The best 15 inch laptops in the UK 2023

How to choose your 15 inch laptop

#1 - The processor

The "brain" of your computer, the processor has a huge influence on performance. When choosing a laptop, the processor should be considered wisely. Here is an overview of the processors that exist on the market today:

• Intel's 10th-generation processors (Ice Lake and Comet Lake): Intel introduced two types of 10th-generation processors that will power the next generation of laptops. To recap, the Ice Lake - a 10-nanometer chip - offers enhanced integrated Iris Plus graphics. While Comet Lake - a 14-nanometer chip - is mostly about raw performance, especially the six-core Core i7 - 10710U.
• Intel Core i9: It replaces the Core i7 as Intel's new high-end processor. This type of processor offers faster performance than any other mobile chip. Available only on high-end laptops, workstations and gaming platforms, Core i9 processors are only worth their price if you're a power user running the most demanding programs and applications.
• Intel Core i7: a step up from the Core i5, whose models with numbers that end in HQ or K use more power and have four cores, allowing even faster gaming and productivity. There are also Core i7 Y series chips that have lower power and performance. Keep an eye out for processors that have a 10 in the model number (for example: Core i7-1060G7 for Ice Lake or Core i7-10710U for Comet Lake), as they are part of Intel's latest 10th generation core series and offer better performance. Note that Intel's 9th generation H-series processors are now available.

#2 - The RAM

Larger RAM offers good multitasking capabilities in laptops. You can identify the right size of RAM for your new laptop, depending on your usage, i.e. office work, casual browsing or online courses:

• Light use: If you are looking for a laptop that will allow you to browse websites, watch online videos or do office work, a budget laptop with 4GB of RAM and 256GB of SSD storage would already be more than adequate. You will be able to have a fast and efficient laptop.
• Medium usage: If you have medium usage, i.e. editing photos and running semi-demanding office programs, a computer that packs a Core i3 - i5 processor with 4GB to 8GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD storage will be just right.
• Intensive use: If you are a professional gamer, or if you need to do video editing and rendering, or if you need to work with a large number of images, do animation and graphic design work, then you should look at laptops with a Core i7 processor and above with 16 to 32 GB of RAM and a high-end SSD storage unit.
• Intel Core i5: If you're looking for a mainstream laptop with the best combination of price and performance, get one with an Intel Core i5 processor. Models ending in U (e.g. Core i5-7200U) are the most common.
• Intel Core i3: Performance is just one step below the Core i5, as is price. If you can eventually upgrade to a Core i5, we recommend it.
• Intel Xeon: extremely powerful and expensive processors for large mobile workstations. If you do professional-grade engineering, 3D modeling, or video editing, an Xeon might be of interest, but you won't get good battery life or a lightweight laptop.
• Intel Pentium/Celeron: Common in laptops under $400, these chips offer the slowest performance, but may do the trick if your primary tasks are web browsing and light document editing. If you can pay more to get a Core i3 or i5, we highly recommend it.
• AMD Ryzen 4000: a new set of chips designed to compete with the Intel Core i5 and Core i7. We found that the Ryzen 4000 chips outperform the equivalent Intel Core processors. For example, the Ryzen 5 4500U processor offers about the same performance as an Intel Core i7 processor. These chips are usually found in much cheaper laptops.

#3 - The storage

The amount of space you need will depend mostly on the type of work you do on the computer and whether you store your files on your computer or on a cloud service. But even if most of your work is kept on Dropbox or Google Drive always opt for the largest storage space possible. This is because more storage allows a laptop to perform background actions smoothly. There are three types of hard drives:

• HDD: Hard disk drives (HDDs) offer enormous storage size at a reasonable cost per gigabyte. They are also more durable, provided they are protected from shocks that could damage rotating parts. They are up to 25 times faster than HDDs.
• SDD: SSDs offer smooth boot-up and multitasking performance and are suitable for thin and light laptops.
• SSHD: Hybrid SSDs (SSHDs) offer maximum capacity at an affordable price with boot and audio loading as fast as an SDD.

#4 - The operating system

You can choose between 4 operating systems:

• Windows 10: This is the most recent version of Microsoft's classic software. It is also one of the most popular operating systems currently available due to its ease of use and numerous programs.
• OS X: This operating system is found in the current generation of Apple laptops. The latest version is Mac OS Mojave, and it is offered as a free upgrade for Apple computers with recent versions of OS X. Although many applications found on Windows 10 are available for Mac OS Mojave, an Apple computer in an all-Windows desktop can make it difficult for you to transfer files, etc.
• Linux: it is usually not provided with laptops. It is free, open source software that can be customized to meet your needs. It is simple to use, but you may need to do some light programming to change the settings from time to time.

#5 - The battery life

A reliable battery can save you headaches (or cost you valuable work hours) when you're not near an outlet. To get the most out of a truly portable PC, choose one that will give you at least 9 hours of battery life under normal operation.