If you’re a network engineer and you were looking for the best laptop for you then you’re in the right place. As technology has rapidly increased in past 10 years and its keep growing. And it’s a never-ending industry of this planet earth. So in this era of technology, the Internet is playing a vital role and because of it, network engineers are one of the most demanding professionals in this competitive world.
You have to look after the whole networking as an individual or as an organization. You have to troubleshoot problems, wire management, hardware-based tools, etc. So you must require enough prefacing laptop machine for that. The laptop market has been flooded with a lot of options for highlighting something in their device. You would get a lot of companies offering you different devices by highlighting some features in their laptop, In this loaded market you must need enough guide and data to choose the best laptop for you.
So in this article, you’re going to get a comprehensive discussion about the best laptops for network engineers based on usage and performance. We’ve tried our best to provide you with enough data and information about your best laptop mate for your work. As You would require a powerful laptop for your work as you’ve to run many diagnostic, troubleshooting, and hardware tools based software.
To run them easily you need a good one, so for that, you don’t have to worry about prices, Of course, these laptops would be costly in terms of pricing as compared t other laptops. Because these laptops would have enough combo of the specification to provide you extraordinary performance.
As the laptop has become a common device among all IT sector. They have replaced desktop computers but sometimes some people think that, if they go for a laptop they’ve to compromise on performance as compared to desktop. But it’s not the right thing, Yes a laptop can a bit slower than a desktop and you may face some heating issues. But there are a lot of laptops that are left behind the desktop computers in terms of performance.
As a network engineer, you must need enough battery backup of your laptop. As you’ve to go somewhere and fix something then you must require enough batter timing to do that task without any physical connection. So you must need enough battery back up in your laptop. While keeping sights on the power we also have to keep in mind portability and lightweight. You cant think about your best laptop for your engineering works at a cheaper price, you surely need enough and more budget to buy the best one for you.
Best Laptops for Network Engineers
So while choosing the best laptop for a network engineer you surely need enough combo of specifications with performance. So for that whenever you pick a laptop for you that should have at least 8GB of RAM, 8th generation processor (intel), 256GB or 512GB SSD, Good Cooling System, and graphics card are optional. So most of the laptops we’ve reviewed today are with at least these specifications.
Our Top Pick 
| Acer Predator Helios 300 |
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Best for Professionals 
| Apple Macbook Air |
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Runner-Up 
| MS Surface 7 Pro |
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Best Choice 
| Lenovo Thinkpad T490 |
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Performing Device 
| Acer Swift X |
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Budget Friendly 
| Razer Blade 15 |
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Good Choice 
| Asus Vivobok S15 |
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Good Choice 
| Google PixelBook |
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Acer Predator Helios 300
Predator series of Acer is one of the best series of them. Same as their other laptops Acer predator helios 300 is a well-performing device mostly used for gaming purposes and heavy tasks. So as an engineer you must have to run many heavy hardware-based tool software and you need a powerful laptop with enough battery life. You can say this laptop was made by targeting gamers and IT sector-based engineers.
Acer Predator Helios 300 has the latest 10t generation of powerful processor Intel Core i7-10750H that can easily handle any kind of heavy tasks in any kind of engineering work. You can also use this laptop as your gaming laptop as well. It has an RGB keyboard that can be helpful in your engineering work whenever you go elsewhere for your work at night. This processor can be overclocked up to 5.0GHz.
To handle heavy tasking and graphics works in engineering, It has a powerful NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 6GB graphics card. The combo of the 10th generation of processor and this RTX series laptop is powerful more than enough. It has 16GB of DDR4 RAM and 512GB of SSD. That is an incredible combo of RAM and ROM. Both storage sync with the processor and provide you with enough performance for engineering works.
It has 15.6 inches of Full HD display. Remember it’s a 144hz refresh rate with only 3ms of response rate. It has WIFI 6 to do your networking tasks without any lagging in connectivity. Its brightness can be maximized up to 300nits. It is an easy-to-carry and portable laptop with a budget-friendly price range. It can provide you with a battery backup of up to 8 hours.
Apple MacBook Air
You might be wondering why did I mention the Apple MacBook Air here in this article? is Macbook Air good for network engineers? So based on my personal experience, I’m also doing software engineering that is also engineering work. Software & Network engineering is quite similar. So as an engineer, I’ve used this MacBook air and I’ve found nothing negative about this laptop. MacBook devices are specially designed for lightweight tasks and they don’t have dedicated graphics cards. But still, they are enough for your engineering works.
When we’re talking about portability and light weightiness then we can’t forget about the Apple devices. As an engineer, you just don’t need performance you also need a portable, lightweight, and good-looking laptop. So for that reason, Macbook Air is the best option for you. Whenever you have an Apple product it provides a premium looks with performance. In terms of design, this laptop is just regardless as compared to other brands. They would provide you best performance and design.
