Best Selling Laptops by Brand
How We Define ‘The Best Laptop’ in 2025–2026
After years testing & selling laptops for UK consumers, schools, and enterprises, we use the following framework:
- Price-to-Performance (Real-World, Not Synthetic)
- We prioritise real workloads: Chrome with 20 tabs, Teams/Zoom, Lightroom, Resolve, AAA gaming, Python workloads, on-device AI models.
Reliability & Longevity
Not just specs — but:
- hinge robustness
- thermal stability
- keyboard durability
- SSD throttling behaviour
- common failure history
- spare parts availability in the
Repairable & Serviceability
- Can you replace: SSD? Battery? RAM? Fans?
- Some brands talk sustainability — a few actually deliver it.
- Innovation That Isn’t Gimmicky
Useful:
- on-device AI acceleration
- efficient ARM platforms
Not useful:
- 8K webcams
- pointless touchbars
- glossy displays with no alternative.
- User Support (UK Specific)
- How quickly parts arrive.
- How good warranty service is in practice.
- How often users actually need support.
- Ecosystem Integration
- Windows + Android?
- Apple continuity?
- Enterprise manageability?
Major 2025–2026 Market Shifts Every Buyer Needs to Know
AI PCs (NPU Era)
Do NPUs matter yet? For 99% of people: not really — not yet. They save battery life in AI-enhanced tasks and accelerate small LLM inference, but most consumer software still falls back to CPU/GPU. That said, enterprise buyers should consider NPUs essential for privacy and local analytics workloads rolling out in 2026.
The ARM Takeover — Snapdragon X Elite & Plus
Qualcomm’s 2024–2025 successes have matured.
The Snapdragon X Elite is now the best platform for:
- battery life
- thermals
- ultrabooks
- silent performance
But GPU performance still lags NVIDIA/AMD, and niche x86 apps can still misbehave.
Apple Silicon M3 → M4 Transition
Apple Silicon remains the most efficient platform in the industry, but UK prices climbed. The new M4/M4 Pro machines set the standard for creative workloads, battery life and reliability.
Intel & AMD: The Fight to Stay Relevant
Intel Lunar Lake is finally efficient again — but still inconsistent between OEMs. AMD Ryzen 9000 laptops are seriously underrated in the UK: excellent performance, consistent repairability, good pricing, and strong GPUs.
GPU Shifts
NVIDIA’s 50-series mobile GPUs aren’t night-and-day better, but efficiency gains finally make thin gaming laptops viable again — if cooled properly.
Our Opinion:
Brands - We Consistently Recommend
- Lenovo ThinkPad (T, X, P series — best keyboards, best serviceability)
- Apple MacBook Air/Pro (lowest repair rate in our service logs)
- ASUS ROG & Zephyrus (top cooling solutions)
- Framework (best repairability period)
- Dell Latitude (enterprise reliability + parts in the UK are plentiful)
Brands - We Caution Against
- HP consumer Pavilion/Envy (hinge failures still too common)
- Acer Nitro low-end (thermals throttle long-term performance)
- Microsoft Surface Laptop (beautiful, but repairability is poor)
Under-the-Radar Winners
- Lenovo Slim Pro 7/9 Series — massively overlooked and excellent value.
- ASUS ExpertBook — brilliant for enterprise fleets.
- Gigabyte Aero — reliable creative performance at better pricing than Apple.
What Consumers Overvalue (And Shouldn’t)
- 4K displays on 14–15" laptops : Wasteful for battery, adds heat, no tangible detail improvement.
- Top-end GPUs in thin laptops :Throttle under sustained load — you’re paying for performance you’ll never see.
- “AI PC” branding : Mostly marketing — look at actual NPU TOPS and software support.
What Consumers Undervalue (But Shouldn’t)
- RAM (yes, still 16 GB minimum): For Windows, we strongly recommend 32 GB for buyers expecting 5+ years of use.
- Cooling design:Single fan vs dual fan is often the real performance bottleneck.
- SSD endurance.
- Cheaper models now include low-end QLC drives with poor longevity — always check.
- Ports:USB4 / TB4, HDMI 2.1, full-size SD card readers — these matter more than flashy specs.
