10 Best Laptop for Kali Linux & Pentesting You Should Buy in 2020

Kali Linux is a powerful Linux distribution based from Debian OS. It has been used for advanced security penetration testing and research, computer forensics and other highly secured areas over the net. Well, with this in hand, it’s an immensely powerful operating system and requires some of the most potent and outstanding laptops.

You do not need a supercomputer to run the Kali Linux. Still, you need exceptional specifications or an outstanding laptop that can withstand long duration pentesting, hacking sessions, etc.. Let’s first get to the system requirements for the laptops since it is going to help you understand more.

1. Acer Aspire 5 – (10th Gen) Good Laptop for Kali Linux 

If you are a student or a beginner and you don’t have to spend plenty of money on it, then this Acer Aspire 5 is a fantastic option for you in a budget. This Acer laptop finish in silver with an aluminium top cover which gives a premium look and also feels in a budget. If we talk about the portability of this notebook, then it is just 0.7 thin which weighs 3.97 pounds only.

The size of the screen is 15.6-inch of full HD widescreen LED-backlit IPS narrow-bezel screen which delivers crisp and true-to-life colours. And the best thing about this laptop is that it’s the Acer BlueLight Shield feature which helps you to keep your eyes free from strain as you are working on getting along.

This Acer notebook is powered by the latest 10th Gen Intel Core i5-10210U chip with turbo boost up to 4.2GHz and coupled with 8GB of RAM to take care of multitasking. For the storage, it is equipped with 512GB of SSD drive, and its read/write rate is quicker than the HDD drive.

Thank you for providing 2GB of NVIDIA GeForce MX250 dedicated graphics card to handle some graphics-intensive tasks. The Keyboard of the laptop is also a full-size backlit keyboard which helps to keep your work even in a dim situation.

Aside from that, the battery life of this laptop is awe-inspiring as it provides up to 9.5-hours of battery backup on a full charge that makes it a perfect notebook in this list.

PROS:

1. 15.6 inch Full HD IPS Widescreen LED-lit Display
2. 10th Generation Intel Core i5-10210U Processor
3. NVIDIA GeForce MX250 2GB Graphics
4. Up to 9.5 Hours Battery Life
5. 8GB RAM
6. 512GB SSD

CONS:

1. Performance of the AC adapter (discharging of the battery under full load), mediocre interface, Wi-Fi performance, surfaces susceptible to fingerprints
2. Dismal display

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2. LG Gram 17  For Kali Linux & Pentesting

Every programmer knows the immense benefits of having a large display brings. You may view more code and pack more things on the screen. And the best benefit is how it enhances overall productivity. Many 17-inch laptops are bulky and heavy.

The LG Gram 17 has a huge display, and it is lightweight. This item weighs close to 3 pounds, and it’s less than an inch thick. The 17-inch high-resolution screen makes it great for programming. That means lots of screen estate. It’s also bright, has excellent viewing angles and high colour accuracy. Honestly, it’s one of the best displays you will see.

Enough firepower to go through quite a several demanding tasks. The storage is a 512GB SSD. Quicker than an HDD drive but not the fastest of the SSDs. You will still get fast boot times, file transfers and immediate loading of applications. But if you want a more speedy system. Swapping it out for an NVMe SSD will do just fine.

The LG Gram 17 is an impressive display of what notebook manufacturers can reach if they focused solely on shaving pounds and inches. It is incredibly light and thin for something packing a 17-inch screen and is a stunning canvas for movies and multitasking.

But it lacks the power you would need for taxing tasks like video editing or intense gaming — things people want a massive screen for. If you’re looking for a vast laptop to carry around when you travel, but don’t need it to deal with anything too demanding, the Gram 17 is the right choice. But most people would be better served by a more powerful 15-inch notebook.

PROS:

1. Great Performance
2. Fantastic Battery Life
3. Beautiful Big Screen
4. Light For A 17-inch Laptop

CONS:

1. Not The Fastest SSD Drive

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3. Acer Predator Helios 300 Best Gaming Laptop Linux

This Acer Predator Helios 300 is a pure gaming laptop from Acer’s one of the most popular Predator series which is specially built for gaming. So if you are looking for work and play with a notebook, then this one is a fantastic option for you. The chassis of this laptop is built with metal in black and spotting with blue accents, which looks attractive.

If you’re interested in a powerful gaming laptop which you can use for Kali Linux and also for gambling then this Acer Predator Helios 300 laptop is an excellent option for you. Acer has established this Predator series laptops, particularly for gaming which comes with all the most current and robust sets of hardware configuration.

The best thing about this laptop this is one of the best selling gaming laptops since it was launched. If we speak about the design, then chassis of this laptop is built with metal and finished in a black with a blue accent that provides an attractive look.

Another striking characteristic of the Predator is its remarkable screen resolution. The 15.6-inch screen permits you to enjoy the full HD widescreen resolution. Moreover, the screen display has a refresh rate of 144 Hertz and a robust backlight. The laptop comes with a considerable 256GB SSD, although we suggest that you update it to a larger size if you would like to install more programs on it. This system’s battery life lasts 7 hours on a full charge.

