Affording a high-end laptop like Apple MacBook or Dell XPS is not feasible for everyone. So, we have come up with a list of the top ten best budget laptops to buy. The budget laptops aren’t all bad, with several of them providing remarkably well-rounded solutions at low rates. When we talk about budget laptops, we mean laptops under $500 or lower. While some are lesser-known manufacturers, HP, Asus, Lenovo, and Acer remain committed to offering low-cost laptops in their lineups. A budget laptop would suffice if you only need to accomplish simple chores like browsing the web, checking email, and doing office work. Many will suffice for video streaming, although on lower-resolution screens and with often poor sound. Most have the adequate processing power for photo editing and simple games without slowing or stopping.
Top 10 Best Laptops to Buy Under $500
You can easily buy affordable laptops in big retailers such as Amazon, Currys, John Lewis, Argos, and online. If you do not know a decent specification for the price, you’ll have a hard time determining which gives the best value and is capable of performing the tasks you require. On the other hand, the best budget laptops don’t last long because they’re in high demand and provide companies little profitability.
HP Stream 11
For $239, you cannot find a better laptop than the HP Stream 11. The Stream sports a lightweight 11-inch chassis that weighs 2.5 pounds and is only 0.7 inches thick. Even though our model has a dreary black paint job, the HP Stream 11 is appealing due to its small size. You should not expect much from the Stream 11 for the price, but the Intel Celeron N4000 processor and 4GB of RAM were capable of handling 10 Microsoft Edge tabs and a 1080p YouTube movie. On our battery test, the system lasted a respectable 9 hours and 19 minutes. While the keyboard is a touch tight, the essential travel is enough. If you are on a budget, the HP Stream 11 is one of the most affordable laptops available.
Lenovo Chromebook Duet
If you’re searching for a ridiculously cheap Chromebook that gets the job done, the $260 Lenovo Chromebook Duet must be your top choice. The Duet is a 10-inch Chrome OS tablet with a keyboard and a kickstand cover made of aluminum alloy. It has a solid, elegant appearance and can easily be used as a tablet or a computer. However, the small size of this device doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice much in terms of performance; as long as you’re not running hundreds of tabs and programs, you should be alright. In our testing, the Chromebook lasted over 11 hours, making it among the longest-lasting Chromebooks so far.
ASUS E410
It may not perform as well as other laptops in this category, but most people want as much as they can for around $300, and the E410 is a terrific option if you are among them. It costs roughly $299 and has a lot of excellent features. Aspects like a dull screen are unavoidable, and the odd lid shape will not appeal to everyone. The NumberPad in the trackpad was also a little bothersome, but Asus has done a lot right here. The E410 features a long battery life, a light design, and adequate performance for ordinary day-to-day work. At this budget, it’s a fantastic laptop with ticking crucial boxes.
Acer Chromebook Spin 713
The $329 Acer Chromebook Spin 713 is an excellent alternative if you want a classic Chromebook with a clamshell design feature. It boasts a stunning 3:2 screen with enough vertical space that produces a sharp image and bright, vivid colors. The Chromebook Spin 713’s screen alone makes it unique, but it also boasts a beautiful keyboard, all-day battery capacity, and a thorough port selection that includes an HDMI, USB-A, USB-C, and a microSD card.
Dell Inspiron 15 3000
The Dell Inspiron 15 3000 achieves a beautiful balance as a professional laptop if you draft up another worksheet or lose steam with gaming at the end of a hectic workday. It has a ninth-generation Intel CPU with 12GB of RAM, making it a practical and fast general computing machine. We’d anticipate this system to steal some excellent design characteristics from the more premium XPS series but make them available in a more cheap form, thanks to the usual Inspiron build quality. With just over four pounds, it’s not the lightest laptop, but it boasts an excellent, complete Wi-Fi 5, spill-resistant keyboard, Bluetooth connectivity, and a top-mounted 720p webcam for virtual meetings. The beautiful professional black paint finish on the $343 Dell Inspiron 13 7000 helps it blend seamlessly with any setup.
ASUS Chromebook Detachable CM3
If you like the compactness and sleek convertible design of the Duet but want to spend a little more money, the $370 Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3 might be a better option. The CM3 is a 10.5-inch 16:10 Chrome OS tablet featuring a kickstand, fabric cover, and removable screen, similar to the Duet. However, you can fold the CM3’s kickstand in two ways: vertically to hold the tablet up like a laptop or short wise to stand the tablet up horizontally. It also includes a built-in USI stylus and spacious keys with remarkable travel. The battery life was also awe-inspiring: we worked for nearly 13 hours straight on average.
Surface Go 2
The Surface Go 2 is a 10.5” tablet. It is almost the same size as an iPad for $399. Although you will have to purchase the keyboard cover separately, the total bundle is still relatively reasonable if you buy a lower-priced version. The Surface Go 2 may be configured with a Pentium Gold or Core m3 processor. Although those aren’t the most advanced or efficient processors, the system should provide for your downloading and surfing needs, particularly if you only need it to perform one operation at a time. It can execute any Windows app, is portable, and makes an excellent supplementary computer.
Microsoft Surface Go 3
The $400 Surface Go 3 is confined by its compact size and a low-powered Intel Pentium processor with 64GB of storage and 4GB RAM. The processor can be enhanced to an Intel Core i3 processor with double the storage and RAM for $230 further — but still, it provides things never before seen in Windows: a truly budget-minded 2-in-1 laptop. It has the same robust structure as its bigger brother, the Surface Pro 8, and a stunning, brilliant display to boot. What’s the most significant feature? It’s slim and light enough to hold much like a tablet, which is one of the reasons we consider it the most OK affordable 2-in-1 laptop.
Asus Chromebook C433TA
Chromebooks are not all low-quality machines. The Asus Chromebook C433TA is a viable competitor to Windows options. For starters, it costs only $499 and has a high-quality build. The hinges are a tad stiff, but once the laptop is open, they retain the fantastic touchscreen in place, which is essential if you plan on using it frequently. If you’re searching for a ChromeOS device, performance is also a positive, as is the extended battery life. There is nothing to hate here if you are seeking a ChromeOS tablet.
Acer Aspire 5
The $500 Acer Aspire 5 has a powerful 8th Gen Core i3 processor, bright 1080p display, and good battery life, all at a low price. Despite being much slimmer than its Aspire E 15 sister, the Aspire 5 has enough storage for a long battery life of nearly 9 hours on charging. Although it lacks a DVD writer, it does have a good number of ports. The display has a luminance of 276 nits, which offers the screen a good amount of contrast. It even has a hood made of aluminum. On top of it, the screen bezels are shockingly thin for a laptop at this price. The Aspire 5 is one of the most affordable laptops on the market right now.