Purchasing a new laptop is a big decision. It’s not something we do often so it’s important to make the right decision. A laptop is great for both personal and work related tasks. Whether that be browsing the internet or editing photos, the laptop must meet your individual needs. To find the best laptop for personal trainers in 2022 is no easy task.
We have listed our favourite laptops that we recommend. As a personal trainer, your role is to educate and train your clients in both fitness and wellbeing. While many still see personal trainers work as offline in the gym, its increasing popular to be working online.
Using your laptop to create and design fitness plans, while being able to work from anywhere is essential. Your laptop is often the key tool to track client progress and produce documents on workout and meal plans. Also, the rise in video based personal training provides a great opportunity to reach clients in new areas.
No longer do you just need clients at your local gym. With a laptop you have the ability to provide personal training sessions to anyone through the internet. As a small business owner you may also need to manage your own website and online promotion. This can include everything from basic Photoshop skills to website design.
A laptop to meet all these needs will keep you productive and push your business forward. Skip to our key features section for more details. Take a look our recommend best laptops for personal trainers in 2022.
Best Overall Laptop for Personal Trainers
MacBook Air 2020
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Our choice for the best overall laptop is the new Macbook air 2020 edition. This latest model features some great additions to improve on the previous generation and offer a great blend of benefits to fit most use cases.
The chassis of the laptop is super thin and light, making it perfect to carry around for client meetings and working remotely. The display is also a high quality Retina display that is beautiful to look at. This is a nice middle ground between full HD & 4K, so you get a high resolution screen without the performance loss of battery life. Talking of battery life, there is all day performance thanks to the efficiency in the new Intel 10th gen processors.
The keyboard on this features the redesigned sissor keyboard which is comfortable to type on, even for long periods. The camera and speaker set-up is also great for video calls and online meetings with clients.
The MacBook Air runs Apples Mac OS software. If you have not used a Mac before, this may take some getting used to. Mac OS is great once you get used to it and feels a lot faster compared with Windows.
The MacBook does have the slight disadvantage of being less powerful than some of its Windows rivals. However, due to Apples excellent ability to refine the OS and maximise efficiency, the majority of users are unlikely to notice. Overall this is a great all-round laptop that will be perfect for most users needs. When looking for the best laptop for personal trainers in 2020, this was a clear winner.
Best Windows Laptops for Personal Trainers
HP Envy x360 13
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While the Spectre is the most premium HP laptop, the Envy models are not far behind, offering a great price point. The Envy line from HP is one of their premium series and this laptop offers a great feature selection suited for most peoples needs.
The design features a robust metal that is painted black and certain to hold up to being thrown around a bit in your bag. The premium HP logo features on the back and makes this laptop look professional and expensive. Its not often you can find such a high quality 360 form factor laptop at this price point. This will allow you to work flexible in both tablet and clamshell mode.
The performance of the Envy x360 features a Ryzen 5 processor with 8GB of memory. This is a nice balance of performance that is perfectly capable for the tasks that most uses will use it for. The Ryzen 5 has plenty of performance to last for some years and 8GB ram is standard these days.
I also like the keyboard on these HP laptops. This model features a backlit keyboard that makes it easy to use in low light conditions. The web cam is also a wide-vision camera. If you are planning on doing workout sessions online, the wide camera angle means you can fit more into the frame. Overall, the HP is a great contender as the best laptop for personal trainers.
Huawei MateBook 13
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If you like the look of Apples MacBook Pro but are looking for a Windows laptop, this Huawei MateBook is a good contender. The design does look very similar to the MacBook Pro. Thats a good thing though as its an all-metal premium design. The colour choice is also good as well in both silver and grey options. The price is noticeably less than the Apple equivalent.
Theres only 2 USB-C ports and a headphone jack on the sides, which may be a concern for some. We would argue though this is all a laptop really needs these days for most users. The USB-C ports provide connections for pretty much everything, all be it, with some adapters.
The i5 model is the perfect balance for price & performance. This model also features an Nvidia MX250 GPU. A nice performance boost over the standard Intel graphics which makes it a good choice for those doing some light photo or even video editing.
Theres not much not to like about this PC. If we had to to pick something, it would be that Huawei is not as well known as other PC brands such as HP & Dell. If your not bothered by this though, this machine s a great little device.
Best High Performance Laptop for Personal Trainers
Asus ZenBook
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For those personal trainers who are editing their own photos and creating videos, its important to have a bit more power. The Asus ZenBook makes a great choice for this. Its a nice blend between still being portable but also providing that performance when needed.
The performance comes from an Intel i7 processor that is is very fast and future-proof. Theres also 16GB ram, providing lots of memory for completing multiple tasks at once. These specs will keep everything running snappy, even under heavy workloads.
The screen is also 4k so you can see all the details clearly when editing. A nice addition is that its also touchscreen for easy scrolling of web pages. Despite this high level of performance, the ZenBook is surprisingly light at roughly 1kg. It’s a great weight to carry around with you and throw in your bag with ease.
