When looking for the best laptop for engineering students, three key features come to mind: speedy performance, plenty of graphics power and portability. Finding the best mix of these traits in a well-priced laptop is hard, and that's why I'm here to help you find a machine that can get you through your course.
After testing and benchmarking dozens of laptops each year, my team of computing experts and I keep a watchful eye on any laptop that would suit the needs of engineering students. I know requirements on these machines can get specific depending on the school or engineering department you're in, so we've rounded up a range that can blaze through unoptimized code and support CAD work alike.
If you're looking for more than just the best laptop for college, explore our hand-picked list of the best laptops for engineering below.
Recent updates
Nvidia's latest RTX 50-series gaming are here, and we've now tested many of the latest machines from top manufacturers. These are incredibly powerful, so if you're looking to make the most out of a laptop's power throughout your engineering classes and beyond, these are a good shout. If you're looking to find one but aren't sure where to look, we've found the best places to buy RTX 50-series gaming laptops.
The quick list
The Dell XPS 16 is our current top recommendation for engineering students because it's svelte and portable yet powerful enough to do some heavy lifting thanks to its discrete GPU. While the tight keyboard and invisible touchpad take some getting used to, this is a great all-around laptop.
The cyberpunk aesthetic makes it clear this is a gaming laptop, but don't let that dissuade you from considering this budget machine, which gives you a cutting-edge Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, a 13th Gen Intel CPU and a solid 144Hz 15.6-inch display.
The latest Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 with RTX 50-series GPU power offers amazing performance in a small package. It's a fantastic gaming laptop that can handle intense workloads thanks to its CPU and discrete GPU onboard, and its OLED display is a bonus.
The powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX 40-series GPU in Samsung's Galaxy Book 4 Ultra make it not just great for gaming, but heavy-duty computational work too. If you like the vivid colors and sharp contrasts of OLED, the 16-inch OLED screen makes this a great choice.
The Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio's discrete Nvidia GPU onboard makes it one of the most powerful 2-in-1s you can buy, and the unique sliding 120Hz touchscreen is great for taking notes if you splurge for the Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is an absolute monster in terms of sheer performance power and size (and price). Its Intel Core Ultra 9 CPU and RTX 5090 GPU can handle anything you throw at it, while the 18-inch Mini-LED 4K display is big enough for multitasking.
Load the next products...
The Framework Laptop 16 gives you unprecedented control of your laptop, allowing you to swap out ports, the keyboard, the screen, and even the discrete GPU. It runs hot and loud and can feel a little unstable at times, but in return you get the most repairable and upgradable performance laptop on the planet.
The best laptops for engineering students you can buy today
Why you can trust Tom's Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what's best for you. Find out more about how we test, analyze, and rate.
The best laptop overall
The Dell XPS 16 is what I recommend most to engineering students because it strikes a smart balance between being versatile, powerful and easy to carry to school. Plus, it lasted over 11 hours in our battery test, so you can count on it lasting you through a day of classes.
This Windows 11 laptop comes with a nice, bright 16-inch LCD screen, but if you can afford it I recommend springing for the 4K OLED touchscreen upgrade because it makes everything you do on the laptop look nicer. Plus, having the touchscreen gives you a nice alternative way to interact with the laptop when your hands are tired from jamming out assignments.
If you plan to do a lot of demanding coursework I also recommend upgrading the integrated Intel Arc GPU to a discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX laptop GPU. Our review unit came with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070, but you can choose from a few options when configuring your own Dell XPS 16 depending on your needs.
I will say I don't love the experience of typing on the Dell XPS 16, because the keyboard has basically no space between the keys and there's a row of capacitive touch keys above it instead of physical function keys. I found this unpleasant to adapt to, but I will also say that after a few days of getting to grips with it i did adapt and had no trouble typing on the XPS 16.
So if that's the only thing keeping you from buying one of these premium 16-inch ultraportables, fear not! The keyboard isn't so bad once you get used to it. The other thing to be concerned about is the XPS 16's lack of ports, as this laptop only offers you three Thunderbolt 4/USB4 ports, an SDXC card reader and a headphone jack. If you want more ports, you'll have to pay for a USB hub.