MacBook Air has 16GB of RAM and 512GB of flash SSD with its macOS operating system. As you know their OS is really optimized and well managed. Its RAM and ROM sync with its processor and provide extra performance. This laptop has Apple’s designed latest M1 chip designed for heavy tasking and the most powerful chip Apple has ever made. So if you have an iPhone devise then it’s another plus point for you, You can easily sync your iPhone with MacBook.
Read Also: MSI Vs ASUS Gaming Laptop – which one is better in 2022?
In terms of battery backup, this laptop has a battery timing of around 18 hours. Its battery timing is more than enough. And its display is just insane because of its retina 500nits of the display. And their true tone technology is one of the best technology for the latest displays. For outdoor usage, this laptop has enough brighter display. Its weight is around 4 pounds that are lightweight as compared to other laptop brands.
Microsoft Surface Pro 7
As you know most laptop and desktop computers use the Windows operating system, And it is the most used operating system in this technology era because of Microsoft’s convenient UI & UX, And they launched their new windows version day today. In this case, scenario, If we have a laptop and operating system both from the same company. So in this case Microsoft has launched their laptop series Microsoft Surface which is awesome In a combo of laptops and operating systems. The company tried to enhance its operating system and hardware more efficiently as compared to other brands.
In this laptop, Microsoft has integrated the latest 10th generation intel CPU that is the most used in powerful laptops and desktop computers. Because of its speed, we can easily get maximum performance from it. It is much faster than its previous versions of surface pro series laptops. Because of its portability, price, and performance its best for network engineers. It has a core i7 1065G7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and 256GB of RAM. The only thing that I disliked fr this laptop is it doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card.
It has 12.3 inches 2736 x 1824 resolution display. It has a battery life of up to 11 hours that was claimed by the company but on average the timing is around 10 hours which is enough for an engineer. And it is a 2 in 1 laptop which means you can easily use it as a tablet and as a laptop as well. And it’s a touchscreen laptop. It’s portable, affordable, and lightweight. If you were looking for a lightweight and budget-friendly laptop then this laptop can be a great option for you.
Lenovo Thinkpad T490
Lenovo is mostly known for its low performance and heavy laptops, But now Lenovo has improved a lot of things in the past 5 years. They’ve improved their laptops and other products’ performance. But this time Lenovo has come with a lot of new things in their Thinkpad series. That’s why I’ve included this laptop because this is a very lightweight and easy to carry device. It provides you with security features, performance, and is budget-friendly.
- RAM: 16GB
- SSD: 512GB
- GPU: Intel UHD Graphics 620
- CPU: Core i7 10th Gen
- Battery: ~15 Hours
This laptop has a built-in 10th generation of processor that is Intel Core i7 10th generation. The company claimed that they’ve made this laptop 2 times faster than their previous laptops of this surface pro series. And I think they’ve claimed it right because it’s a really powerful and long-lasting laptop. And as compared to other brands it is very lightweight which means you don’t need to carry a heavy laptop anymore after purchasing this laptop. As a network engineer, this laptop can be a good option for you as well.
I’ve taken reviews using the pool on different social media platforms about this laptop from different countries’ software and network engineers and they’ve claimed that this laptop became the best option for them in terms of performance, price, and battery life. It has 15 hours of estimated and 16 hours of claimed battery life that is I think so more than enough to do outdoor engineering works such as troubleshooting, hardware fixing, wire fixing, and other networking tasks easily without any kind of electricity connection.
If you were looking for a laptop that fits you in terms of performance, price, and battery backup. Then you’ve multiple options to go. You can go with this Lenovo Thinkpad T490 and Microsoft Surface Pro 7. You can go with anyone’s laptop. It has a 14” FHD anti-glare display that will eliminate any kind of reflection from this screen. And it has an inbuilt fingerprint scanner for security purposes. And It has a thunderbolt port to use multiple monitors on your laptop.
You’re going to get the best combo of storage that includes 16GB of RAM and 512GB of SSD which is considered the best combination of RAM and ROM in laptops. Lenovo has done a lot of changes in its storage capacity, You can easily extend both memories. Its weight is only 3.41 pounds that making this laptop very lightweight and easy to carry. If you were looking for a suitable lightweight and budget-friendly laptop then this one can be a preferred option for you.
Acer Swift X
As we already know now at this time Acer became the main player in the computer hardware and laptop industry. They’re serving us for many decades. I’ve listed multiple laptops of Acer company because of their Quality and performing laptops. Now it is also known as one of the leading companies in the laptop market. Their Predator series is mostly known for their powerful laptops. Acer always tried his best to provide quality and powerful products to their consumers. Their laptops are mostly being liked and satisfied by the customers. Now Acer has launched their Acer Swift X recently to target mostly engineer consumers.
