When it comes to laptop screen sizes, I really like 15 inches because it offers a nice midpoint between portability and big-screen luxury. And the best 15-inch laptops straddle that line perfectly, delivering plenty of power in an easy-to-carry chassis with a big, bright screen.
I know because my team and I review dozens of laptops from the top manufacturers every year, so I've had a front-row seat to the rise and fall in 15-inch laptops' popularity. When people ask which we like best, I typically recommend the 15-inch MacBook Air M4 because it offers killer speed, a comfy keyboard and 15 hours of tested battery life, as well as a great webcam.
But if you're more a fan of Windows and don't want to spend a fortune, then the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x is our go-to choice. It may not be a premium laptop, but it certainly feels like one with its stellar 16-hour battery life, snappy keyboard and slick, 15-inch design.
Read on for more recommendations, more detailed explanations and links to our full reviews and detailed testing, so you can find the best 15-inch laptop for your needs.
My top picks
More of the same, but better. The M4 MacBook Air is the same great 15-inch laptop, but with the latest silicon under the hood, an upgraded 12MP webcam, a gorgeous new Sky Blue finish, and a $100 price cut.
It's hard to fault what the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x offers for its sub-$1,000 price, largely thanks to its amazing 16-hour battery life, incredibly comfy keyboard and slim, elegant 15-inch design. It's just a shame its display isn't too bright.
You'd be hard-pressed to find a better 15-inch gaming laptop for the price than this cyberpunk-inspired gaming machine, which comes with a capable Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, a fast Intel CPU and a speedy 144Hz display that can keep up with even the most frenetic gaming action.
Alex Wawro is a lifelong journalist who's spent over a decade covering tech, games and entertainment. He oversees the computing department at Tom's Guide, which includes managing laptop coverage and reviewing many himself every year.
The best 15-inch laptops you can buy today
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The best overall
The 15-inch M4 MacBook Air is the epitome of "if it ain't broke, don't fix it," and that's exactly why it's still the best 15-inch laptop for the money — especially now it's available for $100 less than the M3 model was last year.
That upgrade to the M4 chipset brings some impressive performance and power efficiency gains. In my testing, the 15% uplift in speed over M3 means apps open in a snap and you can even get more CPU and GPU-intensive tasks done with that faster multi-core processing prowess.
And with over 15 hours of stamina on one charge in our own testing, this falls solidly into that worry-free battery life territory. Also, shoutout to that upgraded 12MP webcam, which makes you look a lot sharper than you ever did on older MacBook Airs.
Now, I know that $1,199 price tag is seriously tempting. But given the small incremental boosts over M3, I'd probably skip this generation if you already own the older machine.
But for everyone else, from that bright display and bright Sky Blue finish, to the slickness of macOS and Apple Intelligence — all packed into that slim, sleek and premium shell, this is a fantastic all-rounder for most of you reading this.
Read our full MacBook Air 15-inch M4 review.
The best value
It's remarkable what the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x can achieve for $749 (or less on sale), showcasing what you can get out of a fittingly slim, well-built 15-inch laptop. If you're more of a Windows user and prefer to save your pennies, then Lenovo's notebook is tough to beat.
By no means perfect, due to its low brightness and dim colors on its otherwise detailed (and nicely sized) 15.3-inch (1920 x 1200) 60Hz IPS touch display, along with its quiet speakers. But you'll find it impresses far more in other departments.
I mean, having over 16 hours of battery life not only surpasses the MacBook Air, but it also lands it as one of the best laptops for battery life. Throw in its brilliantly sleek design with a satisfying keyboard (number pad included) and decent performance from its Snapdragon X chip, and you've got yourself a reliable 15-inch machine for work and casual use.
Don't expect to play games on this laptop, as it's more for basic everyday tasks like web browsing, replying to emails and watching shows on Netflix, but if that suits your fancy, you'll find a lot of value in Lenovo's IdeaPad Slim 3x.
Read our full Lenovo IdePad Slim 3x review.
