Best Laptops for Podcasting

by CT | Last Updated: April 3, 2021

If you’re a podcaster and want to make your tracks sound professional – you’re going to want the best laptop for podcasting that you can get your hands on.

Recording and editing podcasts is a unique beast of a job. While most people will tell you that you do not need special equipment, if you want to do it right a great laptop is an important tool to have.

Some of the latest podcasting software like Adobe Audition, GarageBand, and Audacity require a decent amount of bandwidth to run properly. If you’re using a cheap machine with low memory capacity, good luck! 🙂

So how do you find the right laptop? Well, we’ve already done the work! We found and picked the best laptops for podcasters.

Best Laptop for Podcasting in 2020

1. Dell XPS 13

Pros:

• Powerful battery life
• Bezel-free display
• Comfy view LED-backlit display

Cons:

• Keyboard can get hot
• Webcam isn’t great

The Dell XPS 13 is a stunning laptop for many reasons. For those Windows lovers, this is the machine that can go toe to toe with the MacBook Pro.

It’s beautiful 13.3 inch display is a UltraSharp 4K Ultra HD InfinityEdge Touchscreen Display with Intel HD Graphics (3840 x 2160). The display is almost the entire screen as there is little to no bezel on the XPS 13.

It comes with a touchscreen display that is finished off with Corning Gorilla Glass to prevent scratches and cracks, so you can rest easy if it takes a minor fall. If you’re like me and drop almost everything, this will help you rest assured that a small drop won’t hurt your machine.

One of the weird things with this machine is the placement of the webcam – it’s below the display, so if you’re relying on the internal webcam often, this could be a dealbreaker, or at least take some getting used to.

2. Apple MacBook Pro 16 inch

Pros:

• Powerful battery life
• Beautiful retina display
• Great for creators and creative people

Cons:

• Price can be a deterrent

MacBook Pro’s are a great option for creatives and media focused folks, as there are many options for making the machine versatile to your needs.

You can set up shortcuts all over the place that help you work more efficiently.

The new MacBook Pro comes with epic sounding speakers as well as the Touch Bar that can be customized for what you use regularly.

The retina display has always been a winner among displays, and the new MacBook does not disappoint with this one and comes with an AMD Radeon Pro 5300M Graphics Card with GDDR6 memory. 

3. Microsoft Surface Pro 7

Pros:

• Long battery life
• Great color display
• Quad-core processor

Cons:

• No USB-C ports

This laptop comes at a great price for what you’re getting (around $850 at time of review). The Surface Pro 6 is ultra slim and lightweight, starting at just 1.7 pounds.

While it comes with the Core i5 processor, it’s still a powerful machine for a portable, on-the-go laptop for creators.

It works great in laptop, tablet or studio mode. You can take handwritten notes, use it as a newspaper replacement while reading the news in the morning. Using OneNote on the Surface is a great experience, as the touchscreen allows for flexibility but also functions as a laptop. If you are using it as a tablet often, I’d also recommend grabbing a Surface Pen as it allows for even more flexibility.

4. ASUS Vivobook 17

5. HP Spectre X360 13T

The new Spectre X360 13t is a great value for what’s included. It’s a powerhouse with a long battery life, great for being on the road while needing to edit and record podcast episodes.

It doubles as a tablet/laptop so you can fold it in half and use the touchscreen as opposed to the keyboard and mouse if you prefer. It also comes with an HD Active Stylus pen you can use with the touchscreen, making the tablet function well.

Pros:

• Powerful battery life
• Convertible 2-in-1
• Facial recognition and fingerprint reader

Cons:

• No HDMI port

6. Dell XPS 15 7590

If you want the best laptop on this list, here it is. The Dell XPS 15 is a stellar machine. On top of the SD card reader, the 9th gen Intel Core i7, this laptop comes with Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 4GB GDDR5 that will display 4K videos with ease. 

This laptop is lightweight and comes with an excellent battery life, so you coffee shop podcasters are in luck. Plus, you’ll be working in style as this laptop is definitely a looker.

Pros:

• Powerful battery life
• 4K videos look great
• Lightweight
• SD card reader

Cons:

• This one is expensive, coming in just under $2k

CT loves marketing, entrepreneurship, and learning about the latest tech. She blogs about laptops has always been a nerd at heart from the young age of 8 when she got her first computer. She now owns multiple machines and spend 10-15 hours a day on them learning about tech and working from home.