5 Best Laptops with Fingerprint Readers 2023 ($300 And Up)

January 22, 2023January 25, 2023 Miguel Salas 0 Comments

The best laptop for fingerprint readers will seamlessly recognize your fingerprints with just one touch.

That means, no need to move your finger up and down and no need to EVER put in your password in case it fails to recognize your fingerprints.

Why opt for fingerprint passwords TODAY?

Your personal data is never safe today.If someone wants to get your password, they will get your password. Even if you are not using your laptop in public, someone can just place a mini camera somewhere in your room as shown below:

Why I always use a fingerprint reader now?

I got my laptop stolen with my personal diary in it. It could’ve been worse though, I could’ve gotten my credit cards and passwords for every website taken away too. Luckily, I did not saved any of those in my laptop.

What’s really cool about fingerprint readers is that today you can install apps so you never have to type your password for ANYTHING!

We all know you can log into windows with your fingerprint reader.
As well as the option to use your fingerprint to log back in after a few minutes of inactivity
But did you know you can also use your fingerprint to log into your favorite websites & forums?

Yup, some fingerprint readers (such as the one found on MacBooks) work exactly like the

External FingerPrint Scanners

If you’re replacing your current laptop because it doesn’t have a fingerprint reader, you don’t have to do that. There’s external fingerprint readers which can be attached to the USB port. It works JUST like a built-in fingerprint reader.

Windows Hello

Whether you buy an external fingerprint reader or get one of the laptops with built-in fingerprint scanners I’m about to list, you have to install Windows Hello as explained in this link.

The only difference between the two would be that the external USB fingerprint scanner will not sit on top of the keyboard but rather on the sides (see Picture).

Where are the best laptops with fingerprint readers?

Virtually everywhere now. As of 2023, fingeprint readers are no longer restricted to expensive premium laptops, you can find them on budget laptops if you look long enough.

For example, it is now very easy to find fingerprint scanners on laptops under 400 dollars. They’re almost UNIVERSAL on laptops above 600 dollars and availably virtually on every business laptop ~ 1000 dollars.

Even most ultrabooks (which are super thin and cannot afford to fit in more extra features) have fingerprint scanners now.

Now, that doesn’t mean you should go out and grab any laptop with a fingerprint scanner. There’s a new problem with this trend: about 50% of laptops with fingerprint scanners will not work as you’d expect them to.

If you want to make sure your fingerprint scanner has a great sensor and works with ZERO issues, you have to know where to look (one quick tip would be to opt for Lenovo Brands if buying laptops under 500).

Top 5 Best Laptops with Fingerprint Reader

Table of Contents

Anyways, I’ve done all that search for and what you’ll find here are laptops with 100% working fingerprint scanners or readers whatever you want to call them. None of them will struggle with ANY of the functions we just went over.

Now there’s a new requirement when looking for these laptops besides the well-designed fingerprint scanner: decent CPU power & enough RAM to run Windows 11 with ZERO issues and with ZERO lag so you can browse with 50 tabs open, use MS Office , watch youtube and a lot of other things ALL SIMULTANEOUSLY without having your machine slow down to a crawl.

Here’s how this list is going to work, we’ll start with the most budget friendly machine and move on to machines with newer processors and more hardware for heavier and heavier tasks (gaming , video editing, etc).

1. Acer Aspire 5 A515

Cheap Laptop With FingerPrint Reader

Intel Core i3-1005G1 (Up to 3.4GHz)

4GB RAM DDR4

Intel UHD Graphics

128GB NVMe SSD

15.6” FHD IPS

4lbs

8 hours

WiFi 6 AX201

Backlit + Fingerprint Scanner

Windows 10 S (Free Upgrade to Windows 10 Home)

Fingerprint scanner is located on the top left corner of the trackpad (See Image above)

Fingerprint readers are very very uncommon on laptops under 350 dollars. The only way I was able to find them was to look for models with 10th generation CPUs (we are in the 12th now) and out of those only one or two had well designed fingerprint scanners.

This is going to be the cheapest laptop with a decent fingerprint scanner on this list so if you have a higher budget feel free to scroll down and check the next one.

Hardware

Now let’s talk about hardware because I’m sure that’s your main concern now since I mentioned it’s got a slightly older CPU. Well the 10th generation Core i3 CPU is sort of like the boundary between what’s slow and what’s super fast. Thus if you run Windows 11 Pro on it as long as you up the RAM to 8GB you should be able to multitask with zero lag.

Let’s add the fact that it has a solid state drive, which unlike HDDs – somewhat common under 350 bucks, can read and write data up to x17 faster which means booting up the system and opening up applications will be done in a flash.

Lastly, it’s not very common to get a 1080p resolution display under 350 bucks (a must for those who work with lots of windows next to each other or play games ) , this one has it and it’s also selling for about 300 bucks (as of Jan 2023).

