Every Major Laptop Brand Ranked Worst To Best

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In today's day and age, laptops fill a larger void in the PC market than ever before. Computers, in general, can bridge the gap between productivity and leisure, but laptops introduce the added bonus of convenience. As technological advancements have been made, computer manufacturers can pack their laptops with more power and features, making them preferable to desktop PCs for many. As such, the laptop market has been flooded with marquee brands looking to leave their mark, and it is up to the consumer to decide which brands are worth trusting and which are worth steering clear of.

Whether you're a creative professional seeking a powerhouse notebook for graphic design or a student searching for a budget-friendly Chromebook companion, there is sure to be a laptop that fits your needs. The best laptops are typically the ones that pack the best performance for the least amount of investment, but there is sometimes more to it than that. Some laptop brands skew towards durability, while others prioritize a high-end screen or longer-lasting battery life. Hopefully, this list helps you make an educated decision when the time comes to pick up your next laptop.

Here is every major laptop brand ranked from worst to best.

Toshiba is a name many consumers will recognize for the foothold they have in electronics in general. The company is, after all, one of the few remaining manufacturers of Fire TVs, though its line of laptops leaves something to be desired. 

While many prominent laptop manufacturers offer a range of models varying in quality, Toshiba laptops have earned a reputation for pairing simplistic design with subpar quality across their entire lineup. To compound the issue, Toshiba's laptops frequently arrive burdened with an excess of bloatware. Most bloatware applications notably slow the processing speed of the laptop, potentially leading to an unfavorable initial experience for users upon powering up their new device.

One positive surrounding Toshiba laptops is the way in which the company provides its customers with a diverse range of budget-friendly laptops catering to various needs. Some of the company's Chromebooks, for instance, can be acquired for $300 or less. Nevertheless, numerous of Toshiba's budget-friendly laptops lack the increasingly prevalent 1080p display feature found in offerings from leading manufacturers. Consequently, consumers desiring a Toshiba laptop equipped with a 1080p resolution may need to pay up. 

In addition to these quality considerations, the company announced in 2020 that it was selling its laptop and PC division, raising doubts about the future of product support for Toshiba devices. Coupled with potential concerns related to customer support and products that often fall within the average to below-average spectrum, consumers should exercise caution before investing in a Toshiba device.

VAIO may ring a bell for some consumers. For a long time, VAIO was synonymous with Sony's line of laptops that dominated households throughout the 2000s. However, Sony laptop sales fell off a cliff in 2014, which prompted the consumer electronics giant to sell 95 percent of its stake in the VAIO PC business to Japan Industrial Partners. 

As a result, VAIO laptops continue to exist on store shelves, albeit divorced from its relationship with Sony. VAIO's name recognition certainly helps its case in 2023, as is the fact that it is manufactured by a company that knows laptops. However, there are a few drawbacks that hinder this brand from carving out the niche in the market it once held.

VAIO's build quality, battery life, performance, and sleek design are all positives but the laptops lack the upside of other major manufacturers. Additionally, while VAIO computers would make for excellent budget laptops, the price point is more on par with mid-range devices. The F Series Notebooks, for example, typically retail for just under $1,000. The impressive battery life on these computers is sure to give it plenty of run with select consumers, but considering the laptop is miscast for what it actually provides, VAIO can never be more than a lower-mid tier laptop manufacturer.

Corsair is among the industry leader in PC parts and might be particularly familiar to those who build their own workstation, as the company is known for producing some of the very best power supplies, cases, and coolers money can buy. Corsair is also known for its line of gaming laptops, the Voyager series. Voyager laptops give consumers a premium experience with the comfort of flexibility and portability, albeit with a few minor drawbacks that will mean different things to different types of consumers.

The Voyager makes use of a sleek, modern design housed in an aluminum case, which puts it in rarified air in the laptop community. One of the laptop's most notable features is a macro bar with 10 touch buttons and a small center display above the keyboard. The feature is similar to what is seen in modern Macbook Pro models, though for all that the Voyager brings to the table by way of innovation, the laptop falls short in one very important area – gaming performance.

Critics have noticed that since the Voyager is a premium-priced line of gaming laptops, consumers are going to expect unparalleled performance, which many models fail to deliver. Granted, the Voyager a1600, which starts at $2,000, is frequently on sale at outlets such as Best Buy.

Micro-Star International (MSI) is similar to Corsair in that it is primarily a manufacturer of PC parts with an eye skewed particularly toward gaming rigs. MSI is also known for its lineup of gaming laptops, which provide consumers with a sound all-around selection depending on their needs. In fact, the company boasts 10 different series of laptops in addition to limited-edition options. MSI's selection, however, does not simply end with the laptops themselves. MSI laptops have screen sizes ranging from 14 to 17.3 inches, in addition to options with an OLED and mini-OLED display. The company also uses both AMD and Intel processors, depending on the model.

