As you folks already know, to run Kali Linux on your laptop, you need to either dual boot it, or else you can just install virtualization software like VMware or the VirtualBox. Regardless of which method you use to run Kali Linux, the primary task of the laptop is to be capable enough to run it without facing any issues.
Most of you might be students or professional hackers, the one common thing is that you might not be having enough time to research on the best laptop which suits your requirements. Well so after going through 100’s of laptops, we have narrowed down our list to seven, and these are the Best Laptops for Kali Linux and Penetration Testing. Let’s begin.
Quick Overview Of Best Laptops For Kali Linux & Penetration TestingNo. Model Name Processor RAM Graphics Card Storage
1. Acer Aspire E 15 Intel Core i5-8250U 8GB NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB 256GB SSD
2. ASUS TUF FX504 Intel Core i5-8300H 8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2GB 256GB SSD
3. MSI GV62 8RD-276 Intel Core i7-8750H 16GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050TI 4GB 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
4. ASUS VivoBook Pro Intel Core i7-8565U 16GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
5. Acer Predator Helios 300 Intel Core i7-8750H 16GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 256GB SSD
6. Dell G5 15 5587 Intel Core i7-8750H 16GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
7. Apple MacBook Pro Intel Core i7 16GB AMD Radeon Pro 555X 4GB 256GB SSD
Best Laptops For Kali Linux and Penetration Testing –
Top 7 Picks
1) Acer Aspire E 15 Best Budget Laptop For Kali Linux & Pentesting
If you are on a budget, but still looking for the best laptop, then the Acer Aspire E 15 is the one for you. This laptop is priced at around $600, and it is capable enough to provide you with liquid smooth work experience. This laptop sports a 15.6 inch Full HD widescreen LED-Backlit display which comes with a resolution of 1920*1080 pixels.
Talking about the specs, this laptop comes with 8th generation Intel Core i5-8250U processor and is coupled with 8GB of RAM. To ensure that your laptop stays fast and boots fast, the Acer Aspire E 15 is equipped with 256GB SSD, not just this but this will also help in loading the application faster when compared to the HDD drive.
You can now also play some mid-range games, thanks to the 2GB Nvidia Graphics card. Out of the box, the laptop runs on Windows 10 and one full charge, the battery is expected to last at least for 15 hours with moderate usage.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Aspire E 15
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8250U Processor
RAM 8GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 256GB SSD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce MX150 2GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS LED-lit Widescreen Display
Weight 5.27 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 15 Hours
Price Of Acer Aspire E 15 – $599.99
Buy Now From Amazon2) ASUS TUF FX504 – Gaming Laptop
This laptop is the best fit for you if you are an ethical hacker, and also a hard-core gamer. The ASUS TUF FX504 comes packed with the most powerful specs, and yeah never the less the Asus logo does give you the premium look and feel.
Talking about this laptop, it sports a 15.6 inch full HD display and is powered by the Intel core i5-8300H 8th generation processor which is coupled with 8GB of RAM. Additionally, a dedicated 2GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card provides the additional power to run all those FPP games smoothly without any lag.
The keyboard over this laptop is backlit with red color lights, and this makes the laptop look even more dope. The best part about this laptop has to be the Dual fans with anti-dust technology, which prolongs its lifespan and provides stable performance during the graphics-intensive gaming session.
Hardware Specifications Of ASUS TUF FX504
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i5-8300H Processor
RAM 8GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 256GB SSD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 2GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Display
Weight 5.07 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 4 Hours
Price Of ASUS TUF FX504 – $745.60
Buy Now From AmazonYou May Also Like To Check: Top 8 Best Laptops For Programming Students
3) MSI GV62 8RD-276 – Gaming Laptop
There is a number of chances that most of you might be hearing the name of MSI laptop for the first time, but then it doesn’t mean that it is less popular. MSI stands for Micro-Star international Co, and this is one of the most popular laptops among some hard-core users.
Now talking about this MSI GV62 8RD-276 laptop, this beast sports a 15.6 inch full HD IPS display and is powered by the Intel Core i7-8750H processor and is coupled with 16GB of RAM and 4GB of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050Ti dedicated graphics card. Coming to storage, you get 128GB of SSD and also 1TB of HDD, now that’s ample amount of storage space out there.
As this is a powerful beast, it needs to get cooled down, for which MSI offers two cooling fans, two exhausts, and six copper heat pipes. The MSI GV62 8RD comes with a backlit keyboard too, and the battery life should easily last you around 4 hours.
Hardware Specifications Of MSI GV62 8RD-276
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i7-8750H Processor
RAM 16GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050TI 4GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Display
Weight 9.05 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 4 Hours
Price Of MSI GV62 8RD-276 – $999
Buy Now From Amazon4) ASUS VivoBook Pro 17 Inch Thin and Portable Laptop
If you are one of those frequent travelers who is looking out for a laptop which is thin and sleek, and still comes with a huge display, then the Asus VivoBook Pro is the right one for you. This laptop comes packed with all the latest specs, and the best part is it’s still 0.8” thin and weighs just 4.6 pounds. This laptop look and feel premium, thanks to the Star Gray finish and the Asus Logo.
