10 Compact Laptops For Engineering Students in 2025 – Long Battery Life

Laptops For Engineering
Gadget User editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Learn More about our affiliate disclaimer.

Written by Danielle Roman

Updated - November 14th, 2023

Although we currently live in an age where smartphones and tablets are conquering the marketplace, laptops are still one of the most essential tools that anyone should have today — especially if you are an engineering student! You might be thinking; why would I need one when my school’s computer lab already has the power to handle the engineering software I need? The answer is simple: it is portable and more convenient. Plus, today’s amazing advancements in tech has seen the development of more powerful laptops to withstand complex and large software.

However, we understand that it may be confusing to figure out which would be the best laptop for college engineering because there are so many to choose from. In this article, we have done the heavy lifting for you. Take a look at 10 of the best engineering laptops that we have shortlisted!

Dell XPS Laptop

Dell XPS 15 (2020)

Our Pick

Benefits

  • Connect wirelessly to your smartphone or desktop easily
  • Theatre-quality acoustics (3D surround sound)
  • Resistant to scratches and dents
  • Display brightness is gentle on the eyes
  • Certified eco-friendly product

Drawbacks

  • Heavy
Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition

Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition

Premium Pick

Benefits

  • Upgrade-friendly
  • Fast and Vivid graphic rendering
  • Compact, lightweight and thin
  • Minimalistic design
  • Advanced fan design prevents overheating

Drawbacks

  • Heavy
ASUS ROG Zephyrus G14 Laptop

Asus Zephyrus G14

Best Value

Benefits

  • Virtual-Reality friendly
  • Better than Intel Core i7
  • Can run many applications simultaneously
  • Enormous storage system
  • Backlit keyboard keys

Drawbacks

  • No webcam included
  • No SD Card Slot

Best Laptops For Engineering Students in 2025

1. Our Pick: Dell XPS 15 (2020)

Engineering students — this is one of the best laptops to consider investing in. The Dell XPS 15 presents a very vivid and high-quality graphics card through its NVIDIA Geforce GTX 1650 Ti graphics rendering. You can expect 4K-quality display as one of the key laptop features this has. It may just be a 15.6-inch laptop, but it delivers beyond its size with its fantastic surround-sound acoustics, damage- and scratch-proof screen and most importantly, its powerful 10th generation intel core i7. You can trust that this laptop will execute quality performance and provide ease of use for your engineering modules.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

4K and Large Display | Extremely Durable | Energy Efficient | Powerful

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i7 10th Gen
RAM16 GB
Storage512 GB
Resolution4k (3840 x 2400 Pixels)
GPUNvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Ti 4GB GDDR6
Item Weight3 KG

Benefits

  • Connect wirelessly to your smartphone or desktop easily
  • Theatre-quality acoustics (3D surround sound)
  • Resistant to scratches and dents
  • Display brightness is gentle on the eyes
  • Certified eco-friendly product

Drawbacks

  • Heavy

2. Premium Pick: Razer Blade 15 Studio Edition

If you don’t mind investing a little bit more on a good engineering laptop, Razer Blade 15 is a good pick. Besides its sleek and modern design, it boasts top-of-the-market laptop features that will leave any engineering student drooling. This means machine is equipped with an 8-Core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 — in English; it means that you’re getting the best laptop performance. Additionally, it’s touch-screen and has a 4K display resolution, so you never have to worry about laggy rendering ever again. Lastly, its CNC aluminum body ensures that you never have to strain to carry around this compact laptop. However, many users do recommend using this while plugged in for a charge, especially on big.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Vivid 4K Display | Best Graphics | Durable | Extremely Lightweight

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i7-10875H 10th Gen
RAM32 GB
Storage1TB SSD
Resolution4K OLED Touch
GPUNVIDIA Quadro rtX 5000 Studio Edition
Item Weight4 KG

Benefits

  • Upgrade-friendly
  • Fast and Vivid graphic rendering
  • Compact, lightweight and thin
  • Minimalistic design
  • Advanced fan design prevents overheating

