Best budget laptops 2025: 4 laptops under $500 I recommend Leave a comment
Searching for one of many greatest laptops under $500 can really feel like a monumental activity. Even the perfect budget fashions lack the flashier options of pricier machines, and it’s onerous to know when you’re shopping for one thing that may final. But reasonably priced laptops that nail the necessities — and even throw in a bonus function or two — do exist.
Setting lifelike expectations is essential on this value vary. If your wants are primary—net looking, writing papers, streaming, or utilizing productiveness apps—there are strong sub-$500 laptops that may deal with the job. These machines are nice for college kids, youngsters, or anybody on the lookout for a dependable secondary gadget with out breaking the financial institution. While you’ll discover Windows choices right here, the greatest Chromebooks typically supply higher worth.
Naturally, some tradeoffs include the decrease price. Don’t count on top-tier specs, high-end graphics, or premium supplies. You ought to count on slower processors, restricted storage, and first rate shows. Still, the perfect budget fashions make sensible compromises, and each laptop computer on our record has one standout function: lengthy battery life. If you already know what you want, a budget laptop computer can completely be value it.
This web page is frequently up to date with our newest critiques to replicate Laptop Mag’s high picks for 2025.
Click to view current updates to this web page
Update log
5/5/2025: Added FAQs, testing charts, and Acer Chromebook Spin 312. Updated “how to choose” part.
The Quick List
1. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus
Best total
The leveled-up Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus presents AI-infused next-level efficiency in a enjoyable, reasonably priced 2-in-1.
2. Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook
Best under $300
The Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook’s OLED show and 13+ hours of battery life make it a near-perfect Chromebook. Since it is removable, you possibly can have a laptop computer and pill expertise.
3. Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14
Best Windows laptop computer
The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is a compromise between value and energy. It is among the few Windows laptops that will not combust at this value.
4. Acer Chromebook Spin 312
Best for college kids
Great battery life, easy trackpad, and a colourful 12.2-inch show matched with an affordable $450 price ticket.
Joanna Nelius
Joanna Nelius has reviewed laptops and laptop {hardware} since 2018. Her work has appeared in The Verge, USA Today, Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and Maximum PC. She holds an MFA from Chapman University and works as a inventive writing teacher.
Best total
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If you are on the lookout for a contemporary laptop computer that will not break the financial institution, we can’t recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus sufficient. That’s a mouthful, so I recommend it’s lots of work. But right here it’s, in all of its Intel Core i3 glory. Slap on 8GB of RAM and a 1080p show, and you’ve got fairly an honest laptop computer for simply under $500.
While you would possibly count on poor efficiency from a Chromebook, the IdeaPad Flex 5 averaged a Geekbench 6 multi-core rating of 5,384, simply above the 5,259 Chromebook common. It’s additionally far above the efficiency of the Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook’s common of 1,727 and the Lenovo Flex 5 14 (Intel)’s common of three,841.
To make that efficiency much more worthwhile, this can be a Chromebook. That means you will not run into intensive duties as typically as you’d with a Windows laptop computer. On high of that incredible AI-backed efficiency, it additionally presents near 10 hours of battery life. That’ll take you into additional time (paid, or else name me).
One of my favourite options concerning the IdeaPad Flex 5i is its design. You received’t get caught with a clunky laptop computer that appears prefer it got here straight out of battling Windows 95. If I didn’t know any higher, I’d say this was a premium laptop computer by the appears to be like of it. It is available in at 12.4 x 9.0 x 0.8 inches and three.6 kilos. It’s not the lightest or the thinnest, however it makes up for it by being a sturdy shoulder to lean on.
Yeah, its 14-inch, 1080p show is not colourful, however its 16:10 facet ratio offers you extra vertical area to work with.
See our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus overview.
Best under $300
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The Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook has been on the high of this record for years, and that is solely lately modified as a result of we wish to make room for extra up-to-date merchandise. However, that does not change the truth that it’s an absolute champion.
Regarding our artificial benchmark exams, the Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook has a number of the most underwhelming efficiency on this record. The Duet 5 Chromebook’s Geekbench 5 multi-core common of 1,727 is nicely under the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (Intel)’s 3,841 common. It is above the Acer Chromebook 317’s 1,137, although each laptops fall under the Chromebook common of two,253.
This child is filled with a 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080 OLED show. It reproduced 85.2 p.c of the DCI-P3 colour gamut and averaged 361 nits of brightness. Those numbers we’d see in premium laptops — and a few of these costlier gadgets don’t get as vibrant or colourful. And an OLED panel is a powerful addition. You’d discover these in gaming laptops, MacBook opponents, and large TVs.
Speaking of dissing premium laptops, this removable may even get you 13 hours and 31 minutes of battery life. That’s virtually sufficient battery life to land on our laptops with the perfect battery life web page. That alone is a superb bundle for under $300. But there’s extra! This is a removable 2-in-1, that means it might go from a pill to a full laptop computer. And not like some pricier detachables, this machine contains the keyboard and canopy (I want that weren’t boast-worthy, however it’s).
The solely downsides to this machine are its comparatively weak efficiency and lack of a stylus. But for the value, it is fairly rattling good.
