Best Laptops for Working Remotely – Buyer’s Guide and Reviews

By: Nootan Kumar

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Working remotely is the best option to get a flexible lifestyle, better health, and wellness compared to the 9 to 5 desk job. Maybe you’re working remotely for a startup or a large company; you need a portable laptop that should be easy to carry and perform all tasks according to your requirements.

If you’re in a hurry, check out our top choice DELL XPS9350 View at Amazon.

Also, Read: Best Laptops for Home Use in 2024

However, it might be hard to determine – which laptop is the best for working remotely in 2024 because there are lots of tech jargon over the internet, and you might be lost easily. Therefore, I have researched for you, and you don’t have to worry.

However, there are some essentials things that you should keep in mind before choosing the best laptops for working remotely in 2024. So let’s get started!

Best Laptops for Remote Work in 2024 – Buyer’s Guide

A Good Processor

microprocessor

It is the main factor that determines which is the best laptops for remotely working. A powerful processor allows you to do the high-performance task.

However, If you use Microsoft Office most of the time or write the emails then you don’t need to worry too much for the laptop’s processor, any processor can do an excellent job for you. But, if you need to do some high-intensity tasks like photo editing, vector designing, modeling, or programming, then you need to consider to pick the right processor.

Also read: best laptops for programming

As I said, if you don’t do heavy multitasking work, then you can pick any processor.
But for some high-intensity task, you need to slide your needle some high – you can go with Intel’s i3 or i5 processor series (some popular processors: i3-7100U, i3-7130U, i3-8130U, i5-7200U, i5-8250U). The Price range for these laptops is between $300-$800; you can choose according to your budget; this processor range is capable of doing almost all tasks related to working remotely.

In some exceptional circumstances, if you do some ultra-high-end tasks like programming, model designing, then you need to look into the Intel’s i7 series processors: like i7-7500, i7-7700HQ, i7-8750H.

Don’t worry; I have selected all types of laptops for different requirements and budgets for you.

Sufficient amount of RAM

computer memory RAM

When you are working remotely, probably you’ll do multitasking – using social media, reading the news, or maybe listening to music in the background while working.

Computer memory plays a crucial role in multitasking. The more RAM (Random Access Memory) means the computer can do more tasks at the same time. If you are using the laptop for some basic tasks like emailing or spreadsheets, you might skimp and go with 4GB RAM. For advanced users, 8GB memory is the minimum required, even going with higher won’t be surprising.

Storage

hdd vs ssd

Every computer needs a hard drive to store data, and it is also a component that affects the speed. Nowadays, there are two types of storage technology being used in computers – hard disk drive and solid-state drive. SSD is modern technology that offers the fastest data transfer speed; also, it’s more reliable, energy-efficient, and lightweight. However, it’s a bit costly than traditional HDDs.

For a basic laptop for working remotely, a 250 GB SSD is pretty enough. Unless you have any serious reason for the large storage capacity, you don’t need to spend money on a larger drive. However, you can also choose a laptop with hybrid storage, which would be an affordable solution for space and speed.

Size and Resolution

Laptop size depends on the user’s requirements – if you’ll doing some basic tasks such as reading emails or making reports, then you can go with a 13-inch laptop. This size is enough to see what you are doing, and it is convenient to carry. However, if you need a notebook for some graphics-oriented tasks or programming, you can go with a 14-inch or 15.6-inch laptop. Keep in mind if you are planning to go above the 15.6-inch screen, it’s going to cumbersome.

In my opinion, an ideal laptop for working remotely should be as lightweight as possible.

A display resolution represents how many pixels a screen has in the horizontal and vertical direction, and it is usually quoted as width x height. For example, 1366 x 768 means the display has the 1366 pixel in width, and the height has 768 pixels.

The higher the resolution, the more precise the display quality will be. Here I have done some break down for you that will help you to judge the screen.

  • 1366 x 768 (HD) – Poor quality (especially if you have a large display with that resolution)
  • 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) – Average, nowadays, most of the budget laptops come with this screen resolution.
  • IPS 1920 x 1080 (Touchscreen); 1000:1contrast ratio, 300 nits brightness, 85% sRGB – Good! you can easily find in the mid-range laptops.
  • IPS 4K (3840 x 2160) (Touchscreen); 1200:1 contrast, 340 nits brightness, 100% aRGB – Great! available in premium quality expensive laptops.

