Best Laptops for Netflix: Best Laptops for Watching Movies

Netflix is one of the most popular video streaming services out there. As of 2019, Netflix has more than 139 Million paying subscribers worldwide and the number is growing at a steady pace. And one of the reasons why Netflix is so popular, is because it is compatible with so many platforms, including smart TVs,  smartphones, Tablets, Streaming players, and of course desktop computers and laptops.

While most Netflix users prefer watching their favorite movies on a TV screen, mobile devices such as tablets, smartphones, and laptops are also quite popular. Not only are these devices easy to carry around, but they can also be used for other tasks, such as work. If you are looking for a laptop for Netflix, then you’re on the right place. We have compiled a list of some of the best laptops for Netflix and for watching movies, available right now. But as always, before we proceed with our list, let’s first have a quick look at some of the things you should check when choosing a laptop for streaming Netflix.

What to look for in a laptop for Netflix?

Good news! As long as your laptop can open a web browser, then you can enjoy Netflix.com. Netflix is available on Windows and Mac computers using Google Chrome, Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Mozilla Firefox, Safari, or Opera browser, or the Netflix app for Windows 8 or Windows 10.

However, there are a few limitations when using Netflix on a browser. According to Netflix, computers support streaming in the following browser resolutions:

• Google Chrome up to 720p
• Internet Explorer up to 1080p
• Microsoft Edge up to 4K
• Mozilla Firefox up to 720p
• Opera up to 720p
• Windows 8 app up to 1080p
• Windows 10 app up to 4K
• Safari up to 1080p

As you can see, these are only browser specific limitations, and can easily be solved by installing a new browser. For Netflix, it is recommended to use either Microsoft Explorer or Microsoft Edge, as they provide the best experience, and support higher resolutions. You can read more about streaming Netflix in Ultra HD here. Of course, you should have a high internet speed to be able to stream in Ultra HD.

Now, let’s see some of the important specs to look for, in terms of hardware.

• Screen size and resolution: For watching movies, most people prefer a bigger screen. However, for a laptop, this means a bigger and heavier device, and also a shorter battery life. If you are going to mainly use your new laptop at home, you can go for a 17 inch laptop if you wish.  However, if you want a lighter device, stick with a 14 or 15.6 inch laptop.

The screen resolution is also important, while most laptops come with a Full HD screen nowadays.  There are still cheaper entry level laptops that come with 1368X768 displays.

Another thing is to check whether the display is IPS or not. IPS display are better for watching movies, as they provide better colors and viewing angles. You can read about the advantages of IPS displays here.

• Speakers and Sound: The truth is that a lot of laptops come with very basic speakers that can barely fill a small room. And if you are not going to use earphones, or external speakers; you should pay a close attention to the type of speakers your next laptop comes with.
• Processor and overall performance: While watching Netflix isn’t much of a demanding task for laptops nowadays, you will most likely be using laptop for other things. So think of the other programs you might want your laptop to run.
• Battery Life: What is worse than having your laptop’s battery dying in the middle of a movie? Battery life is important, especially if you like to use your laptop outside. While there are a lot of laptops that provide a great battery life nowadays, many of the cheaper one can barely last 4 or 5 hours away from the power outlet.

Now that you have a general idea about the types of laptops we are looking at, let’s jump to our selection of the best laptops for Netflix:

Best Laptops for Netflix:

The New HP Pavilion X360 15-cr0037wm

View at Amazon

The new HP Pavilion X360 is a premium looking budget laptop that offers a great bang for your money.  It also comes with some unique features that set it apart from many other similarly priced laptops.  The Pavilion X360 comes with an 8th Generation Intel core i8130U processor, 4GB of RAM (With 16GB Intel Optane Memory), and a 1TB hard drive. In terms of performance, the Pavilion X360 offers a stable performance, and it’s a great buy if you’re looking for a laptop for watching movies and Netflix streaming.  The Pavilion X360 can also handle most of your daily productivity tasks with no issues: such as web browsing, or using word processing.

One of the reasons why the new Pavilion X360 is the best budget laptop for Netflix is it’s gorgeous 15,6 Full HD display. It is actually surprising how HP could fit such a beautiful display into a laptop of this price range. The display has IPS technology, and offers great and sharp colors, and wide viewing angles. As its name implies, the Pavilion X360 also comes with a 360 degree hinge, and you can use the laptop in normal mode, tent mode, or in tablet mode.  The display is touch enabled, and HP also includes a free pen with this laptop.

In terms of build quality, And last but not the least, the Pavilion X360 comes with a backlit keyboard. The keys have great travel distance, and the tactile feedback is good too.

Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-5928

View at Amazon

The Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-5928 is always a safe choice when it comes to providing great value for the money. If you are looking for a good budget laptop for Netflix, and that you can also use for work and occasional gaming, then the Aspire 5 is a good option to consider. The Aspire 5 comes with an 8th generation I5 processor, 8GB of RAM, a 512GB solid state drive and a dedicated GeForce MX250, which is a very popular entry level graphics card.