The best budget 15-inch gaming laptop
The MSI Cyborg 15 ($999) is a 15-inch cyberpunk-inspired gaming laptop that won’t destroy your wallet.The Intel Core CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU aren't the best you can get, yet this laptop delivers solid gaming performance for $1,000 or less, if you can find it on sale.
Factor in the 144Hz refresh rate on the 15.6-inch display and you start to see why I think this is a machine that’s a great entry into the world of PC gaming. The 15-inch size is just at the high end of portability, yet it offers you lots of screen real estate to enjoy your favorite games.
Sure, the display could be brighter and a bit more colorful, but the fast refresh rate is welcome. And while its battery life while gaming isn’t great, the Cyborg 15 lasts significantly longer when you're just writing emails or browsing the web. Just make sure to plug in when you're ready to game.
Read our full MSI Cyborg 15 review.
Also tested
We test and review dozens of laptops every year, and just because they don't all make this list doesn't mean they aren't good machines.
No, there are loads of great laptops that don't quite achieve the level of excellence needed to be the best 15-inch laptops you can buy. Below, we've gathered all the good laptops we've tested that don't quite make this list, but are still great alternatives well worth considering if they meet your unique needs, or if you can't find your first choice on sale.
How to choose the best 15-inch laptop for you
Performance: If you only need something to get work done and watch videos on, don't bother shelling out for one of the laptops on this list with a discrete graphics card. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x is plenty good enough, and if you want something nicer, you can do everything you need to on the MacBook Air.
Graphics and gaming: Most mainstream 15-inch laptops feature integrated graphics, which can handle lightweight titles such as Minecraft and Overwatch but aren't ideal for graphically-intensive games or heavy visual work. For that, you'll want a laptop with a discrete graphics card, such as the Nvidia card you get with the MSI Cyborg 15.
Screen quality: More and more 15-inch laptops are shipping with high refresh rate screens or OLED display options, though you may need to pay extra to get one. If you plan to play a lot of games on your laptop, it's a good idea to get one with a high-refresh screen, like the MSI Cyborg 15.
But if you want something crisp and easy to see, the MacBook Air M4 actually offers a brighter screen than anything else on this list. And if screen quality doesn't matter so much to you, the Acer Aspire Go 15 will suit you just fine.
Whichever system you decide on, you may also want to pick up the best mouse for your particular work situation.
Battery benchmarks: comparison
To better help you pick the best 15-inch laptop for your needs we run every laptop we review through a series of battery tests to see how long it lasts on a full charge.
These tests do not reflect real-world use patterns since we have to set every laptop to the same settings in order to do fair comparisons. Thus, while the times listed here are accurate and useful as a comparison point, your own experience with a laptop's battery life will likely vary.
This is because when we run our battery test we set the laptop's display to 150 nits of brightness and have it endlessly browse the web via Wi-Fi until it dies. However, when you use your laptop you're likely adjusting brightness on the fly and doing all kinds of stuff I can't account for.
So while I stand by our testing and the battery life results we compare in the chart below, I want to be clear that your own experience will vary!
Laptop | Battery life (tested) |
Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x | 16:29 |
MacBook Air 15-inch (M4) | 15:14 |
MSI Cyborg 15 | 05:05 |
How we test the best 15-inch laptops
To find the best 15-inch laptop, we run every machine we review through a rigorous suite of benchmarks and real-world tests to gauge how it will perform during everyday use.
We measure the average brightness and color quality of each laptop's display using our in-house light meter and colorimeter. For general performance, we run our machines through tests that include Geekbench 6 (CPU performance), as well as various 3DMark tests to measure graphics capabilities. We also run a file transfer test to measure how fast a machine's hard drive is, and a custom battery test that has the machine browse the internet over Wi-Fi until it runs out of juice.
When testing dedicated gaming laptops, we run benchmarks for popular games such as Grand Theft Auto V, Hitman and Red Dead Redemption 2.
For more information on our testing process, check out our guide to how we test products at Tom's Guide.
