If you’re a teacher, you know what a difference having the right tools and supplies can make. While pencils and disinfectant are undoubtedly important, a proper laptop is an essential tool for today’s educator. Of course, you want the product you buy to be good value for money and focus on the right specifications. You want something that offers powerful processing performance. Sufficient storage space is also important, so there’s no need to worry about storing a large number of documents and media files. If you’re not sure where to start your search, don’t worry. The team at PCWorld has done most of the heavy lifting for you.
Why you should trust us: We’re PCWorld. We’ve known PC hardware and tested various laptops for decades reflects. Our reviewers evaluate each device through a series of performance and battery tests as well as rigorous real-world usage. Our list the best among faculty.
We’ve added the Lenovo Flex 5i as our new pick for best Chromebook, and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED as our new pick for best Asus Zenbook 14 OLED laptop for battery life. You can learn more about these great laptops in the summary below.Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra – The best laptop for teachers
With its long battery life, lightweight form factor and powerful CPU performance, the Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra has many advantages. The 1080p webcam is also a great addition for distance learning. As for Samsung Galaxy Book3 Ultra battery life, our testing showed it beat the competition with 13.1 hours of continuous use, meaning you can say goodbye to those days of hunting for an outlet.
The Galaxy Book3 Ultra comes with a 13th generation 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 be able to handle productivity tasks as well as everyday use without any issues. It also comes with a 16-inch OLED display with 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 your productivity boxes, the Galaxy Book3 Ultra is well worth considering.
Acer Aspire 3 – The best affordable laptop for teachers
The Acer Aspire 3 is a great choice for budget-conscious teachers. It’s reasonably priced and fast enough for everyday tasks like writing emails, researching online, and grading homework. The full-size keyboard provides plenty of space, perfect for long periods of typing While that’s all well and good, it’s the internals that really make this laptop a good value for money.
This laptop comes with Ryzen 3 7320U CPU, 8GB RAM, and 128GB PCIe SSD storage. The 15.8-inch display has a 1080p resolution and good color quality. Additionally, in our testing, we found that the Acer Aspire 3’s battery lasted up to eight hours of continuous use, enough to last an average workday. The design, while a bit utilitarian, is one of the sturdiest builds we’ve seen on a budget laptop. All in all, the Acer Aspire 3 gives you an adequate experience for relatively little money.
Acer Swift Edge 16 – The best portable laptop for teachers
The last thing you want to do every day is lug around a bulky laptop between classes. Introducing the Acer Swift Edge 16, a lightweight 16-inch laptop with an ultra-thin design. At just 0.51 inches thick and weighing just 2.71 pounds, the Swift Edge 16 gives you all the same screen real estate as the competition without adding extra size or weight. A larger screen may take up a larger footprint than some ultraportables, but the extra OLED display size is totally welcome.
Acer also ships with an AMD Ryzen 7 7840U processor, which offers solid processing performance, but the lack of discrete graphics means you’re unlikely to play any games on the device. Still, it’s great for handling productivity tasks or apps with ease. Swift Edge 16 is also reasonably priced, driving down the cost of alternatives and adding to its appeal.
ASUS Zenbook 14 Flip OLED – The best 2-in-1 laptop for teachers
The latest Asus Zenbook 14 Flip OLED is an upgrade over the previous version, with a new 13th generation Intel processor and a beautiful OLED screen. There’s plenty of performance for everyday productivity tasks, thanks to the mentioned Core i7 processor, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics , 16GB DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB SSD. It’s also a sleek, slim laptop that’s just over half an inch thick and weighs just 3.31 pounds. Using this laptop also offers some additional benefits for teachers. These include a 1080p webcam to help you look better during online classes and meetings, an OLED touchscreen display, andUse the ed stylus when you want to flip the screen and use your device in tablet mode.
Granted, for this price, we’d like to see more powerful graphics options like a discrete card, but the Intel Iris Xe is still very manageable for most day-to-day work tasks. Generally speaking, 2-in-1 devices are great tools for teachers because they are flexible enough to adapt to any environment and can fulfill multiple roles. For anyone looking to buy a 2-in-1 laptop, the Zenbook 14 Flip OLED should be at the top of your list.
All of this somehow fits into a small 11.54×8.19-inch footprint that’s just 0.58 inches thick. Plus, it weighs only 2.18 pounds. It’s an easy-to-carry laptop that can be carried between classes or thrown into your bag for paper grading trips to the coffee shop. The only issue we found was with theLenovo ThinkPad X1 batterylife, which in real-world testing required charging during heavy use during the workday. Regardless, if you want a compact laptop that offers a satisfying typing experience while grading assignments and writing rubrics, look no further than the Lenovo ThinkPad X1ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED – Best Battery Life
When you’re on the go between teacher’s offices, classes, and meetings, you need a laptop that can charge without having to be plugged in throughout the day. The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED offers marathon ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED battery life and more. Our testing showed it could last 15 hours and 20 minutes of continuous use before needing to be recharged—in real-world conditions, this might be reduced to 10 to 12 hours. It easily outperforms most competitors, and the Asus Zenbook 14 OLED battery won’ t have any issues Keeping you productive throughout your workday, even during parent-teacher conferences and grading assignments at the end of the day.
The ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED also features a beautiful 14-inch 2880x1800p OLED touchscreen display and a rugged metal chassis built to withstand the rigors of teaching life. While not the cheapest model on this list, it’s still relatively affordable as a sub-$1,000 laptop.