Are business laptops good for students? (12 tests)
business laptops are an excellent choice for students, they have many advantages that encourage students to opt for them.
students love business laptops Because they are:
- durable
- have extended warranty
- have though software
- have resistant design
In this article, we’re going to expose the results of 12 tests that we made on the 5 famous business laptops on the market. In order to finally confirm if business laptops are good for students or not.
The business laptop that we’re going to test are:
- ThinkPad x1 carbon
- XPS 13
- Microsoft laptop studio
- MacBook pro 13
- Hp dragonlife
Test 1: battery life
The first test that we will expose its results on our 5 best business laptops is the life battery. So, having a good life battery is so important in portability, we will discover some great models in this test.
In the graph below you will find the result of a test made on these laptops, not the company data. Thus to be close to the truth.
In addition, this test doesn’t include playing video games we will list the test results in an individual gaming test. But the use is intensive it contains:
- browsing on the internet
- watching video
- running programs
So the noraml tasks that students are doing daily.

The winner in this test is MacBook and the reason is MacBook has the most efficient CPU in the world. To clarify, it consumes only 15 watts per hour compared to an intel processor that reaches 45 watts per hour.
So the MacBook is a great device to use for students in outsides, like school or college. You can carry it without a charger because it will last for the whole day studying.
Test 2: price
The second test that or a comparison better to say is the price, it is so important for students to know which is the affordable business laptop for them. So in this table below you will see the prices of the details.
But students have to understand that these prices are standard versions, not customized ones. The customized laptops versions are more expensive.
Business laptops | ThinkPad x1 carbon | MacBook pro 13 | XPS 13 | Microsoft laptop studio | Hp elite dragonfly |
price starting at | $1149 | $1299 | $1379 | $1599 | $1779 |
The winner in the price test for students is the “ Thinkpad X1 carbon”
Test 3: weight
In the third test, we’re going to compare the weight of each device and it charger, this is important for students. Because student brings their laptop to school or college so they need a charger too.
in the table below you will discover how much weight you will carry on your backpack for each model of laptop.
Weight | ThinkPad x1 carbon | xps 13 | Hp dragonfly | Macbook pro 13inch | Microsoft studio surface |
Device weight | 1209g | 1320g | 1133g | 1400g | 1742g |
Charger weight | 226g | 136g | 345g | 450g | 226g |
Total | 1435g | 1456g | 1478g | 1850g | 1968g |
The winning business laptop in the weight test for students is ThinkPad x1 carbon.
it will be the lighter one to put it in the backpacks with his charger but:
- HP dragon is the lighter one
- XPS has the lighter charger
But globally ThinkPad is the winner because probably you won’t go to college without a charger. If you choose to charge it at home without carrying a charger the Hp dragonfly will be the lighter one.
Test 4: Thickness
In this test we’re going to compare the thickness of business laptops for students, having a thin laptop is very important for students. So he can fit between a notebook or textbook that students carry on the bag.
Normally business laptops are thin, but in this table below you will see the difference between the 5 business laptops that we mentioned above.
xps 13 | ThinkPad x1 carbon | Macbook pro 13inch | Hp dragon life | Microsoft studio surface | |
Thickness | 14,7mm | 15,24mm | 15,49mm | 16mm | 17,78g |
The Xps 13 is the finest business laptop in this category, but if we look at the difference, 3mm between the finest and the thicker one is not a big deal.
for students who are looking for the finest devices iPad’s and Chromebooks are the leaders in this area.
You could find some Chromebooks with only 9mm of thickness or like iPads with 7mm. But in general 15mm of thickness is less 2 times than notebooks.
Test 5: software
in the software test, we will compare the flexibility and disponibility that the operating system provides for students. So it will be our reference of comparison.
So all devices are working with windows except MacBook pro who run the iOS operation system. So the looser laptop in this test will be a MacBook pro and the reason is:
- The operating system windows have 90% of the market share while iOS only 8%
- MacBook Pro doesn’t run the whole windows applications, especially MacBook air you could find more info about this subject into this article.
- you might face the compatibility problems
in general “The MacBook Pro” operating system is not flexible like windows. So this is the core base of the software test.
Test 6: powerfulness
in this test we’re going to evaluate the CPU of each business laptop to be aware of which is the most powerful one to use, especially if they are engineer students .
engineer students require powerful laptops to execute their tasks without issues. So after several tests, these are the CPU results of each business laptop.
Ram Test | Macbook pro | XPS 13 | Windows laptop studio | ThinkPad x1 carbon | Hp dragonfly |
Single core test | 1741 | 1503 | 1407 | 1456 | 1450 |
Multi-core test | 7730 | 5526 | 5406 | 5193 | 4904 |
total Ram score | 9471 | 7029 | 6813 | 6649 | 6354 |
MacBook is the leading business laptop in terms of CPU power and efficiency, the M1 processor that Apple has released is the beast that no one can compete against.