Windows 10 S & 4GB RAM

The only real drawback of this machine is the 4GB RAM (soldered to the motherboard) which is fine if you want to run Windows 10 S (which is a cool OSX for everyday tasks but not for somewhat niche applications like games & editing work).

If you want to run Windows 10 Pro on this machine (which is free to upgrade by the way), you’re going to have to upgrade the RAM to 8GB. You can either take it to the computer store or do it youself as shown in my How to upgrade RAM tutorial. The whole process should take 15 min (it’s more about having to remove every screw at the bottom panel than anything else) and I recommend you use the RAM shown below

Acer Aspire 5 A515
PROS	CONS
Extremely cheap Backlit keyboard Great speakers FHD display Easy to upgrade RAM & Storage Thin & Lightweight	Only 4GB RAM Windows 10 S Fingerprint reader may interefere if using the trackpad Low storage

2. Lenovo Ideapad i3

Best Lenovo Laptop With Fingerprint Reader

Intel Core i3 1215U 6 cores

8GB DDR4

‎Intel UHD Graphics

512GB SSD

15” full HD IPS

3.8lbs

8 hours

WiFi 6

Backlit + Fingerprint Scanner

Windows 11 Home

FingerPrint Scanner is located right on the trackpad as shown in the figure

I would rather have everyone here buy this laptop instead if they can afford the extra 100 dollars. It packs a lot of EXTRA hardware over the Acer Aspire 5 and it’s got hardware that you won’t find on laptops around this price range (450 dollars).

Hardware

For starts, unlike the Acer Aspire 5, it has a 8GB RAM and actually a faster RAM : DDR5. That slightly increases speed but it is unlikely you’ll need the extra boost from RAM since you also get the latest of the latest CPU in this laptop : 12th generation Alder Lake CPUs have been released (on laptops) just a month ago.

On top of that, the storage is already upgraded to x2 the amount you find on laptops in the 400-500 price range! I think this is too fast for most people unless theyre video editing or gaming but if its cheap enough why not buy it in the first place.

Lastly, the fingerprint reader is not located on the trackpad which may interefere with your work if you use the trackpad (I use a mouse), it’s located in the top right corner of the keyboard.

CPU: 12th generation Core i3 CPU

Another plus point of the 12th generation CPUs is the fact they are more suitable for extreme multitasking without using too much battery (The E cores, efficiency cores, are turned on for light tasks and take over the P-cores). On top of that, they have better integrated graphics which means more access to higher settings when gaming and when dealing with 3D work.

Now laptops with the 12th generation Core i3 CPU start around 500 dollars and above and although you may find laptops with this CPU under 500 they will have no fingerprint scanners and very unlikely to have the FHD. There’s one Lenovo Laptop with a fingerprint reader worth looking at which has both this CPU and a fingerprint reader:

The problem however is that it lacks the FHD display, the call is on you.

Lenovo Ideapad 3i
PROS	CONS
Latest 12th gen Core i3 Backlit keyboard 8GB RAM out of the Box High Storage Windows 11 Home natively installed	Lightly expensive Average battery

3. ASUS OLED VivoBook

Best ASUS Laptop With FingerPrint Reader

Core i7 12700H 14 cores 4.7 GHz

12 GB RAM DDR5

Intel Xe Graphics

512GB PCIe NVMe SSD

14” 2880 x 1800 120Hz

6lbs

6 hours

WiFi 6

Backlit + Fingerprint Scanner

Windows 11 Home

Without doubt the laptop with the best bang for your buck I have seen in 10 years. It packs a lot of amazing hardware you only find on laptops over 1000 dollars. That may be hard to believe but we’ll get to that.

First let me just say that the, fingerprint reader location may not be obvious but it is right there next to the DEL key (top right corner):

Hardware

12th generation Core i7 CPU:

Back to the hardware, not only that this laptop has a Core i7 of the 12th generation but it’s actually “H” core i7, if you read my posts on the side bar the “H” High performance CPUs are way way faster than any other type and they’re mostly designed for high-end gaming and hardcore video editing rendering. If you browse around the web, you’ll only find them on laptops above 900 dollars.

QHD 120Hz Display:

That’s not all. This laptop ALSO has a display you only found on premium laptops like the 1500 dollar MacBook Pro 16”. It’s not FHD , its resolution is twice than that , a bit highier than QHD in fact. Add to that the fact that you also get a 120Hz display (most laptops only have 60Hz, even the MacBook Pros only have 60Hz) and you’ve got one of the best displays for gaming that even 1000 dollars gaming laptops struggle to fit in.

High Storage & RAM:

And like very other high-end laptop it’s got RAM & Storage almost up to maximum levels (at least as much as most people would ever need). The problem though is that you can’t upgrade either, this laptop is too compact and difficult to open. I wouldn’t even dare to do so because you’d be risking a lot of good hardware if you don’t know how to do it (compact laptops are difficult to upgrade and should only be done by a professional).