The Aspire 5 is an all purpose laptop that is capable of many things, including web browsing, multitasking, and even casual gaming at low to medium settings, and video editing. The fact that the Aspire 5 comes with a solid state drive also helps make the laptop very responsive.

Battery life is another thing that will surprise you in the Aspire 5, while Acer claims it can last 9,5 hours, you can expect an average of 8 hours in real world use. Which is excellent at this price range!

Dell Inspiron 13 5000 2-in-1

View at Amazon

The Dell Inspiron 13 5000 is a 2 in 1 laptop that is perfect for those looking primarily for a work or school laptop, that they can also use for Netflix streaming occasionally.  The Inspiron 13 comes with an Intel core i7-8550U Quad-Core processor, 8GB of DDR4 RAM, and a 256GB Solid State drive.

This laptop is perfect if you’re looking for a lightweight powerful machine, but don’t necessarily need a gaming laptop. Thanks to the quad core processor, the Inspiron 13 handles multitasking like butter.

The Inspiron 13 also comes with 360° hinges, and like most 2 in 1 laptops, you can use the laptop in normal mode, tent mode, or tablet mode.  Battery life is also great, and the laptop offers an average of 8 hours from a full charge, which is good for a 13 inch laptop.

HP Envy 17T:

The Hp Envy 17-t-bw000 is as its name implies a 17 inch laptop, which makes it a perfect candidate if you’re looking for a a big display laptop to watch Netflix at home. The Envy 17 features an 8^th generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16 GB of RAM and a 512 GB SSD. It’s packed with the entry-level Nvidia GeForce MX150 graphics card, with 4 GB of video RAM.

If you’re looking for the extra ease of use, the touchscreen display of the Envy 17 will do for you. This laptop includes a USB Type-C port and a DVD drive, if you need it for watching your old movie collection. The Envy 17 will also impress you by its design and build quality, although the bezels around the screen could be thinner to reduce the overall footprint.

The display on Envy 17T is simply gorgeous, with vivid colors and wide viewing angles, perfect for watching Netflix with friends at home.

Lenovo Yoga C930 2-in-1

View at Amazon

At a higher price range, we have the Lenovo Yoga C930 2 in 1, a premium convertible laptop to use for multimedia purposes, including watching movies, drawing, and creating content. It features an 8th generation Intel i7-8550U processor, 12GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. Needless to say that the Yoga C930 performs very well in daily productivity tasks, and can also be your main computer.

But there are other reasons why the Yoga C930 is the one of the best laptops for Netflix and watching movies. First, it comes with 13.9″ Full HD touch screen, which provides vivid colors and excellent viewing angles thanks to the IPS panel. In addition to that, the C930 has one of the best sound systems in its class, with a unique rotating sound bar with Dolby Atmos speaker system. Which helps direct the sound when you’re using the laptop in tent or tablet mode.

Battery life is also excellent, with up to 12 hours of use. This laptop also comes with a Stylus, and it’s also one of the few windows laptops with 2 Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Asus Vivobook S15 – S530FA-DB51

View at Amazon

Just like the Inspiron 13, the Asus S15 – S530FA-DB51 offers great value for the money, but in a more stylish way. It comes with the new 8th generation Intel core i5 8265U processor, 8GB of RAM, and a fast 256GB SSD.  This is quite a standard configuration when it comes to mid range laptops, and which gives optimal performance when dealing with day to day tasks.

The Vivobook S15 – S530FA-DB51 isn’t a 2 in 1 laptop, but it does come with its own unique features, such as the ErgoLift hinge, which is basically a hinge that automatically raises the keyboard when the laptop is open, and which helps provide a more comfortable typing experience and optimizes the cooling system. This laptop is also very small in size, despite being a 15,6 notebook: it only measures 14.2 x 9.6 x 0.7 inches, and weighs 3.65lbs, which is lighter than many 13 inch models.

Asus VivoBook Pro 17 N705FD-ES76

View at Amazon

If you’re looking for a desktop replacement laptop, that you can also enjoy streaming Netflix with, then consider the Asus VivoBook Pro 17 N705FD-ES76.

The Vivobook Pro 17 packs the latest 8th generation quad core Intel processor and a dedicated NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card. The quad core Intel Core i7-8565U 1.8GHz (Turbo up to 4.0GHz) has a score of 9154 points on CPU Benchmark’s list, and in terms of performance, it offers a similar performance to the famous Intel 7700HQ. This laptop is also equipped with 16GB of DDR4 RAM, a 256 SSD +1TB standard drive for files, and an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB discrete graphics card; which makes a perfect choice if you’re looking for a casual gaming laptop, or a laptop for video editing.

But the main reason why the ASUS VivoBook Pro N705FD-ES76 is on our list is its beautiful display. This laptop sports an impressive 17,3 inch screen, at Full HD resolution. There are many versions of the VivoBook Pro with lower displays, but the version we recommend here comes with an IPS panel that offers excellent viewing angles and covers 72% NTSC (100% of the sRGB gamut).