See our full Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook overview.
Best Windows laptop computer
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It’s a problem to discover a Windows laptop computer for under $500 that will not be DOA when it will get to the doorstep. That’s the place the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (Intel) is available in. Another chunky title for an additional star on this record. It’s bought every thing it’s essential to make a laptop computer work at this value — robust efficiency, over 14 hours of battery life, and a cushty keyboard. The battery life alone is sufficient to promote me on this machine, as we have seen loads of budget and premium laptops die earlier than they might get throughout the 8-hour mark.
The IdeaPad Flex 5 carried out nicely in our lab, however it did not blow us away. The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (Intel) averaged a rating of three,841 on Geekbench 5’s multicore benchmark. This is above the Chromebook common of two,253 and can be nicely forward of the Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook (1,727) and Acer Chromebook 713 (1,137). However, the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus does have far snappier efficiency.
How was the keyboard so snug? Each stroke was met with a tactile click on on the finish, encouraging our fingers to faucet dance throughout the deck at high velocity. It was somewhat extra shallow than we might’ve favored, however the typing expertise was nice total.
When we first reviewed the IdeaPad Flex 5 it hovered round $500-$650 relying on the configuration, however now you can discover it for under $500 and even $400 for the bottom mannequin, making it a fair higher worth and simply the perfect Windows laptop computer under $500.
However, it is perhaps tougher to seek out the Intel model, however when you see the AMD Ryzen 3 mannequin, it’ll seemingly supply the identical advantages simply with barely totally different efficiency and battery life. Since we didn’t check it, we will’t say for certain.
See our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 overview.
Best for college kids
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The greatest under $500 laptop computer for college kids is a Chromebook I want each scholar at my college had entry to: the Acer Chromebook Spin 312. It’d be a significant improve from the pre-pandemic Dell‘s that fill the laptop computer charging cart in my classroom.
Its silver-coated chassis makes it look costlier that it really is. It’s not the thinnest laptop computer we have ever reviewed, however it is among the lightest at simply under 3 kilos. (I would not wish to carry something heavier between lessons all day!) The battery can last as long as 10 hours and 33 minutes totally charged, too.
A pair small, distinctive options make this laptop computer standout; Acer’s OceanGlass touchpad is the smoothest I’ve ever felt on a budget laptop computer — even in comparison with some costly Windows laptops. The Corning Gorilla Glass coating on the Spin 312’s 12.2-inch show makes colours seem extra vivid than what the IPS panel can really produce.
According to Laptop Mag’s exams, it covers solely 55% of the DCI-P3 colour gamut. But the colours do not look desaturated, and the contrasts are extra dramatic, in comparison with how they’d look on an IPS panel with the identical colour protection and no coating.
The keyboard is not the worst I’ve ever tried, even when it does have an odd clicky-squishy really feel that makes the thinness of the plastic keycaps actually noticeable. But the Spin 312 is a 2-in-1 laptop computer, so if taking notes by hand is extra your model you will not want to fret about that — not till its time to sort that essay on George Orwell’s 1984, at the very least.
See our full Acer Chromebook Spin 312 overview.
Benchmark comparisons
Click to view chart knowledge in desk format
| Row 0 – Cell 0 |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus |
Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook |
Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 |
Acer Chromebook Spin 312 |
|
Geekbench 6 (Higher is best) |
5,384 |
NA |
NA |
4,477 |
|
Geekbench 5 (Higher is best) |
NA |
1,727 |
3,841 |
NA |
|
Jetstream 2 (Higher is best) |
272.91 |
70.1 |
NA |
215 |
|
CrXPRT 2 (Higher is best) |
NA |
55 |
NA |
140 |
|
Handbrake time ((MM:SS), decrease is best) |
NA |
NA |
25:30 |
NA |
|
Battery life – Web browsing (HH:MM) |
09:43 |
13:31 |
14:16 |
10:33 |
|
SSD switch speeds (MBps, larger is best) |
NA |
NA |
565.9 |
NA |
|
DCI-P3 Color Gamut (Higher is best) |
46.5% |
85.2% |
45% |
55% |
|
Display Brightness (Nits, larger is best) |
306 |
361 |
200 |
277 |
|
Hottest temperature (95 diploma consolation threshold) |
89.5 |
NA |
94 |
91.5 |
Recently reviewed
Not each laptop computer could make the perfect laptops under $500 web page; we overview new laptops each week and over 100 laptops yearly. But this is a have a look at our most lately reviewed laptops that did not make this web page both resulting from a fault, value, battery life, show brightness, or one thing else.
How to decide on probably the greatest laptops under $500
To make your buying course of somewhat simpler, we put collectively some tried-and-true tips that can assist you select the perfect laptop computer for under $500.
Budget: What you get for the cash
You can discover first rate Windows laptops and nice Chromebooks for under $500. But pay shut consideration to the specs — every thing from inside {hardware} to keyboard high quality. We totally the nice and unhealthy of low-cost laptops in our critiques, so you may know what laptops supply roughly for his or her value.
If we’ve not reviewed it, we recommend typing the laptop computer’s title into your favourite search engine adopted by “review.” You ought to discover what it’s essential to make an knowledgeable choice.
