Not everyone needs the fastest CPU and the highest-quality high-resolution display. Sometimes, a machine with a last-gen CPU and a decent Full HD display is plenty for the web browsing, email, and Office applications that make up their workflow. This can be true for students, and sometimes buyers are looking for a secondary machine to augment one of the best laptops you can buy.
That’s where budget laptops come in. The definition is a loose one, with some machines costing a bit more but offering a lot more to go with it. But they’ll save you hundreds over midrange and premium laptops that are overkill for what you need. This list will provide several options, including for gamers and those with the lowest budgets. You can check out our best laptops under $500 and best laptops under $300 lists for even more affordable options.
Dell XPS 13 (9315)
A surprisingly affordable ‘premium’ Windows laptop
Pros
- Aggressive price
- Very compact design
- Great battery life
- Comfortable keyboard
- Display is bright and high quality
Cons
- No headphone jack
- Performance is lacking
Why you should buy this: It’s an amazing laptop for under $1,000.
Who it’s for: Anyone who wants a premium laptop for much less money,
Why we picked the Dell XPS 13 9315:
Yes, the XPS 13 9315 costs $849 for its entry-level model, which is at the high end of the budget range. But it makes this list because you simply won’t find a Windows laptop for less than $1,000 that can match the XPS 13’s excellent build quality, attractive aesthetic, and outstanding battery life.
For that low price, you get a 9-watt Intel Core i5-1230U CPU with 10 cores and 12 threads that delivers competent productivity performance. It’s not the fastest laptop we’ve reviewed, but it’s sufficient to get your work done. As a lower-watt part, though, it affords outstanding battery life. You even get a 512GB SSD, which is a lot at this price, with a build quality and good looks that are unusual without spending a lot more.
Dell XPS 13 (9315)
A surprisingly affordable ‘premium’ Windows laptop
Dell Inspiron 14
The best budget laptop
Pros
- Affordable price
- Fast processor
- Lots of RAM and storage
- Aluminum chassis
Cons
- CPU is two generations behind
- Battery is small
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget laptop.
Who it’s for: Anyone who doesn’t mind sacrificing style for power.
Why we picked the Dell Inspiron 14 (AMD):
Finding a fast, well-built, cheap laptop for $750 isn’t easy. Normally, one of the things you give up is processing power, relegated to low-end and/or last-generation Intel Core CPUs, in addition to builds that are plasticky and don’t elicit confidence in their long-term viability.
Fortunately, Dell came on strong with the 2022 Inspiron 14 equipped with AMD’s Ryzen 7 5825U CPU. You get an eight-core, 16-thread laptop with AMD Radeon integrated graphics, and while the CPU is a few generations behind it still provides outstanding multicore performance. That helps the laptop not only perform productivity tasks with aplomb but even churn through demanding tasks like encoding video. The display isn’t the best we’ve seen, but you’ll forgive it once you see how well this budget laptop performs.
The $750 Dell Inspiron 14 also gets you 16GB of RAM and a large 512GB SSD. It’s not a sleek or modern-looking laptop by any means, though it is very well built, and you’ll be hard-pressed to find a faster or better-built laptop for this kind of money. It even had a backlit keyboard, too. Note that Acer may make it back to the top of this list with its updated Aspire 3 2023 which will start at just $449.
Dell Inspiron 14
The best budget laptop
Surface Laptop Go 2
An excellent budget laptops for students
Pros
- Thin and light
- Comfortable keyboard and trackpad
- Good port selection
- Good performance
Cons
- No backlit keyboard
- Display’s pixel density is low
- No Surface Pen support
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget laptop for students.
Who it’s for: Students, buyers on a budget.
Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Laptop Go 2:
Students usually want a few things in a cheap laptop — something that’s easy to carry around, that provides good enough performance for getting their homework done, and something that’s not going to embarrass them when they pull it out to take notes. Oh, and it needs to be affordable. Microsoft’s new Surface Laptop Go 2 meets all those criteria — making it one of the best laptops for students in college.
