What’s the best AI laptop for students?

Struggling with student life? Been there. When I studied for my Masters degree, I relied (and still do) on one of the best student laptops to see me through my dissertation. As a photography graduate, I also needed a laptop that was equipped with a GPU that could handle extensive photo editing and creative tasks, but unfortunately, the best laptops for photo editing don’t often come cheap.

Fast forward five years, and we’re now in an age of powerful AI laptops. And the best part? They’re actually way more affordable than you might think. Even some of the latest releases from big brands like Lenovo and Acer clock in at under £1,000 / $1,000, such as the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x 2-in-1 Gen 9 Copilot+ laptop which starts at just $849.99 / £900. I realise that this is still a lot of money to pay for a laptop, especially on a student budget, but AI laptops are in a whole new category, so you should anticipate paying a little more than usual.

I’ve rounded up my top picks for the best student AI laptops below, equipped with powerful hardware under the hood that’s capable enough to see you through your creative studies, and includes AI Copilot assistants that can streamline your workload and deal with the mundane, freeing you up to focus on the more pressing tasks and coursework. Not sure what the benefit of owning an AI laptop is? We have an explainer. If you need some more convincing, take a look at my recent hands-on review of the Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge.

Lenovo 14-inch IdeaPad 5x 2-in-1 Gen 9

This new AI laptop from Lenovo debuted only last week at IFA, and is an excellent choice for students on a budget, with prices starting at only $849.99 / £900. It has a gorgeous OLED touchscreen display, and a fingerprint sensor for smart login.

The reason I think this laptop is worth your interest is not only because of the flexible 2-in-1 design or the Copilot+ integration, but it has a Snapdragon X Plus processor for advanced levels of groundbreaking on-device AI and lightning-fast connectivity for speeding through tasks.

ACER Swift 14 AI

This laptop is another great choice for students with the same Snapdragon X Plus processor as the model above, but with a Qualcomm Adreno shared GPU memory as opposed to integrated graphics. It costs $1,049.99 / £1,199.99.

The Acer Swift 14 is ultra-thin (less than 15mm thick) and weighs just 1.32kg, making it super portable for travelling across campus. It doesn’t have a touchscreen but boasts a 14.5-inch 2.5K LCD display with sharp visuals and amazing colours. It also has a dedicated Copilot key for easy access to an AI assistant, and a power-efficient all-day battery life (according to Acer).

HP OmniBook X 14-inch

As far as AI laptops go, this option from HP packs some serious power. It comes equipped with a Snapdragon X Elite chip, has a dedicated NPU, and an impressive 26-hour battery life. The best part? This AI laptop usually retails for $1,149.99 / £1,199 but is currently on sale for $899.99 / £999 directly from HP.

This makes it one of the best and most affordable AI laptops for students on the market right now. The 5MP camera with Windows Studio Effects is a great tool for looking sharp in your online seminars, and Copilot+ is on board to help you unlock your productivity by taking care of boring repetitive tasks.

Samsung Galaxy Book4 Edge

This AI laptop from Samsung is a little pricier, at $1,349 / £1,399, but it’s worth every dollar if you ask me. I’ve tested and reviewed this laptop and can safely say it is superb for students and creative professionals who need fast and efficient performance. Pssst – We’ve recently seen this laptop drop to $999 over at Samsung, so keep an eye on price changes.

If you own a Samsung phone or tablet, this will integrate seamlessly with the Galaxy Book, and allow you to make the most out of Galaxy AI features too like note assist, which can take notes on all of your lectures and automatically transcribe them for you, and Copilot allows users to perform everyday tasks like replying to emails with ease.

ASUS Vivobook S 15.6-inch

The best feature of this AI laptop from ASUS is definitely its screen, boasting a 3K ASUS Lumina OLED display with 120Hz refresh rate and 100% DCI-P3 colour gamut. What this means is that if you work with visual assets like photos or videos, you’ll be viewing accurate colours at all times. This is also a great feature for gamers too.

The Vivobook S model is a Copilot+ PC and comes equipped with the impressive Qualcomm Snapdragon X1 Plus (or X Elite for a higher price) processor for game-changing AI power. It has an RGB backlit keyboard and a dedicated Copilot key, all for $1,099.99 / £999.