The best laptops of 2024 in New Zealand: we compare the top notebooks on offer

Whether you're making the switch from a desktop machine to something more portable, looking at an all-in-one gaming beast, or just after an upgrade on your existing laptop, now’s a great time to compare the best laptops around.

Here at TechRadar, we review all the latest and greatest notebooks, ultrabooks and 2-in-1s, so we have the benefit of being able to thoroughly weigh up their pros and cons.

Apple has really come out swinging with its own M1 chipset and, for the first time in quite a while, their MacBook Air and MacBook Pro have beaten out many of the powerful Windows competition (including the almighty Dell XPS 13).

There's also some excellent ultra-affordable options in the Chromebook category if you're just after a machine for some casual browsing and document editing to take on the go.

If you're unsure where to start, at the foot of the page we've put together a quick buying guide to steer you in the right direction – are you a gamer or do you need something affordable and versatile?

Written By

Written By

Joel Burgess

Joel has been the in-house benchmark monkey for the Australian TechRadar team and Australia’s two biggest tech magazines (APC and TechLife) since 2014. 

In between compiling giant spreadsheets of the top performing laptops, Joel has developed a keen interest in getting granular with consumer hardware. If he’s not pushing a gaming rig to its limits, he’ll be pressure testing the latest home coffee machine or digging into the science behind air purifiers.

The quick list

Want to cut to the chase and find out what the best laptops are? Below, you’ll find a roundup of our choices, and you can jump to a more detailed review of every pick, along with our price comparison tool to help you find the best deals.

Best laptops in New Zealand 2024

The best laptop overall

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Apple has switched around the status quo on its latest laptop range. Not only is the MacBook Air now more expensive than the new MacBook Pro 13 offerings, it’s also got a bigger, brighter screen and offers a raft of updated features that the M2 MacBook Pro 13 misses out on.

Apple is going to continue to sell the late-2020 MacBook Air with an M1 processor alongside the new MacBook Air for those that are price sensitive.  

The new M2 MacBook Air offers up to 16 percent faster CPU and 35 percent faster GPU performance against it's predecessor, which puts it roughly in line with what you'll get from Ultrabooks running Intel’s i7-1260P CPUs.

The new all aluminium design brings it in line with the 14 and 16 inch MacBook Pros by swapping out the wedge profile to have a more boxy rectangular shape. This makes it 20 percent smaller in volume overall and just 11.3mm thick. 

Despite being more compact, Apple seems to have found enough space to make the screen slightly bigger at 13.6-inches. And while it technically offers slightly more pixels (2560x1664), the main difference in the new screen is that it now offers a 500 nit peak brightness (instead of 400nit), and you can turn the display down to as low as five nits when working in particularly dark environments.

This new design means it also gets a Magsafe charger, a FullHD FaceTime webcam, a new quad-speaker Spatial Audio array and a Magic Keyboard with Touch ID. 

Battery life was almost identical to the last MacBook Air, lasting 19 hours and five minutes in 1080p movie playback, but it wouldn’t be unreasonable to get two days of light work out of it, which is still way more than any other laptops we’ve tested.

Read the full review: MacBook Air (M2, 2022)

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The best value laptop

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Apple’s late 2020 MacBook Air might seem a little dated in 2023, but the M1 silicon chip was powerful enough when it was released to hold up well today… especially when you factor in battery life and value. Thanks to the revolutionary ARM-based Apple M1 chip that powers the new MacBook Air (Apple has ditched Intel for these new laptops), this is a stunning achievement: a thin and light laptop that offers great performance, even with 4K video editing, while also offering incredible battery life. Easily managing over 11 hours on a single charge, this is a laptop you can easily carry around with you at work or school, and its price is decently competitive compared to Windows 10 rivals (for once). Running both new and old Mac apps, the new MacBook Air can now also run iOS apps for iPhone and iPads, giving it access to hundreds of brilliant mobile applications and games as well.

Even if you've only ever used Windows laptops before, the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) is well worth getting and making the jump to macOS. Yes, it really is that good.