Best Laptops to Buy Right Now (2025–2026 UK Market)
MacBook Air 15" (M4, 2025)
If you want the best blend of reliability, battery, performance, and long-term value, nothing touches the Air M4. This is the best Overall Laptop (The One Most People Should Buy)
Why it wins:
- Longest battery life we’ve ever measured on a mainstream laptop
- Silent, cool, extremely reliable
- Resale value unmatched
- Perfect for students, professionals, light creators
- Best trackpad/keyboard combo in the market
Who should not buy this:
- Heavy gamers
- Engineers needing Windows-only tools
- VFX/3D artists needing discrete GPUs
Best Windows Laptop Overall
Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 13 (Lunar Lake)
Why:
- Excellent efficiency from Intel’s new architecture
- Best keyboard in the Windows world
- Outstanding UK business support
- Light, durable, highly repairable
- Perfect balance of power + portability
- Best Ultrabook / Productivity Machine
ASUS Zenbook S 14 (Snapdragon X Elite Edition)
Why:
- Snapdragon X Elite + Windows AI features now mature
- Incredible battery (18–20 hours real use)
- Fanless or near-silent operation
- Beautiful OLED without aggressive PWM
- Perfect for those wanting a Windows MacBook Air alternative.
Best Laptop for Creators
MacBook Pro 14" M4 Pro
Still the gold standard for photography, music production, and video editing. If you’re doing heavy Resolve/After Effects, the M4 Max (16") is unmatched.
Best Gaming Laptop
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G16 (2025, RTX 5070/5080)
Why it wins:
- Best cooling in the class
- Bright 240Hz OLED
- Surprisingly good battery (for a gaming laptop)
- Thermals outperform similarly specced MSI/Alienware
- Long-term reliability better than most gaming competitors
Insider note: Avoid the 14" Zephyrus unless you prioritise size — it runs hotter.
Overall Best Value Laptop (Under £900–£1200)
Lenovo Slim Pro 7 Gen 8 (Ryzen 9 9900HS)
Why:
- Amazing value-to-performance ratio
- Great build quality
- Strong integrated GPU
- Excellent screen
- Often discounted in the UK
This is the sleeper hit of the mid-range market.
Best for Repairability / Sustainability
Framework Laptop 16 (2025)
Why:
- Modular GPU
- Modular ports
- Replaceable everything
- New AMD 9000 series options
- Long-term viability unmatched
Perfect for anyone who keeps their laptop 6–10 years.
Best Enterprise Laptop
Dell Latitude 7440 (2025)
Why:
- Superb UK fleet management support
- Long, stable driver lifecycle
- Easy servicing
- Excellent security features
- Better long-term availability than ThinkPad spare parts
- CPU Platform Recommendations (Where Each Wins)
Everyday Use (Battery + Smoothness)
- Winner: Apple M4 / Snapdragon X Elite : Both feel instant and stay cool.
Gaming
- Winner: AMD + NVIDIA / Intel HX + NVIDIA : Discrete GPU + x86 compatibility still dominates gaming.
Creative Workloads</
- Winner: Apple M4 Pro/Max : Apple’s media engines remain unmatched for video.
Enterprise & Engineering
- Winner: Intel Lunar Lake/AMD Ryzen 9000 Pro : Enterprise manageability, vPro/Pro features, software compatibility.
AI/Local LLM Workloads
- Winner: Snapdragon X Elite/Plus (best NPUs) : But again — still only relevant for niche users today.
Recommended UK Price Tiers (2025–2026)
- £600–£800: Only buy if lightly used; aim for Ryzen 7000/8000 or Intel 13th gen.
- £900–£1,200: Best value — Lenovo Slim Pro 7, ASUS Vivobook Pro, Acer Swift X.
- £1,200–£1,600: Premium ultrabooks — Zenbook, XPS 13, MacBook Air.
- £1,600–£2,200: High-end work machines — X1 Carbon, MacBook Pro 14, Zephyrus G14.
- £2,200+: Gamers, engineers, video professionals.
Contrarian Opinions
- Don’t buy OLED if you keep laptops 5+ years and leave static windows open : Burn-in still exists. Better now — not gone.
- You don’t need 64 GB RAM unless you know exactly why you do : 32 GB is the true sweet spot.
- Thin gaming laptops aren’t actually portable gaming : Most thermal throttle. Weight ≠ usability.
- ARM Windows laptops are now worth recommending — but only if you’re 80% sure all your apps work : Test before committing.
Our Predictions: What Will Reshape 2026–2027 Laptops?
- NVIDIA’s next-gen NPUs will finally make on-device AI mainstream : Expect full offline AI assistants and real-time editing.
- ARM will take 50% of the premium Windows laptop market : Qualcomm + AMD’s Strix Point 2 are going to dominate.
- Apple M5 chips will bring hardware ray tracing to Mac gaming : This finally moves Macs into legitimate gaming territory (with developer support still the wild card).
- Modular laptops (Framework, Dell Concept Luna derivatives) will grow fast : Enterprises want repairability for sustainability targets.
- OLED durability will triple : New tandem OLED panels will reduce burn-in risk enough to become mainstream default.
Final One-Sentence Answer
For most UK buyers in 2025–2026, the best laptop to buy right now is the MacBook Air 15" M4, with the ASUS Zenbook S 14 (Snapdragon X Elite) as the best Windows alternative