We believe laptops for all engineering students should be incredibly fast and efficient in performance while being versatile at the same time!
Qualities like fast, efficient and, versatility are three of the most minimum and imperative technical requirements when considering purchasing a laptop for all engineering majors. As if attending engineering school isn’t hectic and draining enough, every student has to hold down their fort by meeting all types of technological and creative demands of daily assignments, projects, exams and, the list goes on.
Hence, if you’re hard-pressed on finding and deciding upon a laptop that will meet all the demands of creative and technological intensive tasks, then you’ve come to the right place because we have crafted a straightforward yet informative review guide on the best laptops for engineering students. We’ve reviewed some of the best top-rated laptops in detail to help you figure out what will best suit your needs as an engineering student.
Let’s get started, shall we?
Contents
Quick Overview: Top 3 Best Laptops for Engineering Students in 2021
- CPU: i7 10th Generation
- GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060
- Display: 15.6" FHD
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage Space: 512GB SSD
- CPU: i7 10th Generation
- GPU: Nvidia GTX 1650 Ti
- Display: 15.6 inch UHD+ Touchscreen
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage Space: 1TB SSD
- CPU: i7 9th Generation
- GPU: AMD Radeon Pro 5300M
- Display: 16 Inches FHD
- RAM: 16GB
- Storage Space: 512GB SSD
1: Razer Blade 15
In the market, Razer is known for designing extremely powerful and technologically advanced laptops that cater to work and play needs. The Razer Blade 15 2020 is no exception; it features a 10th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with discrete NVIDIA graphics cards to meet every technical need of engineering students.
Design & Display
The Razer Blade 15 has an attractive slim and uniform aluminum design with a black metal chassis. The one-piece CNC aluminum frame holds exceptional performance in the most compactly pressed footprint possible as it is only 0.78” thick while offering incredible durability at the same time.
The huge touchpad allows for easy scrolling, while the top-quality audio speakers offer a quality sound. It is lightweight for a high-performance laptop, with a Full HD 1080p 15.6” thin-bezel display while offering vivid colors and sharp images, making it perfect for engineering students to work on their creative projects.
Overall Performance
When it comes to performance, it features a 10th Generation Core i7 processor offering the highest levels of productivity, with a 5.0 GHz maximum turbo and 6 cores. It comes with 16 GB DDR4 RAM and a 512GB HDD, making it a full-powerhouse workstation.
Besides, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 dedicated 6GB graphics card can offer an all-rounding and satisfying experience to every engineering student for performing the most intensively complex tasks like 3D animation, video rendering, and more without any disruption at any time of the process.
Ports & Battery Life
Lastly, it has quite an impressive battery life with a runtime of 5 hours and 50 minutes based on the battery test of continuous web surfing over WiFi. Hence, the battery runtime will vary depending on the type of tasks the laptop is being used for. It’s also a fully ready-to-connect laptop with WiFi 6, USB Type-A and, Type-C ports, Gigabit Ethernet port and, HDMI for the ultimate desktop experience.
2: Dell XPS 15
Dell is a brand that needs no introduction; it’s one of the leaders in the laptop manufacturing market. The DELL XPS 15 is another excellent choice for engineering students as it comes with a powerful 10th Generation Intel Core i7 processor with a dedicated NVIDIA graphic card along with other top-notch specifications, which we will review below.
Design & Display
The Dell XPS 15 has an impressive sleek, elegant and, light design. It’s currently the latest addition to the Dell’s XPS family, has a stunning touchscreen display of 15.6” with a 4K Ultra HD+ resolution and, the 16:10 display offers an edge-to-edge view for an immersive experience.
It’s equipped with 100% Adobe RGB, VESA HDR 400 certified display, 94% DCI-P3 color gamut, and Dolby Vision. It offers more than 16 million ultra-vivid colors with harper and detailed visuals that will help every engineering student efficiently complete high-graphical assignments requiring attention to detail.
Overall Performance
It’s a laptop equipped with the latest 10th Generation Core i7-10875H, a potent processor, and the latest. The graphical processing unit is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 Ti which is capable of quickly tackling all types of graphical work.