Read the full review: Apple MacBook Air (M1, 2020) review

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The best Windows laptop

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While the Dell XPS 15 misses out on the developments you’ll see on the XPS 13 Plus, by using the existing XPS chassis Dell is able to pack in even more premium components while keeping the price down. This is by no means a compromise either since the cool carbon fibre clad chassis is sleek and functional. 

One of the biggest perks is a 14-core i7-12700H CPU which outpaces Apple’s M1 Max processors in some benchmarks. This CPU is backed by a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, a 512GB SSD and a 1080p screen in the entry level configuration. The RRP for this unit is AU$3,499, but interestingly we’ve seen solid discounts on equivalent models with a 3.5K OLED touch or 4K 500nit touchscreen displays that bring them down to around AU$3,000 direct form Dell, so it’s worth keeping an eye out for a discount. 

While the M1 Pro has a lower wattage than the i7-12700H, the XPS 15 seems to be benefiting from Nvidia’s new Optimus GPU switching tech since its battery life has jumped from around 6 hours of 1080p movie playback on the last generation to over 10 hours on the new generation. And while this is a way off the MacBook Air M2’s 19 plus hours it actually manages to outlast the MacBook Pro 16 with a M1 Max processor. 

While the i7 CPU is already one of the most powerful available you can up it to an i9 for an additional $400. Both will be able to handle any workload you’ll throw at it and when paired with the 40W 3050 Ti you’ll get playable 30fps plus framerates on modern titles with 1080p Ultra settings. With 32GB or 64GB of RAM this configuration will be one of the most powerful Ultrabooks you can get this year. 

The two higher resolution screens are some of the best available offering either a 3.5K OLED at 400 nits or an UltraHD display at a brighter 500 nit peak brightness. Dell doesn’t advertise the colour specifications of these displays, but you can apparently opt for Adobe RGB calibration, so you’ve got the option for professional colour grading capabilities if you need it.

Read the full review:  Dell XPS 15 (9520)

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The best creative workstation

Unlike the MacBook Air range, the new M2 updates of the MacBook Pro 14 and 16-inch laptops aren’t massively different to their predecessors. Obviously the devices come with new M2 Pro or M2 Max processors, which will bring respectable upgrades to overall performance, but other than this the devices only really get new Wi-Fi 6E networking capabilities, a new Thunderbolt spec, a faster AI chip and greater memory bandwidth. 

This isn’t a complaint, the 14.2-inch or 16.2-inch Liquid Retina XDR displays are still top of their game with high 3K-plus pixel resolutions, bright 1000 nit sustained screen brightness, 120Hz dynamic refresh rates and full DCI-P3 colour reproduction capabilities. 

The devices also offer industry leading SSD disk speed tests at 7700/5727 MB/s read and write speeds, respectively, and you’ve got a wide range of interface options including an HDMI and an SD Card reader, so you really don’t have to sacrifice anything. 

One of the top line features of the 2023 MacBook Pros is a faster memory interface with greater bandwidth. You can fit these devices out as extremely highly specced units that cost over $10K, but the entry level 14 and 16 inch devices start at $3,199 and $3,999 respectively. This much more approachable price point will net you a device with a M2 Pro chip, consisting of a 10 or 12-core CPU, 16 or 19-core GPU and a 16 Core Neural Engine; 16GB of Unified Memory; and a 512GB SSD. If we look at offerings from Razer and Dell these entry level units are by no means underpowered and offer competitive advantages over both the Blade 15 and XPS 15 devices. 

Apple has made strides towards greater engagement with the gaming community and it’s about to get a native version of No Man's Sky, but if that’s an important component in what you’re looking for the faster refresh rates and gaming specific GPU of the Razer Blade 15 is still definitely where you should put your money. That said,for anyone predominantly looking to use their laptop for work, especially graphically demanding creative work, the MacBook Pro’s ability to share memory between CPU and GPU and the generous battery capable of reaching peak performance without attached power are some pretty convincing drawcards. 

This battery lasted over 20 hours in our 1080p movie playback benchmark. That’s well over what you’d really need for a remote work day and should include enough overhead to actually do some demanding creative work while on the go, which isn’t offered by other professional laptops on the market.  