We’ve linked to our Surface Go review above because the biggest change to the Surface Go 2 is the upgrade to 11th-gen Core CPUs. Graphics have been upgraded to Intel Iris Xe, the entry-level storage has been doubled to 128GB, there’s an improved webcam, and the laptop ships with Windows 11 Home instead of Windows 10 in S mode. The Surface Laptop Go 2 is also a highly mobile device with a 12.4-inch IPS touchscreen display that, although it’s not quite FHD resolution, is still of very high quality and a pleasure to use.
Surface Laptop Go 2
An excellent budget laptops for students
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3
A Chromebook 2-in-1 that won’t break the bank
Pros
- Good enough productivity performance
- Excellent battery life
- Surprisingly good display
- Folio kickstand and keyboard included
- Strong value
Cons
- Keyboard is too cramped
- Limited to Wi-Fi 5
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget Chromebook.
Who it’s for: Anyone on a budget who doesn’t mind sacrificing performance for extreme value.
Why we picked the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3:
Chromebooks have become popular budget choices over the last few years, and many have won us over as well. One style that hasn’t done as well as some others is the detachable Chrome OS tablet. That changed with the introduction of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet, now in its third generation, which not only is a very usable tablet but one that represents tremendous value thanks to the included kickstand cover and detachable keyboard.
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3’s low price brings some limitations and basic specs. Its Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage don’t deliver stellar performance, although it’s good enough for the kinds of tasks you’ll want to run on it. The display is very nice, with a 15:9 2K (2000 x 1200) resolution that’s not as pixel sharp as Apple’s baseline iPad that the Duet competes against. If you want a tablet for web browsing, light productivity work, and consuming media, then the Chromebook Duet 3 and Chrome OS have you covered.
Lenovo Chromebook Duet 3
A Chromebook 2-in-1 that won’t break the bank
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
HP Victus 15
Solid gaming for less than $1,000
Pros
- Solid productivity performance
- Decent 1080p gaming performance
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Conservative good looks
- Affordable
Cons
- Confusing configurations
- Poor battery life
- Ho-hum screen
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget gaming laptop.
Who it’s for: Gamers and only gamers.
Why we picked the HP Victus 15:
Although the best gaming laptops are typically expensive, the HP Victus 15 is a great example of why they don’t need to be. Often priced at less than $900, you get some impressive specs. That includes a 12th-gen Intel Core i5-12500H, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 1650 Graphics Card, 8GB of RAM, and a 256GB solid-state drive (SSD), with options for faster CPUs, more powerful graphics, extra and faster storage, and memory if you don’t mind spending a little more. Every model comes with a 15.6-inch, 1080p IPS display, and for just $40 more, that display can run at a refresh rate of 144Hz.
With a decent build quality and surprisingly good gaming performance, the Victus 15 offers an all-around solid gaming package at an impressively competitive price. It does have its weak points, most notably that the starting graphics card isn’t as powerful as what you’ll see in more expensive laptops, but it’s still enough for entry-level gaming.
HP Victus 15
Solid gaming for less than $1,000
Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop
A business laptop for less
Pros
- Large display
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Solid build quality
- Spill-resistant keyboard
Cons
- Display is only Full HD
- CPU is one generation behind
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget business laptop.
Who it’s for: Office workers who want to save the cash for other investments.
Why we picked the Dell Inspiron 15 3000:
Whether you’re typing up another spreadsheet or winding down with a game at the end of a long workday, the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 strikes a great balance as a business laptop. It features powerful and efficient general computing power, like a 12th-generation Intel Core i7-1255U CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 512GB SSD. That’s a lot of computer for just $700, even if Intel did just announce their 13th-gen Core processors.
With the typical Inspiron build quality, we’d expect this system to borrow several great design features from the more premium XPS range but make them available in a more affordable form. It’s not the lightest laptop at just under 4 pounds, but it has a great, spill-resistant keyboard, Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth connectivity, and a top-mounted 720p webcam for conferencing.