To sum it up, the CPU is remarkably exceptional, as it scores a 7408 on the GeekBench 5 multi-core. Furthermore, it has 16GB DDR4 RAM, which allows for a smooth multitasking experience and, the 1536GB SSD storage allows every engineering student to access data even when on the move instantly.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
As an engineering student, you will not have any complaints when it comes to battery life because it offers a runtime of 9 hours and 44 minutes, although it may vary from task to task. Interestingly, it’s a laptop that features upward quad-speakers next to the keyboard that offer mind-boggling audio to take all online engineering classes for as long as needed, without having to wear earplugs.
3: Apple MacBook Pro (16-inch)
There is rather a big misconception revolving around Apple MacBooks for engineering students. Regardless of what you’ve heard, quite frankly, the Apple MacBook Pro isn’t a bad option to consider for engineering students at all. MacBooks are pretty powerful and potent in performance, precisely what every engineering students look for in a laptop.
Design & Display
Let’s talk about design first. The Apple MacBook Pro has a sleek and bullet-proof design with an aluminum body, making it an extremely robust laptop. The overall feel of the laptop is very modern and futuristic. It comes with a stunning 16-Inch Retina display, with True Tone technology, which produces exceptional highlights, brighter whites, and deeper blacks.
The P3 Wide Color gamut delivers true-to-life images and videos. The Touch Bar functionality allows for more productivity, while the Magic Keyboard comes with a refined scissors mechanism for a comfortable and responsive typing experience. The Touch ID offers faster authentication, while the Inverted-T arrow keys enable a fluid navigation experience.
Overall Performance & Hardware
In performance, the MacBook Pro gives tough competition to its counterparts. It has an advanced thermal design with 28% increased airflow for more effective cooling resulting in faster processing, with the 9th Generation 6-Core Intel Core i7 processor. The 16GB DDR4 RAM allows for efficient multitasking.
While the 512GB SSD storage space offers ultra-fast access to data stored on the hard drive. Besides, the AMD Radeon Pro 5300M Graphics with GDDR6 memory is capable of delivering the most graphics horsepower, and the 40 compute units along with the 8GB High Bandwidth Memory brings a whole new level of graphical power to the MacBook Pro.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
The battery life offers an adequately decent runtime of 11 hours on web browsing and video playback on WiFi, as it has a 100-Watt Lithium Polymer battery. The Thunderbolt 3 offers exceptional versatility of the USB-C. It’s an engineering laptop that comes equipped with four reversible ports; no matter how you plug in the cable or adapter, it’s always the right side up. Lastly, the six-speaker sound system creates room-filling sound.
4: Microsoft Surface Book 3
The Microsoft Surface Book 3 is one of the best budget laptops for engineering students as it’s a next-gen machine offering a unique and innovative laptop experience. It has a 3-in-1 user-friendly interface, with three modes like Laptop, Tablet, and Studio with a processor capable of tackling intensive tasks.
Display & Versatility
It features a 13.5” sharp resolution Touch Screen with pen input and a unique convertible design. The display screen can be easily detached from the keyboard when working on any assignment; even in Tablet mode, it’s a complete workstation.
Overall it has a very premium design while being ultra-sleek and lightweight making portability a breeze. The 3-in-1 versatility is unmatched, as in laptop mode, you get to enjoy a full-keyboard, a responsive touchpad with easy navigation through the touchscreen.
The tablet mode is quite convenient for scrolling the web when doing research or watching videos. Simultaneously, the studio mode is more for drawing and writing with precision using the Surface dial and Pen when working on high-end graphics.
Overall Performance
When it comes to performance, the Microsoft Surface Book 3 is functionally and innovatively designed for faster performance, and it features a 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor with quad-core power. It can easily handle heavy jobs like editing videos, rendering animation, and other tasks commonly performed by engineering students through their degrees.
It’s capable of supporting a clock speed of up to 5 GHz and is powered by NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1600/1650Ti graphic process unit, which makes a more significant difference for engineering students as Softwares like CAD requires a high-processing GPU. When it comes to storage and RAM, there are no complaints. It features a 256GB SSD with 16GB of RAM, which makes multitasking easier than their old model Microsoft surface pro.
