Working while travelling has changed what I need from a laptop entirely. The desktop replacement I used to carry — heavy, powerful, short battery life — became impossible once I was moving between countries every few weeks and working from cafes, hostels and the occasional airport floor. Here is what I have learned about choosing a laptop that actually works for travel.
What Makes a Good Travel Laptop
- Weight: under 1.5kg is the target; under 1.2kg is excellent
- Battery life: 10+ hours real-world use — enough for a full flight without hunting for a power socket
- Build quality: it will be in a bag that gets thrown around; aluminium or magnesium chassis preferred
- Display: good enough to edit photos if needed; bright enough to use outdoors
- Performance: enough to handle browser tabs, writing, light photo editing and video calls simultaneously
Best Overall: MacBook Air M3
The MacBook Air M3 is the best travel laptop I have used, without qualification. It weighs 1.24kg, delivers 15+ hours of genuine battery life, has a display that is exceptional for photo editing, and runs cool and silent because it has no fan. The Apple Silicon M3 chip handles everything I throw at it — writing, research, photo editing in Lightroom, video calls, running multiple browser tabs — without breaking a sweat.
The primary objection is price — around ,100 for the base model — which is real but defensible when you consider that it is the computer you will use every day for four or five years. The cost per day over that lifespan is lower than most people’s daily coffee budget.
Best Windows Option: Dell XPS 13
If you prefer Windows or need specific Windows software, the Dell XPS 13 is the closest equivalent to the MacBook Air: compact, light (1.2kg), premium build quality, excellent display. Battery life is shorter than the MacBook Air (around 8-10 hours real-world) but still competitive with most alternatives. The keyboard is excellent and the InfinityEdge display makes the machine feel larger than it is.
Best Budget: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5
Not everyone needs or wants to spend over ,000 on a travel laptop. The Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 5 delivers solid performance, a good display and reasonable build quality at around — less than half the price of the MacBook Air. Battery life is acceptable (7-9 hours) and the weight (1.46kg) is manageable. It is not as premium an experience as the top options, but it does the job reliably and at a price that hurts less if it gets damaged or stolen.
Essential Accessories
- A slim sleeve or case — the laptop goes inside your backpack’s laptop sleeve; a separate slim case adds minimal weight and protection
- A compact USB-C hub — adds HDMI, USB-A and SD card slots to laptops with limited ports
- A portable battery pack that can charge laptops via USB-C — useful for long travel days
- A laptop lock — for working in cafes where you need to leave the table briefly
Also read our guide to the best travel backpacks — your laptop needs a bag worthy of it.