Battery

It’s also an important factor when choosing a reliable laptop for working remotely, especially if you often travel, then it becomes even more necessary to go with an extended battery. You have to ensure that your laptop has at least 7 hours of battery life. However, you don’t have to worry because the laptops that I selected for review almost all of them having 7+ hours of battery life.

Graphics Cards

A discrete GPU speeds up the graphics processing when doing a graphics-oriented task if you don’t do work with motion graphics or virtual 3-D models, you don’t need to think about any dedicated video card.

Most of the tasks can be done quickly without any problem with Intel’s integrated graphics. If you’re into video editing or graphics designing, then you need to go for a dedicated Nvidia GeForce graphics card for handling that load. I want to recommend GTX 960M, which is a reliable choice for your money; however, there are also some great options such as 980,1060, 1070, 1080.

QUICK OVERVIEW

Top Rated Laptops for Remote Working in 2024

ASUS Chromebook C202SA-YS02

Cheapest

  • 2.2 lbs
  • Celeron
  • 4 GB
  • 16 GB eMMC
View at Amazon

Apple MacBook Air

Most portable

  • 3.85 lbs
  • i5-4250U
  • 4 GB
  • 128GB SSD
View at Amazon
Lenovo v330
  • 4.85 lbs
  • i5-7200U
  • 8 GB
  • 256GB SSD
View at Amazon
Acer Aspire R 15
  • 4.74 lbs
  • i7-7500U
  • 12 GB
  • 256GB SSD
View at Amazon

Dell XPS9350-8008SLV

Editor’s Choice

  • 2.8 lbs
  • i7-6560U
  • 16 GB
  • 512 GB SSD
View at Amazon

ASUS VivoBook Pro

Most Powerful

  • 5 lbs
  • i7-7700HQ
  • 16 GB
  • 256GB SSD+1TB HDD
View at Amazon

 

Best Laptops for Working Remotely – Reviews

 1. ASUS Chromebook (Most Affordable Laptop)

2.2 lbs | Celeron | Intel HD 4 GB | 16 GB eMMC | 11.6-inch  1366×768 |  10 hours | Chrome

If you’re not ready to spend much on your computer, the ASUS Chromebook is the best budget laptop around. It is powered by an Intel Celeron processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32 GB of eMMC storage capacity, and those are enough specs for flexible web browsing and text editing.

This laptop has an 11.6inch screen with a 1366 x 768 screen resolution, which is quite sharp and bright. Moreover, this laptop is very light and offers excellent battery life, and those are very crucial requirements for working remotely, if you are traveling or away from home.

You might be wondering about the storage; I want to tell you it is a Chromebook, so Google provides the online storage to save your data. However, 32 GB is also sufficient for holding a lot of documents and photos.

Unfortunately, budget laptops always have their restrictions, and it is also not an exception. The hardware is not very powerful to perform the complicated task; however, many apps are now available for Chromebook; they can also allow doing more than emailing and text editing.

Overall, ASUS Chromebook is a great laptop for working remotely at an affordable price, and its hardware is maximum optimized for web browsing. If you are not going to do more than web browsing and text editing, you don’t need to look elsewhere for another laptop.

View at Amazon

 2. Apple MacBook Air (Portability with Performance)

3.85 lbs | i5-4250U HD  5000 | 4 GB | 128GB SSD | 11.6-inch 1366 x 768 | 10 hours | OS X

I don’t need to tell you about Apple’s product quality; everyone is aware of that. The Apple MacBook Air is a powerful and most compact laptop for working remotely; if you can get this an affordable price, then probably you won’t regret it.

Aesthetically, the MacBook Air offers a super-thin beautiful aluminum body design, which is very durable and easy to carry. Additionally, the 11.6-inch HD screen offers very vividly colors, which allows you to some color-sensitive tasks like photo editing or vector designing.

This MacBook Air version has the 4GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage capacity, the storage is not much, if you want to store a lot of videos or music it might not be suitable for you. But SSD drive and Intel i5 processor ensure the excellent performance, despite being the most portable device. Additionally, it offers a great battery life which can last up to around 9 hours while doing basic tasks.