The 17.3-inch display on this laptop offers full HD wide-view, and the software enhancements of the laptop provide you with more vibrant and more accurate colors. Talking about power, the laptop is powered by the 8th generation Intel i7-8565U processor and is coupled with 16GB of RAM and 4GB of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Graphics card.
Coming to the storage, the laptop comes with 256GB of SSD and 1TB of HDD, which is more than enough to store all your files. The keyboard is backlit, and come with a number pad too. Asus claims that the laptop can quickly charge up from 0 to 60% in just 49 minutes, on one full charge, you can expect an average of 5 hours of battery life which is decent enough when compared to the specs which are being offered.
Hardware Specifications Of ASUS VivoBook Pro
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i7-8565U Processor
RAM 16GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 256GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 4GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 17.3 Inch Full HD Wide view Display
Weight 4.85 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 5 Hours
Price Of ASUS VivoBook Pro – $1,049
Buy Now From AmazonYou May Also Like To Check Our: Top 8 Best Laptops For Data Science
5) Acer Predator Helios 300 Gaming Laptop
First things first, this is not for you if you are a frequent traveler. This Acer Predator Helios 300 is a massive beast, and it cannot be carried everywhere easily. Well so now talking about this laptop, it sports a 15.6 inch IPS display which comes with 1080P full HD resolution.
Talking about power, this beast from Acer is powered by the 8th generation Intel i7-8750H processor which can be easily overclocked up to 4.1 GHz. For all your gaming needs, the laptop comes with 16GB of RAM which is coupled with 6GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 Graphics card. For storage, you’ve got a 256GB of SSD which may be not enough for many, but don’t worry it has an extra empty accessible slot to add 2.5-inch of hard drive or SSD.
Apart from this, you get Gigabit WiFi, Backlit keyboard, USB Type C port, Cooling fan, and the metal chassis too. The downside of this laptop has got to be the battery life which is around 7 hours, but then that shouldn’t be an issue because this laptop isn’t made for travel purpose. Hence you can charge this often.
Hardware Specifications Of Acer Predator Helios 300
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i7-8750H Processor
RAM 16GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 256GB SSD
Graphics NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Widescreen LED-backlit Display
Weight 5.51 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 7 Hours
Price Of Acer Predator Helios 300 – $999
Buy Now From Amazon6) Dell G5 15 5587 Gaming Laptop
The Dell G5 15 55877 is a laptop which has been built by having the gamers on the mind, though this is a gaming laptop, it still looks professional. Well so talking about this stunning laptop, it sports a 15.6 inch Full HD Anti-Glare backlit display with some great viewing angles.
The robust performance of this laptop is due to the 8th generation core i7-8750H processor and 9MB Cache and turbo boost up to 3.9GHz. It is coupled with 16GB of DDR4 RAM, and this can be further expanded up to 32GB through its additional memory slot. For all the gamers out there, this laptop comes with 4GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050 graphics card too.
Talking about storage, this laptop is equipped with whopping 256GB SSD along with 1TB of HDD which makes this laptop a real beast. Apart from this, you also get front-firing speakers, a full size backlit keyboard, and dual fans to keep your laptop cool.
Hardware Specifications Of Dell G5 15 5587
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i7-8750H Processor
RAM 16GB DDR4 RAM
Hard Disk 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 1050Ti 4GB
Operating System Windows 10
Display 15.6 Inch Full HD IPS Anti-glare Display
Weight 6.28 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 6 Hours
Price Of Dell G5 15 5587 – $958
Buy Now From Amazon7) Apple MacBook Pro 15 – Latest Model
If you do not have any budget on the mind, then hands down go with the latest Apple MacBook Pro 15 Retina without having a second thought. This laptop comes with a stunning 15.4-inch LED-backlit IPS retina display which comes with a resolution of 2880*1800 pixels.
Talking about the power, this beauty is powered by the latest 8th generation Intel i7 processor and Turbo boost up to 4.1 GHz. To give you much more power, the MacBook Pro comes with 16GB of RAM and 4GB of AMD Radeon Pro 555X graphic card. For all your storage needs, you are provided with 256GB SSD which is blazing fast.
This MacBook Pro will also boost your productivity to a whole new level. The best thing is that you also get a touch bar in this variant which is cool and useful at the same time.
Hardware Specifications Of Apple MacBook Pro
Processor (8th Gen) Intel Core i7 Processor
RAM 16GB RAM
Hard Disk 256GB SSD
Graphics AMD Radeon Pro 555X 4GB
Operating System MacOS Sierra
Display 15.4 Inch LED-backlit IPS Retina Display
Weight 4.02 Pounds
Battery Life Upto 10 Hours
Price Of Apple MacBook Pro – $2,149.99
Buy Now From AmazonFinal Verdict
Winding it up, if you would ask me personally which laptop would I prefer, hands down it are the MacBook Pro Retina 15. The best part about Mac is that it doesn’t hang like Windows, and multi-tasking on a Mac is a bliss.
But then again, prefer a Mac only if in case you do not plan to play any games, if you want to play some games too, then go for any laptop which comes with i7 processor.