Read the full review: Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M2 Pro, 2023)

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The best 2-in-1

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Instead of offering a detachable tablet experience like the Surface Book, the Surface Laptop Studio has a screen that can fold into a drafting table shape to make it easy to draw on. The design (and title) is clearly borrowed from the company’s desktop all-in-one the Surface Studio and it works exceptionally well with the recently updated Surface Slim Pen 2.

The laptop has a recessed edge that we originally thought was to make the powerful 1.9cm device look a little less bulky in photos, but this unusual shadow line edge design actually creates an inverted shelf that can store the Slim Pen 2 and makes room for unimpeded thermal vents on either side. This does have the downside of constraining the space for ports so you’ll have to be content with a pair of Thunderbolt ports, the Surface Connect port and a 3.5mm audio jack. 

The 14.4-inch PixelSense display looks really impressive, even when sitting next to an OLED display. Sure it’s a little more glossy and doesn’t have the same depth in the blacks, but the 2400 x 1600 pixel touchscreen has a 1500 to 1 contrast ratio and a vibrant 201 PPI pixel density. It only just scrapes in to achieve 100 percent sRGB colour reproduction though, so you can’t really use it for colour grading work, even if it does look great. It’s also a 120Hz display that makes the already responsive Surface Slim Pen 2 seem even more silky, and opens up interesting gaming potential when you pair it with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti. 

While the entry level Surface Laptop Studio comes with an Intel Core i5-11300H CPU and integrated Iris Xe Graphics, you can configure it with an Intel Core i7-11370H CPU and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050Ti GPU for AU$3,149. Both models come with 16GB of RAM and will be fine for a wide range of workloads, but the latter is going to have slightly more overhead for using design software. It’s not bad at gaming either, with the i7 unit we tested racking up 49fps averages on games like F1 2021 using Ultra 1080p settings.

Battery life isn’t amazing at seven hours and four minutes of PCMark 10 Work benchmarks, and a little over six hours of movie playback, but it’s not horrible for an ultraportable with a discrete GPU.  

You’ll get a similar laptop experience from the Asus VivoBook Pro 15 OLED for AU$2,299 if you don’t mind a three hour battery life, but there’s not really anywhere else you can get this kind of touchscreen and drawing interface.

Read the full review:  Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio review 

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The best OLED display laptop

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Dell’s XPS 13 has always been a leader in the ultra premium laptop market, but as the new Plus naming convention might give away, the new range of XPS 13 Plus devices are adding even more to the overall experience. Some of the update’s headline features include a notably more powerful Intel 12th generation CPU, an optional OLED touchscreen panel, an integrated glass touchpad palmrest and a neat capacitive touch bar.

The range starts at AU$2,599 and comes with a 13.4-inch FullHD display, a 12-core i5-1240P CPU, 16GB  of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. The unit we tested came with a 400nit, 3.5K, OLED panel, an i7-1260P CPU, 32GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD with an RRP of AU$3,799, but it’s often on sale for around 20 percent less than that. 

The Dell XPS 13 Plus i7 scored between seven and 12 percent better than the Late 2020 MacBook Pro 13 (M1), which puts it within 3 percent of the MacBook Air M2. Graphically Intel’s Iris Xe isn’t as advanced as Apple’s integrated SSD so the Dell XPS 13 Plus was 36 percent behind the MacBook Air M2. 

Battery life also doesn’t look overly impressive next to Apple’s devices lasting just 6 hours and 6 minutes during 1080p movie playback, but it’s not too bad for a Windows Ultrabook. 

The Gen 4 PCIe is as fast as any we’ve seen, capping out at 7,000MB/s Read and 5,000MB/s write speeds, and the quad speaker array is generous and compliments the capable screen in media playback. With a choice of Platinum or Graphite colouring, a HD webcam, a Windows Hello IR cam and dual microphone array, there really aren’t too many things wrong with the XPS 13 Plus.

