Technically, you can use the devices in this Gadget Awards category to play games, but we’re separating them. Laptops of the more conventional sort are often used to do work-type things, too. And the pair below are, in Stuff‘s opinion, the best you could nab in South Africa by the end of 2025.
As with all of our other categories, though, we confined ourselves to the best tech a) you can buy here and b) we had a chance to fiddle with during the year. It’s part of what makes Stuff’s annual Gadget Awards presentation so tough to execute. On paper, there may be better gear out there. But that’s the problem. It’s out there. Not over here.
Ah, well. If you want to nab the remaining category winners before they appear here, you still can.
MAINSTREAM LAPTOP OF THE YEAR
ACER ASPIRE 14 AI
When you look at what Acer has crammed inside its Aspire 14 AI, the price tag makes sense. Optimised for working, either in an office or a classroom, there’s plenty behind the 14in WUXGA display worth paying for.
Intel’s Core Ultra 7 chipset, 32GB of RAM, and 1TB of storage are just the start. Only the omission of a third-party GPU prevents this one from tackling the gaming front in addition to having a day job. All the biometrics, Microsoft’s Copilot AI (for some reason), and enough ports to make a MacBook sob into its expensive coffee just round out what Acer has on offer here. If you need your notebook to do everything except gaming, Acer’s Aspire 14 AI delivers.
from R25 000 / computermania.co.za
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook Plus ● Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3x Gen 10
SHORTLISTED
Framework Laptop 13
PREMIUM LAPTOP OF THE YEAR
APPLE MACBOOK AIR (M4)
The MacBook Air remains the everyday laptop to beat. The M4 chip delivers a solid performance boost over the M3, with single-core speeds that outpace virtually everything else on the market. But the real headline? Apple finally ditched that miserly 8GB base RAM for the 16GB, which is essential for anyone running pro software.
Full support for dual external displays now works without closing the lid, the screen is still gorgeous, battery life stretches to 15 hours of intensive use, and it’s one of the slimmest laptops around.
The elephant in the room? Ridiculous upgrade costs for extra RAM or storage. But for everyday work at the base spec, nothing else comes close to this combination of power, portability, and price.
from R22 500 / incredible.co.za
HIGHLY COMMENDED
Asus Zenbook A14 ● Apple MacBook Pro (M4)
SHORTLISTED
Dell XPS 13 (9350) ● Lenovo Yoga Slim 7i Aura Edition ● Asus Zenbook Pro 14 OLED
