Best laptops 2022: Which? Best Buys and expert buying advice

Looking for the best laptop for your budget? We'll help you easily find a laptop that ticks the boxes and will last the test of time.

One of the biggest decisions will be how much you want to spend. The good news is that we know, thanks to our independent lab tests, that if you're after a good all-rounder for day-to-day tasks, it doesn't have to be a lot.

We award Best Buys to our top-performing laptops, and our cheapest Best Buys cost less than £500. Plus if you're willing to compromise a little you can find good models for as little as £200. 

See our expert pick of models below and keep scrolling to read our expert advice on how you can find the perfect laptop, whatever your budget.

Best laptops for 2022

We only recommend the laptops that excel in our tough lab tests. Here are the models that impressed us enough to make our expert pick, selected for a range of budgets. Our reviews also reveal the results of our annual laptop owners' survey - we uncover which brands are the most (and least) reliable and which ones owners would buy again.

Only logged-in Which? members can view our recommendations in the table below. If you’re not yet a member, you can get instant access by joining Which? - you'll get access to all of our online reviews, from laptops, to monitors, to electric cars.

Ready to shop right now? Browse and compare laptop reviews from our tests.

Table updated December 2021.

Laptops to avoid

Cheap but not cheerful, and packed with slow processors, limited Ram, unpleasant keyboards and screens that are hard to make out. These are laptops to avoid.

Video: how to buy the best laptop

Short on time? Watch our two-minute video for the most important laptop buying tips.

Top 5 questions to ask when buying a laptop

Before you start shopping for a laptop, it will help to know the answers to the following five key questions.

1. How much should I spend on a laptop?

• Less than £200 – Intel Celeron or Atom processors, 2GB of Ram and 32GB of storage. Won’t be particularly fast, but fine for very light note taking and browsing the internet.
• Less than £300 – Newer Intel Celeron processors, 4GB of Ram and up to 64GB of storage. Again, won't be hugely fast but offers a better level of performance for lightweight tasks.
• Less than £450 – Intel Pentium, Core i3, AMD Ryzen 3, 128GB of storage and 4GB Ram. Fast enough for web browsing and research work. Aim for a Full HD screen and an SSD if you can.
• Less than £600 – Intel Core i5, i7, AMD Ryzen 5, 7, 256GB of storage and 8GB of Ram. Should be ideal for photo editing and some light video work. Look for a thin and light design, a Full HD screen and an SSD.
• Less than £800 – As above, but in increasingly high-end designs. Look for great battery life on premium ultrabooks and perhaps 512GB of SSD storage.
• More than £800 – Some stunning designs, great screens and good speakers. High-end laptops will suit more intensive tasks, such as video editing or playing games. You can buy Apple MacBooks from £999 and above.

On a budget? Skip straight to our round-up of the best cheap laptops.

2. Operating system – what type of laptop do I need?

There are three major players when it comes to the software (operating system) your computer runs on. You can find out more in our guide to MacOS, Windows and ChromeOS, or look at our brief summaries below.

Buy a Windows 10 laptop if…

• You prefer the familiarity of Windows
• Have specialist software you can’t live without
• Want a big variety of laptops to choose from

Before you buy, particularly if you're buying an older model, check it's going to be compatible with Windows 11. See our free Windows 11 requirements checker.

Buy a MacBook if…

• You have a budget of at least £999
• Value longevity and build quality
• Use other Apple products, or are happy to learn a new operating system

See our Macbook reviews.

Buy a Chromebook if…

• You’re on a budget
• Value simplicity
• Don’t mind working in web-based applications

Check out our expert Chromebook reviews.

3. How powerful does my laptop need to be?

In a nutshell: 

• If you need a laptop for light use and note taking, look for Intel Pentium or Intel Core i3 and at least 4GB of Ram for a great experience
• Go for Intel Core i5 and i7 and AMD Ryzen 5 and 7 and at least 8GB of Ram if you’re a heavy user 
• Look for dedicated graphics from Nvidia and AMD if you want to game.

Laptop processors

This really matters if you’re planning on using a laptop for photo or video editing, or if you're a very heavy user, opening lots of programs and browser tabs. When looking at laptop processors, you’ll see two main specifications beyond the product name: clock speed (measured in Gigahertz or GHz) and number of cores.

Think of clock speed as the speed limit on a road and the number of cores as the number of lanes. As on a road, depending on traffic conditions – the tasks being done on your computer –  a road might see a greater benefit from more lanes or a higher speed limit.