Screen Size: 12 to 14 inches for portability
Screen measurement can inform you a large number a couple of laptop computer’s total portability. 12-, 13-, and 14-inch fashions are usually the lightest and thinnest, and most $500 and under laptops are available in these sizes.
Form issue: Clamshell or convertible?
Clamshell (conventional) laptops typically have higher options for a cheaper price, however there are an honest variety of convertible laptops with a 360-rotating show (2-in-1s) or removable keyboard which can be simply as cheap. If you wish to use your laptop computer as a pocket book or drawing pill, both of these types may be just right for you!
Just remember the fact that a 2-in-1 in pill mode shall be thicker for the reason that show folds again to satisfy the underside of the keyboard — and that additionally means the keys face outward. Laptops with removable keyboards do not undergo from the identical awkwardness.
Battery Life: 10+ hours
Even a sub-$500 laptop computer ought to have sufficient battery life to final a whole workday earlier than it wants a cost. We recommend shopping for one with at the very least 10 hours of battery life, in response to our exams.
Specs: What’s the perfect for $500 or much less?
If you come throughout an affordable laptop computer with 16GB RAM, a 256GB storage drive, and an Intel Thirteenth-gen processor or newer, you then might need discovered one of many few choices on the market with the perfect specs for the value.
What you may come throughout extra typically are sub-$500 laptops with some mixture of 8GB RAM, 128GB or much less of space for storing (the slower, eMMC sort), and a MediaTek Kompanio or Intel N-series processor. You’ll get extra mileage out of these specs with a Chromebook than with a Windows laptop computer, although.
FAQs
Q: Are budget laptops value it?
A: If you do not use a laptop computer for something greater than checking e-mail, watching movies, or doing homework in Google Docs, there is a good likelihood you may be pleasantly stunned by the standard of at present’s low-cost laptops. Some function snappy processors, clicky keyboards, or colourful shows.
But as Laptop Mag critiques editor, Rami Tabari, factors out, not all budget laptops are a terrific deal. Even on sale. It’s essential to maintain the laptop computer’s potential longevity in thoughts, particularly relating to battery life.
Q: Are laptops getting cheaper?
A: There are a lot of elements that finally decide laptop computer pricing (like tariffs), however the common value of a laptop computer has stayed comparatively the identical over the past a number of years whereas their total high quality has improved. If or when tariff hikes hit laptops, it is seemingly they will be considerably costlier — and it may turn out to be even tougher to discover a high quality laptop computer under $500.
Q: When are laptops least expensive?
A: Black Friday and Cyber Monday are once you’ll often see the perfect offers on laptops, however many producers and retailers have nice offers all year long. (We preserve observe of the greatest laptop computer offers you may get proper now, so verify ’em out.)
How we check the perfect laptops under $500
We put every laptop computer by way of in depth benchmark testing — each artificial and real-world — earlier than they find yourself within the palms of our reviewers. We consider every facet of the laptop computer, together with its efficiency, battery life, show, audio system, and warmth administration.
In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and DCI-P3 colour gamut of the laptop computer’s show. For efficiency testing, we run the laptop computer by way of a gauntlet of benchmarks, together with Geekbench 5 and 6 and 3DMark skilled graphics exams.
To decide real-world efficiency, we activity the laptop computer to transform a 4K video to 1080p decision and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics check is the Sid Meier’s Civilization 6 Gathering Storm benchmark with medium settings at 1080p decision.
We additionally run warmth exams by taking part in a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in several areas of the laptop computer. Last however not least, our battery check consists of steady net browsing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 11 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is taken into account an excellent end result, whereas gaming laptops and workstations that may keep powered for longer than 5 hours deserve reward.
After finishing lab exams, every laptop computer heads to our skilled reviewers for in-depth, hands-on analysis. They spend a number of days utilizing the laptop computer of their on a regular basis workflows — writing, modifying, video calling, streaming, and extra — to get a really feel for the way it performs in the actual world. This mixture of technical evaluation and lived-in expertise helps us ship a well-rounded, sincere perspective on each laptop computer we overview at Laptop Mag.
See this web page on How We Test Laptops for extra particulars on our benchmarking procedures.
Why belief Laptop Mag
Laptop Mag critiques over 100 totally different laptops yearly, from paperweight ultralights to on a regular basis workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the body charges of even the most well liked AAA video games. We’re not simply specialists within the laptop computer area, as we go one step additional by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC equipment, software program, and even the newest in gaming.
We are 100% impartial and have a long time of expertise that can assist you purchase with confidence. In reality, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing merchandise for 3 a long time, and we proceed to ship reliable critiques you possibly can depend on.
Our skilled crew of writers and editors scour the out there details about the laptop computer and put it by way of its paces to find out which is greatest for you. But earlier than they begin, the testing crew topics every system to a rigorous routine of artificial and real-world exams to see how a system handles the kind of work and video games you’re more than likely to throw at it.
Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of many world’s largest know-how publishers, Future Publishing. As an organization, we now have unequalled expertise throughout each tech sector — and we are the group’s specialist for all issues cell tech.