2025 has already been a noteworthy year for laptops. In the past six months alone, we've seen the expansion of Microsoft's AI PC project, the debut of Nvidia's GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards, and the cheapest Apple MacBook launch in years — never mind this spring's tariff-induced supply chain chaos.
As it so happens, 2025 has also been a big year for Mashable's laptop team. In April, we introduced a new testing methodology with more rigorous criterion for assessing computers' performance, battery life, design/build quality, and overall value, as well as a supplemental rubric that standardizes scoring between different writers. It marks the first major overhaul to our laptop testing process since we started reviewing them over a decade ago. We think it's made our coverage more comprehensive and conclusive than ever.
Since we implemented this new methodology, only three laptops out of the many we've tested earned a score of 4.5/5 or higher, which makes them eligible for a Mashable Choice Award. (That's our most prestigious accolade for the products we review sitewide.) I've listed them below in no particular order, along with one honorable mention.
A quick housekeeping note before we get into it: Our team just finished testing some of these models at the time of writing, so if you don't see all of them listed in our laptop buying guides, know that we'll add them soon. I've noted which superlative each laptop has earned in its blurb — consider this a sneak peek at some of our freshest recommendations.
1. The Asus Zenbook A14
There was a lot of pressure riding on the Asus Zenbook A14. Back in January, we named the 14-inch Copilot+ PC our "Best of CES 2025" award winner in the laptop category for its long advertised battery life and minimalist, ultraportable design, which includes a beautiful OLED display. Of note, its chassis is made from a unique magnesium aluminum alloy called "Ceraluminum" that's durable, scratch-resistant, and recyclable. It looked great in a showroom, but we didn't yet know how well it would function in a real-world setting. At the time, it was priced at just $899.99 to start.
Now that I've formally tested it, I'm happy to report that the Zenbook A14 meets most of our high expectations. It's incredibly thin and light, and that Ceraluminum is spiffy; its matte-textured finish reminds me a lot of pottery, which I love. (Too many modern PCs try to be silvery MacBook dupes.) Furthermore, it lasted nearly 22 hours in our video-rundown battery life benchmark. That doesn't quite match Asus' bonkers rated battery life of 32 hours, but it's excellent nonetheless.
The Zenbook A14 is now the longest-lasting sub-$1,000 laptop we've tried, and the most powerful one. The Zabrinskie Beige base model with a Snapdragon X Plus processor, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage got a multi-core score of 11,256 in Primate Labs' Geekbench 6 CPU test. (That's what we use to quantify laptops' processing power.) It's almost as zippy as an M3 MacBook Pro we reviewed in 2023, which got a score of 11,998. Granted, the Zenbook A14 isn't perfect — its speakers are among the worst I've encountered — but all things considered, I think it's a good overall value. That's even after a $100 price bump to $999.99 in March because of President Donald Trump's tariffs.
The Zenbook A14 is also available in iceland gray with a lesser Snapdragon X processor but more RAM and storage (32GB and 1TB, respectively). It's the lighter of the two configurations by about 0.3 pounds, and it costs $1,199.99 post-tariffs. Personally, I think the cheaper version with added oomph is a more competitive buy. It's our new favorite budget Windows laptop.
2. The Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 Aura Edition
The latest version of the premium Lenovo Yoga 9i 2-in-1 has an "Aura Edition" addendum, which denotes its support for a handful of exclusive AI features. One called "Shield Mode" can tell you if someone's looking at your screen over your shoulder. Another called "Wellness Mode" analyzes your posture and calls you out when you're hunched over your desk like a shrimp. They're cool and all, but build quality and battery life are the areas where this 14-inch convertible really shines.
In particular, Mashable contributor Sarah Chaney adored its "super vibrant" 2.8K OLED touchscreen display and its island-style keyboard, which she likened to the clackety mechanical variety. On the battery front, the Lenovo Yoga 9i Aura Edition held out for a whopping 23 hours and 34 minutes before dying. That makes it the longest-lasting laptop we've ever tried. Ever!
There is, of course, a catch. The Yoga 9i Aura Edition has triple the battery life of last year's Lenovo Yoga 9i (Gen 9), its forebear, but it got a 20% lower Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 10,765 — even with a newer Intel Core Ultra 7 258V processor. (That means the Zenbook A14 also outscored it, for what it's worth.) In the Aura Edition's defense, both of the other Intel Core Ultra Series 2 laptops we've tried this year scored similarly and cost more. Ultimately, I think it's still safe to call this puppy our new favorite 2-in-1 laptop. For her part, Chaney thinks the "less power, more stamina" trade-off is totally worth it.
3. The M4 Apple MacBook Air
In March, Apple extended its M4 era with the launch of a new MacBook Air in two sizes and one bland new color. Some of its upgrades feel like obvious next-generation tweaks: It has an improved 12MP FaceTime camera, for instance, and it can now support two external displays with its lid open. Its jump in processing power is impressive, though not entirely unexpected given the track record of Apple's M-series chips. (The 15-inch model got an amazing Geekbench 6 multi-core score of 14,992; last year's iteration clocked in at 12,057.)
No, what really blows us away is the fact that the M4 MacBook Air starts at just $999, making it $100 cheaper than its predecessor: The base M3 MacBook Air cost $1,099 before it was discontinued. For added context, $999 also matches the final going rate of the M2 model from 2022 following a post-M3 discount in 2024, and that one came with a mere 8GB of RAM for most of its lifespan. In a year when many laptops have gotten more expensive, not less (see above), this feels remarkable.
After trying the 15-inch M4 MacBook Air, Mashable's Stan Schroeder deemed it "the best-buy Apple laptop, period." It's our current favorite MacBook for most people, while its 13-inch counterpart is our top pick for budget shoppers. The latter has two fewer speakers, a slightly lower-resolution display, and an eight-core GPU instead of a 10-core GPU.
Honorable mention: The Framework Laptop 13 (Intel Core Ultra Series 1)
A few weeks ago, I finally got around to testing the DIY Edition of last year's Framework Laptop 13, a modular laptop that's powered by a previous-gen Intel Core Ultra Series 1 CPU. It's not as powerful or as nicely specced as other premium PCs in its price range, but freshness and flair aren't the point here — fixability is.
The Framework Laptop 13 makes at-home repairs and upgrades so easy and accessible that it's almost jarring. After assembling and tinkering with my loaner, I've started to re-evaluate my relationship with most of the tech I use. (Do I really own something if I have to outsource all of its servicing? Why should I have to replace an entire device if only one of its components gets obsolete? Consider me a right-to-repair radical.) It's a bigger upfront investment than other laptops, but an unbeatable long-term value.
Framework released a newer version with an AMD processor, a different thermal system, and an updated keyboard this April, which I'd like to try ASAP. In the meantime, this model is the best repairable laptop I can personally vouch for.
