Best laptops 2024 tested — August top picks
Introduction
Year 2024 has dramatically changed the laptop landscape to meet the rigorous demands put by users in India. What forms the best notebooks of today have evolved to be powerful to work on almost everything and efficient with entertainment, portable to always be carried throughout the day, and sustained with extended duration with no recharging. However, this very wide range makes selecting the right notebook an uphill task.
Be it a budget Chromebook or an apparatus from a brand like Acer, Apple, Dell, HP, or Lenovo, something out here fits into everyone's pocket. This guide would help you select a laptop from the cream in India so that you're able to lay your hands on a gadget that suffices for your requirements.
Apple MacBook Air M3: The Best Value for Money
Specifications
• Display: 13.6 inches, 2560x1664 resolution.
• CPU: Apple M3.
• GPU: 8-core or 10-core GPU.
• RAM: 8GB-24GB.
• Storage: 256GB-2TB SSD.
• Weight: 1.22 kg.
Overview
The Apple MacBook Air M3 is a really great all-rounder with the format that keeps the Air brand alive. It shares the same look as the older MacBook Air M2 generation, but finally, the M3 version comes around to changing where it matters most: in performance aspects. Starting at around ₹91,000, it's said to deliver an awesome mix of performance and portability, making it one unbeatable notebook for people on the move.
Coupled with an ultra-thin design and Apple's M3 chip design, it can undertake a variety of operations from composing emails to editing pictures.
Design
The M3 MacBook Air is ultra-thin; in fact, it is just 11.3 mm deep, making it unarguably among the most portable laptops. It's light as well, but the port selection is very minimal—two Thunderbolt 4/USB 4 ports and a new MagSafe power adapter are all it is going to have. It does, however, come with a headphone jack, but the slim port selection might make users invest in some extra dongles.
Display
With a resolution of 2560x1664, the 13.6-inch Retina display ensures that rich colors are displayed, with great luminance if needed. Ideal for video playback, photo editing, or general web browsing. It supports as high as 500 nits of brightness for clear visibility under any bright environment.
Performance
With the M3 chip, this Air outperforms all its predecessors, especially in tasks that require heavy processing. It scored highly in the performance benchmarks; therefore, it is a great choice for any professional looking for a reliable laptop to take on heavy multitasking.
Battery Life
One of the most striking features of the MacBook Air M3 is definitely the battery life averaging up to 15 hours on a single charge—ideal for holding confidence through a long workday or travel.
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED: Best Laptop for the Money
Specifications
• Display: 13.3-inch, 1080p OLED.
• CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700U.
• GPU: Integrated Radeon graphics.
• RAM: 8GB.
• Storage: 512GB.
• Weight: 1.13 kg.
Overview
Asus Zenbook 13 OLED. One of the best ones out there for anyone wanting to buy a high-performance laptop but, for some reason, not spend a bomb in the process. Launched in India with price tags close to Rs75,000, it features functionalities like long battery life and an impressive OLED display, thereby automatically making it one of the prime contenders for laptops offering maximum value for their cost in 2024—an incredible keyboard with no headphone jack to call the halt.
Design
As far as design goes, this Zenbook 13 OLED features a smooth design with a spun-metal finish. Subtle, lightweight—a breeze to take with, hitting the scale at 1.09kg. This one is lightweight and easy to carry; it does have a good enough selection of ports with USB-C, USB-A, microSD card reader, and HDMI out.
Display
The new 13.3-inch OLED display in a way is an instant buy considering how it boasts color vibrancy and deep contrasts. That said, it still falters somewhat on being easily used outdoors under sunlight due to its reflective nature.
With the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U-powered Zenbook 13, all casual processes run smoothly, though it is not equipped for heavy gaming or professional-grade tasks.
Performance
Add to the performance its superior battery efficiency, and you have a well-recommended laptop for students and working professionals, be it in the office, at home, or even during travel.
Battery Life
This is claimed at around 15 hours, which, if true, is absolutely superb for any Windows laptop at this price.
Dell XPS 13: The Best Windows Laptop Overall
Specifications
• Display: 13.4-inch, 1920x1200 IPS, 60-120Hz.
• CPU: Snapdragon X Elite X1E-80-100.
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno.
• RAM: 16GB.
• Storage: 512GB SSD.
• Weight: 1.18 kg.
Overview
The Dell XPS 13 is a versatile laptop, designed to balance portability, performance, and good design. It is definitely a great laptop for both professionals and students, costing, on average, about ₹95,000 for a fast and efficient machine that conducts everyday matters. Most times, it has had an ultra-light build, counting towards portable functionality, with a beefed-up Snapdragon processor that leaves a lot to be desired for running most applications smoothly.
