Best Laptops for Back To School Undergraduate Students 2022

• RAM – Minimum of 8GB
• Storage – minimum of 250GB SSD
• OS- support for windows 11/ MacOS
• Graphics – minimum 4GB integrated or 2GB dedicated
• CPU – at least 10th gen intel or at least 6 cores for AMD 2.5GHz with Turbo boost
• Cache – 8MB
• Battery – 51Wh minimum
• USB ports – at least 2 USB 3.0 and a USB C Port

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Check our Laptop Reviews Here

1. ASUS ZENBOOK 14″ 2022 – Best Laptop For Students 2022

The Asus Zenbook 14 UM425 2022 is purely designed for portability. And as a student, you really don’t need something that is bulky. I have used the Zenbook 14 for about a month and these are my thoughts.

Key Specifications

OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows 11 Home
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 5500U 6-core
GRAPHICS CARD	NVIDIA GeForce MX450 (Dedicated)
SCREEN SIZE	14 inches 1920 x 1080 (Full HD)
RAM	8GB LPDDR4X
STORAGE	256 GB SSD (PCI-e)
CACHE SIZE	8MB
BATTERY	51Wh
NUMBER OF USB PORTS	2 – USB 3 Ports, 1 – Type C Port
WEIGHT	1.13 Kgs (2.5lbs)

MY THOUGHTS

It’s worth noting that the Zenbook 14 has a decent battery life capable of full-day use. Approximately 7 to 8 hours of use. Accompanied with My Asus app that thrives on lots of features including but not limited to battery charging levels. The Ryzen 5, thanks to nAMD comes with tons of performance and reliability features have edited my video on this laptop and the only problem I ran into is it gets warm under intense use cases. And this may be due to it only having a single fun inside. also for student who do play the games the Zenbook can handle that except for more demanding games the it becomes very difficult to use.

At its current price of $470 on best buy (link in the description), I find it easy to recommend. The major downside is the Key Board color combinations. As it makes it more difficult to type as its grey keys on light grey. Also, the Power on key is close to delete hence might easily mistake it when deleting something.

2. Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 – Best Laptop For Students 2022

The Best Surface Laptop and The best laptop for writers with one of the very best keyboards ever. For students portability and useability is key. The Surface 4 thrives in Performance, good battery life, and audio output.

Key Specifications

OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows 11 Home
CPU	AMD Ryzen 5 4680U 6-core
GRAPHICS CARD	AMD Radeon Vega 9
SCREEN SIZE	13.5 inches 2256 x 1504 Touch Screen
RAM	16GB LPDDR4X
STORAGE	256 GB SSD (PCI-e)
CACHE SIZE	8MB
BATTERY	up to 19hrs 65Watts
NUMBER OF USB PORTS	2 – USB 3 Ports, 1 – Type C Port
WEIGHT	1.26 Kgs (2.7lbs)

MY THOUGHTS

After Spending Close to 3 months trying to exhaust and maximize the Surface 4. its clear that for what its meant to do it does perfectly well. Priced at 899$ on BestBuy. The Surface 4 is a pretty nice deal. As stated earlier the surface 4 has a great design and very comfortable keyboard but easily gets dirty. Performance is outstanding and Accompanied with the AMD processor this laptop is a super beast lets just say it, With a super quite fun the Surface 4 is worth buying.

obviously, It has its own imperfections. For instance, their is no thunderbolt 4 ports, which is a possible problem for some. Also, irrespective of having a good keypad, the glossy screen is too reflective, and honestly found it too annoying. especially under bright conditions. Such as outside sunlight.

3. HP – ENVY 2-in 1 2022 – Best Laptop For Students 2022

In a nutshell, the HP envy has a professional look, sleek design, and is classy. want something you can carry to class and still doubles as a tablet especially when you want to handwrite notes when the professor is talking too fast? then this is the gear for you.

