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Best Windows laptops for 2025

Looking for a Windows laptop? We explain what you need to know, and reveal the best models for all budgets.
Oliver TrebilcockSenior researcher & writer
Windows 10 laptops

In this article

Looking for the best Windows laptop for your budget? As Windows is the most widely used computer software on the planet, there’s a huge variety of models to choose from. 

The Windows laptops available range from budget netbooks to high-end multimedia laptops. Find out which great Windows laptops our experts recommend, based on our tough, independent lab tests.

Not necessarily wedded to a Windows laptop? See our pick of the best laptops.

Only logged-in Which? members can view our expert pick of the best Windows laptops. If you’re not yet a member, you can get instant access to our Windows laptop recommendations here, plus all of our online reviews, if you join Which?.

Best Windows laptops for 2025

Below you'll find the best Windows laptops revealed by our lab tests. You'll see a few top Windows laptop picks from various price brackets, ranging from £1,500 down to less than £400. 

Want to see more models? See all of our Windows laptop reviews.

Windows laptop reviews by price

Windows laptop reviews by brand

Why you can trust our Windows laptop reviews

Which? is independent. We buy every laptop we test so you can be sure we are giving you the full, honest and impartial truth, without bias. 

We also test a vast range of laptops on the market, not simply whichever brand happens to be on trend. 

We use a vast combination of tests to ensure the laptops we recommend truly are the best. As well as using light-monitoring equipment to evaluate screen quality, for example, we also have a panel of experts to see how each laptop's screen looks in various environments, and whether it suffers from distracting reflections. From battery life, to performance, to the sound you'll get from the speakers, we test every nook and cranny.

Oliver TrebilcockWhich? laptops expert

Read more about how we test laptops.

How much should I spend on a Windows laptop?

  • Less than £400 – Intel Pentium, Core 3 (or i3), AMD Ryzen 3, 128GB of storage and 8GB Ram. Fast enough for web browsing and research work. Aim for a Full HD screen and an SSD if you can. Read more on this in our guide to the best budget laptops under £500. Avoid anything with an Intel Atom or Celeron processor or less than 8GB of Ram - the laptop risks slowing to a crawl with time.
  • Less than £700 – Intel Core 5 or 7 (or i5, i7), AMD Ryzen 5, 7, 256GB of storage and 8GB of Ram. Should be ideal for photo editing and some light video work. Look for a thin and light design, a Full HD screen and a 256-512GB SSD.
  • Less than £1,000 – As above, but in increasingly high-end designs. Look for great battery life and thin and light designs, and perhaps 1TB of SSD storage. Don't settle for less than 16GB Ram.
  • More than £1,000 – Some stunning designs, great screens and good speakers. High-end laptops will suit more intensive tasks, such as video editing or playing games. If it's important to you, look for Copilot+ (Microsoft's built-in AI) compatible models.

We also test monitors – head to our computer monitor reviews to find out more about which model best suits your needs.

Should I buy a Copilot+ laptop?

Copilot+ is a series of AI tools in Windows 11 that can only be run on PCs that meet Copilot+ hardware requirements. It's usually obvious if the laptop you're considering is Copilot+ as the brand makes it very clear since it's a premium feature. (Not to be confused with Microsoft's AI Copilot.) 

The main difference with Copilot+ hardware is it features a dedicated neural processing unit (NPU), which allows it to perform certain types of AI-enhanced tasks running on the laptop, rather than relying on the resources of an online AI service.

However, you don’t need to buy a new computer just to experience AI. There are online AI services you can use for free, so a Copilot+ PC is only worth it if there is a Copilot+ feature that looks particularly useful for you. 

Copilot+ laptops are coming down in price (we've seen some at £600 or lower), but don't overspend on a laptop simply to get Copilot+ unless you think you'll need it.

Copilot+ features

We've yet to see a feature we think is a game-changer, although some maybe useful for certain people. Here are some examples:

  • Recall - If you saw something earlier but forgot where that was, Recall can help. Simply ask your computer where you saw it, and in theory it will bring up the article or image. It works by periodically taking screenshots of your screen, which it can then analyse to bring up the desired information. You can pause or disable this feature.
  • Live captions - takes audio from any app on your PC and translates it from any one of 40+ languages into English, in real time. This is a handy fallback if you find any media lacks translated captions, although it's worth noting some apps like YouTube already have automatic translating captions on lots of videos.
  • Cocreator - generates AI-crafted images based on your scribblings in the Paint program
  • Restyle -takes your personal image library and jazzes pictures up in the style of your choosing

Which Windows laptop brand is best?

We survey thousands of Which? members to find out more about the laptops they own. The results to our indepth survey gives us unique insight into the experience owners have with their laptops. This ranges from which brands last the longest without a fault, to which brands owners would definitely buy again - and which they wouldn't.

We combine this information with our lab test data so we can definitively tell you which is the best laptop brand.

Top laptops by type