In the simplest way possible, more of both is better, and each of our laptop reviews will help you out by making it clear what sort of tasks a laptop is good for.

Ram

Think of Ram (Random Access Memory) like a desk and your hard drive like a filing cabinet. You pull files out of the cabinet and it takes a while, but once they’re on your desk, you can reach for them instantly. The same is true of Ram; once you have loaded a file from the hard drive, it’s now in the Ram and can be accessed almost instantaneously.

The bigger the desk you have, the more items you can access more quickly - the same goes for Ram. Most mid-range laptops come with at least 4GB of Ram, and we’d tend to recommend 8GB for people who are heavy web users or usually have lots of documents and pictures open. You can manage with less, but you’ll have to rein in your use.

If you fill up your Ram, some of the things you’re working on will be moved back to the hard drive, making things feel a lot slower. Some cheap computers come with 2GB – this is usually fine on a cheap Chromebook, but some Windows 10 laptops will struggle. Plus you need 4GB for Windows 11. 

When you close a program or file, it is removed from the Ram and makes room for other things to be accessed immediately. This is part of the reason why closing programs you aren’t using can make your computer faster.

4. Screen – what size and resolution of laptop display do I need?

In a nutshell: 

• Unless you have a very low budget, don’t settle for less than Full HD, no matter the size.

The graphic below shows the four main screen resolutions you'll find on laptops and what they are often called. 

A laptop’s screen is one case where bigger isn’t always better. If you want a longer-lasting battery and a more portable device, you may want to go for an 11, 12 or 13-inch display; most of these will weigh between 1kg and 1.5kg. The largest you're likely to see is 15 or 17 inches, with weight increasing to around 2kg to 3kg.

Most new models over £300 now have a Full-HD 1,920x1,080-pixel resolution display, and high-end models can have even sharper screens with even more pixels up to and beyond 4K Ultra HD. Generally, the higher the resolution, the sharper the picture. 

Only cheaper laptops should have a lower screen resolution of 1,366x768. This is okay and usually usable, but these screens not only lack fidelity; their cheap nature means they're also lacking when it comes to how well colours are displayed.

We also test computer monitors - you can hook one up to your laptop to use as a second screen. See our guide to the best computer monitors to get the low-down on how to pick one.

5 - How much laptop storage do I really need?

In a nutshell: 

• Go for an SSD if you can - eMMC is slower and lower capacity and should only be chosen if you're on a budget.

Storage capacity determines how many things your PC can hold. Documents, photos, music, movies, programs – they all take up space.

Bigger is usually better, although solid-state drives (SSDs) are often more expensive for considerably less space. This is because they load much quicker and are completely silent. We're also seeing a lot of cheaper laptops (including Chromebooks) carrying eMMC (embedded Multi-Media Controller) flash storage, which is slower than SSDs and gives you very little storage space.

A hard disk drive's storage capacity is measured in gigabytes (GB) or terabytes (TB, equal to 1,000GB).

If you cleared out all the stuff on your computer you don’t actually need, how much space do you think you’d have? How much do you have now? Check ‘This PC’ in the File Explorer window if you’re using Windows to gauge how big your next laptop’s storage needs to be.

Laptop battery life: manufacturer claims vs reality

In a nutshell:

• Manufacturer battery claims aren’t useful unless you’re only comparing models from the same brand. Use our reviews to get the full picture.

Manufacturers often make heady claims about how long their laptops' batteries last. Our tests ignore the manufacturer claims and involve multiple battery rundowns while simulating web browsing and watching videos. 

If you're buying a laptop that you intend to use when out and about, make sure the battery life is at least six hours based on our reviews. We've tested some models that last for more than 15 hours before they need recharging.

Battery stamina on large, desktop-replacement models won't be as crucial, as they'll almost always be near a power socket. But we still mark them down if they run out of juice in under four hours.

We have previously found that laptop battery life claims versus reality are seldom remotely comparable, so you should always take these claims with a pinch of salt and use our reviews as a place to assess how different laptops' batteries compare to one another.

Our in-depth battery tests give you the real picture when it comes to battery life on a laptop. Make sure you check our laptop reviews to find a great model that will last.

4 reasons why a lightweight laptop might not be right for you

When it comes to a laptop's weight, lighter is better, of course. But there are some cons to be aware of when it comes to the thinnest and lightest laptops.