The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 also comes in an attractive business black paint job, which helps it fit in with any setup.
Dell Inspiron 15 3000 Laptop
A business laptop for less
Mark Coppock/Digital Trends
Microsoft Surface Go 3
The all-around best 2-in-1 for less
Pros
- Excellent build quality
- Superior display for a budget machine
- Great Active Pen support
- Small and light
- Surprisingly good real-world performance
Cons
- Can get expensive
- Mediocre battery life
- Keyboard and touchpad are cramped
Why you should buy this: It’s the best budget 2-in-1.
Who it’s for: Anyone who needs the on-the-go mobility of a small, 2-in-1.
Why we picked the Microsoft Surface Go 3:
The Surface Go 3 may be limited by its small size and, at the entry level, by a low-powered Intel Pentium processor, 4GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage — the processor can be upgraded to an Intel Core i3 and twice the RAM and storage for $230 more — but it offers something never before seen in the Windows world: A truly budget-minded 2-in-1 laptop. Its build is every bit as solid as its bigger sibling, the Surface Pro 8, and it boasts a beautiful, bright display to boot. The best part? It’s actually thin and light enough to be held in one hand like a proper tablet, which is a key reason why we see this as the best budget 2-in-1 laptop.
While performance doesn’t feel as smooth as on something like an iPad or even a Chromebook, those devices can’t do quite as many things as the Surface Go 3, which runs a full version of Windows 10. On the battery front, however, it’s a bit lacking. That’s its most unfortunate compromise since this is a device made for portability. Also, we still wish the excellent Type Cover keyboard and Surface Pen came bundled in.
Microsoft Surface Go 3
The all-around best 2-in-1 for less
Frequently Asked Questions
Are budget laptops any good?
Absolutely! Depending on what you need your laptop to do, budget options can be just as good as their high-end counterparts. If you only need a laptop for watching Netflix and answering emails, a budget Chromebook can save you hundreds of dollars and perform no worse than something that costs $2,000 or more.
That said, you do need to be careful about which system you pick. Budget laptops tend to make some sacrifices where the expensive options don’t, so be sure to make sure that the system you’re interested in can do what you need it to before buying.
Do any budget laptops have Thunderbolt 4?
Certain features are less common in budget laptops, and Thunderbolt 3 is one of them. Plenty of budget laptops offer USB-C support, but only some provide Intel’s Thunderbolt 4 spec.
Do budget laptops have good battery life?
Some do, and some don’t. The models that prioritize portability tend to offer a little more, and you’ll want to skip a dedicated graphics chip if you want the most battery life.
However, you can find plenty of budget systems that offer a full workday and beyond on a single charge. In some cases, budget laptops offer better battery life than many laptops that cost a few hundred dollars more. Many Chromebooks also offer impressive battery life thanks to how lightweight the software is.
Can I find a good display on a budget laptop?
Definitely, but as with battery life or specific ports, you’ll need to pick and choose the right laptop. A good display will need to be a key component of the laptop, as color accuracy and contrast can be some areas where savings can be made on certain systems.
Is AMD better for budget laptops?
AMD’s release of the Ryzen 4000 line of CPUs shook up the budget laptop space, and since then AMD has released the Ryzen Ryzen 6000 range and, just recently, the Ryzen 7000 series. In short, the fastest machines we’ve tested that aren’t based on Intel’s 45-watt powerhouse CPUs have been running AMD, and that’s a major advance. Intel is still a far more dominant force in the laptop space with a wider range of options available, but as far as the CPUs that go into budget — and even premium thin and light — laptops, Ryzen chips rule the performance roost. That’s changing, though, as Intel’s 12th-gen Alder Lake CPUs make their way into budget machines even as Intel’s 13th-gen Raptor Lake CPUs have been introduced.
Even so, we strongly suggest that you consider AMD when picking your next budget laptop. If you can find one that matches your needs, you’ll get much better performance per buck.
Editors’ Recommendations
