The 4 Best Laptops for People Who Use Excel Daily (2025)

Not all laptops are created equal when it comes to Excel.

Sure, any laptop can open a simple spreadsheet, but as your tasks become more advanced and your spreadsheets grow in size, you’ll need a laptop with serious power. 💻

Whether you’re crunching data, managing multiple workbooks, or juggling 25 browser tabs with YouTube playing in the background, having the right laptop can make all the difference.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through the 4 best laptops for Excel users—covering different budgets and use cases, so you can find the perfect fit for your needs.

Spoiler Alert:

My top pick is the Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12. It’s a powerhouse for an ultrabook, boasting excellent performance, long battery life, and a sleek, portable design.

But don’t skip ahead just yet—there are 3 other top picks that might suit your specific needs even better.

How We Test

To ensure a well-rounded analysis, we evaluate each laptop on these 5 key parameters:

1. Performance: Handles Excel tasks, from basic spreadsheets to heavy data crunching.
2. Battery Life: Lasts through a full day of productivity.
3. Build Quality: Durable and reliable for daily use.
4. Ports: Offers enough connectivity for your setup.
5. Design & Value: Strikes the right balance between aesthetics and cost-effectiveness.

We’re not reviewing gaming laptops here—our focus is finding the best laptops for Excel work.

Ready to find your perfect match? Let’s dive in!

Table of Contents

Best Overall: Dell XPS 14

The Dell XPS 14 drives a perfect balance between best performance, portability, and premium design. It’s the ideal choice for people who want a stylish yet capable machine.

Whether you’re running a heavy implementation, multitasking, or editing a video, the XPS 14 will handle it like a walk in the park 😌

Specifications in the version we reviewed

• CPU: Intel Core i7-13700U
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB SSD

Score on Review Parameters

• Build-quality: The XPS 14 comes in beautiful aluminum and carbon fiber body that offers both a stylish look and durability. Its thin, light chassis makes it easy to carry everywhere.
• Design: A virtually bezel-less 14-inch screen with a sleek and compact design. Its 16:10 aspect ratio gives extra vertical screen space that is excellent for productivity and multitasking.
• Performance: The XPS 14 doesn’t disappoint whether you’re running multiple apps simultaneously or performing complex tasks. It delivers a smooth and lag-free performance each time.
• Ports: It comes with a USB-A port, a MicroSD card reader, 2 USB-C Thunderbolt 4 ,and a headset jack. However, it lacks the HDMI port.
• Battery Life: The XPS 14 lasts a good 10-12 hours which easily lasts a full workday with other usage in between.
• Value-for-money: The XPS 14 is not cheap but it offers great value for its price with its premium build quality, and performance. It’s a laptop that’s designed to last for years.

Best Durability: Lenovo ThinkPad X1

The Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon Gen 12 is a powerhouse for professionals who travel a lot and want a machine that’s both reliable and durable 💪

It can withstand daily wear and tear while delivering top-tier performance thanks to its rugged build, high-quality design, and almost no-weight body.

Specifications in the version we reviewed

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1260P
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB SSD

Score on Review Parameters

• Build-quality: The Carbon X1, famous for its MIL-STD 810H military-grade durability and premium materials including carbon fiber and magnesium alloy, is the most durable laptop on the market.
• Design: It comes in its classic ThinkPad design with a red TrackPoint that makes it instantly recognizable. Its spill-resistant, and comfortable keyboard makes it perfect for long typing sessions.
• Performance: The Carbon X1 stands out in performance whether you are working on spreadsheets, or running multiple browser tabs simultaneously.
• Ports: It has an HDMI 2.0b, a USB-A 3.2, 2 Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, a nano sim card slot for LTE models, and a headset jack. The ideal choice for professional connectivity needs.
• Battery Life: The Carbon X1 features a 10-12 hour battery life on a single charge that is perfect for a day full of mixed tasks.
• Value-for-money: The price of Carbon X1 is that of a premium laptop but the longevity, performance and strong build make it a solid investment.

Best Versatile Design: HP Spectre x360

Let’s talk about HP products too now, shall we? 😏

This time we’re looking at a banger of choice – the HP Spectre x360 14, a 2 in 1 design, is perfect for students, professionals, and creators alike.