Read our full Dell XPS 16 review.
The best value option
The MSI Cyborg 15 ($999) is a cyberpunk-inspired gaming laptop that won’t destroy your wallet. It might look a little out of place in your next lab session, but if you want a powerful laptop for not too much money this beast is hard to beat.
The model we reviewed most recently arrived sported a 13th Gen Intel Core CPU and an Nvidia RTX 4050 GPU, delivering solid gaming performance at an affordable price. But that power also makes this a great choice for students who want to use that gaming muscle for schoolwork.
And while the 15.6-inch 1080p display doesn't deliver amazing color quality or brightness, it's good enough for getting work done on and fast enough (at 144Hz) to be capable of keeping pace with high-speed games when your homework is done. Plus you get an HDMI out and an RJ-45 Ethernet jack in addition to the usual USB-A and USB-C ports, so you can easily hook this machine up to an external monitor and plug into wired Internet for maximum speed.
Of course, the 720p webcam will make you look horribly washed-out and the battery life (barely over 5 hours in our testing) is bad, but the same is true of basically all gaming laptops. What you get in return is a remarkable amount of computing power for your dollar, with some cool design to boot.
Read our full MSI Cyborg 15 review.
The most portable
You'll regularly find the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 at the top of our list of best gaming laptops, and the latest model sporting an RTX 50-series GPU is no different. Not only does its power under the hood make it an ideal choice for engineering students, but its also wonderfully portable.
Along with its AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 CPU and the 64GB of RAM that came with our review unit, the Zephyrus G14 can chew through transcoding a 4K video down to 1080p in under 3 minutes, multiple Chrome tabs and apps, play high-intensive games at 120 FPS and more.
Being just 3.5 pounds, it's a great laptop to take around to class and blast through research or work. One problem is its battery life, which can last around 5-6 hours for daily tasks. That may decrease when using demanding, engineering-focused apps, so its worth taking its power brink with you for a quick charge between classes.
Regardless, as a laptop that offers all the key elements an engineering student needs (and for a long while to come), it's hard to go wrong with the Zephyrus G14. Oh, and its 14-inch (2880 x 1800) OLED display? Its a beauty.
Read our full Asus ROG Zephryus G14 (2025) review.
The best OLED
The Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is the powerhouse of Samsung's Galaxy Book lineup, and that makes it the best Samsung laptop for engineering students because it comes with a speedy CPU and powerful Nvidia GeForce RTX discrete laptop GPU.
That's why I recommend the Book Ultra over other Samsung Galaxy laptops if you're an engineering student: this is the most powerful laptop Samsung makes, but it still has a fairly portable thin-and-light frame and a lovely 16-inch AMOLED touchscreen that's great for watching movies or taking notes.
Together these components give this 16-inch ultraportable OLED laptop enough muscle to help you tackle coursework, and the ultraportable design makes it easy to slide into a backpack. Plus, the roomy keyboard makes knocking out papers feel nice and comfy.
Where this laptop really shines is if you already own other Samsung Galaxy devices, because it comes with Samsung Galaxy software pre-installed that will let you easily share files and data between Galaxy devices. That can be a big productivity booster when you're taking notes or recording lectures on your Galaxy phone, then transferring those to your laptop for later study or review.
However, if you're not already invested in the Samsung ecosystem you can just ignore the extra Galaxy features—they won't interfere with the speed and capabilities of this laptop. In a lot of ways it's very similar to the Surface Laptop Studio 2, but the Galaxy Book4 Ultra comes with a newer CPU while the Laptop Studio 2 offers a unique sliding touchscreen.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra review.
The best 2-in-1
Microsoft's Surface Laptop Studio 2 is a powerful 2-in-1 with a MacBook Pro-like design and an eye-catching hinged display. This is Microsoft’s flagship device for Windows 11, which promises to make Windows a more inviting place for both work and play. Like Windows 11, the Surface Laptop Studio is advertised as a one-stop shop for productivity, entertainment and creative work.
