Best Windows on Arm laptop in 2026: our picks and what still does not work
Snapdragon laptops are now fast, quiet and last all day. Here are the ones worth buying in 2026, how Arm laptop performance feels in real use, and which apps still cause trouble. The quick picks Best for most people: Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 Lightest: Asus Zenbook A14 Best screen: Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x Best premium design: Dell XPS 13 (9345) Best value: HP OmniBook X 14 Best 2-in-1: Microsoft Surface Pro 11 All of these use first generation Snapdragon X chips. Newer laptops with Snapdragon X2 are also out in 2026. They are faster, especially in graphics, but they cost a lot more. The older models are heavily discounted, and for most people they are the better deal. How Arm laptop performance feels Apps built for Arm, like Chrome, Edge, Office, Teams, Zoom, Spotify, Slack and most Adobe apps, feel fast. The laptop wakes instantly, stays cool, and the fans barely spin. Apps that are not built for Arm run through Microsoft’s Prism emulator. Most feel fine, but heavy ones run slower than on an Intel or AMD laptop. Since late 2025, Prism also supports AVX and AVX2, which fixed a lot of creative apps and games that used to refuse to start. The biggest win is battery life. A full work day with power to spare is normal, and that is the main reason to buy one. Graphics are the weak spot. Light and older games play fine, but these are not gaming laptops. Microsoft Surface Laptop 7 The Surface Laptop 7 is the easiest recommendation. It comes in 13.8-inch and 15-inch sizes, both with a sharp 120Hz touchscreen. The keyboard and trackpad are some of the best on Windows, and the battery life is excellent. It launched at $999 in 2024 and is now often much cheaper. Get 16GB of RAM and the Snapdragon X Plus or X Elite. The 15-inch model is great if you want a bigger screen without much extra weight. Asus Zenbook A14 The Zenbook A14 weighs under 1 kg and still has a big battery. That makes it one of the longest lasting Windows laptops you can buy. It has an OLED screen option and a full set of ports, including USB-A and HDMI. The trade-off is a plainer design and a slower chip in the cheapest models. Pick a Snapdragon X Elite version if your budget allows. Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x The Yoga Slim 7x has a 14.5-inch 3K OLED screen that looks fantastic for films and photos. It is thin, well built and uses the Snapdragon X Elite. If you care most about how the screen looks, pick this one. Dell XPS 13 (9345) The XPS 13 is the most stylish laptop here, with an edge to edge keyboard, a glass trackpad with no visible edges and a touch function row. It is also the most divisive. The function row can be hard to use by feel, and there are only two USB-C ports with no headphone jack. If you love the look and get it on sale, it is a lovely machine. Otherwise the Surface Laptop 7 is easier to live with. HP OmniBook X 14 Photo: Booredatwork.com via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0 The OmniBook X 14 is a simple, well made 14-inch laptop that often sells for less than its rivals. It does not stand out in any one area, but it does everything well, and it is a smart pick if you want Snapdragon battery life for less money. Microsoft Surface Pro 11 If you want a tablet that turns into a laptop, the Surface Pro 11 is the one. Get the OLED model and a Flex Keyboard bundle. It is light, the screen is great and battery life is strong. The newer 2026 Surface Pro with Snapdragon X2 is faster but starts at $1,499. What still does not work on Arm App support is much better than two years ago, but check this list before you buy: Games with kernel anti-cheat. Games like Valorant and some other online shooters still will not run. Fortnite now works, because Easy Anti-Cheat added Arm support. Some VPN and security software. Many work now, but some company VPNs and antivirus tools still do not. Ask your IT team first if it is a work laptop. Old printer and scanner drivers. Newer printers usually work. Old ones may not have Arm drivers. Some pro audio plugins and niche tools. Music producers should check every plugin they rely on. If everything you use is on the web or has an Arm version, you will not notice any difference, apart from the better battery. The verdict: For most people, a discounted Surface Laptop 7 is the best Windows on Arm laptop in 2026. Check your must-have apps first, then enjoy the battery life.