But the reason behind listing multiple laptops in this article of the Acer is that both the laptop I’ve listed here have the CPU of two different companies. You probably know them, There are only the most popular processor players in this market, Intel and AMD. In this laptop, Acer has an integrated Ryzen 7 5800U processor that is considered as the equivalent to intel’s 10th generation processor. Acer Swift X comes with this AMD processor that can be overclocked up to 4.8GHz speed. You can do easily different tasks or run heavy hardware software on this processor.
If you’re an intel lover then you can select that Acer’s laptop otherwise you can also go with this Acer Swift X. I think so Ryzen is also a good processor with a dedicated graphics card. If you don’t have a dedicated graphics card then surely you should go with an Intel processor laptop. Intel will give you some more performance as compared to other brands. For multi-tasking and heavy software usage, It has 16 GB of DDR4x RAM and 512GB SSD. That is more than enough for a network engineer. It has a WIFI 6 that increases your connectivity. Because if it’s an RGB backlit keyboard you can easily do many outdoor night tasks.
So as AMD processor doesn’t have integrated graphics as intel has. So for that reason, this laptop has the latest NVIDIA RTX 3050ti graphics card. As you know the RTX series is very powerful and also if that GPU has a ti version that is more powerful than the non-ti version of it. Whenever you see the RTX 30 series graphics card in any laptop in that laptop you never gonna lac of graphics? Personally, I also like this 30 series for my personal computers as well. It has an inbuilt fingerprint sensor and windows hello sign-in option to make your Acer Device more secure.
Razer Blade 15
In the past few decades ago there was no name or footprint of a company named Razer. There were a few players in the laptop and PC components market. But after 2002, There a company entered in peripheral devices, PC components, and laptops. And this company has become the main tycoon in these markets after 2015. And since then they’re popular for their quality and stylish products. That’s why I’ve included this Razer Balde 15 laptop that is known as the smallest 15.6″ laptop. This laptop is known for its compactness, thinness, and power. Now Razer is working in the peripheral devices industry as well.
This laptop is known as the smallest laptop with 15.6 inches of display. This laptop is mostly used by gamers but it is also used by businessmen and engineers as well. Because of this powerful processor and graphics card combination. It’s a 15.6” FHD larger display panel that is more than enough for engineers to manage their different tasks. Because of its 10th generation of processor, which is Intel Core i7-10875H, it can handle heavy programs easily.
You can easily turbo boost this processor up to 5.1GHz. As a network engineer or gamer you just need a good refresh rate display for that reason it has a 360hz refresh rate display panel that looks so smoother. It’s like a premium display as in mobile market phones have. To handle multitasking and different heavy software it has 16GB of RAM with 1TB of SSD storage. If 16GB RAM and 1TB SSD are not enough then you can easily upgrade both of them.
So for handling any graphics-related software for engineers, it has the latest NIVIDIA’s RTX series RTX 3070 graphics card. I think so 3070 GPU is more and more than enough for graphics software. You can also choose another version of it that comes with Includes RTX 3080 graphics card and more RAM options. You can choose any of that but I think so this 16GB RAM, 1TB SSD, 10th gen CPU, and 3070 GPU specification is a killer combination of specs that can easily do any heavy tasking.
Only I found a con of this laptop is that its battery backup is a bit lower than other laptops, It has only 7 hours of average battery life that seems not enough as an engineer. But I think you can easily comprise battery timing because you’re getting a powerful compact machine laptop. It is the thinnest and smallest laptop with 15.6″ of display size. It has a liquid fille chamber-based cooling system that will eliminate your heating issue while using heavier programs. You can easily customize the backlit led color of the keyboard using Razer’s program that comes preinstalled in the laptop.
You can say it’s a bezel-less laptop that has only a few fractions of inches of bezels. It is a uniquely aluminum-designed body that is durable. And it is only 0.7 inches thin laptop, and its weight Is only 4.4 pounds that is approximately 1.9 kgs that is easy to carry weight for a laptop. It comes with a thunderbolt 3 port and you can easily use multiple monitors by using this port. So if you were looking for a durable, stylish, and powerful laptop for your engineering works then this can be a great option for you.
ASUS Vivobook S15
ASUS now has become one of the leading and dominating manufacturing companies in the world. Now, they started producing a lot of powerful laptops and all of those laptops now become flagship laptops in the market. ASUS’s Vivobook series is mostly known for its compact design, lightweight, thinness, and power. Their laptops are always a quality product and powerful product. Asus is a direct competitor of the MSI brand and both of the brands are competing with each other for the past few decades in the laptops market. One is playing on high performance and the second one is playing In terms of low pricing. I’ve already made an in-depth comparison of both the companies MSI vs ASUS.
