Top 5 Best 15-16 Inch Laptops of 2025 – Expert Review
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Laptops with 15- and 16-inch screens have gained immense popularity—and for good reason. Their spacious displays make multitasking effortless, allowing users to place multiple windows side by side. Additionally, the larger keyboard deck provides ample room to rest your wrists comfortably, and many models include a full-sized keyboard with a number pad, making them ideal for professionals who frequently work with numbers. Another advantage of their bigger chassis is improved cooling efficiency, which helps enhance overall performance. While some models may feel a bit bulky, most modern 15- and 16-inch laptops strike a balance between power and portability, making them convenient for travel and daily use.
After evaluating more than 150 laptops, we’ve compiled our top picks for the best 15- and 16-inch models. Below, you’ll find our expert recommendations. Additionally, you can explore our suggestions for other top-performing laptops in various categories.If you’re curious about our laptop testing and review process, take a look at this article. It provides a step-by-step overview, from the moment we purchase a laptop to the final review we publish.
Best 16-Inch Laptop
School: 8.6
Gaming: 7.7
Multimedia: 8.4
Workstation: 9.1
Business: 8.4
Build Quality: 9.5
Screen Brightness: 9.1
Typing Experience: 8.0
Touchpad Performance: 9.7
Port Selection: 8.5
Battery Life (Web Browsing): 13 hours
The Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024) stands out as the best 16-inch laptop we’ve tested. This high-end machine excels in everything from everyday tasks like web browsing and document editing to demanding workloads such as simulations, content creation, and 3D rendering. Known for delivering an outstanding user experience, the latest M4 MacBook Pro pushes the boundaries even further with several notable upgrades.
It boasts an ultra-bright display with a peak brightness of 1000 cd/m², an optional nano-texture finish for reduced glare, and an upgraded 12 MP camera with Center Stage support for enhanced video calls. Additionally, it features Thunderbolt 5, offering blazing-fast data transfer speeds of up to 120Gbps—three times faster than Thunderbolt 4.
Of course, this level of performance and innovation comes at a premium price, making it a significant investment for those who demand the absolute best.
For Windows users, our top recommendation is the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024), a high-end workstation laptop built for power and flexibility. It offers Intel Meteor Lake processors, configurable up to a Core Ultra 9 185H, and a range of NVIDIA discrete GPUs, including GeForce and RTX Ada Generation models, ensuring excellent performance for demanding workloads.
This laptop supports up to 64GB of RAM and 8TB of storage, with the added advantage of user-upgradable components—a key benefit over the MacBook Pro. Display options vary, but if you need full DCI-P3 color coverage, only the top-tier 4K+ OLED panel delivers that level of accuracy.
Best Upper Mid-Range 15-Inch Laptop
If your needs are limited to light tasks like web browsing and text editing, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) is one of the best 15-inch Windows laptops we’ve tested. This 7th-generation Surface refines its design with thinner bezels and several notable upgrades, including a 120Hz display, a haptic touchpad, an improved high-resolution webcam, and a more versatile port selection. Its battery life is outstanding, lasting up to 17 hours with light usage.
Powered by a Snapdragon X Elite SoC, the biggest concern with this laptop is app compatibility, as many programs don’t run natively on ARM-based processors. Before purchasing, ensure the software you rely on either has a native ARM version or performs well enough through emulation.
Best Mac Alternative
For Mac users, the Apple MacBook Air 15 (2024) is the obvious pick, standing out as one of the best 15-inch laptops available. Despite its ultra-thin design, it remains sturdy and well-built. The base M3 chip delivers excellent performance while operating silently, thanks to its fanless design.
However, there are a couple of downsides—the display is still limited to 60Hz, which feels outdated compared to competitors, and the port selection is minimal, offering only two USB-C ports and a MagSafe charging port.
Note: Apple has introduced the new M4 MacBook Air, offering a modest upgrade with enhanced performance, a 12MP webcam featuring Center Stage support, and improved external display capabilities, allowing users to connect two external monitors while still using the built-in screen.
That said, the M3 MacBook Air remains an excellent option, especially if you don’t need these upgrades—plus, it’s likely available at a lower price. Testing on the M4 MacBook Air is currently underway, so stay tuned for our full review soon.
Best 16-Inch Gaming Laptop
ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024)
Our top gaming laptop choice is the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024). Featuring a 16-inch display and weighing 6.4 lbs, it’s a bit on the bulky side, but it delivers an exceptional gaming experience.
