As a scientist, when you’re looking for the best quality laboratory tools for more accurate scientific research, a laptop capable enough to handle millions of records is another must-have. But record management isn’t the only need. It has to be stiff enough to get through any environment wherever you take it for research.
Fortunately, thanks to technological advancements, such laptops are now readily available. However, the plenty of options on the market might get you puzzled, and we’re sure you wouldn’t want it to cause trouble in the midst of your important studies. Therefore, we tested multiple top-rated models, so you don’t make a false investment.
Through our tests, we discovered that the Acer Predator Helios 300 offers the tough build quality, efficient performance, and best pricing. We’ve also listed a few other options that you might find more suitable for yourself because everyone has different preferences.
Top 3 Picks of Laptops for Scientists and Scientific Research
- Colorful and Bright display
- Robust processing performance
- Modern and solid design
- Good selection of ports
- Long-lasting battery life
- Lightning bolt performance
- Beautiful Retina display
- Premium magic keyboard
- Longest battery lasting
- Ultraportable and strong build
- Stylish, light and thin design
- Strong CPU performance
- Excellent choice of ports
- Comfortable keyboard
- Long battery life
Quick Comparison – Best Laptops for Scientists (Tested Picks)
| IMAGE | PRODUCT | RATING | PRICE |
|---|---|---|---|
Top Choice |
| 9.8 | View on Amazon |
Runner-up |
| 9.7 | View on Amazon |
Best Mid-range Option |
| 9.6 | View on Amazon |
Best Budget Option  |
| 9.4 | View on Amazon |
Best All-rounder Laptop  | Dell XPS 13 9310 Thin and Light Touchscreen Laptop
| 9.6 | View on Amazon |
Best Portable Laptop  | 2022 ASUS VivoBook Ultra Thin and Light
| 9.5 | View on Amazon |
1. Acer Predator Helios 300
- Screen Size: 15.6 Inch
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Color: Black
- Weight: 5.07 lbs
With plenty of other features to upgrade your computing experience, the fifth-generation AeroBlade Fan with 89 blades included with the Acer Predator Helios 300 helps cool your system by increasing air absorption.
After the pandemic, the laptop market reached an all-time high. For some time, laptops with potent specifications were only affordable for those with deep pockets. Acer changed the game by placing a combo of power, style, and affordability on the table. The combo came in the face of the Acer Predator Helios 300.
With its gaming-centric, attractive black aluminum chassis, this laptop has a sporty appearance. The mid-range master provided us with a wonderful, wide view of our stuff thanks to minimal bezels and a 15.6-inch FHD display. A glance at the base panels reveals a nice, comfortable keyboard ideal for typing.
An advanced Intel Core-i7 CPU and a NVIDIA GTX GeForce GPU power the Predator Helios. The laptop includes 16 GB of memory, which is ideal for extensive research, and 512 GB of SSD storage to store and retrieve quickly.
When we threw many high-resource tasks at it, these specs enabled it to smash it. Large data transfers, multiple program executions, and internet browsing with memory-hungry Chrome were all that we challenged it with. Still, it could deliver a lag-free and efficient computing experience.
While you love the thrilling performance, you may need to care for the battery, which is a bit of a letdown with only 4 hours of battery backup. Still, we’re thinking you won’t want to miss the Acer Predator Helios 300 show because such a monstrous performance and value combo was nowhere to be found among competitors.
| Screen Size | 15.6-inch |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Storage | 512 TB |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Weight | 5.07 lbs |
| Colors | Black |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 14.31 x 10.04 x 0.9 inches |
- Super fast performance
- Supports three storage drives
- Gorgeous and highly responsive display
- Great selection of ports
- Insufficient battery life
2. 2020 Apple MacBook Pro
- Screen Size: 16.2 Inch
- Resolution: 3546 x 2234
- Color: Silver, Space Gray
- Weight: 4.7 lbs
The Apple MacBook Pro's Liquid Retina XDR display also has Mini-LED display technology, which provides an incredible peak brightness of 1,600 nits.
When it comes to your job, putting your trust in an Apple product is like relying on the best bet. Apple’s MacBook series notebooks are unrivaled in terms of quality and performance. And we knew the 2020 Apple MacBook Pro would make it to the list as soon as we selected it.
This MacBook Pro variant, like all previous models, has a sleek silver metallic look. The ultra-slim chassis may appear to be flat, but it conceals a massive amount of power.
When you open the lid, you’ll find a 13-inch display panel nestled between narrow bezels and a full-sized, evenly spaced keyboard. The display panel uses innovative Retina technology, which is way better than our top choice Acer Predator Helios 300’s HD display. It produced a crisper, brighter, and more detailed image for whatever we watched on it during tests.
The 2020 MacBook Pro, as expected, didn’t dump us in the tests where we brought up intensive CPU and GPU tasks to test its limits. However, with Apple’s powerful M1 chip that covers an incredibly powerful CPU, 5x faster GPU performance, and 16 GB of unified memory, the MacBook Pro stood as a wall against them. Whether it was multitasking, streaming multiple 4K videos, or Photoshop picture edits, it all ran smoothly.