PROS:

1. Great cooling system
2. High graphics card
3. Decent RAM size
4. Robust CPU

CONS:

1. Low storage space

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4. Asus Vivobook Pro  Kali Linux & Pentesting Laptop

The Asus VivoBook Guru is yet another terrific addition by the organization to its Vivobook series and seems perfect for Kali Linux. The incredible 8th generation Intel Core i7 chip will provide better speed and precision all the way along. With an amazing 17.3″ inch complete wide-view HD panel and a super sleek stylish design is more than you could ask for in a laptop.

It features a 16GB DDR4 RAM that is expandable up to 32 GB to provide even higher performance overall and more speed. With a storage capacity of 256GB SSD along with 1TB HDD is enough for Kali Linux to operate perfectly well.

For a much comfortable experience, it has been equipped with a backlit Ergonomic keyboard with number Pad. Furthermore, for a much deeper and more vibrant colour on the screen, it’s an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card with an incredible storage space of 4GB.

Though it does not particularly correlate to Pen Testing, the Keyboard of Vivo Book Pro is quite impressive. In comparison to earlier Vivo Book models, the one that comes with the guru’ is more straightforward, more convenient, and feels just somewhat more natural to use.

Just like with any’Guru’ notebook, VivoBook is expensive, which is, fortunately, its only drawback. It packs a massive punch for the price, and it is undoubtedly worth the buck as a result of superior performance and flexibility.

PROS:

1. Super slim and stylish design
2. Affordable and mid-range product
3. Comfortable Keyboard and stunning graphics
4. Excellent battery life
5. The perfect combo of SSD and HDD

CONS:

1. Noisy fan
2. No fingerprint reader included

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5. HP Spectre x360 4K Ultra HD Pentesting  Touch Screen Laptop 

The HP Spectre x360 is a great convertible that is highly compatible with the Linux environment. If you value, build quality over everything else. Then this is the right laptop for you. The convertible comes with an all-metallic design with gold accents.

It’s a unibody design. This offers the laptop a skilled and premium look. Performance is also high—the ideal hardware combination for a fast and effective system.

The hardware meets the requirements for hardcore coding. One thing you should know is that NVIDIA cards aren’t so friendly with Linux. The MX150 is an entry-level card that can do some light gaming. But, AAA title games will fight. If you do some light gaming, then be prepared to encounter some difficulties with the MX150.

Anything else, you may select to disable the NVIDIA MX150 when installing Kali Linux. The screen is gorgeous. It’s sharp and colours accurate making it great for graphics related work. It’s genuinely a magnificent screen with one flaw. It is not bright. Bright enough to use inside. But, when outdoors, you’re barely able to view the display. Plus, it’s a glossy display, not a matte one.

The HP Spectre x360 is also not favourable to updates. You’re stuck with whatever you buy. On the plus side, this version already has enough RAM, storage space and a powerful processor. And so it is not such a big deal.

In general, the HP Spectre X360 is among the best build qualities out there. It meets the Kali Linux and Pentesting system demands. Quickly the best convertible notebook for Kali Linux and Pentesting. A stable convertible Kali Linux and Pentesting laptop.

PROS:

1. Solid Build Quality
2. Great Performance
3. Lightweight
4. Great Battery Life

CONS:

1. Soldered RAM
2. Not So Bright Display
3. Fingerprint Magnet

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6. ASUS VivoBook M580VD-EB76 Thin and Light Gaming Laptop

This is the first Asus notebook on this laptop which I have considered to imply for Kali Linux users because it’s solid features at an affordable price point. The Asus Vivobook M580VD-EB76 has similar specs and pricing as the Acer above Predator Helios 300 with few drawbacks.

This Vivobook includes a complete aluminium body, and it is incredibly sturdy and robust. It has 15.6 inches full HD TN panel, which is one of the primary drawbacks of this laptop. The viewing angles and colour accuracy is not so high on this machine. But If you’re okay with a mediocre display with stunning design laptop, then you are all set.

This notebook comes with 256GB SATA 3 M.two SSD storage and Read speed of this drive is 436MB whereas the Write speed is 421MB. In Helios 300, you will want to buy an extra hard disk to use that in an empty slot, but in this laptop, Asus is offering it at no cost. The drive is 5400 RPM that’s kind of slow but still its better than nothing.

Again, the Intel Core i7-7700HQ does an excellent job on this notebook by maintaining the fan noise at minimal and take care of the heating level of the computer. The 16GB DDR4 RAM is more than sufficient to run Kali, Chrome, Photoshop and a lot more apps at a single moment.

Asus has offered the same GPU as the Inspiron i5577, i.e. GTX 1050 4GB graphics card and it performs extremely fast. You can easily play most of the matches in moderate-high settings without any issues. James has mentioned that you can play Overwatch at 60 FPS at moderate settings and Dirt 3 at 110 FPS on ultra settings.

