Calling all musical artists! Whether you plan on creating the sickest bass drops or just some chill lo-fi jams, you’re going to need a solid high-quality laptop to get the job done. Processor is absolutely vital for smooth recording performance, and a decent amount of RAM will allow you to juggle multiple plugins and tracks simultaneously. Portability is a huge factor, too—if you’re taking your show on the road to a local wedding or all the way to Ibiza, you’ll need something that is easy to carry around.
If you’re not sure which laptop is right for you, don’t worry. The experts here at PCWorld have tested a ton of laptops and we have rounded up the best picks specifically for music production.
Also, check out our best laptops roundup, where you will find an even bigger selection of models at a range of prices and for a variety of needs!
We’ve added the HP Dragonfly Pro as our choice for the best MacBook alternative. Read more about this new pick in the summary below.
Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED – Best overall
If you’re looking for a good all-arounder, the Asus VivoBook Pro 16X OLED is a good bet, as it ticks a lot of boxes. For one, the 4K OLED display is superb. from eye strain and tension headaches. If you spend endless hours looking at a screen as you edit and mix tracks, you might as well invest in one with a crystal-clear picture.
The Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU is plenty fast enough for basic music production needs and everyday use. This laptop is also packing 32GB of memory and a whopping 1TB of PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD storage. That’s plenty for firing up multiple applications and storing audio files There are a couple drawbacks you should be aware of: The webcam isn’t great (not surprising) and the fingerprint reader can have a mind of its own. Overall, however, the VivoBook Pro is a fantastic machine that any musician or DJ would love.
If you’re working with a limited budget, the Acer Swift 3 is a great option. It has an Intel Core i7-11370H with four cores, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. to use, and the display delivers “rich, lifelike color.” The one knock we have against this machine is the battery life. Unfortunately, the laptop died after about five hours That’s the type of result we’d expect from a gaming laptop, which drains easily due to the power-sucking components. That said, if you don’t mind sticking close to an outlet, than this a good budget buy for most musicians .
Read our full Acer Swift 3 SF316-51 reviewSamsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 – Best battery lifeIf you’re an on-the-go musician, the Samsung Galaxy Book2 Pro 360 offers incredible battery life as well as a versatile 2-in-1 design. When we put this laptop through our battery rundown test, it lasted a total of 14 hours. That’s pretty rad, right? In addition to the awesome battery life, you’re also getting a high-contrast 15.6-inch OLED screen and zippy performance thanks to its 12th-gen Intel Core i7-1260P processor. with 16GB of RAM and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s plenty sufficient for running multiple applications and working with uncompressed audio files. Although we weren’t super impressed with the keyboard or webcam, we feel the pros far outweigh the cons, especially where performance and Battery life is concerned.
Lenovo Yoga 9i 14 (2022) – Best 2-in-1 design
If you prefer the portability and versatility of a convertible laptop, you may want to pick up the Lenovo Yoga 9i 14. You can prop it up like a painter’s easel or swing the screen around and use the laptop like a tablet. RAM, 1TB of SSD storage, and strong battery life. You can also expect reliable performance thanks to the 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor.
The 74 watt-hour battery is also surprisingly large for such a slim machine. It lasted 12 hours during our battery rundown benchmark, which is more than a full work day. Editing a song and aren’t able to plug into external speakers. this convertible laptop has a lot to offer, we had a few nitpicks with it.
The display’s 16:9 aspect ratio may be a problem, as it makes for a squashed-looking picture. It’s not a deal breaker, but we tend to prefer taller displays. The trackpad is also smaller than we like, which takes time getting used to. The port selection is a bit limited as well. That said, if you don’t mind those small factors, then the Yoga 9i is A fabulous machine worth considering.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2022) – Most Portable
If you’re looking for a laptop that’s both portable and powerful, the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 will surely fit the bill. It weighs a little over three pounds, which puts it in the ultraportable category. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS processor delivers zippy exceptional Plus, you’re getting 32GB of DDR5 RAM and 1TB of PCIe 4.0 SSD storage. laptop that delivers reliable performance, you really can’t go wrong with the Zephyrus G14.Windows laptopsPCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so on.HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
Think of it as a CPU stress test.Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores.3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips.Video rundown test: To gaugebattery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies. If you travel a bunch, you’ll want a battery that can last longer than a full work day.