Key Specifications

OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows 11 Home
CPU	Intel Evo 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1250U 4.7GHz speed 10 cores
GRAPHICS CARD	Intel Iris Xe Graphics
SCREEN SIZE	13.3 inches 1920 x 1200 Touch Screen
RAM	8GB LPDDR4X
STORAGE	512 GB SSD (NVMe)
CACHE SIZE	12MB
BATTERY	up to 17hrs 65Watts
NUMBER OF USB PORTS	Thunderbolt 4 – 2 ports, USB 3.1 – 2 ports
WEIGHT	1.38 Kgs (3.05lbs)

MY THOUGHTS

The 2022 HP envy which starts at $800 which is a budget friendly segment. the 2in 1 laptop functions as a high performer laptop and also as a easy to carry tablet. The Performance of the HP envy x360 is top notch spent sometime using it and its satisfactory, especially for a student. well as a gamer or a video editor this I cant recommend, that’s because the Envy isn’t built to handle video editing or heavy gaming. But for simple tasks its Superb. Display is Great and inclusion of thunderbolt 4 ports makes it a better deal.

Audio quality is a 8 out of 10, the touch pad also has precision TouchPad which is a big thumbs up. All in All the Envy is a easy to recommend laptop But has its own limitations, weighing more than 1kg or rather 3.05 pounds, making it one of the heaviest laptops in this category. Its worth noting for those who spend time in online classes the camera in the envy is not appealing at all.

4. MACBOOK AIR M2 2022 – Best Laptop For Students 2022

The Most popular laptop is back and with it comes unique features and refreshed design.

Key Specifications

OPERATING SYSTEM	macOS Monterey 12
CPU	Apple M2 8 core
GRAPHICS CARD	Integrated Apple
SCREEN SIZE	13.6 inches 2560 x 1664
RAM	8GB DDR4
STORAGE	256 GB SSD
CACHE SIZE	12MB
BATTERY	52.6 Wh Lithium polymer battery
NUMBER OF USB PORTS	Thunderbolt 4 – 2 ports, USB 3.1 – 2 ports
WEIGHT	1.22 Kgs (2.7lbs)

MY THOUGHTS

Its important to understand that the Macbook air M2 doesn’t replace the M1 option. For any MacBook air Buyer , the M2 is the ultimate choice. its more elegant, improved performance, incredible audio, and better display. in simpler terms the M2 is slightly better than M1. as it addson the already game changing M1 MacBook Air. While interms of Pricing one can be tempted to get the M1 due to pricing, the M2 variant is a better laptop around.

One thing worth noting is the M2 is not meant for gaming hence with no fans and dedicated GPU, it does handle the Apple Arcade titles pretty well and a few light weight games. Beyond that the M2 is not great for gamers. The issue with slower SSD is still on M2, also the display is fixed to 60Hz and has limited number of ports.

5. DELL XPS 13.3 inch 2022 – Best Laptop For Students 2022

When you buy a Dell XPS laptop, you’re buying some of the best that money can buy. You’re getting a premium aluminum laptop and an immersive InfinityEdge display. Ultimately, you’re buying the best that Dell has to offer. With the Dell XPS 13 Plus, you’re still getting that, but the company is getting a bit more experimental.

Key Specifications

OPERATING SYSTEM	Windows 11 Home
CPU	Intel 12th Gen core i7 4.7GHz 12 Cores Evo platform
GRAPHICS CARD	Intel Iris Xe Graphics
SCREEN SIZE DISPLAY	13.4 inches 3456 x 2160 (3.5K) Touchscreen
RAM	16GB LPDDR5 5200 Megahertz
STORAGE	512 GB SSD
CACHE SIZE	18MB
BATTERY	60 Watts Lithium ion battery
NUMBER OF USB PORTS	Thunderbolt 4 – 2 ports, USB 3.1 – 2 ports
WEIGHT	1.27 Kgs (2.8lbs)

MY THOUGHTS

Powered by the latest 12th Gen intel Core i7 processor, integrated iris Xe graphics card, the notebook is a sweet powerhouse to recommend. closing in is 12 hours battery life, the performance of the dell meets my expectation for the price tag.

Its worth noting that the integrated graphics card is an entry level and cant expect much from it. The Design is Attractive just as its performance, The laptop is smaller in size , lightweight, a large track pad greater keyboard for typing in class. Looking for a long term portable windows laptop here is where the search ends.

The dell isn’t perfect especially if you are someone interested in video calling and online classes as Dell stuck with the 720p Webcam which is mediocere for its price point.

FINAL THOUGHTS

IN 2022 there is lots of competition, in the laptop segment and in the event you are a student and need a more budget friendly laptop click here

In case you need a Chrome book click here.