a zoom call, this is the one for you.
The Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED technology is the best screen available right now, while the 1080p webcam will capture near-perfect images – perfect if you spend most of the day in virtual meetings.
With a choice between the new M1 Pro or M1 Max chips that power the system, this laptop might not be worth the spend for those needing a simpler laptop to complete admin tasks on. However, for anyone who works from home within media or tech, this laptop is a dream come true.
Pros
Cons
Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
£1299
As of right now, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 is one of Apple’s main competitors when it comes to the best laptops for working from home.
If you’re looking for a sleek and lightweight laptop, this Microsoft offering is pretty impressive, yet with 16GB RAM (and 8 or 32 also available) it packs a real punch.
The main pull of this laptop is the PixelSense touch screen – which is something Apple is yet to add to its laptops. The flexibility of this laptop means it’s great to use in a home office, or even on the go as you’re bouncing from place to place.
As well as this, the stylish colour options of Matte Black, Platinum, Ice Blue, and Sandstone, make this one of the most impressive-looking laptops around – the alcantara lining is a nice touch, too.
Pros
Cons
Dell XPS 15 OLED
£1549
When it comes to the best laptop for working remotely, this Dell offering holds its own against its competitors.
Not only does it boast a powerful Intel Core H-series CPU and up to 8TB of storage, but the thin bezels and beautiful OLED screen make it an attractive choice for consumers.
The one negative to consider if you require a high-quality sound system for work is that this Dell laptop’s speakers can sound a little bit muffled – which is less than ideal for a laptop of this price.
Pros
Cons
HP Spectre x360
£1199
Whether you need a laptop that can keep up with multiple tabs being open, withstand hours of streaming, or cope under the pressure of multiple programs running at once, HP Spectre x360 has got it covered.
The design of this laptop is a bit of a marmite situation (we aren’t huge fans), though don’t let that put you off as it’s still potentially the best laptop to work remotely.
The base model comes with an Intel Core i5 -1135G7 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD – which is more than enough for most people working from home.
If however, you need a machine with a little extra juice, you can opt for a bolstered up version with 16GB of RAM, 1TB SSD, and a 4K OLED screen.
Pros
Cons
Apple Macbook Air
£889
Apple’s more affordable offering is probably the most popular choice on the market when it comes to the best laptops to work from home with.
The main benefit is Apple’s new and impressive ARM-based chip, which gives it a little extra boost of power. Whilst the design hasn’t changed much, it has the signature look and feel of a Macbook.
The best part about Apple laptops is how customisable they are – the entry level offerings are great for those undertaking simple tasks from home (as well as streaming and very limited gaming), but you can add more RAM if need be.
Pros
Cons
LG Gram 17
£1299
If it’s a big screen you’re after, look no further than LG Gram’s 17-inch IPS display.
The base model boasts an Intel Core i5-1135G7, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB SSD that’s not to be sniffed at, though you can upgrade to a machine with an Intel Core i7-1165G7, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB SSD if you prefer.
The only drawback of this laptop is its poor quality webcam – it’s 720p, so not terrible, but the images aren’t exactly crisp either. This is only really an issue if you spend hours in important meetings, however.
Pros
Cons
Razer Blade 14
£2199.99
We’ve included this gaming laptop as its sheer power alone makes it a brilliant (albeit pricey) investment for those working from home.
The Razer Blade 14 comes with a 14-inch screen and up to 1tb of storage – which is more than enough for you if you’re streaming, gaming, recording, or editing. It also boasts state of the art components, namely the AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and up to an RTX 3080 graphics card.
This reincarnation of the Razer Blade 15 is smaller and lighter than its predecessor, which is a benefit for most people – though if you’re looking for a huge screen this might not be quite enough for you.
Pros
Cons
Asus Zenbook 13
£749
The Asus Zenbook 13 has a lot of things going for it – a great design, lightweight, a 400-nit OLED display, and great CPU performance, among other things.
In fact, we think that this is one of the best ultrabooks on the market right now, although the Macbook Air does pip it to the post.
What does the Zenbook do well? In regards to its performance, the AMD Ryzen 5000-series CPU is great, so it makes whatever type of work you’re undertaking a breeze. This is also aided by the 16GB RAM, too.
One negative thing about this laptop that we just had to mention is the lack of headphone jack, though, if you’ve got an all-singing pair of bluetooth headphones this isn’t an issue.
Pros
Cons
Samsung Galaxy Book 15-inch
£1449
With the slogan “thin as a smartphone, powerful as a PC”, Samsung weren’t pulling any punches when they unveiled the Galaxy Book 15-inch. But how does it stand up? Well… it’s pretty good actually.
In fact, this anodised aluminium laptop is only 11.2mm thick and weighs 868g, which makes it one of the lightest on the market – great if you often work on the move.
The AMOLED screen means that you’re getting the same high quality graphics as the Samsung phones, but this time on a 15-inch screen – perfect for virtual meetings, presentations, and photography editing.
