5 Best Laptops for ESL Teachers in 2024
From this article, you will know what are, in our opinion, the best laptops for ESL teachers you can buy and use in 2024.
ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers are people who teach the fundamentals of the English language to non-native speakers. The English language teaching activities can be done online (through video calls) or offline (through face-to-face meetings).
Several tools can help ESL teachers to do their work. Among those tools, a laptop can be one of the most important ones for many ESL teachers. This is because a laptop can help ESL teachers teach online, review teaching references, evaluate students’ teaching progress, etc anywhere and anytime they want thanks to its portability and computing capability.
If you are an ESL teacher and want to use a laptop to help you with your teaching work but don’t have a laptop yet for that purpose, you might be interested in buying a new laptop. However, it can be confusing to pick the right laptop for an ESL teacher to use from many laptop models and specification choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has tried to compile a list of the best laptops for ESL teachers that you can use as your laptop-buying reference.
What are the laptops that make it into our list and why do we recommend them? Let’s get on it right away.
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| Image | View on Amazon | Product |
|---|---|---|
 
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Apple MacBook Air M2 15 | |
 
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Microsoft Surface Pro 9 | |
 
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Lenovo ThinkPad T14 | |
 
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Asus Zenbook 15 | |
 
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Acer Swift Go |
Table of Contents:
What are the Best Laptops for ESL Teachers?
Now, let’s take a deeper look at the laptops we recommend for ESL teachers to use. Using one of these laptops should give you the laptop support you need to teach English online or offline more optimally.1. Apple MacBook Air M2 15
Apple MacBook Air M2 15 is the first laptop we have on this list. Powered by the Apple silicon chip, this MacBook is powerful and should give you the performance level you need to teach English excellently to your students.
The Apple silicon chip that this MacBook has is an Apple M2 chip. It is a very fast processor for a laptop so you can run all the software you need for your teaching activities smoothly. Thanks to the memory space usage efficiency of the chip, the 8GB RAM capacity in this MacBook can offer a better capacity for the multitasking you need this MacBook to do.
This MacBook has an excellent webcam, microphones, and speakers so doing online English teaching with it should give you a clear communication experience. When you need to use its battery, this MacBook can last up to 18 hours for normal usage to make you can teach 1-2 days without having to charge this MacBook at all.
Additionally, this MacBook is fanless so there should be no disturbing fan noise whenever you need to teach with it. All in all, this Apple MacBook Air M2 15 can be the ideal laptop choice for you to teach the English language with.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15 inches, 2880 x 1664 pixels
- Processor: Apple M2 chip with 8 cores and a speed of 3.5 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 8GB
- Storage: 512GB SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 18 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support the work of an ESL teacher
- Sleek and lightweight
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- No fan noises
- Excellent display and sound outputs
- Excellent webcam and microphones
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No USB-A, HDMI ports, and SD card reader slots
- Notched display
2. Microsoft Surface Pro 9
Microsoft Surface Pro 9 is the next laptop you may want to consider in your laptop-buying process. It is a 2-in-1 laptop that you can use as a tablet by simply detaching its screen from its keyboard.
The 2-in-1 form of this laptop can make it much easier for you to teach English lessons to your students. You can, for example, use its tablet form whenever you need to teach or review your teaching references on the go. The touchscreen feature and built-in kickstand that come with the 2-in-1 form can also add more comfort for you during your teaching activities.
As for the performance of this laptop, you shouldn’t worry. It has a 12th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and 8GB RAM capacity that should be up to the task. To help you teach with much more flexibility, this laptop has a great battery life so you can use this laptop much longer anywhere and anytime you want.
One caveat if you decide to buy this laptop is it doesn’t come with its keyboard as that is sold separately. Considering its whole package, however, this Microsoft Surface Pro 9 seems to be an excellent laptop for an ESL teacher to use.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 13 inches, 2880 x 1920 pixels
- Processor: 12th Gen Intel Core i5 with 10 cores and speed in the range of 1.3-4.4 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 8GB
- Storage: 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 15.5 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support the work of an ESL teacher
- A detachable laptop you can use as a tablet too
- Two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- Great battery life
- A full-HD webcam
Cons
- Keyboard is sold separately
- No USB-A, HDMI ports, and SD card reader slots
3. Lenovo ThinkPad T14
Lenovo ThinkPad T14 is another laptop that should be able to do well when supporting your work as an ESL teacher. Coming from the popular Lenovo ThinkPad series, this laptop is reliable in terms of giving all the things you need to ensure you can have optimum English teaching sessions.
To back up its performance level, this laptop uses a 13th Gen Intel Core i5 processor and 16GB RAM capacity. These are nice specifications for a laptop to have and should have no problem handling tasks related to your teaching activities. When you need to teach online, this laptop has a full-HD webcam so you can communicate more clearly with your students.
This laptop has a friendly-to-the-eye display as well so you can use it for your teaching work for long hours without getting much eye strain. Furthermore, this laptop’s hinge is stretchable up to 180 degrees to make you able to view its display more comfortably when you work.
