Listing the best i5 laptops is not an easy job… The Intel i5 is the most popular laptop processor, so most manufacturers put it by default in most of their notebooks.
That means when you’re looking for the best i5 laptops, you have plenty of choices!
Nonetheless, some of the i5 laptops on the market stand out. They’re definitely one step in front of the competition.
Our Top 3
#1 – Asus Zenbook UX330UA |
#2 – Acer Swift 5 |
#3 – Dell XPS 13 |
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Quality & Value |
Awesome look & Lightweight |
Tiny 13-inch |
| 13.3″ QHD | 14″ HD | 13.3″ QHD |
| Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| 256 GB SSD | 256 GB SSD | 256 GB SSD |
| Up to 12 hours | Up to 8 hours | Expect 10 hours |
| Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review | Jump to our Review |
Do you really need an i5 processor?
An Intel i5 processor will provide more than enough power for most users. So if you’re like most, you can be sure that your i5 laptop is going to perform well for the lifetime of your purchase.
An i5 laptop will be great for anyone that often heavily multi-tab, have many applications opened at the same time or need to run a demanding software from time to time.
- To save money, a laptop with an i3 processor might be a better choice if you’re using your laptop only for simple web browsing and watching movies
- If you asking a lot of your laptop and are often running demanding applications, an i7 laptop is what you need
What will you find on this list of the best i5 laptops?
Here you’ll find mid-range laptops with an i5 CPU. If you’re looking for premium laptops, look at this article on high-end laptops, most of them are available with an i5 core.
I listed the best i5 laptops that deliver the most value for your money. All the laptops here are quality, solid notebooks that deliver good performance.
Recommended for you:
Specs for the Top 12 Best i5 Laptops
Graphics 12 to 15-inch Processor Intel i5 RAM 6 to 12 GB Storage 256 to 1000 GB Battery life 5 to 9 hours OS Windows 10 Thickness / Weight 0.33 to 1″ / 1.73 to 5.45 lbs Price Range $$ to $$$$
Top 12 Best i5 Laptops
1 – Asus Zenbook UX330UA – 13″ QHD
“Quality & Value”
Asus really made a great product here with the Asus Zenbook UX330UA. It’s of course equipped with the mid-range i5 processor, but it also have a great display and a great quality design. It’s tough to find a notebook that delivers more value and it’s one of the lightest laptops you can find on this list equipped with a 13-inch screen. Read our full review.
Pros
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Cons
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| Graphics | 13.3″ QHD screen (3200 x 1800) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.53″ / 2.65 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
13-inch HD + Integrated2 – Acer Swift 5 – 14″ HD
“Awesome look & Lightweight”
With the Swift 5, Acer produced a awesome looking, lightweight 14-inch laptop at good price. The overall quality is on par with the competition and the design is solid & good-looking and it’s one of the lightest mid-range laptop you’ll find. They’ve put everything you should be looking for in that type of laptop: a pretty good HD screen, an i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM and an SSD hard drive. A serious contender as one of the best i5 laptop on the market. Read our full review.
Pros
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Cons
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| Graphics | 14″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 8 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.59″ / 2.14 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
Hybrid version3 – Dell XPS 13 – 13″ QHD
“Tiny 13-inch”
Dell really created a great 13-inch laptop with the XPS 13. Not only does it have a quality built & screen, it’s also one of the smallest 13-inch you can find. Look at the screen bezel here… it looks more like a 12-inch notebook than a laptop with a 13.3" screen. It’s a market favorite for a reason! Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 13.3″ QHD touchscreen (3200 x 1800) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Expect 10 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.59″ / 2.9 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
15-inch QHD + NVIDIA GTX 960MRecommended for you:
4 – Asus Q304UA – 13″ HD Convertible
“Budget hybrid with i5 processor”
The Asus Q304UA is a budget 2-in-1 notebook that surprisingly well-equipped. I’m not sure exactly how Asus managed to produce such a good laptop at that price, but they did it! It’s light, has a good design and delivers quite good performance with its i5 CPU and 6 GB of RAM. I’d have preferred an SSD drive instead of the bigger 1000 GB HDD, but if you have a lot of pictures to store, you’ll appreciate it. Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 13.3″ HD touchscreen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 6 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.78″ / 3.31 lbs |
| Price Range | $$ |
5 – Asus Zenbook UX390UA – 12″ HD
“Incredibly tiny 12-inch”
