If the laptop announcements at CES 2025 from Acer, Asus, HP, Lenovo, Samsung and others have you thinking about an upgrade, then youve arrived at the right place. Below youll find our favorite Windows laptops that CNET experts have tested and reviewed. These models were all released in 2024 but will stick around for a while longer -- and often at deep discounts. Itll be a few months before many of the laptops unveiled at CES will become available. The best Windows models from 2024 offer plenty of performance and battery life to provide a long lifespan. Keep reading to see our current favorites, and you can also check out the best laptops from CES. Our Picks Best overall Windows laptop HP Pavilion Plus 14 View details $1,000 at HP View details XPS 14 9000 Series nontouch notebook Dell XPS 14 Laptop View details See at Dell View details Best Windows ultraportable Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 View details $1,600 at Best Buy View details Long-lasting Windows laptop Dell Inspiron 14 Plus 7441 View details $1,000 at Dell View details Best big-screen OLED laptop for creators Dell XPS 16 9640 View details $3,600 at Dell View details Best business laptop Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 11 View details $1,429 at Amazon View details Best entry-level laptop Acer Aspire Go 14 View details $300 at Acer View details Best budget gaming laptop Acer Predator Helios Neo 16 View details $1,150 at Acer View details Best gaming laptop Alienware m18 (currently out of stock) View details $1,900 at Dell View details Best 2-in-1 laptop Lenovo Yoga 7 14 Gen 9 View details $625 at Amazon View details Best Windows detachable laptop Microsoft Surface Pro 11 View details $1,000 at Best Buy View details Best foldable laptop Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Fold 16 View details $1,584 at Lenovo View details The best Windows laptops come in all shapes and sizesWe really like the look and long battery life of the new Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 Copilot Plus PC, but the HP Pavilion Plus 14 remains our pick as the best overall Windows laptop. It doesn't have the battery life of the Surface Laptop 7, but it also lacks the potential compatibility issues you might run into with a laptop with neither an Intel nor an AMD CPU but an Arm-based Qualcomm Snapdragon X processor. We love the Pavilion Plus 14 for its all-metal enclosure, strong performance and gorgeous OLED display. Sitting between the meat-and-potatoes Pavilion line and the higher-end Envy line, the Pavilion Plus series offers attractive features at affordable prices.The Pavilion Plus 14 would make a good match for many people shopping for a Windows laptop. Other models we've tested and reviewed are great fits for narrower audiences, from budget models and two-in-one convertibles to high-powered gaming laptops. With decades of experience testing and reviewing laptops, our laptop experts conduct performance testing under controlled conditions in the CNET Labs and also perform extensive hands-on tests to assess the design, features and performance of each laptop we review.You'll find a good number of recommendations here, but we also have more specific picks in different laptop categories, starting with the best overall laptop and also including the best gaming laptop, best cheap gaming laptop, best laptop for college students and best two-in-one laptop. If you narrowed it to a specific brand, check out our picks for the best Dell laptop and best HP laptop. Beyond Windows, we have recommendations for the best MacBook and best Chromebook. Photo Gallery 1/1 $1,000 at HP Pros Excellent overall performance Gorgeous OLED display All-metal chassis Comfortable keyboard 1440p IR webcam with privacy shutter Cons Weak speakers No Thunderbolt 4 support Battery life/runtime 7 hr, 59 minWeight 3.1 poundsDisplay size/type 14-inch 2,880x1,800 120Hz OLED displayProcessor tested AMD Ryzen 7840UGraphics tested AMD Radeon Full Review Read full review 8.5 $1,000 at HP There are a lot of Windows laptops. A lot. Which makes narrowing it down to just one more than a little tricky. The HP Pavilion Plus is exemplary because it can meet the needs of a lot of people while still being affordable. Its available in 14- and 16-inch sizes; we tested the 14-inch model, which is small enough for travel but big enough that you wont feel cramped while working. HP offers AMD and Intel processors, which can also be configured with entry-level discrete graphics. There are also multiple displays to match your budget, including a beautiful OLED panel.The starting price is $1,000, but HP regularly discounts it by hundreds of dollars. We tested an AMD model, and HP still sells both AMD and Intel configurations of the Pavilion Plus 14, but the customizable model with the cheap OLED upgrade is now an Intel-based unit with a Core Ultra CPU. We recommend getting that OLED screen; It adds only $60 to the package and is worth it -- especially when you can find it on sale and get the OLED upgrade for little more than $700 in total. That's a great price for a well-rounded, well-built laptop with an OLED display. CNET Score Breakdown 8.5 /10 SCORE Design 9 Features 9 Performance 9 Battery Life 7 8.1