Best Budget Laptops 2024: highly recommended for your budget

The best budget laptops can do basic work and play. They don’t cost an arm and a leg, but they don’t feel cheap either. They have good performance, screens that are easy to read, and good battery life. Not every one of them is a grey clamshell laptop. Many of the best laptops under $500 are Chromebooks or tablets with detachable keyboards. If you’re willing to spend a little more, you can get an affordable premium Windows 11 laptop from Acer or Asus.

We tested and reviewed dozens and dozens of laptops from top brands to find the best options for people on a budget. Based on our own testing and reviews, this is our most recent list of the best budget laptops on the market right now. You can buy all of these things for $1,000 or less, and most of them cost less than $500.

Importance of Budget Laptops

Accessibility: Cheap laptops make computers available to people who may not have a lot of money. They make it possible for students, professionals, and people from different backgrounds to connect to the internet, do important tasks, learn online, and work from home.

Educational Impact: Low-cost laptops can make a big difference in the classroom by giving students the tools they need for digital learning. They give students access to educational resources, let them work together on projects, and help them learn digital skills, which improves their learning experience as a whole.

Work from home: The rise of working from home has made cheap laptops more useful than ever. Many professionals need an affordable computer so they can do their jobs well from home.

Basic Computer Needs: For people with basic computer needs, budget laptops have enough processing power for web browsing, email, word processing, and watching movies and TV shows. These laptops are for people who don’t need high-end performance for tasks that use a lot of resources.

Backup or Second Device: Even if you have a high-end laptop or desktop computer, it can be very helpful to have a cheap laptop as a backup or second device. It gives them a reliable backup in case their main computer breaks down or for tasks that don’t need as much power as their main computer.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Budget Laptop

Performance: Look for a laptop with a good processor (like an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5) and enough RAM (8GB or more) to handle daily tasks like web browsing, word processing, and light multitasking.

Storage: Choose a laptop with a Solid State Drive (SSD) instead of a Hard Disk Drive (HDD) for storage. SSDs are faster, more reliable, and will make the whole system much quicker to respond.

Display: Get a laptop with a good screen that works for you. For better clarity and sharpness, look for a resolution of at least 1920×1080.

Battery Life: Think about how long the laptop’s battery will last, especially if you need to use it when you’re not near a power outlet.

Build Quality: To figure out how well the laptop is made, read reviews or try to use it yourself. A laptop that is built well and is strong is likely to last longer.

Portability: If you want to carry your laptop around a lot, you should think about how heavy and big it is. It will be easier to carry a laptop that is smaller and weighs less.

Connectivity: Make sure the laptop has the ports you need, such as USB Type-A, USB Type-C, HDMI, and an audio jack.

Best Budget Laptops Comparison Table

Here is a table that compares the best low-cost laptops and shows their most important features and specs. These laptops are great for everyday computing tasks and light productivity needs because they work well, are portable, and are a good value for the money. Think about things like the processor, RAM, storage, display, and battery life to find a device that fits your needs.

MacBook Air M1

Even after releasing the 13-inch and 15-inch Air M2 laptops, Apple kept the MacBook Air M1 in its lineup. The Air M1, which came out at the end of 2020, was the first machine with Apple’s own system-on-a-chip. It showed that the company no longer needed Intel to power its notebooks. The Air’s M1 processor made it incredibly fast and responsive, just like an iPad Pro. Even though the M2 chipset and the latest Air are powered by it, this hasn’t changed. The MacBook Air M1 will still give you great performance, which is good enough for most people to use every day. Overall, this is one of the best budget laptops you can suggest you friends.

Some people will like the classic wedge shape of the Air M1, which has been used in this family of laptops for years. It’s not as sleek as the M2 machine, but it’s still thin and light, and since it doesn’t have a fan, it’ll be very quiet too. The 13.3-inch Retina screen is beautiful, and it comes with a comfortable keyboard (but no TouchBar) and a big trackpad. During our tests, the battery lasted for almost 16.5 hours, which is more than enough for a full day’s work. It starts at $999, which is at the high end of our price range, but it will be money well spent. Also, when the MacBook Air M1 goes on sale at Amazon and other stores, the price often drops to $800 or $900.

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Acer Aspire 5

The Acer Aspire 5 is a full Windows 11 laptop that costs less than $500. It does everything you’d expect from a cheap laptop: Nothing special, but good enough to get you through a day of watching videos, surfing the web, or doing basic work tasks.

It’s not the most stylish or sleekest laptop on the market, and the Intel Core i3 processor in the basic model won’t blow anyone away with its speed. And, at least in our tests, an 8-hour battery life is just enough to get you through an average workday. But for this price, it would be hard to find a better Windows laptop.