Battery Life & Ports
The battery life is quite exceptional as it lasts up to 15.5 hours, which is not common among the best laptops for engineering students and the enhanced standby features further helios in prolonging the runtime when the user steps away from the machine. Besides, all the connections are there, including a USB-A, USB-C, and a full-size SD card slot, with all the necessary wireless features like BlueTooth and WiFi, making connectivity convenient to other devices.
5: Asus ROG Zephyrus G14
The Asus Zephyrus G14 is what every engineering student needs; it offers a very immersive experience with a Full High-Definition display with a refresh rate of 120Hz. While the powerful AMD Ryzen and 16 GB RAM for effectively multitasking at all times.
Design & Display
When it comes to design, it will not disappoint any modern engineering student as it’s very portable with a cool minimalist eloquent feel, and it only weighs around 3.5 pounds. The 14” inches Full High-Definition display is noteworthy is quite efficient in producing color accuracy.
When working on graphical-intensive projects for engineering students, color accuracy holds a lot of significance. The overall design is stylish; at the back, hinge-edge, the grilles have a triangular design, and the logo is back-lit that pops up. All in all, it checks all the boxes in terms of design and display in the list of best laptops for engineering students.
Overall Performance
Since it’s a laptop that is advertised as one of the gaming laptops, it features a heavy-duty 3rd Generation AMD Ryzen 9 processor giving this budget engineering laptop tremendous power and, top-notch display. The graphical processing unit is the 6BG GeForce RTX 200 with a lot of horse-power to help engineering students work on creative assignments efficiently without waiting for hours for intense tasks like rendering to get finished.
The 8-core processor with up to 4.30 Hz easily gives a tough battle to the 10th Generation Intel Core i7. When it comes to storage, it has a 1TB SSD and 16GB RAM for intensive multitasking and is capable of handling heavy engineering software like CAD that require ample storage space as they run on the computer’s memory.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 has an extended battery life, lasts for 11 hours, and on full brightness and high-definition video playback, it lasts up to 7 hours and 45 minutes which is exceptional. The audio playback is quite incredible as well, and the speakers come with SMART AMP and, Dolby Atmos technology. Besides that, the chiclet keyboard with white-lighting is ideal for engineering students when working in low light when pulling of all-nighters.
6: HP Spectre x360
Another first-rate choice in the best laptop for engineering students is the HP Spectre x360; it has the power to tackle the load of any software used by engineering students like MATLAB, Mathcad, and others. As it features a powerful 8th Generation processor and a dedicated NVIDIA graphical processing unit.
Design & Display
The convertible and portable nature, along with a sleek and, eloquent design is what helps the HP Spectre x360 stand out from its contenders on this list. The 13.3” Full HD touchscreen, with IPS technology, allows for convenient control and wide viewing angles giving the user an immersive experience.
Undoubtedly, it has an impressive HD panel with Gorilla Glass for the screen that offers exceptional colors and clarity of images and videos. Besides, it’s the 360-degree convertible design that offers versatility as you can use it as a tablet at any time and use the HP active stylus pen for the full-tablet experience.
Overall Performance
The best part of this ultra-sleek and convertible-designed laptop is the class-leading performance. It comes with an 8th Gen Intel Core i7 8550u quad-core central processing unit, Intel Turbo Boost Technology and, four-way processing with 8MB Smart Cache for high-efficiency performance.
Talking about the onboard memory, it’s equipped with a 512GB SSD and uses the fastest PCIe technology for greater bandwidth. Simultaneously, 16GB DDR4 RAM provides considerable performance with blazing speed and high performance and comes with a pre-installed Windows 10 Pro 64-bit operating system by HP.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
When it comes to battery runtime, we’re afraid HP spectre is not up to par because it only lasts for a maximum of 3 to 4 hours which we think is because of the convertible design. If battery performance is a deal-breaker for you, then it’s best to go for other options. Some other notable specifications are the Thunderbolt support, USB-C port and, SD card reader for easy connectivity to external devices.
7: Lenovo Legion Y540
We have Lenovo Legion Y540 on the list for a reason. It comes equipped with a phenomenal 9th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 dedicated graphics that result in a blazingly unbelievable performance when using all types of engineering software like CAD, MathCAD, FEA, and more.