Read the full review:  Dell XPS 13 Plus

• After a different model? Compare prices on any Australian laptop at our sister site Getprice!

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The best gaming Ultrabook

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The ROG Zephyrus M16 is a refresh that sticks pretty close to its predecessor, other than swapping out the AMD CPU for a choice of Intel’s 12th generation 14-core CPUs. It’s got a 16-inch display in a 15-inch form factor, with the same optional 16 by 10 QHD+ screen, wrapped in an almost identical 2kg chassis. 

The updated 2022 Zephyrus M16 comes with either an Intel Core i7-12700H or an Intel Core i9-12900H processor. The former is paired with a 165Hz FullHD+ 16:10 display, 16GB of RAM and a choice of a Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti (100W) GPU for $2,799 or a RTX 3060 (120W) GPU for AU$3,199. If you opt for the i9 model, you’ll get that higher res 2560 x 1600 165Hz screen, a larger 32GB RAM allocation, and an RTX 3070 Ti (120W) GPU for AU$4,499. 

For a reduced range, the configurations are pretty nicely balanced, even if we do wish that all of them got the QHD display. In addition to being higher resolution the QHD+ display also offers a professional level DCI-P3 wide colour gamut for colour grading or high-fidelity HDR gaming, rather than the standard 100 percent sRGB colour on the 1200p monitors. 

The metal chassis with ‘soft-touch’ coating gives a premium feel to the device and the generous trackpad, quiet keyboard, and subtle colour on the top shell continue a level of sophistication that is often missed on gaming laptops. 

The Zephyrus M16 may be design conscious, but it’s also got good performance stats for a gaming ultraportable. It’ll be able to tackle the heaviest of workloads and no matter what GPU you choose it’s going to offer notably more power than your average work ultrabook. 

The Nvidia RTX 3070 Ti GPU that we tested was allocated a 120W max power draw, which is a reasonable middle ground offering 90fps+ on modern titles using 1080p Ultra settings and around 60fps+ when using ray tracing or at higher resolutions. Expect about half this graphical performance if you opt for the 3050 Ti GPU or about 20 percent less for the 3060 GPU. 

For general work tasks and 1080p video won’t get you more than 3-4 hours respectively.

Read the full review:  ASUS ROG Zephyrus M16 

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The best no-frills Ultrabook

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MSI has been making some good laptops of late, and the Prestige 14 Evo isn’t about to break that streak. Coming in at just 1.29kg the Prestige 14 EVO is on the lighter side of 13-inch laptops released in 2021. At first glance it might feel like it’s made out of cheaper materials but the sandblasted aluminium provides a sturdy shell that prevents any flex and helps keep it under 1.6cm thick. 

There’s really only a couple of configurations available locally, with the top unit featuring an Intel Core i7-1280P CPU, 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD. This unit is one of the few to feature a 4th generation PCIe SSD, which means you can expect ridiculously fast read speeds of 4910MB/s… even if we could only get this one to 2508MB/s when writing. 

Performance is on par with what you’ll see from the rest of the 12th generation P units here. This means it’s powerful enough to accommodate the workflows of most business users, with only designers and other creative pro’s needing a little more under the hood. As with everything here you also get the Iris Xe GPU gaming capabilities which means you’ll get playable frame rates for Low 1080p settings on many modern games. 

Apart from the 4th-gen PCIe SSD the main drawcard of the MSI prestige is the price which is on the more affordable end without sacrificing on components. If you need a high-res screen you’ll have to look elsewhere, but everything else on this unit is top notch. 

Read the full review:  MSI Prestige 14” (2022) 

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The best laptop for students

The original Surface Laptop Go was an impressive budget-conscious device and the Surface Laptop Go 2 has made some major improvements to make it even better. It keeps the 12.4-inch PixelSense display, and offers a similar compact and ultralight profile, but has updated the processor, keyboard and storage options. 

The new processor is 15-30 percent faster and the Gen 3 PCIe storage offers read and write speeds over 3000/1500 MB/s respectively. The device also offers a full work day battery lifespan, a fingerprint reader, and solid audio and web -conferencing capabilities.