This long battery life further enhances its appeal, enabling users to work or study without interruption for many hours. A combination of features positions the XPS 13 as an illuminating option for those who care for functionality and worldly style in their tech gadgets.
Design
The design of the Dell XPS 13 rejoices modern minimalism at its best: very slim and small, making it ideal for any user, be it on the move or on any given occasion. It is very lightweight, weighing mere pounds, and hence carrying it along will not be much of a task in your daily computing schedule, be it at the workplace or during travel. Thin bezels supporting the screen will glow an elegant look, as this laptop encompasses almost all features of an edge-to-edge screen entailing maximum visual space.
Yet such a minimalist design also amounts to fewer options for ports, which are bound to become frustration points for a huge number needing more than one peripheral at a time. Meanwhile, the XPS 13 is among the top preferred by design-oriented buyers.
Display
Dell's XPS 13 got a 13.4-inch screen that has great brightness and vibrancy, hence very recommendable for a visual creator once. The color accuracy is excellent; that makes it very useful during chores like photo editing or graphic designing.
Even options for refresh rate on the display further make things smoother than usual on this machine—not just gaming, but even watching high-definition videos. Whether you're doing a creative project or simply enjoying media, the XPS 13's display will bring in freshness and depth, making it one of the best selling features in respect to an experience.
Performance
The Dell XPS 13 is very well set up for performance due to its Snapdragon X Elite CPU; it will not fall short at accomplishing any general task. No doubt, productivity software, surfing the web, or multitasking with productivity software is a great workload for it at both work and play. It may not be the first choice for extensive games or heavy applications that require high-end processors, but it performs all other tasks with super efficiency.
For most uses, the XPS 13 executes all users' tasks smoothly, whether in drafting documents, editing images, or streaming content. It, therefore, proves to be a trustworthy friend in the majority of your everyday making computing world.
Battery Life
Another feature that stands out in the XPS 13 is its long battery life, which runs up to 19 hours once it has been fully recharged. Hence, for those users who have to conduct studies or do some work even on the move, the extended battery life serves the purpose without having to worry about an outlet. With enough battery life to last through even the longest flights, whether you have a full schedule of back-to-back meetings or are just out of the house for the day, XPS 13 won't let you down. The remarkable performance it achieves in terms of battery life throws it at the forefront of great ultrabook options, where it won't anger you at critical moments.
Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x: The Best Copilot+ PC Laptop
Specifications
• Display: 14.5-inch, 3K OLED, 90Hz.
• CPU: Snapdragon X Elite X1E80100.
• GPU: Qualcomm Adreno.
• RAM: 16GB.
• Storage: 512GB SSD.
• Weight: 1.27 kg.
Overview
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is a bright choice for users who are in search of an overall stylish design without much bulk. It's around ₹85,000, containing the vibrant OLED screen and powerful Snapdragon X Elite processors. Hence, the laptop somewhat of an especial status among professionals as well as students also.
Be it a presentation, streaming video, or multi-tasking with several applications at a time, the Slim 7x will work its wonder reliably and quick enough not to miss a beat. This lightweight unit further assures that nothing about carrying it everywhere for rugged use should be a problem.
Design
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is as equally designed thin and lightweight as the MacBook Air, so it, too, presents a premium look with its anodized aluminum chassis. The Cosmic Blue color adds class by itself, making the laptop a productivity tool as well as a crisply decent gadget. Its elegant design is complemented by thoughtful details like a comfortable keyboard and smooth touchpad, making it a pleasure to use daily. Whether you're in a boardroom or a coffee shop, the Slim 7x’s design ensures that you’ll always stand out.
Display
The 14.5-inch OLED screen in the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x is something beautiful, with deep blacks and brilliant, vivid colors realized accurately. High resolution allows for the representation of details accurately: from text to images—be it for work or sheer entertainment, such as photo editing, movie watching, or web surfing. The treat is purely visual.
This, of course, combined with OLED technology, assures that all the power invested through the battery lasts longer and provides quite a visual rich experience for any accompanying activity.
Performance
Featuring the power of the Snapdragon X Elite processor and 16GB of RAM, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x flexes performance that devours daily chores and heavyweight applications with ease. No matter your workload—be it heavy multitasking between different programs, running complex software, or streaming high-definition content—this laptop will sail through it like a breeze.
Coupling enough RAM with a powerful processor, it only ensures fluid and responsive operation, time and time again, making this a dependable choice for any professional who needs to be on the go or in the office with seamless performance.