This is one of my favorite 12-inch notebook for many reasons. First the design is simply awesome. The quality is great, the built is solid and it’s so thin & light you wonder how they did it. And with an i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM and a 256 GB SSD hard drive, it’s faster than you need.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 12″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.46″ / 2 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
6 – Microsoft Surface Book – 13″ QHD Detachable
“Quality Detachable”
This i5 version of the Microsoft Surface Book is offered at a surprisingly good price. For a mid-range price, you get a quality detachable notebook with one of the best display on the market. Not only that, but you also get dedicated graphic card for 3D & graphic rendering, perfect if you’re into casual gaming or movie editing. A good quality product from Microsoft! Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 13.5″ QHD touchscreen (3000 x 2000) with NVIDIA GTX 965M |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 12 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.9″ / 3.34 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
# 7 to 12 Best i5 Laptops
7 – HP Envy 13 1KT05UA – 13″ HD
“Light Quality 13-inch”
HP really made a great value 13-inch product here and it definitely deserves to be on this list. It’s one of the thinnest you can find and the design looks good and is solid. The quality of the display and audio system is on par with the other best i5 laptops in its category. Purchase this 13-inch notebook with confidence. Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 13.3″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 7.5 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.51″ / 2.8 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Other similar versions (prices may vary)
Hybrid version8 – Apple MacBook Pro 13 – 13″ HD
“Classic Quality”
The MacBook Pro needs no introduction and is still a reference in design & display quality. For the same specs, you do pay more than the competition but know you are getting one of the best product on the market. This 13-inch MacBook is equipped with pretty standard specs nowadays for a mid-power laptop: an i5 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 256 GB SSD. That will make your laptop fast for most task, but don’t expect high-end graphic design or movie editing.
| Graphics | 13.3″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 10 hours |
| OS | MacOS |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.59″ / 3 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$$ |
9 – Lenovo Ideapad 710S – 13″ HD
“Great value i5 laptop”
I really like the design of the Lenovo Ideapad 710s. It really delivers everything you want in that kind of laptop. I love the style, it has a great slick design and the screen quality & performance are great. It’s an ultra-thin laptop that is also light, so it’s easy to carry around. Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
|
| Graphics | 13.3″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 8 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.55″ / 2.6 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
10 – Dell Inspiron i5577 – 15″ HD
“i5 Gaming Laptop”
This one is different from the others on this list. If you’re looking for a great value gaming laptop with an i5 processor, this is probably your best bet. For the price it delivers incredible value. While it has an i5 CPU with 8 GB of RAM like most laptops here, they’ve also put a powerful graphic card that’ll allow you to play the most recent games.
Pros
| Cons
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| Graphics | 15.6″ HD screen (1920 x 1080) with NVIDIA GTX 1050 |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 1000 GB HDD (5400 rpm) |
| Battery life | Expect 5 to 7 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 1″ / 5.45 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
11 – Microsoft Surface Pro – 12″ QHD Detachable
“Laptop-to-Tablet notebook”
This is the pinnacle of laptop-to-tablet combination. Microsoft really created a powerful 2-in-1 notebook that has an ultra-responsive screen. You can either use it like a tablet, use the sensitive pen to draw & give a presentation in front of clients or plug-in the keyboard for a full-working computer. Read our full review.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 12″ QHD touchscreen (2736 x 1824) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 128 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 9 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.33″ / 1.73 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
12 – Samsung Notebook 7 Spin – 13″ HD Convertible
“i5 Hybrid with dedicated graphics”
Oh I love what Samsung did with this one. Not only do you get a slick hybrid, but you also get a dedicated graphic card to handle 3D games and applications. You won’t find this often. It’s not the slimmest or lightest of the best i5 laptops, but it’s still a very portable 13-inch that delivers a lot of value.
Pros
|
Cons
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| Graphics | 13.3″ HD touchscreen (1920 x 1080) |
| Performance | Intel i5 with 8 GB of RAM |
| Storage | 256 GB SSD |
| Battery life | Up to 9 hours |
| OS | Windows 10 |
| Thickness / Weight | 0.78″ / 3.92 lbs |
| Price Range | $$$ |
Erik is the owner and main editor of lptps.com. He has been working in computers and information technology for more than 20 years. He’s a business analyst, developer, and avid traveler.
