Best laptops for teachers 2023: Best overall, best battery life, and more

With its superb battery life, lightweight form factor, and powerful CPU performance, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra has a lot to offer. The 1080p webcam is a nice addition for remote learning, too. As for the battery life, our tests showed that it trounced the competition with 13.1 continuous hours of use, which means you can kiss those outlet-hunting days goodbye.

The Galaxy Book3 Ultra features a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 CPU, the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. With that kind of power this machine should have no problem handling productivity tasks as well as day-to-day use. It also comes with a 16-inch OLED display that boasts a resolution of 2880×1800 and a refresh rate of 120Hz. Visuals should be both vivid and detailed. If you’re looking for a laptop that ticks all of the productivity boxes and more, then the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is well worth consideration.

The Acer Aspire 3 is a great option for budget-conscious teachers out there. It’s reasonably priced and performance is fast enough for everyday tasks like writing e-mails, online research, and grading homework. The full-size keyboard provides loads of room, which is perfect for longer typing sessions. While that’s all well and good, the internal bits are really what makes this laptop a good value buy.

This laptop has an Ryzen 3 7320U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of PCIe SSD storage. The 15.8-inch display has a resolution of 1080p and decent color quality. Also, in our tests we found that the battery should hold a charge for up to eight hours of continuous use—enough for the average full workday. The design, while a little utilitarian, is one of the sturdiest builds we’ve seen on a budget laptop. All in all, the Acer Aspire 3 gives you plenty of bang for relatively few bucks.

That last thing you want to do everyday is lug a heavy, unwieldy laptop around with you between classes. Enter the Acer Swift Edge 16, which is a lightweight 16-inch laptop with an ultra-slim design. Measuring in at only 0.51-inches thick and weighing a featherlight 2.71 pounds, the Swift Edge 16 gives you all of the screen real-estate as competitors without adding additional size or weight. The larger screen might make for a larger footprint than some ultra-portables, but we fully welcome that extra OLED display size.

Acer also included solid processing performance with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, but the lack of discrete graphics means you aren’t likely to be playing any games on this rig. Still, it is more than suitable to handle productivity tasks or apps with ease. The Swift Edge 16 is reasonably priced as well and undercuts the cost of alternatives, adding to its appeal.

The latest Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED upgrades previous versions with a new 13th-gen Intel processor and a beautiful OLED screen. Thanks to the aforementioned Core i7 processor, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD, there is plenty of performance for everyday productivity tasks. It’s also a sleekly designed svelte laptop that’s just over half an inch thick and weighs a mere 3.31 pounds. There are some great extras for teachers with this laptop as well. These include the 1080p webcam, which helps you look nice for online lessons and meetings, an OLED touchscreen display, and an included stylus pen for when you want to flip the screen back and use the device in tablet mode.

Admittedly, for this price we’d like to see an option for more robust graphics such as a discrete graphics card, but the Intel Iris Xe is still more than manageable for most daily work tasks. 2-in-1s in general make great tools for teachers as they are flexible enough to fit into any setting and they can fulfill multiple roles. For anyone looking to purchase a 2-in-1, the Zenbook 14 Flip OLED should be at the top of your list.

When going to and from classes and teaching, you might not always have a convenient way to charge your laptop, so you need something that will last all day. The Asus Chromebook CM34 Flip does just that. The fantastic battery on this Chromebook just doesn’t seem stop. In fact, it lasted an unbelievable 19 hours on a single charge during our testing—we even had to run the benchmark twice just to make sure. For most laptops, if you can eek out 10 hours on a single charge it’s considered long-lasting—the CM34 Flip almost doubles that number.

This Chromebook is no slouch when it comes to performance either. It features AMD’s Ryzen 3 7320C CPU and 16GB of RAM. This 2-in-1 also comes with a colorful touchscreen display, comfortable touchpad, and high-quality 1080p webcam. It’s not the most portable though, weighing in at just over 4 pounds. But if you’re on the hunt for a long-lasting everyday machine that won’t break the bank, you can’t get much better than the CM34 Flip.

Lenovo laptops are always great options for business professionals, and the latest ThinkPad X1 Nano is no exception. The aim with the X1 Nano is to cram an enjoyable laptop with great performance into the smallest footprint possible, and Lenovo did a great job meeting this goal. It comes with the latest 13th-gen Core i7-1360P processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. But the real kicker is the excellent keyboard. The layout is surprisingly spacious with easy-to-find keys that have good travel and a clicky, satisfying bottoming action.

All of this is somehow fit into a pint-sized footprint of 11.54×8.19 inches with a thickness of just 0.58 inches. Plus it weighs a mere 2.18 pounds. It is an easily portable laptop to haul between classes or fit into your bag for a trip to the coffee shop for some paper grading. The only issue we found was the battery life, which in real-world tests needed to be recharged in the middle of a workday with heavy use. Regardless, if you want a compact laptop that provides a satisfying typing experience for when you’re grading assignments and writing rubrics look no further than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Nano.

For the eco-conscious teacher, the latest Acer Aspire Vero, made from 30 percent post-consumer recycled plastics, is a great option. Acer should be commended for its design of this unique laptop, which is not only eco-friendly, but also attractive and includes a few unique touches that help it stand out.

It’s no slouch in the performance department either, sporting a Core i7 processor, Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and a fast 512GB M.2 NVMe SSD. Overall, the Vero is an attractive ultraportable for the eco-conscious educator.

Apple’s line of MacBook Pro laptops are known for their attractive design, incredible efficiency, and great performance. But they are also extremely expensive. Now HP has created a worthy competitor with the Dragonfly Pro. They partnered with AMD to create a svelte laptop that packs the latest Ryzen 7 processor with 8 high-performance cores and a powerful Radeon 680M graphic card. The design of the laptop is spot on—it’s thin and attractive with a high quality feel made from aluminum and polycarbonate. The main drawback is that, just like the MacBook Pro models, this laptop takes a minimalist approach to ports, meaning that those who rely on plug-in accessories will need to find work arounds. Also, while the display is good enough, it just doesn’t quite live up to Apple’s best. Still, for a laptop that is significantly cheaper than any of the MacBook Pro models, this Dragonfly Pro laptop from HP is an excellent option.

If you prefer using ChromeOS over Windows, the Acer Chromebook Spin 514 is a fantastic option. It has great battery life and a spectacular keyboard and touchpad. According to our reviewer, the Spin 514 features a “wide keyboard layout with large, easily located keys.” In addition to the dual USB-C ports with power delivery and a sophisticated-looking design, CPU performance is also quite peppy.

The Spin 514 comes equipped with an AMD Ryzen 5 5625C CPU, AMD Radeon graphics, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of SSD storage. The display, which folds back 360 degrees thanks to the 2-in-1 form factor, features a resolution of 1920×1080 and is touch-enabled. The picture should be clear enough for day-to-day use like checking e-mail and social media feeds. The $699.99 price tag is a little high for a Chromebook, but if you’re working with a flexible budget, then this machine won’t disappoint.