Battery life
Lenaovo's Yoga Slim 7x's battery is also noted for its long life, boasting a runtime of up to 14 hours on a single charge. There will really be an essence of this if you have a long day always on the move, either traveling from point to point for work or just attending lessons. You can safely leave the power cable in your dorm room since, with continuous use, the Slim 7x will last you throughout the entire day. This reliability is especially valuable during long meetings, flights, or when working remotely to ensure you never experience productivity downtime.
Lenovo Duet 3: The Best Chromebook
Specifications
• CPU: Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2.
• RAM: 4-8GB.
• Storage: 64-128GB eMMC.
• Display: 11 inches, 2000x1200 pixels.
• Weight: 0.54 kg (tablet only), 0.95 kg (with cover).
Overview
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3 is one of the first few choices for those who need a versatile device at a pocket-friendly price. Just a tad under ₹ 28,000 in India, it bases its many claims in great value for money, bringing in unison an amalgamation of good degrees of performance and portability. It's a 2-in-1; it could serve as both tablet and laptop, fitting all kinds of purposes.
Now, this also clearly makes it a perfect choice for students, professionals, or just about anybody who needs a versatile and reliable device yet doesn't want to bleed money on getting it. Not an expensive and powerful device, it is balanced to give out great performance overall.
Design
The Lenovo Duet 3 is offered in an extremely sleek and compact package that makes it great for on-the-go use. Extremely portable at slightly over 500g, this unit will slip well into bags and backpacks. Its detachable keyboard cover enhances versatility and quickly changes from a tablet into a laptop.
Though the keyboard is comfortable enough for typing in shorts sessions, it might not be the most comfortable one for long typing since the keys feel a little bit shallow, and the touchpad is tiny. It's surely designed with a lot of thoughtfulness toward the user, who will always welcome mobility and adaptability associated with their devices.
Display
The Duet 3 has an 11-inch 2K display, so it's really clear and shines bright. The sharp resolution brings out the print to look crispy, and images vivid for all media viewing of any kind, be it video streaming or photo browsing. It also allows handling some minor productivity work such as editing documents and presentations.
On the contrary, the glossy finish on the screen may be prone to reflection issues under high-lighting conditions, which could be a little more cumbersome for outdoor use. Still, this is one of the positives for this device and can give a very good quality view in most cases.
Performance
Fueled by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2, the Lenovo Duet 3 is quite powerful and good enough for all-day computing. Consequently, this Chromebook does the glide pretty well when it comes to web browsing, streaming, and light productivity tasks, such as document editing and managing spreadsheets.
However, this device is not built for multitasking and/or gaming, which may be its edge in performance for such tasks. For people into basic daily chores, the level of performance is more than satisfactory, offering a very responsive experience that matches the versatile design. The Duet 3 offers a reliable balance between efficiency and functionality for its price.
Battery life
The battery life of the Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook is around 10.5 hours; it is very consistent. It is, therefore, a reliable device in providing the service that would see to it that the user goes on with their work or schoolwork for a full day without necessarily being tethered to a charger. Be it browsing possibly through heavy pages, videos to kill time, or possibly doing some slight productivity work, the battery supports extended use to enhance portability. This implies an important aspect to students and professionals: it guarantees that the device should always be ready when needed.
Conclusion
In 2024, the best laptop now lays in India according to your need, be it for work, study, or even enjoyment. Find the laptop that fits to ultraportable Apple MacBook Air M3 or budget Lenovo Duet 3. And, of course, do keep in mind the factors like performance, battery life, display quality, and, of course, your budget while making up your mind. We have covered some of the best laptops available in India in this guide so that you can make an informed decision while buying your next laptop.
FAQs
1. Which is the best laptop for students in India?
For students, the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x strikes a fine balance between performance and portability, with a battery life that is exactly perfect for academic and entertainment purposes.
2. How much does the Apple MacBook Air M3 cost in India?
The new Apple MacBook Air M3 will start from around ₹91,000, and it will feature a base model of 2024.
3. Will the Asus Zen book 13 OLED make the perfect gaming laptop?
Although the Asus Zen book 13 OLED can perform nicely for everyday activities, it is not equipped for heavy gaming because of its integrated graphics.
4. What is the typical battery life of a Dell XPS 13 battery?
The Dell XPS 13 lasts with one charge impressively up to 19 hours.
5. Will I be able to use the Lenovo Duet 3 Chromebook professionally?
The Lenovo Duet 3 will be perfect for general productivity applications, web use, and media consumption. Higher specifications would come to mind for a more professional and high-octane job.