The keyboard of this laptop is excellent so you can have a comfortable typing experience whenever you need to use it. Overall, this Lenovo ThinkPad T14 seems to be a fine laptop to help you teach English optimally to your students.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 14 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i5 with 10 cores and speed in the range of 1.3-4.6 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 8 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support the work of an ESL teacher
- Quite sleek and lightweight
- USB-A, Thunderbolt 4 USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Friendly-to-the-eye display
- Stretchable hinge (up to 180 degrees)
- A full-HD webcam
- Comfortable keyboard to type on
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
4. Asus Zenbook 15
Asus Zenbook 15 is a splendid laptop you may want to take a deeper look at as you look for a laptop to help you in your work as an ESL teacher. It has a good-looking design and the right specification quality to support English teaching activities that an ESL teacher does daily.
The processor of this laptop is an AMD processor with AMD Ryzen 5 7535U in place. It is a good processor with a fast base clock and turbo speed to give you a stable performance when running the software you need in your teaching work. For your memory space needs, there is a 16GB RAM capacity in this laptop that should be adequate for typical English teaching activities.
You can stretch this laptop up to 180 degrees so you can work in a more comfortable position with it. As for its battery life, it should be able to last a full day on a single charge so you can do a whole teaching session without having to plug in this laptop to a power outlet.
There is a full-HD webcam too that should make your online teaching experience better with this laptop. All in all, this Asus Zenbook 15 can be just the laptop you need to do your teaching work without much problem.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 15.6 inches, 1920 x 1080 pixels
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 7535U with 6 cores and speed in the range of 2.9-4.55 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 8 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support the work of an ESL teacher
- Sleek and lightweight
- USB-A, USB-C, and HDMI ports
- Stretchable hinge (up to 180 degrees)
- A full-HD webcam
Cons
- No SD card reader slots
5. Acer Swift Go
Acer Swift Go is the last laptop we recommend on this list. Looking at its model and specification quality, this laptop seems to have everything it needs to make your teaching activities go excellently.
To run its operations, this laptop has a 13th Gen Intel Core i7 processor and 16GB RAM capacity. With specifications like these, running the software you need for your teaching work should be done well by this laptop. When you need to connect to external devices, there is a full range of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports available for you to use.
This laptop is highly portable as it has a thickness of only 2.76 inches and a weight of only 0.59 pounds. Bringing it around in your bag or hand to do your teaching activities anywhere you want should be easy. To further support your work flexibility, this laptop has a battery life that can last a whole day to make you stay productive even without a power outlet near you.
There is Wi-Fi 6E technology and a 1440p webcam as well to make your online teaching sessions go more smoothly. Overall, this Acer Swift Go can be a laptop you want to strongly consider buying and using as it has many right things to support your teaching work as an ESL teacher.
Key Features
- Screen Size, Resolution: 14 inches, 1920 x 1200 pixels
- Processor: 13th Gen Intel Core i7 with 10 cores and speed in the range of 1.7-5 GHz
- RAM Capacity: 16GB
- Storage: 512GB PCIe NVMe SSD
- Battery Life (Estimation): up to 10.5 hours of usage capacity
Pros
- Excellent specifications to support the work of an ESL teacher
- Sleek and lightweight
- A full range of ports with two Thunderbolt 4 ports
- A 1440p webcam
- Good display quality
Cons
- Average sound quality
What are the Things We Should Consider When We Want to Buy a Laptop for an ESL Teacher to Use?
Here are the things we think you should consider when you want to buy a laptop to support the teaching activities of an ESL teacher.- Processor. The laptop you buy should have a good processor so it can run the software you need for your English teaching activities smoothly. We recommend a laptop with at least a late-generation i5 or Ryzen 5 processor for this
- RAM capacity. The laptop you buy should also have an adequate RAM capacity so it can provide the memory space needed for your English teaching activities. We recommend a laptop with at least 8GB RAM for this
- Storage. You may need to store some files related to your teaching work internally on your laptop so you can access them much more easily later. Thus, the laptop you buy should have adequate storage space to accommodate those files. We recommend a laptop with at least 256GB SSD storage space for this
- Webcam. To have a better online teaching session as an ESL teacher, the webcam of the laptop you buy should be a good one so you can project what you want to teach excellently to your students. We recommend a laptop with at least a 1080p webcam for this
- Battery life. You may sometimes need to have your teaching sessions in a place where you cannot plug in your laptop. To anticipate that situation, the laptop you buy should have a good battery life so you can still teach optimally even without a power outlet near you. We recommend a laptop with at least 6-8 hours of normal usage capacity so you can go a whole day on a single charge to your laptop’s battery
Wrap Up
When you want to buy a laptop, you may want one that can help you do your teaching activities as an ESL teacher smoothly. However, it can be confusing to pick the right laptop from many laptop choices out there. This is why Compute Expert has created a list of the best laptops for ESL teachers to help you.To summarize, here are five laptops we recommend for ESL teachers to use.
We hope our list can help you buy the best laptop to support your English teaching activities for your students!
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