While a lot of the best features remain the same, there’s also few major improvements to be found, including: the 11th Gen Intel processor that brings performance forward a generation. 

There’s no option for small eMMC storage this year, which means the entry model is more expensive, but it actually brings the cost of the middle offering down by AU$50 and you get a Gen 3 PCIe SSD with 3,000MB/s read and 1,600MB/s write speeds, which is much faster than the original Surface Laptop Go. 

This new processor offers between 15 and 30 percent performance improvement over the original Surface Laptop Go on general work tasks and is a more efficient chip overall. This means you’ll get an extra two hours of battery life from it when using general office tasks like those in the PCMark 10 Home Battery benchmark. With a total lifespan of 8 hours and 52 minutes you can safely leave your charger at home for a full work day. 

The updated 11th Gen chip also comes with Intel’s Iris Xe Graphics which offers over 2.5 times the GPU performance and means you could do a bit of light gaming on this device using low graphics settings at sub 1080p resolution. 

The overall keyboard feel has improved, making it hard to distinguish form more expensive Surface units and the dual studio microphones and HD camera have had some attention in this update too. It doesn’t have the infrared camera for Windows Hello facial recognition, but there is a fingerprint reader on both 8GB units that makes signing in still really fast. 

Audio quality is really good, especially for a budget laptop, and the touchscreen 148 PPI display looks great for something that isn’t quite FullHD. The Surface Laptop Go 2 also comes with full Windows 11 Home, by default, which marks the first time a Go device has entirely ditched the Windows S confined OS. A set of USB-C, USB-A, 3.5mm audio and Surface Connect Port interface options round out a pretty amazing offering for something a little over $1K. 

Read the full review:  Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2 

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The best large screen laptop

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If the Dell XPS 17 (2022) looks familiar, that’s because it is. Physically, this revised 2022 model is a dead ringer for last year’s Dell XPS 17 - and the one from 2020, too. But that’s no bad thing given this is one of the slickest and sleekest laptops around. That doesn't mean there's nothing new with the latest model, however. Dell has done a lot of work updating the internal components of the XPS 17, and it's now powered by Intel's 12th generation processors. You can configure it with an Nvidia GeForce GPU as well, and that means, if you're after a large-screen laptop that's stylishly designed and can keep up with even the most demanding of workloads, then the Dell XPS 17 (2022) is definitely worth considering. 

The Dell XPS 17 is super sleek and beautifully built, with the main chassis and screen covered in machined aluminium and the palm rest in carbon fibre. It still looks modern, too, thanks to ultra-slim bezels on all four sides of the display. And all that's despite it still squeezing in a 720p webcam up top with Windows Hello facial recognition support.

As far as performance goes, this laptop has everything you could ask for. It’ll tear through everything from video encodes to 3D renders with ease. Intel Alder Lake’s world-beating single-core performance also guarantees that this laptop feels snappy in day-to-day tasks like web browsing. If there is an exception, it involves graphics performance and gaming, unless you splash out on a truly high-end configuration. Even then, remember that this is not designed to be a gaming laptop.

Large powerful laptops like the Dell XPS 17 (2022) used to be nailed-on certainties for awful battery life. Not these days. In light workloads like watching video and web browsing, you can expect over 10 hours of battery life. Whilst reviewing the Dell XPS 17, we found we could just about manage a whole workday on a single charge.

The Dell XPS 17 (2022) kicks off at $1,749 in the US, £2,099 in the UK and AU$3,999, and costs can quickly mount when you start configuring it with yet more powerful specs.

Read the full review: Dell XPS 17 (2022)

While Apple blew us away with the new MacBook Air (above), arch rival Microsoft has also impressed us with its new Surface Laptop 4, landing straight in at number 2 of our best laptops 2021 list. As with previous Surface devices, build quality and design is absolutely top-notch here, and its gorgeous PixelSense touchscreen really sets it apart from the competition (a touchscreen is something we've yet to see on an Apple laptop, as Microsoft likes to remind us).