Under the hood, it packs Intel’s high-performance Raptor Lake Core i9-14900HX processor, paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 4070, or 4080 Laptop GPUs, providing outstanding power for even the most demanding games.
For the display, ASUS offers two excellent options: a 165Hz FHD+ panel and a 240Hz QHD+ panel, both featuring fast response times and G-SYNC support to ensure smooth visuals with minimal ghosting or screen tearing.
Although the laptop is limited to 32GB of RAM, it utilizes replaceable SO-DIMM sticks, allowing you to upgrade memory as needed.
Despite being primarily made of plastic, the chassis feels solid and durable. The laptop features a full-size keyboard with per-key RGB backlighting, allowing for customizable lighting effects. Connectivity is a strong point, with plenty of ports for peripherals and external displays, including Thunderbolt 4 and HDMI 2.1.
For online gamers, the inclusion of an Ethernet port and Wi-Fi 6E ensures a fast and stable connection, minimizing lag during competitive play. However, battery life is a major drawback, lasting only about an hour during gaming—though this is common for high-performance gaming laptops with power-hungry CPUs and discrete GPUs.
Notable Mentions
Dell Precision 5690 (2024)
The Dell Precision 5690 (2024) is a solid Windows alternative to the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024). Compared to the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 (2024), this workstation laptop offers more powerful GPU options, including the NVIDIA RTX 4000 and RTX 5000 Ada Generation Laptop GPUs, making it a great choice for graphics-intensive tasks.
However, it does come with a few downsides, such as fewer ports, a lower-quality webcam, and soldered components that limit upgradeability.
LG Gram 16 (2024)
The LG Gram 16 (2024) is a great alternative to the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024), especially if you prefer a larger screen or need a traditional x86 processor instead of an ARM-based device. It offers more ports for added connectivity, but it doesn’t feel as solidly built and features a non-haptic diving board touchpad, which may not be as responsive. Additionally, none of its available display options match the brightness of the Surface Laptop’s screen.
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024)
The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) is a solid choice if your workflow is entirely web-based or relies on Android apps. It features a better display compared to the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023), offering a more vibrant and immersive viewing experience. However, this comes at a higher price, making it a premium option among Chromebooks.
Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023)
For those on a tighter budget, the Lenovo Legion Pro 5 Gen 8 16 (2023) is a more affordable alternative to the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024). While it doesn’t feel quite as premium or well-built as the ASUS, it still delivers solid gaming performance.
This model is limited to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPUs, so you won’t find higher-end options like the RTX 4080. Additionally, it’s only available with QHD+ displays, which means selecting the right GPU is crucial. We recommend opting for the RTX 4060 or 4070, as the RTX 4050 struggles to maintain smooth gameplay at 1440p in graphically demanding games.
Recent Updates
Update Log
- February 7, 2025: Updated text for conciseness and clarity. Also replaced the Acer Chromebook Plus 515 (2023) with the Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024) as a Notable Mention, as the 516 GE offers a better user experience overall.
- December 18, 2024: Replaced the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023) with the Apple MacBook Pro 16 (2024) since the M3 model has been discontinued.
- November 21, 2024: Swapped the Dell Alienware m16 R1 (2023) for the ASUS ROG Strix G16 (2024) due to its better performance and wider availability. Added the Dell Precision 5690 (2024) and LG Gram 16 (2024) as Notable Mentions. Also made small text changes to include details about the M4 MacBook Pro 16.
- August 28, 2024: Due to superior performance, replaced the Dell XPS 16 (2024) with the Lenovo ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 as an alternative to the MacBook Pro 16 (M3, 2023). Also swapped the MacBook Air 15 (2023) with the Microsoft Surface Laptop 7th Edition 15 (2024) as the Best Upper-Mid Range pick. Finally, due to availability issues, replaced the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 15 (2023) with the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023). see it
Our recommendations above highlight what we believe are the best 15- and 16-inch laptops currently available. We base our selections not only on test results but also on price-to-performance value (a more affordable option wins if the price difference isn’t justified), user feedback, and availability—we avoid recommending laptops that are hard to find or nearly out of stock.
If you’d rather choose for yourself, you can browse our full list of laptop reviews, sorted from lowest to highest price. Keep in mind that most laptops come in multiple configurations, and the table only reflects the specific model we tested, so be sure to check the full review for details on other variants.