The MacBook Pro also came with an all-day running battery that eliminated the need to seek a charger and provided up to 20 hours of battery life. So we’re sure a good scientific research partner is just around the corner.
| Screen Size | 16.2-inch |
| Resolution | 3546 x 2234 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Weight | 4.7 lbs |
| Colors | Silver, Space Gray |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 14.01 x 9.77 x 0.66 inches |
- Sharp and beautiful display
- Powerful CPU performance
- Slim and solid build
- Long-lasting battery life
- Costly hardware upgrades
3. Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
- Screen Size: 13.5 Inch
- Resolution: 2256 x 1504
- Color: Ice Blue, Sandstone, Platinum, Matte Black
- Weight: 2.79 lbs
Among other great features, the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4 includes the Omnisonic speakers backed by the Dolby Atmos 6 that provides a cinema-like sound experience.
Microsoft’s Surface lineup, like Apple’s, is aimed squarely at the professional market. The Microsoft Surface Laptops wonderfully blend everything a professional thirsts for.
In our tests, the Surface Laptop 4 was one of the participating options. This productivity-focused laptop features a gorgeous, sleek, and slim metallic design in a variety of colors. It’s entirely up to you whether you want a funky Sandstone or a solid Platinum theme. The Surface Laptop 4 offers a 15.6-inch Full HD display with excellent brightness that brings true colors to life.
When it comes to performance, this tiny laptop impresses with a level of excellence that other portable laptops lack. We are not sure about you, but we were impressed with how well it performed when we loaded it up with a lot of productivity tasks. The Surface Laptop 4 earned a spot here thanks to its Intel Core i5 processor and 16 GB of RAM.
Aside from that, the battery life is yet another reason to buy. Because, in battery testing, it provided an astounding 7 hours of battery life. While the ports may appear to be insufficient, the features this laptop offers and the price it comes at weigh more.
Technical Specifications
| Screen Size | 13.5-inch |
| Resolution | 2256 x 1504 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Weight | 2.79 lbs |
| Colors | Ice Blue, Sandstone, Platinum, Matte Black |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 12.1 x 8.8 x 0.57 inches |
- Premium keyboard feel
- Lightweight and slim design
- Excellent value for money
- Long battery lasting
- Insufficient port selection
4. Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop
- Screen Size: 15.6 Inch
- Resolution: 1920x1080
- Color: Silver
- Weight: 3.9 lbs
Even though the Acer Aspire 5 already has powerful components onboard, a free memory slot still enables you to upgrade the memory whenever you want.
People often associate the term “scientist” with all-day work and large paychecks. They have no idea, however, that scientists may be broke as well. And for such budget-conscious scientific pals, Acer has a suitable laptop, the Acer Aspire 5, available for purchase at the store.
The Acer Aspire 5 strikes the perfect balance between a low price and a few minor compromises. It has a silver-colored compact and lightweight body with a metallic laptop lid and a plastic base panel.
The use of plastic here ensures that the price remains cheap, although the difference between the two panels is minimal. The laptop sports a 15.6-inch display with narrow bezels for a wider view. The display has a little poor color gamut. Still, the 1080p display isn’t so bad that it should be neglected.
The Acer Aspire 5’s AMD Ryzen 7 processor, which is more advanced than the Microsoft Surface Laptop 4’s Intel Core-i5 chip, and 8 GB of RAM surpassed the competition in performance tests with a range of productive tasks. Among the tasks were video playback, multitasking, text processing, and surfing a large number of tabs on Google Chrome.
The Aspire 5 also carries a spacious keyboard that upgrades the typing experience, but with the exception of a backlit keyboard. And where the battery’s concerned, we had fun exploring the laptop in its 7-hour-long battery span. So all this and plenty of other features await your purchase.
Technical Specifications
| Screen Size | 15.6-inch |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Storage | 256 GB |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Weight | 3.9 lbs |
| Colors | Silver |
| Material | Plastic |
| Dimensions | 14.31 x 9.86 x 0.71 inches |
- Option for hardware upgrades
- Strong overall performance
- Modern and portable design
- Wide selection of ports
- Dull display quality
5. Dell XPS 13 9310 Thin and Light Touchscreen Laptop
- Screen Size: 13.4 Inch
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Color: Platinum Silver and Black
- Weight: 2.8 lbs
Dell's XPS 13 comes with Intel's newest Dynamic Tuning Technology, which actively adjusts CPU capacity to boost efficiency and workload as required.
Dell laptops are always eye-catching. And with a laptop lineup like Dell XPS, which has a light and modern look while still packing a powerful performance, Dell attracted a truly massive audience. We chose the Dell XPS 13 from the advanced XPS shelf since it was a good match for scientific tasks.
This laptop may appear to be heavy for the price, but it isn’t when you hold it. The Dell XPS 13 has a small and lightweight design with a beautiful metallic frame.
