Choosing the Right Laptop, Made Easy!

Need a new laptop but haven’t quite kept up with all the latest product releases? Well, we’ve got you covered – this guide profiles a dozen of the best laptop on the market today, in a variety of categories, from home office to work on-the-go to enthusiast-level gaming.

The Best Laptops, Right Now!

For Spring 2022, every single one of our 12 picks is new, which goes to show how truly dynamic the market is. That’s in part due to renewed competition between Intel and AMD, each vying for dominance in the laptop processor market like never before. Translation: consumers win with every new CPU released! And that’s why you need this guide… so you don’t get stuck with last year’s also-ran, which many vendors will be more than happy to sell you!!!

And while there’s truly a great laptop for everyone on this list, not everyone needs the same thing. That’s why we have budget choices for families and students, ultra-light choices for serious travelers, content creation machines, and of course, gaming laptops, all of which are equipped with Nvidia’s latest RTX 3000-series GPUs. Anything less would be a mistake!

Key Things to Look For

As noted, Intel and AMD are now competing hard for the attention of laptop buyers, and we’ve incorporated the best from both companies in our selections. Notably, Intel called a “time out” in order to fight back against a renewed AMD, releasing nothing new in 2021, but coming storming back for 2022. Its latest 12th-Gen CPUs, based on the cutting-edge Alder Lake hybrid architecture, are a huge leap forward in terms of computing power. As is often the case with new tech, however, it’s going to take time to trickle down, and the first out of the gate are the high-wattage versions, which are best utilized in premium gaming laptops. That’s where you’ll find them in our guide.

As for our home and work laptop picks, they are powered by either Intel’s older 11th-Gen CPUs or one of AMD’s impressive 5000-series CPUs based on the Zen 3 architecture. Note that AMD has played a few games with its naming scheme, such that the latest 5000-series processors don’t all use Zen 3… some are rebadged 4000-series processors, which is fine as long as the price is right. Just pay attention to our recommendations and you’ll be set.

One last thing: there’s been a lot of innovation with regard to laptop screens as well lately, and many high-end models offer features such as OLED panels, high-refresh rates, extreme resolutions, or work-friendly 16:10 aspect ratios. We’ve made sure to call these out in our recommendations so you know all the great tech you can get!

Parting Thoughts

We update this guide quarterly, as new laptops are constantly hitting the market, and Intel and AMD update their CPU offerings at least once a year. To help support continued development of this guide, please use the Amazon and Newegg links we provide. Our Amazon links will will auto-convert for readers in Canada, the UK, and parts of the EU, with automatic substitutions made where necessary based on regional variations.