Theres a unique hinge system on this laptop that is angled slightly. This is to provide better cooling for that fast processor when under heavy load. Overall we really like the ZenBook for performance users. Theres a lot of specs for the price and it looks good too.
Best Budget Laptops for Personal Trainers
HP Chromebook 14
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When it comes to budget laptops, they often have low performance specs to meet that price point. The issue with Windows 10, is that it can feel sluggish on low spec devices. This can cause frustration and slow down your productivity when you are waiting for the laptop to respond. An alternative option to consider is a Chromebook, which uses the Chrome operating system.
Chrome OS is lightweight compared to Windows. This means it often runs better on low spec laptops. A Chromebook can still feel fast, despite the lower specs, due to Chrome OS not needing as much performance.
There are some drawbacks with Chrome OS. Firstly its a new operating system to learn, which may be difficult for some people. Also the Microsoft Office applications don’t work as well. If you rely on these you may be better sticking to a windows laptop.
The HP Chromebook 14 makes a great choice for a budget laptop for a personal trainer. It’s a good choice for the best laptop for personal trainers on a budget. The device is thin & light and comes equipped with all the basic specs you need. The speakers are B&O and theres a Micro-SD card slot to expand the storage.
Lenovo IdeaPad S340
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If you are looking for a budget Windows laptop, there is a lot of choice online. Our pick would be the Lenovo IdeaPad S340. This budget friendly machine uses a Ryzen 3 processor for a budget and still offer a good level of performance for everyday tasks.
Theres also a protective finish to stop the laptop getting marked easily when carrying it around. The screen is also 14″ so slightly larger than some other screens in this list but not too big that the laptop becomes bulky.
We know this laptop wont work for everyone. The low power makes it unsuitable for some users. For those on a budget though its a good choice. If you can afford to upgrade though we would definitely recommend stepping up to something like the HP Envy x360. The increase in cost is worth the long-term performance benefits. But if you are on a budget to find the best laptop for personal trainers, this is a good option.
Laptop features for personal trainers
The work you do as a personal trainer requires a unique set of features from a laptop. It’s often a good balance of all these features that will find the laptop best suited for you. Here are our top recommended laptop features for the best laptop for personal trainers.
Size & portability
Screen size
The size of laptop screens and chassis can vary significantly. A while ago, 15″ screens would be the most popular and often the lowest cost. This was back when laptops were a lot heavier and reminded you more of portable desktops. For the last five years or so the 13.3″ screen is usually the choice for premium ultra portable laptops. This is the size we would recommend.
As a personal trainer you need to be able to carry the laptop around with you, whether to client meetings or remote work locations. A 13.3″ screen provides adequate screen size to carry out all your work productively, while still maintaining portability. The slight drawback is that this size is often slightly more expensive than budget 15″ displays, but well worth it.
Chassis size
As well as the screen size, its useful to consider the size of the chassis and how thick is it. Theres no point having a smaller screen if the rest of the laptop is big and bulky. Many premium laptops now are remarkably thin and also have a high screen to body ratio. This does come with the trade off of some legacy ports but these are often no longer needed.
As a personal trainer you want a laptop thats easy to fit in your bag and carry with you. A thin and light laptop is ideal for this. The trade off on ports should not be a concern as theres going to be little reason you need legacy ports such as RJ-45 and USB-A. The ports to look out for are USB-C which provide a thin, multiple use port for your accessories, as well as being future proof.
Performance
CPU
The CPU is short for the Central Processing Unit. This is essentially the brain of the laptop and processes all of the tasks that you ask the laptop to do. When it comes to processors there are two brands to pick from – Intel & AMD. Traditionally AMD has been known as the lower cost version, while Intel has been the premium choice to go for.
However, a few years ago AMD launched their Ryzen processors which offer great performance thats able to rival Intel. Ryzen is also at a price that is less than Intel. If looking for a slightly lowest cost machine, picking the Ryzen equivalent to the Intel is a good idea.
When it comes with which model of processor to go for, both Intel & AMD name their processors in the same structure. The Intel models are Core i3, i5 & i7. The AMD models are Ryzen 3, 5 & 7. The easiest way to think of these is good(3), better(5), best(7). Our choice would be to go with the Intel i5 or Ryzen 5. They both offer a good trade off between price and performance.
If you plan on doing a lot of processor intensive tasks the i7 would be best but probably over powered. We would avoid the lower end processors including the i3, Ryzen 3, Pentium and Celeron processors. These will feel older quicker, with less performance. There is nothing more annoying than waiting on a slow laptop.
as a personal trainer, the i5, or Ryzen 5 is a great choice for everything from document editing to basic digital marketing. These processors will keep your laptop performing nicely when throwing all your common tasks at it.
Memory
The more memory a laptop has, the more tasks it is able to do at any one time. Picture the memory as a desk. The bigger desk you have, the more stuff you can have on there to work on at one time. It is also known as Ram. Enough memory to work on several tasks at the same time is key.