Battery:

The only drawback of this laptop (which is actually unavodaible with the hardware) is the battery. A 120Hz QHD Display means a lot more pixels which means a lot more lights to turn on which means more energy consumed per minute. Also the latest high performance Core i7 means you’re going to need more power. As a result, even if you take all necessary precautions this laptop’s battery will only last you 6 hours tops. So it is more of a plugged-in experience perhaps for a gaming looking forward to play games at high settings or any other user with heavy duty tasks (video editors , 3d designers) who stay mostly close to an outlet.

ASUS OLED VivoBook
PROS	CONS
Extremely fast high performance Core i7 Super high resolution display (+QHD) 120Hz refresh rates Ideal for gaming Very affordable Loud speakers High quality track & Keyboard	Very heavy Low battery Difficult to upgrade Must be a cooler under heavy workloads

4. Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon

Best Lightweight Laptop with Fingerprint Reader

Intel Core i7-1260P 4.7GHz 8 Cores

16GB RAM DDR4

Intel Xe Graphics

512GB PCIe NVMe SSD

15” 1980×1200 (FHD+) IPS 400 nits

2.48 lbs

~10 hours

WiFi 6

Backlit + Fingerprint Scanner

Windows 11 Home

This laptop is not going to be faster than the ASUS VivoBook (although it’s going to get pretty close) but it’ll the 3 times more portable and in fact you won’t find another machine with a fingerprint reader & the same portability & the same power (this makes it very expensive unfortuantely).

Hardware

The 12th generation Core i7 CPU is the fastest CPU used for long battery and everyday tasks. It’s obviously slower than the high performance Core i7 we found on the ASUS VivoBook but unless you’re a gamer playing at high settings or a video editor, you will not notice any difference.

The advatnage of the CPU, besides the longer battery, is that it’s smaller, requires less ventilation and thus it can fit into smaller devices and this is why reason why this laptop is only 2.48lbs and very very thin about 15.34mm.

This is more of a laptop for someone like a writer, a blogger or a student. Basically someone who needs something very very portable and is always doing work outside home.

Lenovo ThinkPad X1 Carbon
PROS	CONS
12th gen Core i7 Backlit keyboard Extremely thin & Lightweight High Storage 16GB RAM out of the box Long Battery Extremely well designed low-travel keyboard Accurate and responsive trackpad Extra touchpad in the middle of the keyboard	Very expensive Only FHD Not upgradeable by the user

5. MacBook Air M2 Chip

Best Mac Laptop with Fingerprint Reader

Apple M2 Chip 8 core model

8GB RAM (Up to 16GB) Unified Memory

Apple 10 core GPU

256 SSD (Up to 2TB SSD )

13.3” Liquid Retina Display + True Color (2560 x 1664 resolution)

2.7lb

14 hours

WiFi 6 ( 802.11ax )

Touch ID + Backlit keyboard (with sensor)

Mac OSX Ventura

Touch ID is another fancy name for fingerprint scanner

My favorite pick of the list. I do not own this exact model but I do own the 16” MacBook Pro which has the exact same Touch ID feature.

FingerPrint Reader

All Macbook Airs & MacBook Pros released since 2019 have the Touch ID feature so you don’t have to buy this very same M2 MacBook Air or my 2019 MacBook Pro. If you want a MacBook with a touch ID, then just buy whatever you can afford just make sure it has it.

As for the quality of the Fingerprint reader, it works just as good as it does on a phone, way better than most Windows laptops. In fact,

Unlike most fingerprint readers found windows laptops, you don’t have to set up anything for the fingerprint scanner to activate itself for every applications or website that requires a password, it will work with all of that right out of the box.

As you can see my screenshot above, after accessing the app store it automatically forces you to use the touch ID as if it were a phone.

M2 MacBook Air
PROS	CONS
Latest M2 Chip (faster than Core i7 1260P) Backlit and highest quality keyboard design Clear & Lound speakers High Storage (Up to 2TB) Longest battery life (~14 hours) Large & Responsive trackpad Super high resolution & high quality display Best touch ID or fingerprint functionality Extremely portable	Very expensive Not upgradeable

Comments?

If you feel like we’ve missed something. you’d like advice on a laptop you’ve found with a fingerprint reader , basically if you have any questions please leave a comment below.

Author Profile

Miguel Salas

I am physicist and electrical engineer. My knowledge in computer software and hardware stems for my years spent doing research in optics and photonics devices and running simulations through various programming languages. My goal was to work for the quantum computing research team at IBM but Im now working with Astrophysical Simulations through Python. Most of the science related posts are written by me, the rest have different authors but I edited the final versions to fit the site's format.