2025 Laptop Awards - The Best of the Best!2025 Laptop Awards - The Best of the Best!
2025 Laptop Awards
Summary
Below is a look at every laptop we loved in 2025, along with the defining reasons each model earned an award in its category.
Best Budget Laptop
HP OmniBook 5 (14" & 16")
Why it won:
- Consistently available near $400, an unmatched price-to-spec value.
- Strong fundamentals: current-gen processor, solid build, good display, 16GB RAM, 512GB storage.
- Competitors under $400 compromise heavily in at least one key area.
Notable drawbacks:
- 14-inch model runs warm while charging.
- Slightly heavy for its class.
Best Value for Money Laptop
MacBook Air 13 & 15 (M4)
Why it won:
- Premium chassis and excellent performance for under $1,000.
- Regular sale prices: $750 for 256GB and $950 for 512GB configs.
- Delivers reliable everyday experience: top-tier trackpad, speakers, battery life, and silent fanless operation.
Notable drawbacks:
- Still limited to a 60Hz display.
- No Wi-Fi 7.
Best Premium Laptop
MacBook Pro 14 (M5)
Why it won:
- The most complete all-around laptop of 2025.
- Extreme performance paired with top-tier battery life and quiet operation.
- High-end Mini-LED display, excellent keyboard, speakers, and strong port selection.
Notable drawbacks:
- Lacks Wi-Fi 7.
- Large display notch.
- macOS may not suit everyone.
Best Premium Windows Laptop
Lenovo ThinkPad X9 15
- Exceptionally portable for a 15-inch laptop with standout battery life.
- Bright, high-resolution OLED display.
- Super comfortable keyboard and haptic trackpad combo.
- The Core Ultra 7 variant allows light gaming.
- No iconic ThinkPad TrackPoint. Pretty minor if you ask us.
Best Budget Gaming Laptop
Lenovo LOQ
- Rare combination of good build quality, 100% sRGB display, strong keyboard, and proper GPU power at this price.
- Outperforms similarly priced gaming laptops that often cut corners in cooling or display quality.
- Competing budget models often suffer QC issues—LOQ avoids most of them.
Best Value for Money Gaming Laptop
Lenovo Legion 5i (Intel)
- Around $1,000 for an OLED display, high-wattage Nvidia GPU, and Intel Arrow Lake HX processor.
- Strong performance, comfortable keyboard, and compact footprint at 15 inches.
- Weak speakers.
- No face recognition.
- Ports placed inconveniently.
Best Premium Gaming Laptop
Lenovo Legion 7i
- Bright 500-nit OLED panel—rare for gaming laptops.
- Excellent keyboard layout with large arrow keys.
- Powerful Intel HX processor and mid-range GPU with high wattage.
- Upgradeable memory.
- Limited to 8GB VRAM. Some modern titles might need more.
Best 14-inch Gaming Laptop
ASUS TUF A14
- The only 14-inch gaming laptop of 2025 without a major design flaw.
- Excellent cooling, rare in this size.
- Strong battery life.
- Not the most premium or highest performing device.
Best 16-inch Gaming Laptop
ASUS ROG Strix Scar 16
- Best thermals of any full-power 16-inch gaming laptop.
- No numpad, keeping hands away from hotter center areas.
- Rear exhaust design prevents hot air from blowing on hands.
- Stunning fast-refresh Mini-LED display.
- Up to Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX and RTX 5090. Great components.
- It's big, but not bigger than the competition.
Best 18-inch Gaming Laptop
Alienware 18 Area-51
- Coolest operating temperatures among 18-inch competitors, especially vs. Legion 9i.
- Curved front edge adds comfort during long sessions.
- 2560 × 1600 panel enables higher FPS than 4K alternatives.
- Optional Cherry MX mechanical keyboard.
- Extremely heavy.
- Side exhaust vents can direct heat toward the mouse hand.
- Mechanical keyboard produces a slight ringing noise when typing fast.
Best Portable Gaming Laptop
ASUS Zephyrus G16
- Balanced performer: good for gaming, editing, Linux, and general use.
- Cooler and quieter than the 2024 model.
- Compact form factor with GPU options above 8GB VRAM.
- Comfortable keyboard and solid speakers.
- GPUs aren't fed full wattage so they don't perform at full capacity.
Best Creator Laptop
ASUS ProArt P16
- Creator-focused version of the Zephyrus G16 with elite color-accurate displays.
- Optional 4K Tandem OLED panel looks exceptional; super bright.
- Strong specs: Ryzen 9 HX 370 + RTX 5090.
- Fast full-size SD card reader and highly portable design.
- GPU isn't fed full wattage, so it will not perform at its best.
- Tandem OLED configuration (the one we recommend) is extremely expensive.
Best Programming Laptop
MacBook Pro 14 (M5)
- Extremely bright, high-resolution Mini-LED display ideal for reading code.
- Exceptional battery life, even under heavy development workloads.
- Very fast CPU performance and silent operation.
- Reliable unplugged performance unlike many Windows laptops.
- Higher RAM configurations are expensive.
- Base keyboard has lower travel vs. higher-end M4 Pro/Max models.
Laptops in this Article
On Sale
$2,479
Pros
- Fantastic 4k Webcam
- Great screen options
- Effective anti-reflective coating on the display
- Accurate haptic trackpad
- Great speakers
- Good port placement
Cons
- Missing the red Trackpoint and trackpad buttons
- Pricey
- Port selection is limited
- Its performance is at the lower end for similar laptops
Pros
- Very comfortable keyboard
- Excellent OLED display
- Compact and portable
- Well built
- Fast current gen CPU
- Powerful GPU (full wattage)
- Pricing is very competitive
Cons
- Ports are far forward and may get in your way
- Speakers aren't great
- No Windows Hello facial recognition or fingerprint reader
- No Advanced Optimus
Pros
- Very comfortable keyboard
- Fast full size SD card reader (UHS-II)
- Stunning OLED display
- Portable for a gaming laptop
- Glacier White version looks cool
- Upgradeable memory
Cons
- Maxes out at an RTX 5070 8 GB unless you go for the top-end model with an RTX 5070 12 GB, and then it becomes very expensive
- Gets warm under load.
- Keyboard RGB lighting has the backlight leaking around the keys.
Pros
- High end components
- Feels very cool to the touch while gaming
- Exhausts hot air out the back
- Comfortable keyboard
- Great Mini-LED display
- Ports in good locations away from your mouse
- Easy to upgrade as back can be taken off without tools
Cons
- Heavy
- Like all thick laptops, you may feel it biting into your wrist a little
Pros
- 5090 version is a standout with its Tandem OLED panel and great performance
- High resolution and high refresh rate screen options
- Excels in creator tasks
- Games decently well
- Comfortable keyboard
- Never gets too hot
Cons
- 5070 versions are not as competitive, <400 nit screens and lesser performance
- Some fan noise even in lighter use
- Less efficient than a MacBook Pro
- Average battery life
- Always a little warm
On Sale
$1,899
On Sale
$1,999
Pros
- Excellent performance
- Very long battery life
- All round premium laptop
- Exceptionally quiet and mostly feels cool to the touch
- Very premium - Great speakers, webcam, trackpad, keyboard, dsiplay
- Extremely fast storage
Cons
- Not a Big Boost In Performance Over M4
- No Wi-Fi 7