And for the most part, it is all that: its 13th Gen Intel CPU and 16+ GB of RAM gives you enough power to tackle most work, and if you splurge for a model with the discrete Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 or 4060 GPU the Surface Laptop Studio also doubles as a decent machine for gaming or video editing on the go. We've also heard it's an ideal choice for college engineering programs which require laptops that both have a discrete GPU and can be used with an active stylus. While you have to pay extra for the Microsoft Surface Slim Pen 2 stylus, its haptics make writing or drawing on the Studio's 14.4-inch 120Hz touchscreen feel great.
However, it's a bit pricey when you kit it out, and despite its great components the Surface Laptop Studio delivers subpar performance compared to the best MacBooks and Windows laptops. But few laptops can match its intriguing sliding hinged display, which can be tented over the keys like an easel or slid all the way flat to turn the Studio into a heavy tablet.
Read our full Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 review.
The best premium
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 is the most powerful laptop we've tested, and while it comes with a gamer-centric aesthetic, it offers more than enough power for engineering students looking for a machine that can do it all — but it will cost you a premium.
This is the ideal laptop for those after more of a desktop replacement rather than a more portable laptop to easily take to classes. Although, while 7.3 pounds isn't exactly lightweight, its still lighter than other laptops in its class, like the Alienware m18 at over 9 pounds.
Its 18-inch 4K Mini-LED display with a 240Hz refresh rate offers a lot of screen real estate to work in CAD, finishing up homework in documents and, of course, play games. Although, this is also what makes it better on a desk than in classes, as it is a chunky laptop.
Otherwise, you can expect plenty of ports and great cooling for its internals, with the latter meaning in can manage demanding tasks without getting too hot under the hood.
This is a laptop that will take you through your course and more years to come, but you'll be paying a lot for a machine like this. While I recommend other laptops that are more portable for classes and ones that won't put a dent in your wallet, this is an option for those who have been saving up for a premium laptop for their engineering career. Just keep note that as a gaming laptop, its battery won't last very long — so always keep its power brick handy.
Read our full Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 review.
The most customizable
I love the Framework Laptop 16 because it's designed to be opened, repaired and upgraded by the owner, so you can count on being able to customize it and fix it up more than basically any other laptop on the market.
I think this model is great for engineering students specifically because it's the bigger, more powerful (and more expensive) version of the Framework Laptop 13, which is the best laptop for those who care about right to repair and upgrade because it pioneered Framework's remarkable easy-open design.
The Framework Laptop 16 builds upon what Framework pioneered, offering a 6-slot Expansion Card system that allows you to slot whatever ports you want into your laptop on the fly. While you do have to buy the Cards yourself from Framework, once you have them you can hot-swap them in and out at will so you can, say, remove the RJ-45 Ethernet jack Card when you're heading to class and swap it out for a 250GB memory Card that has your school projects stored on it.
This modular approach to design extends to the removable GPU module, an optional upgrade that lets you attach a beefy discrete GPU to the back of the laptop whenever you need the extra power. It could be useful for demanding engineering projects, plus it gives you a bit more power for high-octane gaming when homework is done.
However, you should know that this laptop's remarkable design does come with some downsides. While you can swap and move around the keyboard, trackpad and other modules, the trade-off is that the laptop feels a bit easier to bend and break than most. This is partly because it's so easy to modify and repair, which should give you some peace of mind if you do end up damaging it, but you should feel comfortable owning a laptop that might need some repair work or TLC to function well. I also noticed some significant heat and fan noise from the laptop during both day-to-day work and gaming, so be prepared for that and keep it in low-power mode when toting it to quiet study halls!
Read our full Framework Laptop 16 review.
Also tested
Since we test and benchmark dozens of laptops every year, there are many machines that can be up for the task of being an engineering student's companion throughout their course. However, they can't all make this list.
That doesn't mean they aren't worth recommending, especially if they're at the right price and offer something the best don't. Check out the laptops we've tested and see if it suits your fancy.
Battery benchmarks: comparison
Battery life is a key concern for students since you don't want a laptop dying in the middle of class. With that in mind we've collected all the results from our battery tests of these laptops, and I've organized them below in a list that's easy to peruse.