Its ability to transform into a tablet from a laptop has to be its best feature. Sleek design, large screen, amazing person, what more can an Excel user ask for?

Specifications in the version we reviewed

• CPU: Intel Core i7-1255U
• RAM: 16GB
• Storage: 512GB SSD

Score on Review Parameters

• Build-quality: A gem-cut design and an all-metal chassis make its premium build not only durable but stylish. Its 2in1 hinge allows easy transition between different modes.
• Design: The HP Spectre’s design stands out with its thin bezels and a 3:2 aspect ratio vertical screen.
• Performance: The 360 can easily handle heavy multitasking, video editing, and graphic designing thanks to its 16GB RAM and Intel i7 processor.
• Ports: A USB-A, 2 Thunderbolt USB-C, a micro SD slo,t and a headset jack. It would’ve been outstanding if it had an HDMI port but this is a good port selection for such a slim design.
• Battery Life: The HP Spectre features a battery life of around 11 hours with moderate use which means it can survive an entire workday on a single charge.
• Value-for-money: It is a bit high on the price tag but considering its features and its 2in1 design, the HP Spectre offers excellent value for money.

Best Budget: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7

The Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 offers a balance of performance and affordability and a compact design 🤩

The Surface Laptop 7 is the best choice for students and professionals looking for a budget-friendly device without compromising performance and build quality.

Specifications in the version we reviewed

• CPU: Intel Core i5-1035G7
• RAM: 8GB
• Storage: 128GB SSD

Score on Review Parameters

• Build-quality: The Microsoft Surface offers outstanding quality for this price range thanks to its aluminum body.
• Design: It features a slim, elegant design with a high-resolution PixelSense display and a responsive touch screen. Not only is the laptop easy to use but visually appealing too.
• Performance: Although not designed for heavy usage, the Surface Laptop works wonders for basic tasks like document editing, web browsing, and light multitasking.
• Ports: The Surface Laptop comes with enough ports for everyday use including a USB-A, USB-C, a headset jack and a surface connect port.
• Battery Life: It lasts a good 11.5 hours on a single charge which is enough for a full work day with moderate usage.
• Value-for-money: The Surface Laptop 7 is a fantastic option for a budget-conscious person. Not only does it have a premium design but it also offers good performance.

Honorable mention: Apple MacBook Air

If this was a Windows laptop, it might rank #1.

The reason it doesn’t is, that for advanced Excel users, some pivot tables and especially VBA features are different from Windows to Mac.

To get the full range of options, you need to have Windows ☹

But if your colleagues are using Mac, or if you just prefer Mac over Windows, you won’t find a better laptop for Excel than the Macbook Pro.

Specifications in the version we reviewed

• CPU: Apple M3 chip
• RAM: 16GB (configurable up to 24GB)
• Storage: 512GB SSD (configurable up to 2TB)

Score on Review Parameters

• Build-quality: The standard Apple design that is robust and portable, the sleek and durable aluminum body. MacBooks are known to last years.
• Design: Apple’s designs have a record of being exceptionally outstanding. The Air 15 features a lightweight and ultra-thin 15-inch retina display with vibrant colors and a fanless body.
• Performance: The M3 chip brings forth incredible performance and can single-handedly deal with intensive tasks and of course Excel.
• Ports: The Air 15 comes with a headset jack, MagSafe 3 charging port, and 2 Thunderbolt/USB 4. The port choices are limited but cover essential needs and the Thunderbolt offers versatile options.
• Battery Life: The MacBook Pro offers a battery life of up to 18 hours on a single charge which is the longest in this category. It’s perfect for all-day work without a charge.
• Value-for-money: Though the laptop is not cheap it offers value for money with the excellent performance of its M3 chip. It’s a machine built to last.

Conclusion

There are hundreds of different laptops out there – and they all claim to be exactly what you need.

But it all comes down to your budget and your needs 🤫

Do you just need to browse the internet a bit and open a spreadsheet? Maybe for studying?

Then go with one of the cheaper options on this list.

Doing important work stuff all the time, using multiple instances of all kinds of applications (including Excel)?

Then opt for the premium ones 😎

Alright, so you got the laptop, now what?

Well, you can always upgrade your experience by hooking up your new laptop to an awesome monitor or getting the optimal mouse for Excel work.