It also comes with a brilliant keyboard that's a joy to type on, and some pretty great specs as well, which ensures that Windows 10, and all your favourite apps, run extremely well. Battery life is also very impressive – lasting over 13 hours in our tests – and the price is impressively competitive as well. If you're looking for the best laptop of 2021 that runs Windows 10, this is it.

Read the full review: Microsoft Surface Laptop 4

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Lenovo doesn't just make some of the best laptops in the world, it also makes some of the best Chromebooks as well, and the brilliant Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook proves how good these Chrome OS-powered laptops really are. It can be used as a laptop or a tablet, and it's backed up by some very impressive specs.

Is it a Chromebook or is it a tablet? Well, luckily, you won’t have to decide with the brilliant Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook. True to its name, this Chromebook delivers two form factors in one, while utilizing the versatility of the Chrome OS and setting you back much less than many of the top Windows tablets out there. 

Like all the best Chromebooks, its battery packs an incredibly long life of almost 22 hours – so you could pull an all-nighter, work through the day and mid-afternoon, and you’ll still pass out before it runs out of juice. 

For this price, sacrifices have to be made, naturally – the keyboard is tiny, the trackpad isn’t as reliable, and the charger and headphones share one port. However, if budget is your top priority, those are definitely not deal-breakers.

Read the full review: Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook 

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The brand-new MacBook Pro 14-inch is easily the best productivity laptop you can buy in 2021. For creative professionals such as photographers, video editors and music producers, the MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021) is a dream to use, thanks to a choice between powerful new M1 Pro or M1 Max chips that can handle even the most intensive workloads with ease.

Not only that, but its Liquid Retina XDR display with mini-LED technology is absolutely stunning, and the best screen you can get on a laptop right now. Add in a 1080p webcam and boosted port selection, and you have a brilliant business and productivity laptop. It won't be for everyone – the price and power will be too much for most people's needs – but if you want a killer laptop to do creative work on, this is the laptop to get. For everyone else, check out the MacBook Air (M1, 2020) at the top of our list.

Read the full review: MacBook Pro 14-inch (2021)

While it's certainly not the latest model, the late 2020 Dell XPS 13 (9310) is one of the best bang-for-buck laptops on the market in New Zealand. Although later models packed in a few improvements, their pricing locally doesn't translate to nearly as good a value score as this particular model. This 'New XPS 13' packs in the 11th-gen Intel Core processors as well as as the superbly impressive Iris Xe integrated GPU – an upgrade that almost doubles its graphical prowess. This means that, not only is the XPS 13 9310 a great option for business and everyday use with its gorgeous, sleek design and powerful innards, but it's now viable for casual gamers. It's also sporting the upgraded 'Infinity Edge' display which dramatically reduces bezels and the overall size of the unit. 

Read the full review: Dell XPS 13 (Late 2020) review

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This luxurious thin and light gaming laptop from Razer just oozes class, and is an ideal laptop for people who want a gaming device they can take around with them. It's solidly built, so you won't worry about it getting damaged during your travels, and it's one of the nicest looking modern gaming laptops we've seen.

It's not all about looks, however, as the Razer Blade 14 comes with cutting edge components as well, including the awesome AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX processor and up to an RTX 3080 graphics card. This means you'll be able to play any AAA game you want in all its glory. It's by far the best gaming laptop you can buy in in 2021, but it does cost a lot of money.

Read the full review: Razer Blade 14

We know, this is technically a gaming laptop, but for those that want to balance work and play, there's little else out there that's better value than the Zephyrus G14 right now. It's worth noting that it's missing a webcam and a Thunderbolt 3 port, so if that's a concern this isn't for you, but its solid battery life, compact form, and powerful specs do a fine job at balancing everything that you'll need from a laptop. This is an absolute beast for performance, with its AMD Ryzen 4000 processors and Nvidia RTX 2060 graphics card, best-in-class battery life that will last you all day long, a fast display with a 120Hz refresh rate and a lightweight, ultrathin design. The best part is that you’re getting all that without burning a hole in your pocket. Don’t get us wrong; it isn’t cheap. However, for a laptop this impressive, we’re surprised Asus isn’t asking for more.