Drawbacks

  • Heavy

3. Best Value: Asus Zephyrus G14

Yes, you read that right. This 14” Asus Zephyrus G14 runs on AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS — which beats the already stunning intel core i7 performance quality. With up to 24GB dual channel memory, you will never be ashamed about opening up a million tabs on this laptop. It may not be suitable for zoom or skype sessions without a webcam, but its extreme device compatibility and amazing specs are some of the best laptop features to do many other things like playing virtual reality games. So if you are one of the many engineering students who loves gaming, Asus Zephyrus G14 is your best bet.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Huge Bandwidth | Fast & Vast Storage | Comfortable

Product Specification

CPUAMD Ryzen 7 4800HS
RAM8GB – 24GB Ram
Storage512 GB PCIe SSD
Resolution1920 x 1080 Pixels
GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
Item Weight1.65 KG

Benefits

  • Virtual-Reality friendly
  • Better than Intel Core i7
  • Can run many applications simultaneously
  • Enormous storage system
  • Backlit keyboard keys

Drawbacks

  • No webcam included
  • No SD Card Slot

4. Microsoft Surface Book 3

Dubbed the “best laptop for students”, Microsoft’s third edition of the Surface Book brings a different game to the table. It’s so versatile you can use it as a tablet or a laptop, and its quadruple-core processors ensure that you are getting the best performance during use. Engineering students would find the touch screen laptop feature useful, as it allows for drawing or writing down of notes or for brainstorming ideas.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Certified Eco-Friendly | Modern & Sleek Design | Versatile

Product Specification

CPUQuad-core 10th Gen Intel Core i7 & i5
RAM8GB
Storage256 GB
Resolution3000 x 2000 (267 PPI) Pixels
GPUIntel Iris Plus Graphics (i5) / NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (i7)
Item Weight2.85 KG

Benefits

  • About 16 hours of battery life
  • Touch Screen
  • Gorgeous display resolution
  • Backlit keyboard keys

Drawbacks

  • Have to purchase Surface Pen separately

5. Apple Macbook Pro 16-inch

You might have been intimidated by the creative kids for brandishing their MacBook Pro laptops around school like a knight’s sword, but don’t fret — it’s only because it’s so capable of taking on heavy tasks. Apple has proven itself to be more than just aesthetics with this laptop. Engineering students need a laptop that is capable of running long hours, processes software fast and stores tons of files. In a nutshell, that’s what this laptop can provide for you. An added bonus is that now with the touch bar you get extra security so that no one else is accessing your schoolwork.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Popular | High quality speakers | Productive | Safe & Secure

Product Specification

CPU Ninth-generation 8-Core Intel Core i9 Processor
RAMUp to 64gb DDR4 Memory
Storage512 GB or 1 TB SSD
Resolution3072×1920 native resolution
GPUAMD Radeon Pro 5300
Item Weight2 KG

Benefits

  • Intel Core i9
  • Stunning Graphics Card
  • 11 hours of battery life
  • 64GB of memory
  • Touch Bar for convenience
  • Touch ID for security
  • 11 hours battery life

Drawbacks

  • Heavy

6. HP OMEN 15 2020

Don’t let the name of this laptop frighten you off — if anything it’s more of a blessing than an omen. We’ll be honest, there is very little criticism for this laptop. Customers rave over how they’ve pushed this laptop to its limit and it still runs like brand new. We’re sure that any engineering student will appreciate this 15” laptop’s capacity to take on many open applications without fear of crashing. Amazing battery life, compact and top-tier performance — doesn’t sound like an omen to us!