As you can see, the Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra is the current clear winner of terms of long battery life. However, a fair number of laptops on this list will last you around 8 hours on a full charge, which should be enough to get you through a day of classes.
Unfortunately, as you can see from our testing gaming laptops typically have terrible battery life and no gaming laptop on this list will actually last you through a full 8-hour day at school without plugging in.
Laptop | Battery life (tested) |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2025) | 4:30 |
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) | 5:45 |
Framework Laptop 16 | 8:49 |
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 | 9:31 |
MSI Cyborg 15 | 5:05 |
Dell XPS 16 | 11:03 |
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra | 13:19 |
Performance benchmarks: comparison
To help you get a better sense of which laptops perform better, I've also included a table of all the results from these laptops in our CPU benchmark tests.
For these tests we run the Geekbench single-core CPU and multi-core CPU tests and report the scores for each. By comparing these scores and seeing which is higher, you can get a general sense of which is more capable.
As you can see from the results below, the Alienware m18 is the clear performance leader on this list. However, even a cheap gaming laptop like the MSI Cyborg 15 can put up decent numbers in terms of raw performance.
Laptop | Geekbench single-core test | Geekbench multi-core test |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 18 (2025) | 3,117 | 19,553 |
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (2025) | 2,929 | 15,280 |
Microsoft Surface Laptop Studio 2 | 1,862 | 12,760 |
Framework Laptop 16 | 1,782 | 11,983 |
MSI Cyborg 15 | 1,837 | 10,614 |
Dell XPS 16 | 1,751 | 13,199 |
Samsung Galaxy Book 4 Ultra | 2,426 | 13,061 |
How to choose the best engineering laptop for you
Performance: If you're going to be spending years studying engineering, you're going to need a computer with enough power to handle anything your teachers throw at you. We recommend at least a new mid-range CPU (Intel Core Ultra or AMD Ryzen 7) and at least 16 GB of RAM, though if you can afford to spend more on on a laptop with better specs it will pay off in the long run.
Graphics and gaming: Most gaming laptops come with discrete graphics cards so they can run the latest games well, but the same card can be equally vital to engineering students who will be using CAD (computer-assisted design) and 3D analysis programs. These kinds of applications really benefit from the power of a good GPU, so if you're expecting to do any graphics or 3D work it's a good idea to invest in a laptop with a discrete Nvidia or AMD graphics card.
Operating system: Laptops typically come in three flavors: Windows (most mainstream PCs), macOS (MacBooks) and Chrome OS (Chromebooks). Chrome OS isn't good for much besides web surfing, file management, and light computing, so a Chromebook isn't a great choice for serious schoolwork. However, a crafty student could install Linux on a high-powered Chromebook to turn it into a decent laptop for engineering work.
Many engineering students spend a lot of time working with specialized or self-developed software, so Windows is often preferable over macOS because it throws up fewer roadblocks when using such tools. However, even Windows can sometimes get in the way of serious engineering work, which is why many engineering students get MacBooks or Windows laptops and install Linux on them so they can dual-boot into whatever operating system works best for their needs.
As mentioned above, when making your buying decision be sure to consult your teachers and/or the engineering department at your school for more specific advice on what you'll need for your studies. Whichever system you decide on, it's a good idea to pair it with the best mouse for your particular work situation.
How we tested these laptops
To find the best laptops for engineering students we run every laptop 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.
Plus, we run the graphics benchmark test in Sid Meier's Civilization VI: Gathering Storm to get a sense of how well a laptop can handle basic games. When testing dedicated gaming laptops, we run benchmarks for a number of games such as Cyberpunk 2077 and Red Dead Redemption 2.
For more information on our testing process, check out our guide to how we test.
I'm Darragh, and I cover a wide variety of categories when it comes to laptops. While I haven't been an engineering student myself, I know the power it takes in a laptop for it to be worth considering for the type of demanding CAD and 3D apps engineers will be using. I'm always checking out powerful, top-of-the-line machines that handle great under pressure, and those are the ones that should be on engineering students' radar.