The number of compromises you’ll need to make when prioritising portability in a laptop are becoming fewer and further between. That said, our tests have shown that this market can still be hit and miss, so it pays to do your research and read our reviews. 

Look out for these common pitfalls found on ultra-thin and light models:

1. Poor battery life 

While portability is great, and frees you from lugging around a huge bag, we’ve found some ultra-thin laptops have compromised on battery size in order to get the weight down. 

The good news is that plenty of laptops don’t fail at this hurdle, so you don’t have to suffer the consequences.

2. Constrained performance 

Very thin laptops often have the same processors found in their larger siblings. However, powerful processors generate lots of heat, and if the laptop is too thin to have space for an effective cooling system, the processor has no choice but to occasionally slow itself down to prevent overheating. 

This typically doesn’t affect basic tasks such as web browsing and working on documents, but sustained tasks such as photo editing and video rendering will see a significant drop in performance. 

Our lab tests check each laptop’s performance in all sorts of scenarios, so these issues come to the fore.

3. Not enough ports 

This one you can spot from a mile off simply by looking at the spec sheet. Some laptops are so thin that a standard USB port or HDMI port won’t fit, so manufacturers simply don’t put any on. 

This is often resolved by adding USB-C ports that are capable of doing all sorts via an adaptor. Bear in mind that most laptop brands don’t supply an adaptor in the box, so you may have to spend a bit extra.

4. Bendy build quality 

In the quest for record-breaking lightness, some manufacturers choose space-age metals and impressive alloys to get their laptops down to the desired weight. Others just use cheap plastic. 

It’s worth checking to see how robust a laptop is before buying, especially if it’s going to spend a lot of its life out and about. Our laptop reviews give a build-quality rating for each model.

Where to buy a laptop

Argos, Currys, John Lewis and Laptops Direct are some of the most searched-for laptop retailers at the time of writing. We’ve included links to these retailers because of their stock availability, best value price, or warranty options. 

Argos

As well as stocking a variety of laptops costing between £200-£3,000, Argos offers free, same-day, in-store collection at selected Sainsbury's stores, where you can bump up your Nectar points, too. Or, if you'd rather have your product delivered, prices start at £3.95. 

Argos also offers free returns to any Argos store within 30 days of purchase. Most laptops come with a manufacturer guarantee of at least one year.

Browse laptops from Argos here.

Currys

Currys stocks over 300 laptop brands including HP, Dell, Apple and Lenovo. Prices start at under £200. 

Click & Collect orders are free, with options to have your laptop delivered to your car in the car park or a walk-in store service. Standard anytime day delivery is also free, and next day delivery starts at £5. 

The Currys Price Promise ensures that if you find a product cheaper elsewhere, Currys will match the price or beat it, as well as match discount codes. 

Most laptops come with a manufacturer guarantee of at least one year.

Browse laptops from Currys here.

John Lewis

If you buy from John Lewis, you will receive a free two-year warranty on a range of over 200 laptops from a huge selection of brands, including gaming, 2-in-1, and home office models. John Lewis also provides a technical support service to answer your queries seven days a week.

Plus, if you find a product cheaper at a different high street store, you can make a price match request online, in store, or over the phone.

John Lewis also offers a variety of shipping options. Standard UK mainland delivery is free when you spend £50 or more (it's £3.50 on orders under £50). If you need your order quickly, next-day delivery will cost you between £6.95-£10.95.

Click & Collect deliveries will send your product to a select pick-up point (usually a Waitrose or Co-op), and are free for orders over £30 (orders under £30 come with a £2 fee). Alternatively, for £3.50, John Lewis' Collect+ service will send your product to a closer shop of your choosing, such as your local corner-shop.

Browse laptops from John Lewis here.

Laptops Direct

This computing specialist sells thousands of both new and refurbished laptops, from over 30 brands, with prices starting from a couple of hundred pounds. 

There's free delivery to most of the UK.

The 'No Quibble' policy at Laptops Direct entitles customers to a full refund for up to 14 days after purchasing. And there's expert technical support available over the phone, seven days a week.

Browse laptops from Laptops Direct here.

When buying a laptop, make sure you're handing your money over to a reputable seller. Check the retailer's returns policy and pay attention to customer feedback and reviews. For more details on shopping online safely and arranging refunds for faulty products, see our advice on shopping online.