For this level of selection, as well as the quality of some of the parts, MSI's machines tend to be pretty pricey. The good news for many consumers is that they can buy laptops directly through the MSI online store in their local region, which occasionally holds sales that make owning a reputable gaming laptop more attainable for most. However, the company's global availability is such that many will need to look to third-party retailers to pick up an MSI laptop. 

Additionally, it may be more cost-effective to build a gaming rig with MSI parts than investing in one of the company's many laptops. Nevertheless, MSI is a solid laptop brand and could rank higher among its competitors with a broader consumer focus.

Acer may not be a company that can cater to gamers quite the way companies like Razer and MSI can, but the Taiwanese electronics giant is among the most inclusive laptop vendors in the world. Acer has been making computers for decades and offers a wide variety of laptops at competitive prices. 

Acer produces several lines of laptops, but while different MSI laptops may only slightly vary from one another, Acer's all have distinct features that call to the consumer in a unique manner. For instance, the marketing for the Acer Swift series is similar to the Macbook Air in that it is a super lightweight device designed for efficiency. The Acer Spin family of computers, meanwhile, are 2-in-1s.

Acer's range of options also extends to both budget and premium consumers. The company is as reputable of a seller of Chromebooks as any, and gamers are not left out in the cold either. Acer's gaming division, known as Predator, offers the Triton laptop that allows users to take ample processing power with them on the go. The Triton may be particularly appealing for some consumers, as the 300 and 500 series are both available for under $2,000. Those really looking to splurge can also give the Predator Triton 17 X and its NVIDIA® GeForce RTX 4090 GPU a try for $3,799.99.

Google has been involved in the production of laptop computers since 2011, when they released the first Chromebooks. However, the company partnered with companies like Acer and Samsung to produce the first batch of Chromebooks. These days, Google continues to outsource the Chromebook concept to other manufacturers while producing its own Chromebooks and laptops. The Google Pixelbook Go is the successor to the company's original line of Pixelbooks, high-end Chromebook laptops from the company that originally conceived the idea of Chromebooks (lightweight and web-centric machines) to begin with.

The most recent Google Pixelbook Go continues the lightweight promise of the original Chromebooks. The laptop weighs just two pounds and is just 13 millimeters thick when closed. It also contains a grippable bottom that helps set it apart from its competitors and leans on a battery life of 12 hours to maximize productivity. While consumers should get plenty of longevity out of this laptop, those who like to run the battery down can recharge their device in minutes, with Google claiming the device can gain two hours of charge in just 20 minutes. 

The Pixelbook Go also has plenty of other premium features seen in today's top laptops, and consumers can have it in their hands for just $649. If Google ever decides to branch out with its laptop division, it could become a legitimate top player in the market.

Apple's influence on the personal computer, laptop, and consumer electronics market goes without saying. A recent study showed that Apple shipped 13.3 percent of all PC units in the United States in the second quarter of 2023 and ranked fourth among vendors for U.S. PC shipments in the same quarter. The MacBook Pro changed the laptop market for the better as a powerful machine that runs on the company's operating system — macOS — while making use of an array of applications designed to eliminate the learning curve for novice users.

Apple has expanded on the MacBook Pro formula several times in recent years, but the price has always somewhat held these laptops back. To combat this and ultimately sell more laptops, Apple produced the MacBook Air, a machine that has the look and feel of the MacBook Pro, albeit slightly stripped down in a thinner, more lightweight casing and at a lower cost for consumers. After all, while the MacBook Pro is great for tasks like video editing that can put a strain on a laptop, not all consumers need such functionality — many simply prefer the ease of access that MacBook laptops provide.

These two laptop lines go hand-in-hand with one another and make the laptop powerhouse that it is today.

Hewlett-Packard, better known to consumers as HP, is among the world's most visible PC and laptop brands with a 22.5 percent market share in 2023. This has the company positioned behind only Lenovo as the largest PC vendor in the world, but where Lenovo leans on the strength of its budget offerings, HP has more of a selection of mid-range to high-end laptops of tremendous quality. That is not to say, however, that HP does not produce budget laptops. The HP 17-cp2124od retails at around $500 but can often be found on sale for cheaper and comes with AMD Ryzen 3 and 8GB of memory packed inside a sleek, modern-looking design.

HP shines, however, with its mid-range offerings, which consumers are seemingly happy to pay for, given the reviews most HP products accrue. Those who are not on any particular budget should turn to the Spectre series, which utilizes modern Nvidia graphics cards and Intel CPUs to ensure the smoothest experience possible. HP also competes with and compares favorably to its competitors in the Chromebook market thanks to a 2-in-1 touchscreen that retails for just $289 at Best Buy. 

As for gamers, HP has them covered with its OMEN and Victus series of laptops. Consumers can rest easy knowing they are getting a quality product from HP, and with such a large selection of devices, HP will remain firmly entrenched among the elite laptop brands for as long as it continues on this trajectory.