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Lightweight | High Performance | Budget-Friendly | Long Battery Life

Product Specification

CPUIntel 6-Core i7-10750H
RAMUp to 64GB DDR4
Storage512GB PCIe SSD
Resolution1920 x 1080
GPUNVIDIA 6 GB RTX 2060
Item Weight2.45 KG

Benefits

  • HD web camera (720 pixels)
  • High definition graphics
  • Backlit keyboard
  • Beautiful graphics card
  • High quality sound

Drawbacks

  • Can be small for some

7. Lenovo Legion Y540

We think that the Lenovo Legion Y540 is one of the many recommended laptops for engineering students because of its capability to run many applications simultaneously on its huge and stable state drive. Furthermore, this means you could even use this on weekends for gaming. Its display screen is so wide that it is almost at the edges of this 15” laptop. Sounds like a pretty good deal to us!

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Reliable Ethernet | Dynamic Capacity | Simple Design | Speedy

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i7-9750H 9th Gen
RAM16 GB
Storage512 GB
Resolution1920 x 1080 Display
GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660Ti GDDR6
Item Weight2.3 KG

Benefits

  • Stunning display resolution with wide screen
  • High definition graphics
  • Vast memory space
  • Great for multi-tasking

Drawbacks

  • Fan can run loud

8. Acer Predator Triton 500

The Acer Predator Triton 500 receives a lot of praise for being a budget-friendly laptop that provides value beyond its price tag. Price matters a lot for students, so this could be a key laptop feature for you. It boasts a very modern design and caters to the gamer demographic. If you think about it — this laptop can handle ANY game and responds really quickly to any applications that go on overdrive. This is an essential feature that many engineering students look for in a laptop as they require one that can run relevant software or applications needed when they’re on the go. Its 16 GB RAM ensures that you have enough memory space to access many large applications simultaneously. Check this one out!

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Powerful Specs | Great Professional Design | Budget-Friendly | Reliable

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i7-9759H
RAM16 GB
Storage512 GB SSD
Resolution1920 x 1080 Pixels
GPUGeForce RTX 2060
Item Weight2 KG

Benefits

  • High Definition Display Resolution
  • Extremely fast response to crashes (if any at all!)
  • Solid memory space
  • Great for multi-tasking
  • Optimal for large and heavy software tasks

Drawbacks

  • Low battery life

9. ThinkPad X1 Extreme Gen 3 Laptop

Okay, we’ve stopped with the gaming laptops for now. If you are looking for something with a more professional-looking design, ThinkPad X1 might be the one. It’s sleek, minimalistic design will not draw much attention, but it does get the job done. Additionally, it comes with extra privacy features, such as a fingerprint reader, a webcam cover and a Kensington lock slot. It has a pretty decent graphics card (4GB), so don’t worry, you’ll still get your HD displays and quick rendering of videos. To address the elephant in the room, yes, ThinkPad’s got 64 GB RAM on this laptop, which means you can open up a ton of tabs or applications and not experience your computer slowing down at all.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Innovative Design | Safe & Secure | Durable | Reliable

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i9-10885H 10th Gen
RAM64 GB
Storage1 TB
Resolution4K UHD IPS
GPUGeForce GTX 1650 Max-Q 4GB
Item Weight1.81 KG

Benefits

  • Large memory space
  • 15.6” 4K Display Resolution
  • 10th Generation Intel Core i9
  • Damage & Spill resistant
  • Amazing sound system
  • Great battery life
  • Added privacy features

Drawbacks

  • Might be heavy for some (1.81kg)

10. MSI Prestige

You can’t go wrong with a simple and minimalist-designed laptop when it comes to engineering. After all, if it gets the work done, that’s all that matters. MSI Prestige takes pride in manufacturing a laptop that provides comfort in portability and quality in durability. It has a stunning build quality and comes with many ports as well and has amazing battery life, perfect for when you’re out and about. We definitely recommend MSI Prestige — it’s a good engineering laptop for sure. With 1 TB storage, you won’t have to worry about large file downloads.

