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9 Windows Laptops That Give MacBooks a Run for Their Money
The fight between MacBooks and Windows laptops has never been tighter. There are now more competent alternatives to every MacBook in the lineup. Whether you're choosing Windows because you don't use Apple, you need it for certain software, or just because you like the variety of hardware options, there are tons of great Windows laptops to choose from right now.
I've already tested dozens of Windows laptops this year, and have been reviewing laptops for over a decade. These are my recommendations you can buy right now, including many that were recently refreshed.
For more laptop recommendations, check out our Best 2-in-1 Laptops, Best Gaming Laptops, and Best Budget Laptops. Meanwhile, our overall Best Laptops guide includes the Best Chromebooks and Best MacBooks, too. Still unsure? Read our guide on How to Choose the Right Laptop.
Updated September 2026: I've added the Dell XPS 13, HP OmniBook 5, HP OmniBook Ultra, Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5x, and Alienware 15. I've also moved some older picks to the honorable mentions section at the bottom.
The Dell XPS 13 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is back. It's still extremely compact and portable, which has always been its calling card. Its small size makes it an ideal laptop to work on an airplane, and at only 2.2 pounds, you might not even notice it in your backpack. But this time, its completely new design focuses on two things: affordability and quality. The base configuration starts at just $700, even though it comes with a high-resolution display that's both bright and color-accurate. It also includes an excellent trackpad, a responsive keyboard, and 512 GB of storage.
The only catch is that the $700 model comes with only 8 GB of RAM. So here's what I recommend instead: spend the extra $200 to upgrade to 16 GB of RAM. It has all the same specs otherwise and is still an absolutely killer laptop for $900. The 16 GB of memory will help you avoid snags while multitasking, which matters if you sit in front of a computer all day for work. I tested the 8 GB model myself—trust me, you want the 16 GB.
Speaking of working in front of a computer all day, the XPS 13 gets incredible battery life. You won't have a problem getting through a full day away from the outlet—if not a couple of days. I was even impressed by the standby time: I left the lid closed for a few days, and I was surprised by how much battery it held onto.
The one other caveat is the lack of a headphone jack. That's increasingly unimportant for most people, but I still prefer laptops to keep them for convenience. On the plus side, the Dell XPS 13 is one of the few laptops with one USB-C port on each side (two total), so you can conveniently charge on the left or right.
If $900 for the Dell XPS 13 is out of your budget, I strongly recommend the HP OmniBook 5 14. You have to be very careful when shopping in the budget-level price tier, which is anything under $750. Lots of junk creeps in that no one should buy. But the OmniBook 5 14 stands out in two important ways: its OLED display and its portability. An OLED display on a laptop at this price is almost unheard of, and it's definitely the device's highlight. Colors are vibrant but accurate, and the contrast is out of this world (as expected from OLED). Many laptops I've tested at this price use awful screens that aren't bright enough and have terrible color reproduction—everything looks off. But not the OmniBook 5 14.
Then there's the HP's overall build quality and portability. It just doesn't feel like most laptops in this price range. It's well-built, yes, but it's also incredibly thin at just half an inch, which matches both the Dell XPS 13 and the MacBook Neo. The design language is nice too, featuring soft, rounded corners, small bezels, and modern branding.