Which laptop brand should you buy in 2026?

You can discover the most reliable laptop brands that are worth your money, based on our survey of nearly 7,000 people who own laptops. They spill the beans on whether they're happy with their laptop brand, what problems they've experienced and how long it took it develop a fault.  

Toshiba laptops were the least reliable in our survey, with more than a third developing some sort of fault within seven years of purchase. The most common problems on Toshiba laptops were related to the battery, very slow operation and the device occasionally crashing. Toshiba no longer sells laptops in the UK, however. 

Read on to find out which are the most reliable laptop brands.

Whatever your budget, our lab tests reveal which models are worth your money and which aren't. See our expert pick of the best laptops.

Which laptop brands develop the fewest faults?

This exclusive content is reserved for Which? members, so they can use it to help them buy a laptop from a brand they can trust. But we can tell you that there is a big difference in what laptop owners say about the top-scoring brands versus those that appear lower down in our table. 

Expert verdict on laptop brands

As well as faults and reliability data, our survey also reveals the laptop brands genuine printer owners feel happy with, which they’d recommend to their own friends and family and which they wouldn’t.

Our experts have analysed our survey results to tell you what you need to know about laptop brands.

We have exclusive information on brands including Acer, Apple, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo and Samsung.

Only logged-in Which? members can see our analysis of our survey. If you're not yet a member, join Which? to get instant access to this and all of our expert reviews, including our laptop reviews.

For the top models we recommend, see our pick of the best laptops 

Most common laptop faults and how to fix them

In our survey of nearly 7,000 laptop owners, we asked them what faults (if any) their laptop had developed. These are the four most common. 

Use our expert advice to find out how you can fix them and keep your own laptop running for longer.

1. Laptop running slowly

Laptops do slow with age: updates are needed to keep systems secure, and over time the hardware will become dated compared to the software. That said, not all sluggishness is due to this, and usually you can make improvements. 

As with freezing and crashing, it’s worth trying to diagnose the problem first before taking the nuclear option of resetting it. Use our easy-to-follow guide on how to speed up a laptop or computer.

2. Battery problems

Batteries do gradually degrade with age, but it's a fault if battery life suddenly drops or gets worse over a short period of time. Batteries chemically deteriorate very slowly with each charge cycle, and this should be expected, but a sudden drop-off in battery performance is not something you should expect, and especially not in the first few years of laptop ownership – that is almost certainly a fault with the battery.

Battery faults are one of the most common issues for every laptop brand. Unfortunately, it’s not something you can do much about when making a buying choice, as almost all batteries are tricky to replace because you’d need a local repair shop to carry out a battery replacement for you. 

There are some laptops that have easily replaceable batteries (including all Framework laptops), so do check your laptop's manual – in these cases, you will need the appropriate screwdriver to take the back off your laptop. If in doubt, get your laptop serviced as it's important to install batteries correctly. 

In our latest laptop reviews, we state if a laptop's battery is easy to replace or not.

You can keep your battery in better condition for longer by not keeping it 100% charged all the time. Many laptops now have settings that prevent the device from being charged more than 80% until the laptop expects you to need the full battery (from learning your typical routine over time), which will help the battery stay in good condition for longer. 

It also helps to not completely run the battery down, or leave it depleted for a long period of time. If you’re not going to use your laptop for a few days, leave it unplugged so it’s not sitting there constantly charging.

3. Problem with the keyboard, touchpad or multimedia buttons

These are likely to be issues caused by physical wear and tear, and often the affected components need replacing. Touchpads and multimedia buttons are usually unique to your laptop or its range, so an exact replacement (original or third-party) would be required. A service can fix the issue if parts are available.

Keyboard keys usually follow a similar approach, and there are specialised suppliers that can offer replacements if you can't obtain originals. This repair can be easier if the issue is the physical key itself (or the clip holding it in), as then it can usually be done without opening up the laptop. If in doubt, contact a specialist repair shop.

4. Crashing and freezes

Another common problem faced by laptop owners is their device frequently crashing. This can be caused by all manner of things, from corrupted files and software to damaged hardware. 

If you’ve suddenly started seeing more crashes, it’s worth thinking about anything you’ve done recently – such as installing a new program – and uninstall it to see if that helps. Another very useful option is to reset the operating system. Windows, macOS and ChromeOS all have functions for this and will often sort out any lingering issues.

How we discover the most reliable laptop brands

Oliver Trebilcock, Which? laptops expert says:

Which? has a wealth of information on the UK's favourite brands. Every year, we ask thousands of people to tell us about the tech they own – from how likely they would be to recommend a brand to how reliable the products are once they get them home.

This year, more than 15,750 Which? members and the public told us about 43,500 individual products, including almost 7,000 laptops. This means we have data that covers the whole range of brands and models available – from premium to budget-friendly options. So I can make sure you don't just hear about what's popular, but you see which laptop brands really are the best on the market.

Plus, if any brand ever performs so badly as to get one star out of five for reliability in our survey of owners, that automatically excludes it from getting any recommendation from us for that product area – meaning I'll ensure those laptops won't get our Best Buy or Great Value laptop recommendations.

Need more help choosing a new laptop? See all of our expert advice on laptops.