If you already familiar with the macOS, then you know how secure is this operating system as compared to the others. Microsoft Windows laptops have the highest application support, and no one can beat them due to the market share. However, macOS also supports almost all primary applications that you need to do from basic to advance tasks.

The MacBook air a powerful and most compact laptop for working remotely that allows doing most of the task without any problem; if you can get this MacBook air at an affordable price, then likely you won’t regret it.

View at Amazon

 3. Lenovo Ideapad 330 (Ideal for Office Related Work)

4.85 lbs | i5-7200U HD 620 | 8 GB | 256GB SSD | 15.6-inch 1920×1080 | 5 hours |  Windows 10 Pro

If you are looking for a high-performance laptop within the budget price, then Lenovo Ideapad 330 it the endpoint of your search. This budget laptop not only offers excellent performance but also comes with a beautiful 15.6-inch display too. The latest generation Intel Core i5 8250U processor is just fantastic at this price, it delivers the exceptional performance without sucking the battery slowly. Moreover, you are getting 256 GB of SSD, which is enough for storing a lot of media and provide high data retrieval speed. Additionally, the 8GB RAM is a great option here that ensure the to do multitasking smoothly.

This latest model is offering USB Type-C port, and a full HD 15.6-inches high-resolution color-rich display.

The Lenovo Ideapad 330 is capable of bearing the almost all types of load that you need to do for work remotely except the huge graphics-oriented task because it doesn’t have the dedicated graphics chip inside. However, it is one of the best laptops for office work that has multitasking capability and sufficient storage capacity, portability, and superb display quality.

If you’re looking for the most affordable and reliable laptop for working remotely that should be capable of doing all office-related tasks without any hassle, then the Lenovo IdeaPad 300 laptop is that you are looking for.

If you are looking for running some programs like photoshop or high processing-intensive tasks, then you need to scroll below for other laptops because this laptop is the most suitable for office-related programs (applications like Microsoft Office, adobe pdf, etc.) and web browsing.

View at Amazon

 4. Acer Aspire R 15 (Best Convertible laptop in Mid-Range)

4.74 lbs | i7-7500U | GeForce 940MX | 12 GB | 256GB SSD | 15.6-inch touch 1920×1080 | 9 hours | Windows 10

If you need to do run image-heavy programs, then all previous laptops can’t work for you; you need to looking forward. And, the Acer Aspire R 15 is an excellent convertible laptop that can handle both gaming and workload without any issue, thanks to its I7-7500U processor and dedicated GeForce 940MX graphics. It is a great budget laptop for image rendering tasks, which cost you below $1,000.

The Acer Aspire R 15 is a convertible touch laptop so that it can be used as a tablet or laptop according to your requirements. If you are doing some tasks like photo editing or designing, then you will thank its responsive 15.6-inch touch display that provides vivid colors and sharpness.

Besides the excellent performance, the Acer Aspire R 15 is still capable of providing around 9 hours of battery backup, which is very surprising. The 360-degree convertible hinges are a great implementation in the laptops because it offers maximum flexibility of using – you can use a computer in many modes like Tablet, Tent, Display or merely a Notebook. And Acer Aspire R 15 is an excellent example of that. Moreover, there is a fingerprint sensor that is equipped, which allows doing one-touch secure login.

Overall, the Acer Aspire R 15 is an excellent laptop for working remotely that provides maximum usage flexibility, superior performance, touchscreen, and decent battery life.

If you are looking for something more portable, then you might need to scroll below for another laptop, while, if you mostly work from one place, then it might be the destination of your laptop finding process.

View at Amazon

 5. Dell XPS9350-5341SLV (Overall Recommended Laptop)

2.8 lbs | i7-6560U | Iris Graphics 540 | 16 GB | 512 GB SSD 13.3 touch  3200×1800 |  11 hours | Windows 10

If you are looking for a great display to working with the photos or videos, then you need to look at the Dell XPS9350-5341SLV laptops. It has the best 13.3-inch touch display that comes with 3200 x 1800 pixels resolution, which very ideal for a color-sensitive image or video task.

Many other features of this laptop are perfect for a remote working user. For instance – the Intel Core i7 processor, which is quite powerful and energy-efficient, and Intel Iris Graphics 540 is great for graphics processing. Additionally, 16 GB RAM can handle the high workload and can make your multitasking smoother. Unlike our other previous laptop, here you will find 512 GB of SSD storage, and why not – it has a high price too.