Design & Display
A sturdy portable design with a 15.6” Full HD display is what the Lenovo Legion Y540 offers. Although, the laptop has a chunkier feel, with a professional look and, has a matte-black finish. Plus, the thin-bezel design packs more than 2 million pixels combined with a 60 Hz refresh rate.
While the IPS anti-glare screen offers wide-viewing angles without causing eye fatigue when working on time-consuming engineering assignments. All in all, the display provides a breathtakingly immersive viewing experience. Moreover, the cold-front Dual Channel thermal mechanism design efficiently maintains the machine temperature under pressure.
Overall Performance & Hardware Design
The Lenovo Legion Y540 features the latest-generation specifications that guarantee serious power, making it one of the best laptops for engineering students. The 9th Generation Intel Core i5 processor and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1640 dedicated graphics, delivers desktop-like performance. The 8 GB DDR4 RAM and, 512 GB SSD hard drive gives the laptop the perfect mix of high drive speed and ample storage.
It’s thermally optimized to run quieter and cooler even in the presence of a full-sized white backlit keyboard. All thanks to the dual-channel thermal system as it provides individual CPU and GPU cooling systems, along with four thermal vents for improved airflow and dedicated heat syncs for the improved overall performance of the machine.
Battery Life & Rear Port Connectivity
When it comes to battery life, it features a 52.5 Wh battery that lasts up to 4 hours under a heavy workload, which is excellent for a very high-functioning laptop machine that delivers desktop-like performance. It comes with a convenient array of connectors and ports like USB-C, mini display port, HDMI, ethernet, three USB 3.1 Gen 1, along with audio and mic combo jack.
8: Acer Predator Triton 300
If you’re looking for the best laptops for engineering school, then the Acer Predator Triton 300 is a sturdily designed laptop with a refresh rate of 144Gz and comes equipped with a 10th Generation 6-Core Intel processor and pre-installed Windows 10 Home 64-bit to get done engineering projects smoothly.
Design & Display
Lets’ look at the design first. Overall, it’s a sturdily built laptop with a chunkier feel with angular lines and planes, an ergonomic touchpad, and a backlit keyboard with 4-zone RGB customizable color options, which are appealing for most engineering students. Therefore, when it comes to design, we don’t have any complaints.
It features a stunning 15.6″ Full High-Definition 1080p resolution widescreen display, with LED backlighting and future-proof 144 Hz refresh rate with the addition of a 3ms surge response time and 300 nit brightness. Overall, the display has a pretty solid performance with 72% NTSC, which is undoubtedly phenomenal.
Overall Performance
The Acer Predator Triton has ample power to tackle all types of engineering models and software at college and is even good enough for professional engineers. The 10th Generation 6-Core Intel Core i7 processor with up to 5.0 GHz rate and overclockable 6GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 2060 allows for a spectacular experience when working on more significant tasks.
Moreover, the 16GB DDR4 RAM with dual-channel and 1TB SSD hard drive fulfills every engineering student’s storage needs. Without any doubt, the research process is hassle-free, and no matter how many tabs you have open, you will not experience a lag in Windows 10 Home. It’s the best laptop for engineering students as it will allow you to complete all projects quickly and smoothly.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
For a very high-performing laptop, the battery life is quite commendable as it lasts up to 6 hours. Although, in comparison to others, it’s slightly heavy. Another notable feature is the HD Webcam which supports Super High Dynamic Range (SHDR). All external connection options like WiFi, ethernet, three USB-Type C ports, HDMI, mini display port and, audio jack making connectivity super easy.
9: MSI GL65 Leopard
Hands-down, another great workstation laptop for engineering students, as the MSI Gl5 Leopard takes things to another level. It is super thin and lightweight while accommodating immense power, with a high-performing GPU and strong configuration settings for personal preference and usage.
Design
It comes with a few curves on the edges, a lid, and is hardly chunky. The red and black color scheme is quite eye-catching, and, overall the look and feel are quite conventional. Although, the laptop makes up for the conventional design in high-performance. The display bezels get as thin as they can get in a 15” screen laptop.