The laptop’s attractive design is enhanced by a 15.6-inch display panel nestled between minimal bezels and a full-sized premium keyboard with spacious keys. Through the high-definition display, we were able to view 4K videos with beautiful and sharp colors.
While the display test delighted our eyes, the performance test provided us with a fast ride and a productive computing experience. Its 11th generation Intel Core-i7 processor, Intel integrated graphics, and 16 GB memory helped us breeze through even the most demanding tasks. And the 512 GB of storage was more than enough to hold even the oldest backups.
The battery tests also revealed an impressive 12 hours of battery life under normal conditions. So, if this isn’t the ideal partner for your scientific journey, what is?
Technical Specifications:
| Screen Size | 13.4-inch |
| Resolution | 1920 x 1080 |
| Storage | 512 GB |
| Memory | 16 GB |
| Weight | 2.8 lbs |
| Colors | Platinum silver and Black |
| Material | Aluminum |
| Dimensions | 7.82 x 11.64 x 0.58 inches |
- Robust CPU performance
- Premium, slim and sleek design
- Long battery lasting
- USB ports aren’t enough
6. 2022 ASUS VivoBook Ultra Thin and Light
- Screen Size: 15.6 Inch
- Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Color: Slate Gray
- Weight: 3.5 lbs
For an extra layer of security to access your laptop with Windows Hello login, the ASUS VivoBook F15 also includes a fingerprint reader placed in the upper right corner of the trackpad.
What should you spend for an ultimately portable, modern and power-packed laptop? A price equivalent to your car’s down payment because of the overpriced market? Not today, because ASUS came to the rescue and has the latest VivoBook variant, blending all your scientific needs in just a few hundred dollars.
The ASUS VivoBook 15 is a gray-colored laptop with a stiff and premium build made of plastic. This laptop is incredibly thin and light, making it easy to carry. The lid of the VivoBook 15 opens to reveal a 15.6-inch display that isn’t bright enough. However, it is still sufficient for use indoors.
Because of its advanced Intel Core-i5 chip, Intel integrated GPU, and 8 GB of memory, we won’t be wrong if we call it an inexpensive powerhouse. All of this combined resulted in lag-free performance when we multitasked, ran large applications, and processed large data files.
The ASUS VivoBook 15 also has a 256 GB SSD, which allows for quick booting and file transfers. When it comes to the battery, you can rest assured that it will last a long 7 hours under normal conditions. So, if all you want is a great performance with plenty of other features at an affordable price, the ASUS VivoBook 15 will not disappoint.
Technical Specifications
| Screen Size | 15.6-inch |
| Resolution | 1920×1080 |
| Storage | 256 GB |
| Memory | 8 GB |
| Weight | 3.5 lbs |
| Colors | Slate Gray |
| Material | Plastic |
| Dimensions | 14.1 x 9.1 x 0.75 inches |
- Superb AMD Ryzen 5 performance
- Features a fingerprint reader
- Thin and lightweight design
- Long-lasting battery timing
- Below average display
- Wi-Fi and Bluetooth versions are older
Things to consider before buying a Scientist Laptop
When it comes to buying a laptop for research scientists, there are several key features that are essential. These features include a powerful processor, ample RAM, a high-quality display, and long battery life. Additionally, certain software and hardware requirements may be necessary for specific research applications. In this buying guide, we will explore the key features to consider when buying a laptop for research scientists.
Processor
The processor is the brain of the laptop, and a powerful processor is essential for research applications. Look for a laptop with an Intel Core i7 or i9 processor or an AMD Ryzen 7 or 9 processor for optimal performance.
RAM
Random Access Memory (RAM) is another critical component to consider. The more RAM your laptop has, the better it will perform when running multiple applications simultaneously. Aim for at least 16GB of RAM, with 32GB or more being ideal.
Display
For research applications, a high-quality display is important for visualizing data and images. Look for a laptop with a display resolution of at least 1920×1080 pixels (Full HD) and a screen size of 13 inches or larger. Additionally, consider a laptop with an IPS panel for wider viewing angles and better color accuracy.
Battery Life
Research scientists often work for extended periods without access to a power outlet, so long battery life is essential. Look for a laptop with a battery life of at least 8 hours, with some models offering up to 12 hours or more.
Graphics
Some research applications require powerful graphics capabilities, such as data visualization or image processing. Look for a laptop with a dedicated graphics card, such as an NVIDIA GeForce or AMD Radeon.
Portability
Research scientists often travel for conferences or fieldwork, so a lightweight and portable laptop is essential. Look for a laptop that weighs under 4 pounds and has a thin and compact design.
Software and Hardware Requirements
Consider the software and hardware requirements for your specific research applications. Some applications may require specific operating systems, such as Windows or macOS, or specific hardware components such as a touch screen or a high-end graphics card.
Final Words
Scientists may not care what they wear when they appear at a gathering, but when they work with their heads down, they always use high-quality equipment. So, considering their love for their work, we tested various laptop models and listed the ones providing the best quality, performance, and value.
If you’re not sure which one to choose. You can rely on the Acer Predator Helios 300 for reliable, powerful performance at an affordable price.