Because it has a 13.3-inch size display with 3200×1800 pixels resolution, so the display quality is far better than others. And for size concern – it is a perfect display size, which is enough to see what on the screen and will not dominate over you while working.

Dell XPS9350-5341SLV is a premium laptop, and you will not be disappointed in terms of quality – the whole laptop has made by highly durable material like carbon fiber, and aluminum and display have the gorilla glass protection which prevents from it from scratch or scuffs. Besides all of these things, it is a very portable and durable laptop for working remotely.

Overall, Dell XPS9350-5341SLV is the best laptops for working remotely that offer ideal size QHD+ touchscreen, powerful Intel i7 processor, capacious 512 GB SSD storage, 16 GB RAM, ultimate durability and excellent battery life.

This laptop ticks almost all checkboxes that are required for anyone to work from the remote location.

View at Amazon

 6. ASUS VivoBook Pro (Ultimate Solution for All)

5 lbs | i7-7700HQ | GTX 1050 4GB | 16 GB | 256GB SSD+1TB HDD | 15.6-inch 3840 x 2160 | 2.5 hours | Windows 10 Home

While Dell XPS9350-5341SLV and Acer Aspire R 15 both are an excellent laptop for graphics processing, but this one is the king. The Asus VivoBook Pro is the most potent machine under $1,500 nowadays in the market. It is the best laptop for programming, photo editing, or other computer-intensive tasks; it will never stop you from doing anything from low to an ultra-high-performance job. Thanks to its Intel i7-7700HQ processor and NVIDIA GTX 1050 4GB graphics card. Moreover, this machine has the hybrid storage options 256GB SSD+1TB HDD, which is an excellent combination of performance and storage. And 16 GB of memory quite sufficient for doing anything.

In terms of the display quality, it is a runner-up – the 15.6-inch touch display that takes the 3840 x 2160 pixels resolution. It’s not as portable as the Dell XPS9350-8008SLV, and might not suitable for those who always work on-the-go.

There are some drawbacks to this machine – it has a low battery life due to the powerful HQ series processor, and a big screen and higher weight already stabbed the portability.

The ASUS VivoBook Pro offers the best specs compared to all other laptops on our list, but it has some downside too, like a big screen, high weight, and low battery life.

But still, it is the best laptops for working from home or remotely; it is the only laptop that will not deny doing anything like programming, photo/video editing, or essential office work. And as for home use, you don’t need to care about the battery most.

Finally, ASUS VivoBook Pro is the most powerful laptop for those who need ultimate performance during their work.

View at Amazon

Wrapping it up

Finally, I hope you have got your best laptop for working remotely, still confuse! No problem let me help you again.

First, we will start with the basic need – if you’ll be doing only web browsing or text editing then you don’t need to spend too much, ASUS Chromebook is the best affordable laptop for working remotely.

While Apple MacBook Air is the most portable laptop that provides good performance and battery life, you can do a lot more than just text editing or web browsing. I have selected a great deal for you to grab the MacBook Air at the affordable price.

The Lenovo v330 is a balanced laptop that comes at an affordable price, it is suitable for almost all office related work, and also allow doing multitasking. But still, it is not recommended for those people who need a laptop for the graphics-oriented task like photoshop, coral.

If you are comfortable with a 15.6-inch laptop then Acer Aspire R 15 is the perfect laptop for working remotely within the budget, because it offers a great i7-7500U processor, convertible design, big touch display, and great battery life.

Overall Dell XPS9350-8008SLV is our best laptop for remote working in 2024 because it has everything that is needed for you – a decent processor, fast and big storage capacity, sufficient amount of RAM, ultra sharp touch display, compact and lightweight design, durable and premium body, and longer battery life. If you seriously need a durable and best performance laptop then You likely won’t say “no” to this machine.

Lastly, the Asus VivoBook Pro also a high-performance laptop, or you can say it is the top performance laptop in our list, then it is totally justified statement. But it loses in terms of battery backup and bulky design.

Ok, now the choice is yours, here is the all complete list for different types of remote working laptop, you can choose which fits well in your budget and requirements.

Don’t worry if you don’t find any suitable laptop for you or you have any questions regarding these laptops. Tell me in the comment below, I will back to you shortly.

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