The 15.6” Full High-Definition, with IPS technology and 144Hz refresh rate, offers an immersive experience with wider viewing angles. The viewing experience is further enhanced due to the bright and colorful images, and the anti-glare screen prevents eye fatigue when working on time extensive engineering programs and assignments.
Overall Performance
When we examine performance, it will not disappoint any engineering student as it is one of the high-grade gaming laptops and comes packed with the advanced 10th Generation CPU Intel Core i7 processor, along with the fastest NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 8GB graphical processing unit.
To top it all of, the 16 GB DDR4 RAM and 512 SSD drive fulfill your storage needs while making multitasking easy and convenient. You can have dozens of tabs open when working on research assignments; it will not show a single hiccup. It’s a laptop build for superior performance and the ultimate solution for all creative and high-graphical engineering tasks.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
The battery life is entirely up to the par as it should be, as it lasts only up to 5 hours and 31 minutes on a single charge when working on high-graphical tasks. The ports are located on the sides, including the ethernet port, HDMI and mini display port, USB 3.2 Type-A and Type-C, and a separate microphone and audio jack. The keyboard is backlit with enough key travel, along with a spacious touchpad.
10: Samsung Galaxy Book Flex
The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex has an impressive 2-in-1 design, with a long battery and bright display. It offers strong performance and comes with a mix of unique features like a BlueTooth pen and enhanced security features that make it a good buy for all engineering students.
Design & Display
When it comes to design, the aluminum chassis beautifully catches the light and gives a gradient of hues. The galaxy blue color is very unique and modernistic. The 2-in-1 convertible 360-degree design allows it to be used as a tablet in just seconds and can come in handy when reading up for engineering assignments or projects.
The 13.3” QLED 1080p resolution display touchscreen offers 100% color volume while offering vivid and brighter images and even remains bright when sitting in direct sunlight. It’s perfect for working on creative projects and provides a wholesome navigating and immersive experience.
Overall Performance
The Samsung Galaxy Book Flex comes equipped with a powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i7 processor. It offers an instant startup on Windows 10 Home, which is pre-installed. The 512 GB storage, along with 8GB of RAM, is an ideal combination for storage space as it allows for superior multitasking and usage of memory-consuming engineering software.
Battery Life & Other Specifications
The fast-charging battery lasts up to 20 hours, and the unique Wireless PowerShare function lets the user charges other wireless-compatible devices on its surface. The backlit keyboard is ideal for late-night projects and, downloading content is 12 times faster with the 6th Generation Wi-Fi feature, and the Bluetooth-enabled stylish pen is perfect for taking notes on the laptop. External connectivity isn’t an issue either, as there are two Thunderbolt 3 ports and a USB-C port.
Frequently Asked Questions About Engineering Laptops
Do engineering students need laptops?
Absolutely, Yes! Having a laptop is an incredible way to guarantee convenience. Engineering is a broad career, and it also depends on what to achieve in your career. For instance, if you are pursuing software engineering, you have to up your game and have outstanding experience in coding. You can definitely, code using the computers in the college library, but this is something you ought to be doing even at home, and a laptop is the most versatile and portable machine.
On top of that, to be a competent engineer, you need to use various engineering software and tools, such as CAD/CAE software, irrespective of your engineering stream. We cannot forget that as an engineering student, you will be required to submit reports, assignments, and presentations; hence a laptop is something that you do not want to lack.
What do engineers look for in a laptop?
Speed, performance, storage, and reliability are key to the best laptops for engineering students. Engineering is a very demanding career that requires passion, time, and dedication. When you decided to pursue this, you were aware that you would be required to install software such as MATLAB, AutoCAD, MechDesigner, BricsCAP, and the list goes on. These being large files, you need a super-fast laptop that is efficient in performance and versatile at the same time. To achieve this, these are the features that an engineering student’s laptop should possess:
- CPU processor speed
The CPU is your laptop’s backbone. It does everything in its power to run more than one command per cycle and, therefore, you need an incredibly fast CPU processor to run programs in the list time possible. If the speed of your CPU is not the best, it means that you will have to wait longer for your software to boot, mostly when running SolidWorks, AutoCAD, or Matlab. For convenience, your engineering laptop should at least feature a Core i5 processor for better productivity.