PROS:

1. Stunning design.
2. Amazing performance.
3. Fairly portable.

CONS:

1. Average display.

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7. Apple MacBook Pro 15-Inch Laptop for Pro Realtors

This variant of MacBook Pro is probably among the best ones we’ll ever get out of Apple. Armed with a 15-inch display, this system provides a Retina screen, which makes it a superb selection for running presentations before an impatient customer. Guess what? This retina screen provides a whopping 5 million pixels — meaning every picture is broken down to the tiniest details without compromise.

And to make sure you’re provided with high speed, this version includes Skylake processors (6th generation). Although it’s a core i5, this chip leaves nothing to chance as far as mixing speed and energy efficiency is concerned. That, of course, gives this machine a remarkable battery life of 8 hours on average.

That’s to say; you can spend pretty much the entire day outdoors working without needing a recharge provided that you start the day with a complete battery. And the Pro isn’t just great at the performance! Its aesthetic design is certainly something worth writing home about. Its silvery finish and outstanding Apple logo make it, definitely, highly attractive and stylish.

We also like its touch Trackpad. For sure, it’s customizable click sensitivity complete with multi-touch gestures and a Taptic engine, both of which take user experience to a whole new level.

PROS:

1. Superior ability to display graphics down to the tiniest details
2. Lightweight and small in size
3. The powerful battery that can run you for 8 hours on average
4. 2.9GHz dual-core Intel core with a turbo-boost potential of 3.3GHz
5. Has a classy design which can improve your image

CONS:

1. Quite pricey
2. No possibility for a hardware upgrade

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8. Acer Aspire E 15 Laptop Full HD, 8th Gen Intel Core

It is another machine that’s been out long enough for open-source programmers to catch up with. However, the 256GB SSD doesn’t offer you much space to dual boot.

On the other hand, it weighs just 5.27 lbs. This makes it an ideal notebook for hacking on the go. Since it includes a set of USB 3.0 ports, it’s also acceptable for pen-testing. Some users have even booted a small distro off the SD card slot.

The GeForce MX150 graphics adapter comes with 2GB of dedicated GGDR5 VRAM. Users interested in running VMware pictures off an external HDD should find plenty of uses for this excess power. Those searching for extra storage should also like the M-DISC enabled optical drive.

Security-minded users may be concerned about the presence of an HD webcam in the bezel. It’s easy enough to add this to Kali’s hardware blacklist, however.

PROS:

1. Full HD display
2. Includes 8th gen Intel Core i5
3. Long 15-hour battery life

CONS:

1. Comes with very little onboard storage

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9. Dell XPS 13 4K UHD Touchscreen Laptop PC

The Dell XPS 13 — to be exact, the Dell XPS lineup offers excellent compatibility for the Linux environment. The compatibility is so great that Dell occasionally sells them pre-installed with Linux. Kali Linux that’s part of the Linux distribution will no doubt be compatible with the Dell XPS 13 or 15. The laptop is powered by an 8th Gen Intel Core i7, 16GB RAM and has a 512GB PCIe SSD. Hardware like this produces a fast and efficient machine. The processor is already powerful.

Almost on par with the previous generation higher-performance i7 processor which was found in gaming laptops. The 16GB RAM also ensures that there is enough for running multiple programs. Along with the SSD has high write and read speeds. This leads to rapid boot-up rates, loading of software and file transfer–the perfect recipe for a powerful machine.

The display is beautiful—a 13.3-inch 4K touchscreen display. If you prefer larger screens and more performance, then the Dell XPS 15 will be the ideal option. High-resolution displays have high colour gamut and brightness. Because of its high-resolution screen, the battery life took a hit. But, not so much. The battery life is still above average. It may last 8-9 hours under constant use. If it had been a complete HD display, you’d have seen a longer battery life.

Having a great keyboard is a fantastic thing to have, primarily when you code a lot. And the Keyboard on Dell XPS 13 is adequate. There are a few things about the Dell XPS 13 that might set you off. The first is the port selection. It seems Dell took the approach of making all of the USB ports Type-C. Whiles this is a fantastic thing as you get Thunderbolt 3. It’s also not great. Having only USB-C ports compels you to get a dongle, which you’ve got to carry at all times.

Its other defect is the webcam. The webcam is exceptional. But, the place not so beautiful. The webcam positioning causes it to look up your nose when creating a video call or shooting pictures. You must adjust the webcam to find the ideal angle. The Dell XPS 13 greatest strength is its compatibility with the Linux environment and fantastic performance. Overall, the Dell XPS laptops are one of the best Kali Linux and Pentesting laptops.

PROS:

1. Great For Linux Environment
2. Solid Performance
3. Lightweight
4. Decent Keyboard

CONS:

1. Awkward Webcam Position
2. Only USB-C Ports

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10. Lenovo Ideapad L340 Gaming Laptop For Kali Linux