Gadget Features Inspired For You

Light & Compact | High Quality Performance | Durable Design | Budget-Friendly

Product Specification

CPUIntel Core i7-10710U
RAM4 GB
Storage1 TB
Resolution4k (3840 x 2160 Pixels)
GPUNVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 (Max-Q) 4G GDDR5
Item Weight1.57 KG

Benefits

  • Extremely lightweight
  • 15.6” 4K Display Resolution
  • Intel Core i7
  • Powerful performance speed
  • Designed for comfort and durability
  • Great battery life

Drawbacks

  • Fan might run loud

Buying Guide

How to Choose the Best Laptop

There’s more to choosing a laptop besides relying on tech giants or popular brands. What works for many, might not work for you. Especially in engineering, where you have to operate on specific applications and software. Picking the right laptop for engineering might really make or break your entire school experience. Here are three basic things we think you should keep an eye out for when choosing a good engineering laptop: Size, CPU and Operating Systems. Let’s take a closer look.

Does Size Really Matter?

Yes, it does! (For laptops, of course.) As an engineering student, you’re going to be looking for laptops that are lightweight and easy to carry around, and also powerful enough to run relevant applications like AutoCAD and such. The reason we love the Asus Zephyrus G14 a lot is because it’s only 14”, but also has the powerful specs to run large programs on quickly and efficiently.

Most laptops average about 12.5- to 14- inches, so anything slightly bigger might only cater to the necessity for a wider screen.

Spectacular Specs to Look Out For

If you’re new to this, we understand how it may sound intimidating with all this jargon talk about CPU, graphics cards, intel cores, and such. Don’t beat yourself up, it definitely can be a handful and confusing to know which one to look out for in a laptop. In this section, we’ll detail what laptop features and functions to look out for, so you’re not entirely ambushed by sales people or flashy laptops online.

You might constantly hear about “Intel Cores” a lot during a tech salesman’s speech, and if you don’t have a clue about what that is, don’t worry! You can read up more on what it means here. This refers to the control center of your laptop – the CPU — and it will impact how efficiently your laptop will perform. However, you don’t necessarily have to get the best ones out on the market; it really depends on what you want to do!

For example, a recommended CPU for gaming could be Intel Core i5 or the i7 H series, which estimates a typical 8-hour battery life. Compared to a recommendation for a laptop used for productivity and heavy tasks, which would be Intel Core i7 U series / Intel Core i5 or i7 G Series / AMD Ryzen Mobile 7 — this provides up to 17 hours of battery.

Operating Systems Preference

Currently, there are three dominant operating systems in the market: Windows, Apple/OS X and Chrome OS. If you want ease of integration through your smartphones or tablets, it might help to get a similar operating system to that of your other existing devices.

Windows

  • Commonly used for many desktop computers and laptops
  • User-friendly
  • Wide variety of applications

Apple/OS X

  • Specifically for Apple products only
  • Not as flexible due to its exclusivity
  • Fast and simple

Chrome OS

  • Great battery life
  • Anti-Virus
  • Efficient and Quick
  • Unable to run programs such as Word or PowerPoint (Google Apps Dominant)

Conclusion

To wrap it up, we think that Asus Zephyrus G14 is the best laptop for college engineering. Based on our buying guide, this laptop is of optimal portable size (14-inch width) and its CPU (AMD Ryzen 7 4800HS) ensures powerful and long use! To add, you have plenty of memory space, so you never have to worry about large file downloads when you’re doing an engineering project or completing an assignment. Furthermore, it is affordable, which checks off all the boxes for what is an ideal laptop for engineering students. We know that students’ top two criteria in decision-making are affordability and functionality; especially in large purchases. Hence, we think you should really consider getting the Asus Zephyrus G14, our Best Value Pick of the bunch.

We hope this article has helped clear up the daunting technical terms that come along with laptops, and that you can confidently shop for a laptop that suits your everyday needs.

FAQ

Danielle Roman
Danielle Roman

A reformed impulse-buyer. Post-purchase cognitive dissonance? Can't relate! I can't purchase anything without doing thorough research. If I could put "Investigative Skills" in my resumé, you bet I would. Awarded UWA Global Excellence Scholarship.