M1 chip is ahead or more powerful by 40% than other laptops, this rate is noticeable and no one can deny it. So for students who are looking for a powerful business laptop, MacBook is the number one. it doesn’t yet have a competitor.
test 7 : screen
this test will not go deep and compare the screen quality but we will notice the important thing in a business laptop. To summarise we will see if the laptop has a touch screen or not.
- ThinkPad x1 carbon ==> it support thouch screen
- XPS 13 ==> it support touch screen
- Microsoft laptop studio==> it support thouch screen
- MacBook pro 13==> it dosen’t support thouch screen
- Hp dragonlife=> it support touch screen
In this test the only loser is the MacBook Pro, so for students who love the idea of a “2 device in 1” MacBook is to avoid. You can’t use it as a laptop and tablet at the same time.
It is a big deception for students who love to take notes with laptops. If you love apple products you have to invest in an iPad which will be costly.
Test 8: storage
All business laptops that we compare in our article have the same storage capacity, 256 SSD so there is nothing special to notice between.
Test 9 : noise
the noise effect is so important for students.
when students study in the presence of a louder laptop it will not be quite good to help focus doing homework or solving some assignments exercises.
you could read this article if you hate homework 9 reasons why students love learning but hate homework?
So if you have a silent laptop it is a good deal especially in exams, bringing a noisy laptop will be disturbing for the whole student in the same room.
we made a fan noise test of our 5 best business laptops and here’s what we found.
Mackbook pro | XPS 13 | Windows laptop studio | ThinkPad x1 carbon | Hp dragonfly | |
Noise | 26 dB | 35 dB | 37 dB | 40 db | 45 dB |
The winner in this test is the MacBook Pro and the reason is clear.
Macbook M1 processor doesn’t consume a lot of energy so automatically it won’t:
generate a lot of heat
keep the battery for longer times
don’t require noisy fans, meaning less noise
So as a student who loves to study in quiet environments having a MacBook is the best option in the market. Moreover, you can opt for a MacBook Air, which is completely silent it is 0 dB, simply because it doesn’t have a fan.
you could find more details in this explaining video
Test 10: warranty
if you are a student who loves warranties and have good or enough time to test your business laptop this test will be useful. Here are the warranty times of each business laptop in the table below.
ThinkPad x1 carbon | XPS 13 | Windows laptop studio | macbook pro | Hp dragonfly | |
warranty | 3 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year | 1 year |
for students who are skeptical about laptop reliability, Lenovo with ThinkPad x1 provides an amazing warranty time, 3 years is huge.
A lot of students change laptops every 3 years which means like a lifetime insurance, which reflects the confidence that Lenovo company has for it a business laptop.
Test 11: diversity of ports
in this test we will discover which is the best business laptop that has a lot of ports, this is so important for students to:
- run external monitors
- transfer data
- have the manual solution when wifi sucks like ethernet ports
in this table we will focus on the 3 important things for students:
- USB- A port they still popular and used by the majority of students not like USB-c ports
- ethernet port
- hadmi port
so you can find the results in the table below
Weight | ThinkPad x1 carbon | xps 13 | Hp dragon life | Macbook pro 13inch | Microsoft studio surface |
USB-A port | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
HDMI | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
Ethernet | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
the winner device in the diversity of port test is ThinkPad x1 carbon it has 2 USB ports and 1 HDMI connection that all rivals don’t have. But unfortunately, all business laptops don’t have ethernet ports and that is noraml depending on their thickness.
Test 12 : gaming
the last test that we’re going to make is a gaming test, all students love to play video games in school or college. Having some fun times to chill out or destress from assignments is good. you could read this related article about a gaming-study subject.
- It is good to play video games during classes? (solved)
- Do successful students play video games? 7 facts
- Playing video games in college is a good idea?
in this test, we’re going to focus on battery durability for games not graphic cards or quality of gaming because these laptops aren’t designed for that.
here are the result of our business laptop life batteries in gaming.
Business laptops | ThinkPad x1 carbon | XPS 13 | Microsoft laptop studio | MacBook pro 13 | Hp elite dragonfly |
Battery life | 4h 10min | 2h 50min | 1h 59min | 5h 1min | 4h 05min |
MacBook has proved that is the leader in this gaming battery efficiency, the M1 chip that apple has is amazing. Then we find that Thinkpad and hp dragonfly are always good in terms of battery durability.
conclusion
After 12 tests that we made in our best business laptop in the market, it is time to announce the winner laptop business for students. The table below resumes the whole results.
The result of our test and the best laptop business for students are :
Business laptop | Score test |
1. Thinkpad x1 carbone | 6/12 |
2. Macbook pro 13 inch | 5/12 |
3. XPS 13 | 4/12 |
4. Hp dragonfly | 3.5/12 |
5. Micorsoft laptop studio | 3/12 |
so for students who are looking for the best business laptop, you can choose between Thinkpad x1 carbon or MacBook pro, both are great.
But the surprising thing in our test is how much it was poor the studio laptop surface performance was.
in general and according to all numbers that we exposed we firmly affirm that business laptops are good or excellent for students