Pros
Cons
Acer Swift 3
£749.99
The Acer Swift 3 is the perfect working from home companion for those looking for a decently-priced, reliable laptop.
Whilst it certainly doesn’t win any points for style, the 14″ Full HD IPS is excellent – offering sharp detail, vivid colours, and wide viewing angles. The Swift 3’s standard offering is a boring grey colour, though you can opt for a slightly funkier purple colour if you wish.
The AMD Ryzen 7 APU and 8GB of RAM ensures that you’ll get a powerful performance too, perfect for streaming, editing, designing, and anything else you might need to be doing at home.
Pros
Cons
Google Pixelbook Go
£629
For anyone that doesn’t want to spend huge amounts of money, this might just be the best laptop to work from home with.
First up, it’s got an incredibly suave design that’s only enhanced by the textured base making it easier to grip. Also, the 8th Gen Intel Core processor is quick and responsive, so there’s no need to worry about lagging in video calls.
The Pixelbook is also fully compatible with the rest of Google’s apps, which means that if you spend your time working from Google Docs and Sheets, you can do so with ease.
That said, once you add on all the specs you’re after, the price of this chromebook hikes in price – though, it’s still a lot cheaper than alternative options. And does nearly as much.
Pros
Cons
Lenovo Ideapad Duet Chromebook
£279.99
If you’re looking for affordable laptops for working from home, the Lenovo Ideapad Duet Chromebook is one of the best.
Offering the flexibility of a tablet with all the power of a laptop, Lenovo rivals some of the top names on the market.
With its MediaTek Helio P60T Processor, it certainly boasts enough power to run for around 22 hours without charging – above and beyond what many of the other laptops in this guide offer.
If you’re looking for a laptop that can run the adobe suite with ease, this is not the one for you. But, if you’re looking for a budget laptop with great performance, consider Lenovo’s Ideapad Duet Chromebook.
Pros
Cons
Mac vs. PC
What’s the difference between a Mac and a PC? Technically, not much. A Mac is anything running Apple’s software, whereas a PC will run windows software. In fact, you can even run windows on your Mac if need be.
Whether you opt for a Mac is completely up to you – with the vast majority of people owning iPhones, Macs are popular for their interconnectability via Airdrop, though that’s not to say you should rule a PC out completely.
Buyer’s Guide – Things to Consider When Buying a Laptop for Working From Home
RAM and Storage
These are possibly the most important things to consider when picking a new laptop.
If you’re not sure, RAM acts as short-term memory storage on your laptop, whereas storage will keep things on your hard drive until you delete them.
The more RAM the machine has, the more programs it can run simultaneously – which is crucial if you work from multiple applications at once.
Ideally, you need at least 8GB of RAM on your laptop, though you may be able to get away with 4GB if you only undertake simple tasks on your machine.
Graphic Card (GPU)
The graphics processing unit is a processor designed to accelerate how quickly you see graphics on your laptop screen.
GPUs will need to process many pieces of data at the same time, incredibly important if you are video editing, streaming, or gaming.
Keyboard Quality
If you’re going to be typing for most of the day, it’s vital that you ensure that your potential new laptop has a quality keyboard.
But what does this mean? First of all, check that the key size and placement suit your hands – there’s no point buying a laptop with tiny keys if you’re going to be accidentally keyboard smashing all day.
You should also check that the reactivity of the keys is up to standard – you do not want keys that you need to smash to produce a letter. Mechanical keyboards are widely regarded as the best to type with, but try a few out and see what feels best for you.
Also, if you work at night, it might be worth checking that your keyboard has a backlight.
Screen Quality
There are so many things to think about when it comes to screen quality – mainly the resolution, colour quality, and whether you want a touch screen or not.
As a general rule, you’ll want to ensure that your laptop has a resolution of at least 1920 x 1080 – the increased level of sharpness is better for your eyes if you’re spending all day at a screen.
If it’s colourful graphics you’re after, the best type of screen is one that uses OLED (self-lighting pixels, as opposed to a backlight), though not many laptops on the market right now have this.
Batteries
Often, a laptop’s battery is the last thing on our minds when it comes to picking a new laptop. But, it’s actually very important to ensure that you’re going to have enough charge on your new machine.
Obviously, the longer the battery life the better, but ideally you want a laptop with at least 10 hours to get you through the working day.
Size and Weight
This is a completely personal choice – some people love laptops with a little bit of weight to them, while others prefer theirs to be as compact as possible.
If you’re going to be lugging your laptop around all day, working on trains, and taking it to and from coffee shops, it’s a good idea to make sure that your laptop is light. Macbook Airs are particularly great for this.
You’ll also need to think about the size of the screen, and whether you need a larger screen for streaming and editing, or whether you only need a small screen. Generally, the smaller the screen, the lighter the laptop.