Read the full review: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 

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The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 is the latest refresh for Lenovo's flagship 2-in-1 business laptop and the addition of Intel's 11th-gen Tiger Lake processors with Iris Xe graphics, along with Intel Evo certification, make it one of the best 2-in-1 laptops we've tested.

Add in the outstanding 16:10 touchscreen display, garaged stylus, and excellent battery life, and there's very little that we can find fault with here. It's got a great selection of ports that puts the MacBook Air to shame, but it does miss an SD card slot, which some creatives may be disappointed to learn.

But apart from that, and a bit of a straight-laced design (as a ThinkPad device, this is a laptop aimed primarily at business users), the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6 is easily one of the best laptops to come out in 2021, especially if you're looking for something that can be used as both a traditional laptop and as a tablet-like device as well.

Read the full review: Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Yoga Gen 6

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Beyond the Acer Swift 3's modest exterior, you'll find an excellent laptop that boasts plenty of power for work and study. The Swift 3 (not to be confused with the Switch 3 another laptop from Acer) is an inexpensive laptop; however, that plain chassis is all-aluminum and packed with beefy components. 

In terms of performance, it gets surprisingly close to the far more expensive Microsoft Surface Laptop. Its display is a little lower-res, but the two are otherwise strikingly similar - other than the price. 

This laptop is incredible to use as well, with its roomy trackpad as well as its backlit keyboard that offers a comfortable typing experience with decent travel. If you're going to be writing a lot – whether you’re traveling or at the office, this is one of the best budget laptops 2021 has on offer.

Read the full review: Acer Swift 3

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Which type of laptop is best for you?

General laptops: This broader category is dedicated to devices that focus more on practicality than style, portability or power. That’s not to say they can’t be fast, but you’ll typically find a non-Ultrabook clamshell laptop with an HD screen and spinning drive-based storage for less than NZ$1,000.

Ultrabooks: Where you’ll find thin-and-light notebooks sporting SSD storage and display resolutions that exceed 1080p. Paired with powerful, albeit mobile-centric components and especially long battery life, the best Ultrabooks will cost a pretty penny – closer to NZ$1,000 to NZ$3,000.

2-in-1 laptops: Where notebooks that double as tablets are located. Outfitted with both detachable and 360-degree rotating hinges, these hybrids are the most versatile way to experience Windows 10 (or Chrome OS) on a touchscreen.

Chromebooks: Where you’ll find the best Chromebooks running Chrome OS. These do much of what Windows and macOS can in the browser, focused on cloud storage over local, while recently getting Android app support for touchscreen models. They generally cost less than NZ$700.

Gaming laptops: Need a laptop to play games (almost) just like a shiny desktop PC can? Then you’ll want one of the best gaming laptops. These machines generally cost more than NZ$1,500 and can quickly get into the NZ$5,000 range for the beastlier models.

How we tested these laptops

How we test the best laptops

We know that buying a new laptop can be a huge investment, so every laptop in this list has been extensively tested by us. When we test laptops, we use them in our day-to-day lives to see how they perform. We look at their design, including how stylish they are, or if they are thin and light enough to carry around, and how comfortable they are to work on.

When it comes to performance, we use a mix of real-world tests and synthetic benchmarks to see how powerful (or not) these laptops are. This means using Windows 10 (or Chrome OS on Chromebooks and macOS on MacBooks) and running various apps and seeing how fast they load, noting down any problems.

These days, the webcam and microphone in a laptop is also incredibly important, so we take time to test out these as well. When it comes to gaming laptops, we’ll run more benchmark tests, as well as fire up games to play on them as well (it’s a hard job, isn’t it?)

Battery lives are also important, so we’ll keep track on how long we can use the laptop without needing to charge. We also run our own battery life benchmark that plays a looped 1080p movie until the battery dies. The PC Mark 10 battery life benchmark replicates real-world usage, such as web browsing and document creation. These tests give us an excellent idea of how long the batteries in these laptops last.

We then take everything we’ve learned about the laptop and compare it to its price, to see if it offers the best value to customers.