If you're a realtor, trying to find a good laptop can be just as challenging as finding the perfect home for your clients. Not only do you need something that looks professional and can withstand the daily demands of the modern work environment, but it also needs to be portable and durable. After all, there's a good chance you'll be lugging it around with you to your showings, so a clunky laptop simply won't cut it.
That means you'll need a laptop that's portable, reliable, responsive, and boasts a professional design that'll impress your clients. That's quite the checklist – but thankfully, there are plenty of great laptops for realtors that fit all these criteria.
Whether you want a budget-friendly laptop, a premium MacBook, or something in between, here's a look at the best laptops for realtors. This roundup includes a variety of products for all budgets, along with a combination of traditional laptops, 2-in-1s, and even a tablet if you want something ultra-portable.
Once you're done skimming through this list, you can check out the best laptops of 2024 to get a few more ideas.
Best overall laptop for realtors
ASUS Zenbook 14 OLED
- Excellent OLED display
- Solid build quality
- Fast productivity performance
- Very good keyboard
- Attractive aesthetic
- Mediocre creativity performance
- Limited configurations available
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | 14 inches |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Storage | 256GB |
The ASUS Zenbook 14-Inch Laptop is the ideal combination of pricing and performance. Along with a brilliant 14-inch touchscreen, you're getting a compact form-factor that weighs less than three pounds and looks stunning from all angles.
When using this laptop with clients, the most important factor is its display. Its 14-inch size is the nice middle ground between portability and usability, while its 2.8K resolution makes everything look shocking vibrant for a laptop under $600. Toss in the fact that it's an OLED display, and you've got a premium screen at a midrange price.
ASUS packed a bunch of other cool features into the Zenbook, such as a fingerprint sensor for quick access, Dolby Atmos support for booming sound, and battery life that'll last up to 22 hours. The hardware isn't bad either, as the laptop boasts a Ryzen 5 7530U, 8GB RAM, and 256SSD.
The 8GB RAM is a bit lackluster, but if you're just using it to message clients, show off multiple listings, and take the occasional video call, it's more than up to the challenge. As far as a laptop for real estate agents is concerned, this one is hard to beat.
Best premium laptop for realtors
Microsoft Surface Laptop 5
- Lots of color options
- Still thin and light
- Thunderbolt 4, finally
- Upgradable storage
- Still uses 720p webcam
- Limited performance gains
- No more AMD options
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | Up to 15 inches |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Storage | Up to 1TB |
Part of what makes the Microsoft Surface Laptop 5 a great option for realtors is its flexibility. Available with either a 13-inch or 15-inch display and with multiple ways to customize its performance, it's easy to build the Surface Laptop 5 into the perfect work companion.
If you're going to be showing off images and property listings to clients, we'd recommend choosing the larger 15-inch model. It trades portability for its larger display, but most will find that it's still plenty small and easy to lug around. And since it gets you a staggering 2496 x 1664 resolution, you and your clients will be treated to ultra vibrant images.
This model lets you choose the 12th Gen Intel Core i7-1255U processor, which is more than enough for all your work tasks, as well as up to 1TB SSD – so if you're constantly running into storage with your current laptop, that should be a problem of the past.
Other notable features include Dolby Vision for improved image quality, a 10-point multitouch touchscreen, Gorilla Glass 5 for added durability, and up to 17 hours of battery life. Despite all these specs, the 15-inch model still clocks in at just over three pounds. The Surface Laptop 5 can get a bit pricey if you opt for expensive customization options, but it remains a solid choice for realtors with a decerning eye.
Best budget laptop for realtors
Lenovo Ideapad 3
- Great price
- Tons of customization options
- Large display
- Lackluster battery life
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.6 inches |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Storage | 256GB |
Who said you need to spend heaps of cash on a good laptop? The Lenovo Ideapad 3 proves you can get a great rig for less than $400 that both looks impressive and comes with enough specs to get you through even the toughest workday.
There are a bunch of ways to modify your Ideapad 3, but this model that costs just over $300 is a good choice for frugal shoppers. Along with a webcam, 8GB RAM, and Intel Core i3-1115G4 processor, it features a large 15.6-inch touchscreen display. That makes it one of the larger products on this list, though it still weighs right around four pounds – so it shouldn't feel like a workout when you toss it in your bag.
The touchscreen runs a 1366 x 768 resolution, which is a bit less vivid that the Zenbook and Surface Laptop above, but when you factor in its low price, you're actually getting a lot of bang for your buck. Lenovo also made sure you have plenty of ports for all your accessories, with several USB ports, an HDMI port, audio jack, and SD card reader all readily available on the side of the laptop.
One of the biggest drawbacks to the Lenovo Ideapad 3 is its battery life, as it's only rated to get seven hours before needing a recharge. That's still a decent amount of power, and if you normally stop somewhere for lunch or only leave your office for half the day, you can easily plug in before your battery hits zero.
Best 2-in-1 laptop for realtors
HP Spectre x360
- Attractive aesthetic
- Very good productivity performance
- Good to great battery life
- Excellent haptic touchpad
- Superb 120Hz OLED display
- Superior audio quality
- No discrete GPU option
- A bit expensive
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | 14 inches |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Storage | 512GB |
One of the great perks of a 2-in-1 laptop is that it's essentially both a tablet and a laptop. For realtors, that gives you the versatility to quickly pass the laptop to clients in tablet form, allowing them to scroll though property listings as if they're using a large smartphone.