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Asus Zenbook 13 OLED

The AMD-powered Asus Zenbook 13 OLED is a great deal. It has a beautiful 1080p OLED display and a 15-hour battery life in a thin, light package for less than $1,000. Even though the speakers aren’t great, the webcam isn’t great, and there’s no headphone jack, these are just small problems that can be worked around. At this price, you can’t do better than the OLED-equipped Asus Zenbook 13 if you need a small, fast Windows ultraportable with a great screen that will last all day.

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HP Laptop 17

The prices of Asus’s Vivobook line vary a lot depending on the size, screen quality, and parts. They can cost less than $500 or more than $1,000. The 15.6-inch VivoBook F1502ZA costs $600, which is in the middle, and its features and parts are also in the middle of the pack. Even though its performance didn’t blow us away, the VivoBook 15 didn’t do anything that would make us not want to buy it. It did have some nice extras, like a comfortable full-size backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader for easy sign-ins, and a lot of ports. Currently, this is one of the best budget laptops.

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Asus VivoBook F1502ZA

The prices of Asus’s Vivobook line vary a lot depending on the size, screen quality, and components. They can be found for less than $500 or more than $1,000. The 15.6-inch VivoBook F1502ZA costs $600, which is in the middle, and its features and parts are also pretty average. We weren’t blown away by the VivoBook 15’s performance, but it didn’t have any deal-breaker flaws either. It had a comfortable full-size backlit keyboard, a fingerprint reader for easy sign-ins, and a lot of ports.

Dell Inspiron 15 3000

The Dell Inspiron 15 series seems to come in 10,000 different styles. We’ve decided to go with this AMD-powered one because it’s affordable and has good specs for the price. Its 15.6-inch Full HD screen is big enough that you won’t have to strain your eyes to read text or look at spreadsheets. It also has a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes scrolling quick and easy. Don’t be fooled though, this machine won’t let you play games at 120 frames per second. Even though its built-in AMD Radeon Graphics won’t be able to run games like Cyberpunk 2077 for a while, you could still play casual games and other less demanding games at lower settings.

Aside from gaming, its AMD Ryzen 3 5425U CPU, 8GB RAM, and 256GB of storage make it a great machine for work and media. You can easily switch between open programs without having to think about it. It also comes with Windows 11 already installed, so you won’t have to worry about upgrading it yourself. Overall, it is one of the best budget laptops that you can buy.

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Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i

We chose Lenovo’s IdeaPad Flex 5i as our favorite Chromebook a few years ago, and it’s still our top pick today. That’s because it still has the best mix of specs and features for most Chrome OS fans. It has a Core i3 processor from the 11th generation, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of space. Plus, the 13.3-inch, 1080p screen is bright and great for using Google Docs and Netflix. Still, it is one of the best budget laptops that you can consider.

Even though the design of this convertible isn’t great, we like that it’s not too heavy and that it has a backlit keyboard, which isn’t something you often see in laptops at this price point. It should also work for about eight hours on a single charge, which is long enough for a typical work day. You also get a good set of ports: two USB-C, one USB-A, a slot for a microSD card, and a headphone jack. All of these things put the Flex 5i ahead of the other Chromebooks, and the fact that it’s not too expensive makes it even better.

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Asus VivoBook X515JA

The VivoBook X515JA is the most expensive option on this list, but you can get it for a great price right now. Still, if you can afford it, it’s a must-buy because its specs are far better than any of the other options and give you a good amount of protection against the future. You’ll get a laptop with a 15.6-inch Full HD screen, 8GB of RAM, and 512GB of SSD storage for your money. But the 10th generation Intel i7 processor is the real gem.

Even though it’s not the most recent version, it still has more than enough power to meet your app and multitasking needs. Not only that, but you can also play games with Intel’s built-in Iris Plus graphics. Rocket League and other games that aren’t as demanding should work fine, and you might even be able to play other games if you try out the different quality settings.

Tips for Finding Deals and Discounts on Budget Laptops

Open-Box Deals: Some stores offer discounts on laptops that have never been used. Most of the time, these are items that were sent back by customers but are still in great shape.

Comparison Shopping: Don’t take the first deal you see. Visit several stores, both online and off, to compare prices and features. Keep an eye out for holiday deals, special sales, and clearance sales.

Social Media and Forums: Follow laptop brands and stores on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, and Reddit. Sometimes, they post deals only for their followers or give them discounts.

Refurbished Laptops: Think about buying certified refurbished laptops from a seller you can trust. These devices are often thoroughly tested and come with warranties. Compared to brand-new models, you can save a lot of money by buying refurbished ones.

Bundled Deals: Look for deals that include accessories like laptop bags, mice, or software subscriptions. These packages can save you more money.

FAQs

Which brand laptop lasts longest?

• MacBook Pro 16-inch
• Apple MacBook Pro
• Dell Latitude 9510.
• Asus ExpertBook B9450
• Apple MacBook Pro
• HP Elite Folio