Now as I’ve written a lot of things about the company Asus, Now let’s come to the main laptop which Asus laptop is good for a network engineer? So the answer is Asus Vivobook S15. This laptop is known for its ultra-thin design and portability. After a lot of struggle and research, I could able to find this laptop. As you know Asus’s Vivobook series is known for its ultra-thin design. So this laptop is one of them, I’ve just selected this laptop because it’s ultra-thin and quite easy to carry a laptop. And it’s a premium-looking laptop that has many functions in its trackpad 2.0.
Now, it became the most popular laptop in the united states and worldwide as well because of its thin finishing. I’ve found many plus points for network engineers that’s why I’ve included this laptop in this list. This laptop comes with 16GB RAM and 1TB ROM best combo.
And it has an 11th generation processor that is now the latest process by intel in the market. It comes with a transparent aluminum body cover that is quite durable even in terms of falling from enough height. It has a thunderbolt 4 that is now found in some rare laptops. It has a GeForce MX350 graphics card that is a good combo with 11th generation intel processor. I know this graphics card is old but I think because of its 11th gen CPU, you won’t get any laggy or less graphics experience.
It can be a great option for Cisco engineers. And the reason I called it lightweight, You won’t believe its weight is only around 3.7 pounds that is not a common thing in laptops. It has a 15.6″ inches larger rich display. You can say it’s the best combo of a good-looking and performing laptop. You can easily upgrade both RAM and ROM as well in case you need more storage. You won’t be dishearted by its battery timing because it has 15 hours of average battery backup which is more than enough for outdoor tasks for engineers. You easily control its RGB controlled by the F7 key mounted on the keyboard. If you were looking for a laptop with beauty and performance then this laptop should be your next laptop mate.
Google Pixelbook i7
When we are looking for a laptop that is portable, performing, less with features, and affordable. Then we can’t forget to mention a laptop by Google. Because Google products are always quality products and they always try to satisfy their users in any terms. They have also a mobile series as well that is called Pixel too. Their mobiles have countless features same as their laptop are also loaded with many features that you cant get from any other device. As you know most of the products or data on the internet are handled by Google, So they can easily delete your plus and negative points to make their products more liked and performing.
Introducing Google PixelBook i7 that is one of the best laptops for network engineers in terms of accessibility and features. This laptop comes with a 7th generation i7 processor that’s performance is good as well. It doesn’t have a dedicated graphics card because they enhance their device very perfectly. One of the best features I’ve found in this laptop is that this is the first laptop in the world that comes with a built-in Google Assistant. You can easily active Google assistant by pressing a button on the keyboard or you can say “Ok Google” as you say on your mobile devices. It can e really helpful for you in terms of getting any guidance from google.
As you know Google has already made our lives easier by launching their search engine with google assistant. Now, they’re trying to integrate it into laptops with proper enhancement. You would get Google’s primary apps inbuilt such as Google Drive, Gmail, YouTube, etc. You can easily use them as you do on mobile. This is a 4 in one laptop you can use as a laptop, entertainment module, tent, etc.
Just imagine you want to go for any outdoor activity even on your laptop but your laptop battery is very slow, it looks weird even imaging. So introducing Google’s fasting charging features that would provide you up to 2 hours of battery backup even in only charging for 15 minutes. Overall this batter would provide you a battery backup of ~10 hours after charging it 100%.
It is a sleek aluminum body with 360-degree rotation. It comes with gorilla glass that would protect your screen in any circumstances. It’s a touch screen laptop you can use it as a laptop as well. Pixebook is a lightweight and thin device having only 2.45 pounds of weight. Google Pixel is powered by Chrome OS that is designed by Google. Chrome OS has the latest virus projection and many other automatic updates features. As their android OS is really awesome their Chrome OS is very good as well. This OS can be booted within 10 seconds that is claimed by the company. They’ve enhanced and maintained their OS very well. Chrome OS is based on Android OS.
It comes with 12..3 inches of 2400 x 1600 resolution touch screen display panel. You would be able to do many tasks with its PixelBook pen. Remember this is Android-based OS, so you can only use Google Play Store or APK based applications on your Pixelbook. You can also install windows os on this but that is not as much easier as you think. Its keyboard has backlit LEDs in its keyboard as well. So if you want to enjoy another level of the new OS that is designed by Google as a network engineer then you can go with it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Laptop is best for network engineers?
If you ask about my opinion then the Macbook Air laptop can be a good option for you because its a premium good looking device and its easy to carry.
What do network engineers do?
Network engineers are now very demanding in this technology era. They build, manage, expand, and upgrade the network systems.
Which laptop is best for Cisco Engineers?
Microsoft Surface 7 Pro is the best option for cisco network engineers because of its performance, portability, and affordbility.