That sort of flexibility is great, but it's not the only reason the HP Spectre x360 is attractive to real estate agents. Along with its 2-in-1 design, HP built the Spectre x360 with an OLED display that supports a 2880 x 1800 resolution, an Intel Core Ultra 5 125H, and 512GB SSD. If none of those specs are to your liking, most of them can be modified before purchase.
There are a few other premium perks of the Spectre x360, such as support for Wi-Fi 6E, a one-year warranty, built-in webcam, and multiple available colors (silver, black, and blue). That makes the HP Spectre x360 one of the most flexible laptops on the market – both when it comes to configuring your build and when you're using it for work. It's a bit expensive and only becomes more expensive as you add on more powerful components, but if you can fit it into your budget, it'll definitely serve you well.
Best MacBook for realtors
MacBook Air (M3 Chip)
- Excellent GPU performance
- Compact and beautiful design
- Impeccable build quality
- Battery life is fantastic
- Better multimonitor support
- Limited ports
- M2 might be better value
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | 15.3 inches |
| Touchscreen | No |
| Storage | 256GB |
The MacBook Air (M3 Chip) could serve as an alternative to our best premium laptop for realtors. It certainly costs just as much – and if you prefer macOS over Windows, the MacBook Air works well as a travel companion.
Available in 13-inch and 15-inch models, the larger laptop is probably a better choice for realtors as it doesn't add much weight (it clocks in just over three pounds) while gaining a full two inches of extra screen space. That should make it easy for clients to gather around and view listing details without having to squint. The MacBook Air screen is arguably the nicest screen on this list, as it's a Liquid Retina XDR display that supports a 2880 x 1864 resolution. It also gets up to 500 nits brightness and supports 1 billion colors, so images and videos look crisp.
Everything else about the MacBook Air is just as premium as you'd expect from an Apple product. Along with a thin chassis, you'll get Touch ID for quick access, a backlit Magic Keyboard that's a joy to type on, and the ability to connect the device with up to two external displays.
MacBooks won't be for everyone, and if the rest of your workplace uses Windows, you might have to worry about converting files or installing Microsoft Office software on your laptop. But for all the power the MacBook Air provides, that might be a worthwhile concession.
Microsoft Surface Pro 9
- New colors look great
- Design and build quality are top notch
- SQ3 is a solid alternative
- Type Cover keyboard is excellent
- High resolution webcam
- No headphone jack
- Upgrades still too expensive
- Limited performance improvements
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Display | 13 inches |
| Touchscreen | Yes |
| Storage | 256GB |
You'll need to purchase the Surface Pro Signature keyboard if you want to treat this like an actual laptop, but if portability is at the top of your list, the Microsoft Surface Pro 9 deserves a closer look. Not only is it just as well-equipped as other premium laptops on this list, but it also weighs less than two pounds and is small enough to fit into even the most overstuffed backpack.
This version of the Surface Pro 9 is built with 8GB RAM and 256GB SSD. That's pretty impressive when you consider its tiny footprint. And while the touchscreen is small at 13 inches, it offers a 2880 x 1920 resolution to bring your images and videos to life. That small screen size also means it's easy to pass the tablet around, allowing clients to easily view potential listings or read through a contract.
Unfortunately, the Surface Pro 9 is pretty expensive. And since you'll need to add in the Surface Pro Signature Keyboard (which costs $180) to use it like a traditional laptop, you'll be inching close to $1,000 with this purchase. Still, that portability is hard to beat. Toss in a battery that gets you over 15 hours of use before needing a recharge, and it's easy to see how this tablet can replace your current laptop.
How we chose the best laptops for realtors
Real estate agents are essentially shopping for a business laptop that's portable and durable. While they need many of the same features as traditional business laptops – such as a comfortable keyboard and hardware that won't slow down during daily tasks – they also need something portable to bring with to all their showings. On that of that, the laptop will need to be durable enough to withstand the rigors of constant travel. With that in mind, here's how we put together the above list.
Portability
Portability is one of the most important factors in picking a laptop for realtors. Most realtors will constantly be jumping in their car to meet with clients or check out various properties. And if it's not easy to disconnect a laptop and toss it in a backpack, then it's not the ideal product for a busy real estate agent.
Battery life
Just as important as portability is battery life. Realtors with multiple clients to meet with in a single day won't have the luxury of plugging into an outlet to recharge their battery. And if they're bringing a single client to multiple properties, the last thing they'll want to do is ask the client for a break to juice up their laptop. Every product on this list is bound to last a full workday without any trouble. Many are also capable of fast charging, letting you refill their batteries during your lunch break or a stop at your local coffee shop.
Reliable and durable
Since a realtor's laptop will likely get tossed from bag to desktop multiple times a day, they'll need to be well constructed and capable of withstanding a demanding travel schedule. Because of this, we stuck to trusted brands like Microsoft, Apple, ASUS, and Lenovo when compiling this list. These companies are known for producing well-reviewed and reliable devices. Better yet, most of the designs are sleek and stylish as well as durable and reliable, making them perfect for both the workplace and while out with clients.
Vibrant display
If you're using your laptop to show properties to clients, you'll want the screen to do the images justice. A small, dimly lit screen won't help you sell. Conversely, a large screen with an impressive resolution will make it easier for clients to see the property as intended, leaving a stronger impression than if everyone is hunched over a tiny, muddled screen. Some even boast touchscreens, allowing you to quickly navigate pages without having to fiddle around with a trackpad.
Fast performance
The only thing worse than sitting around waiting for your laptop to load is your clients sitting around waiting for your laptop to load. While the above products probably won't be running elaborate software or video games, they're more than powerful enough to launch multiple programs at once or open a host of tabs on your browser to show off various properties.
This article is managed and created separately from the Digital Trends Editorial team.