- Hard-Disk Drive memory
This is another crucial factor to consider in the best laptops for engineering students. Typically, you have to save everything you do, ranging from reports, assignments, and other projects. Additionally, we cannot forget the large space that engineering software consumes. This being said, you need a laptop that offers reasonable storage and the least storage; we are talking of 500GB.
- RAM
The random access memory is where all your operations or rather real work takes place. Therefore, this directly affects the speed of your laptop. Precisely, the more RAM your Central processing unit has access to, the faster the laptop. An insufficient RAM makes your computer lag, and you might have seen this if you opened multiple tabs, mostly when browsing with chrome or any other. The ideal RAM for an engineering student laptop is 8GB, but you can use laptops with higher RAM depending on your budget.
- Screen size and resolution
This specification is not much of a requirement, but if the screen size is sensitive to you, the best recommendation is a 14 to 15-inch laptop. It will be okay to present what needs to be presented. On the other hand, the resolution is vital for an engineering student’s laptop. The higher the resolution, the greater chance for multiple windows. Furthermore, your images need to be presented in a higher resolution. The ideal screen resolution is 1920×1080 pixels due to its 1080p real HD quality. Nowadays, the latest laptops come with 3k or 4k quality, which is even much better.
- Dedicated video cards
An excellent graphic adapter or a video card should be a priority than a huge RAM, mainly when your processing is exhaustive, like in the case of SolidWorks, AutoCAD, and Matlab. Your graphics adapter has to meet the processing needs of engineers. A 2GB DDR3 graphic card is enough unless you have other plans like high-end gaming.
Can I use a Mac for engineering?
There is no trouble using Mac for engineering. You will even find lecturers who are serious Apple fans using them. Mac laptops boast the best-operating systems. Apart from their OS, they are also compatible with most if not all engineering software. They have stunning hard disk memory, which is very useful in engineering since you will create numerous drafts and install software that consumes a significant amount of your hard disk memory. This being said, it will be simple to make a decision about Mac for engineering.
Are Chromebooks good for engineering students?
This question can be a yes or a no, but this depends on how far you are advanced in your engineering career. If you are joining college to pursue engineering or in your first year and working on a budget, a Chromebook can be an option. In your first, you are not yet advanced in your career. This laptop is ideal if you spend most of your time online since it uses the Chrome OS. It is great for online classes reporting, writing, and project research. They are fast and secure and even support multiple users.
However, they have a major downside which is their storage. Chromebooks only have 32GB of local storage. You already know how much storage you need for engineering, and thus this is a significant drawback. Chromebooks will not allow you to install engineering software. Therefore we do not recommend them if you are in the advanced stages of engineering.
How much RAM do I need for engineering?
The best way to answer this is to look up the requirements for each program you are interested in running and then find out the amount of RAM they recommend and ensure you have that much. For engineering students, we already know what’s at stake. The basic computer processes do not require a high amount of memory, but the vast files and software will undoubtedly need higher RAM to keep them running. In the engineering world for students, 16GB RAM is recommended. Also, it is worth noting that some laptops do not allow RAM upgrade, so buy one with the appropriate amount of RAM.
Is 4 cores enough for engineering?
4 cores allow you to perform your regular school tasks efficiently and are okay for basic school works such as browsing, writing reports, and assignments. However, to effectively carry on with your engineering career, you need higher CPU cores, at least 6 cores. This allows you to run multiple applications smoothly.
Conclusion
We’re going to wrap our review on the best laptops for engineering students on a short note. A robust processor and the Other specifications have to be considered, like storage space, overall design, the display size, battery life, and even the keyboard and touchpad. These specifications shouldn’t be ignored at all costs.
The best way to decide the type of laptop you need is to prioritize your needs from wants; for instance, if you want a more convertible design, you might have to compromise on battery life and vice versa. It can be confusing to decide upon a laptop because, of course, it requires a heavy one-time investment. Therefore, our review features some of the best options for only engineering students to cover most of their needs.
Our Recommendation
Razer Blade 15
Ajmal Shah is a tech aficionado with a pure computer science background and more than 5+ years of experience in different technology areas such as web development, gaming, networking, and marketing! He is going to share his expertise and knowledge from laptops to its gadget & brand comparisons.