Fortunately theres not too many options to pick from when it comes to memory. For most laptops you will find either 4GB, 8GB or 16GB. We would avoid 4GB. Its very dated know and often does not perform well with windows 10. 8GB is pretty much the standard for all laptops know. Theres enough memory to carry out all the standard tasks you need at once, without overloading it. Combined with an i5 processor, 8GB memory is a good level of performance.
Where you may want more memory is if you are doing video editing in programs such as Adobe Premiere Pro. Tasks such as editing videos put more strain on the PC and increased memory provides more ability to do more at once.
For personal trainers who are not planning on any intensive video editing, we would recommend sticking with the 8GB model. If you are looking for a high performance video editing machine, go with 16GB.
GPU
The graphics processing unit handles any graphical tasks performed by the laptop. These include displaying video content, gaming and rendering edited photos. Dedicated GPUs are not as popular in laptops as they are in desktops due there being less need for very high levels of performance on laptops.
Laptop processors already come with graphics built in. There is often no need for a separate GPU unless you are carrying out high performance tasks such as editing video content. If you are then the 2 brands to pick from are Nvidia and AMD.
Storage
On a laptop, the storage is how much space you have to store your files. The most common storage size is 256GB. This generally provides enough space for most users to store their documents. With the increased popularity of cloud storage, the amount provided on base model laptops has not increased in a while.
If you plan on storing a lot of files such as workout routines, client details, videos, photos etc you may need a larger storage option. These include both 512GB and 1TB. Larger storage can be expensive though and increase the cost of the laptop. When looking for the best laptop for personal trainers, ensure you have enough storage for several years content.
Web cam and screen quality
Web cam
The web cam on the laptop is the tiny camera that often sits above the screen. For some, it’s not very often that the web cam is actually used. In recent times though video conferencing has exploded in popularity. There are different levels of quality to look out for in a web cam. These include both HD and the less common Full HD. Both of these provide adequote quality for video calling.
As a personal trainer, if you are going to be carrying out online sessions, a good web cam is important. This will allow your clients to see you clearly and provide a much better experience for them. A HD webcam is completely acceptable for most. If your whole business is online, you may consider the full HD option.
Screen quality
There are several different screen options to select from on a new laptop. Including HD (720p), Full HD (1080p) and 4K. the low quality 720p screens should be avoided. these are not very common these days and only found on very low cost devices. Full HD 1080p is still the standard across laptops. This will provide a clear high resolution image that is perfectly suited to all tasks. There is the option as well for 4k screens. These have a higher pixel density and so provide a clearer image. However 4k screens come with two drawbacks.
Firstly they are more expensive. For most users you will not notice the increased benefits for that cost when working on such a small screen. The second drawback is the increased battery use. As there are more pixels, the battery has to provide power to more of them. This causes the battery to drain quicker.
For personal trainers, full HD 1080p is the best option. This will provide a good balance between a clear display and long battery life. The last thing you want is the battery to run out when working from the gym or on a video call to a client. If you do plan on lots of photo editing etc then you may consider the 4k option.
Keyboard & trackpad
An often overlooked area when it comes to purchasing a new laptop is the keyboard. If you think about it, the keyboard & trackpad are the areas which you interact with the most.
For a personal trainer, you need a keyboard that is comfortable when typing for a long period. This could be writing out client meal plans or content for your website. A good keyboard should have plenty of travel and provide a nice even feeling, particularly when typing for long periods.
A nice trackpad can also make or break your use experience. Some trackpads, such as Apples MacBook trackpads are very large and provide a lot of room for you to move around. Some thin & light laptops do have small trackpads now as theres not much room due to the narrow screen bezels. If you are purchasing a Windows PC you should look for Windows precision trackpads. Theres provide support for extra gestures that make it easier to navigate when multi-tasking.
Form Factor
There are different form factors for laptops available these days. Selecting the right form factor will depend on how you use your laptop. A clamshell is the traditional style laptop. This often will not have a touchscreen and will not allow the screen to fold back. The 2-in-1 and 360 form factor will allow the PC to fold all the way around so that it can be used as a tablet.
This is useful for media consumption or presenting to clients. There are also tablet style devices such as the Microsoft Surface. But we often find this difficult to use with not much benefits. A form factor for the best laptop for personal trainers, should be a clamshell or x360.
Battery life
How long the battery life lasts is incredible important if your laptop is going to be mobile often. Most laptops now have a solid level of battery life but it is always worth checking when comparing models. A longer battery life means less time before you need to get back to the plug.
If you are travelling around a lot during the day, you need a laptop battery thats capable of running throughout the day. Some laptop batteries also have fast charging features that will all you to charge 50% of the battery in 30 minutes.
Conclusion
We hope you enjoyed our guide to the best laptop for personal trainers in 2022. Picking the right laptop is a big decision and important to get right. As a personal trainer you need a device that fits your needs. This could be giving coaching lessons online or offline. Our favourite is the MacBook Air as a great all round device. There is also some very good Windows laptops that fit great.
Let us know in the comments which laptop you are using or thinking of purchasing as a personal trainer.
Which do you believe is the best laptop for personal trainers in 2022?
