Over the course of the past few months, I’ve tried a handful of Windows on Arm machines. The biggest takeaway is that if you buy a slim and light Windows laptop in 2025, you don’t need to hunt for a seat near a wall outlet. The battery life figures I’ve got from Qualcomm Snapdragon X-powered laptops have been pretty amazing.

For the first time, I feel Windows laptops have reached a point where they can reach the high benchmark set by the MacBook Air. My most recent tryst was with the Asus Zenbook A14, and the Dell XPS 13 before that. I loved the thin and lightweight form factors, and the progress Windows on Arm has made with the app compatibility situation.

Yet, despite all the progress, if I were to recommend a slim and light laptop, the MacBook Air M4 would be at the top of my list. There are a healthy few factors that go in its favor, but battery life, in itself, is the biggest driver. I’ve used every iteration of the MacBook Air since the M1 variant, and I think Apple finally struck power efficiency gold with the M4-driven model this year.

It’s not a straightforward choice to buy a laptop with the “definitive” best battery life. There is no such universal benchmark, especially when you’re dealing with an entirely different OS, architecture, and hardware variables. A lot of other factors come into the mix, including the apps and workflow that a machine is supposed to handle.