The best laptops for engineering students: Best overall, most portable, and more

The Dell XPS 17 has a lot going for it. You’re getting blazing-fast performance, a vivid display, and long battery life. The laptop also offers four Thunderbolt 4 ports. For internal components, it’s rocking an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of SSD storage. That’s a ton of memory and storage, which is a good thing if you’re using a lot of resource-intensive programs. We had a few nitpicks with the machine, however.

The XPS 17 weighs over five pounds, so it’s a real beast. The keyboard is less than impressive, as the keys feel shallow and the bottoming action is rather springy. It’s expensive, too. If you can live with those minor shortcomings, the XPS 17 is a phenomenal choice. According to our tester, this laptop “delivers solid results across the board.” That goes for both CPU and GPU performance.

If you’re looking to save some cash, the Acer Aspire 5 is a worthy choice. According to our reviewer, it packs a lot of “RAM and SSD space for not a lot of money.” Engineering students need quite a bit of memory and storage in order to effectively run software like Java and Python. It features an Intel Core i5-1235U CPU, Intel Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of NVMe PCIe SSD storage. There’s also a wide range of connectivity options and you can upgrade the memory by removing the back panel. While the battery life and keyboard leave little to be desired, we feel the pros far outweigh the cons. This is a fantastic pick for the budget-conscious student, that’s for sure.

Need a lightweight laptop to take with you to class? The Acer Swift 5 will surely fit the bill, as it weighs a little under three pounds. It also has a compact design, a 1080p webcam, and impressive battery life. The 14-inch display is “bright and spacious” thanks to the 16:10 aspect ratio and 2560×1600 resolution. Under the hood, you’ll find an Intel Core i7-1260P CPU, Intel Iris Xe integrated graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. The only real knock we have against this machine is the undersized touchpad. However, it’s not a deal-breaker, as you can always plug into an external mouse. It’s a charming little laptop that’s both zippy and travel-friendly.

The Lenovo Legion 5 Pro offers awesome gaming performance, a diverse range of port options, a durable design, and much more. The pricing is also competitive and it can easily handle schoolwork as well as late-night gaming sessions. But let’s dive into the most important aspects: the guts!

This laptop is rocking an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 Ti GPU, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage. Our tester claimed the laptop “screamed at 148 frames-per-second” while running the intensive Rise of the Tomb Raider benchmark. As for the 16-inch display, it has a resolution of 2560×1600 and a maximum refresh rate of 165Hz. The screen is definitely bright, but it’s not as vibrant as others we’ve seen. If you’re looking for a versatile laptop that can do it all—work and play—look no further than the Legion 5 Pro.

If you’re an engineering student, chances are you’re going to be spending a lot of time staring at a screen. You might as well invest in a good one then, right? Well, the HP Pavilion Plus 14 has a gorgeous OLED display. The 14-inch screen has a resolution of 2880×1800, a 16:10 aspect ratio, and a 90Hz refresh rate. According to our tester, the display produces “incredible contrast and deep blacks” as well as a “sharp picture” overall. As for the internal components, it has an Intel Core i7-12700H CPU, Intel Iris Xe graphics, 16GB of RAM, and 1TB of PCIe NVMe SSD storage. While we loved the superb display and durable all-metal chassis, we weren’t thrilled with the short battery life and the low contrast between the keys. Nitpicks aside, this is a great pick if you suffer from eye strain and tension headaches.

The Asus Zenbook Pro 14 takes the idea of a nice display and doubles it, sporting a 14.5-inch 4K touch OLED main panel and a truly intriguing secondary 12.7-inch 2880×864 screen located right above the keyboard. This second display is recognized by Windows as a second monitor and you can use it to help with all kinds of tasks, such as a trackpad or to display touch controls for some Adobe apps. It’s not just pretty screens though; the Zenbook Pro 14 comes with a Core i7 processor, RTX 3050 graphics, 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and a 1TB NVMe SSD essentially making it a midrange workstation. The only real drawback is the mediocre battery life, which means you’ll probably need to carry around a charging cable while on the go or in class. Despite this, the Zenbook Pro 14 Duo OLED is a well-tuned productivity machine complete with two high-quality displays and enough performance to create and render those next engineering masterpieces.