What are the best Linux distributions for laptops?

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21 Options Considered

Best Linux distributions for laptops	Price	Based On	Default Desktop Environment
89 Manjaro	-	Arch Linux	XFCE, KDE, Gnome, Budgie, Cinnamon, Deepin, i3, LXDE/lxqt, and MATE
83 Arch	-	(independent)	CLI
-- Xubuntu	-	Ubuntu	Xfce
78 Ubuntu	-	Debian Stable(core) Testing/Unstable(universe/multiverse)	GNOME
-- Debian GNU/Linux	Free	None	CLI, GNOME(Xfce on non-Linux Ports)

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21 Options Considered

My Recommendation for Manjaro

My Recommendation for Manjaro

Arch User Repository access

Can still be unstable

Based on Arch and user friendly

The Manjaro unstable repository is slow to sync with the Arch stable repository

Latest kernels

Nothing new

Installation is a breeze

You can't change the default theme in certain applications

Friendly community

Daily manual updates

A rolling-release distribution

Often breaks grub

All major desktops can be directly installed from official repositories

New packages and security updates are held for testing longer

Stable and consistently up to date

Very slow development for 32-bit hardwares

Improved stability due to a longer testing period for new packages

Weekly manual updates

Excellent graphical package manager (Pamac)

Bad way of handling dependencies

Uses low memory

Manjaro provides its own distribution-specific tools such as the Manjaro Hardware Detection (mhwd) utility, and the Manjaro Settings Manager (msm).

Support for multiple kernels

Deepin desktop environment is a worthy attraction

Manjaro

Steam installed by default

Different editions to select from + Manjaro community

My Recommendation for Arch

My Recommendation for Arch

As slim or copious as you want it

Not ready out of the box

Excellent documentation

Instability can be an issue

Helpful community

Requires some background with Linux and the command-line to setup

No restrictive handholding, pure control over everything

Not for the faint of heart

Cutting edge rolling release

Package manager is so naive

Simplicity is absolutely the principal objective behind Arch development

Fragile packages

Fast and simple package management

Too many package upgrades that require manual intervention

A package for almost everything

Manual install process

Excellent package management with the AUR

Rolling release requires bandwidth

Helpful 3rd party installers

Not so great overall

Support for a large variety of hardware

Documentation only makes sense if you know how to adjust it

Stripped down to the bone

Problems with driver/kernel/gpu consistency

Multiple Aur helpers

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

My Recommendation for Xubuntu

Conservative, yet modern

UI is pretty generic without customization

Software structure is very simple

XFCE development is slow

Customizable

Great performance

Comes with lightweight applications

Quick boot time

My Recommendation for Ubuntu

My Recommendation for Ubuntu

Just works out of the box

Canonical (author) is proprietary

Wide range of software out of the box

Relatively high system requirements

Simplicity

Canonical does not respect Ubuntu users' preferences

Lots of support

Random system errors may pop up

Great Long Term Support release schedule (5 years)

Tends to do its own thing

Dedicated software center