The 5 Best Budget And Cheap Laptops - Summer 2024 Reviews

The best budget laptop we've tested is the ASUS Vivobook 16 M1605 (2023), a 16-inch Windows ultraportable. This model feels well-built, and it isn't overly bulky or heavy for a 16-inch device, so it's still easy to carry around. You can configure it with an AMD Ryzen 5 or Ryzen 7 CPU, which are more than adequate to handle general productivity tasks like text processing, web browsing, spreadsheets, and video playback. Most models come with 8GB of RAM, though you can find some with 16GB, as some third-party retailers add extra RAM, so you don't have to upgrade it yourself. Battery life is okay; it lasts a little over eight hours of light use, so depending on your workload, you may have to plug it in for a quick charge.

The overall user experience is good. It has a comfortable keyboard, a large, responsive touchpad, and a decent 720p webcam. Its 1080p display looks reasonably sharp but only gets up to 250 cd/m² of brightness, so visibility may be an issue in well-lit rooms. It also looks a tad washed out due to its narrow color gamut. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity, a fingerprint sensor for quick logins, and a decent port selection with three USB-As, a USB-C, and an HDMI. Unfortunately, the USB-C doesn't support video output, so you'll have to use the HDMI port to connect an external display.

If you like the 2-in-1 tablet form factor, get the Microsoft Surface Go 3 (2021). At 10.5 inches, this tablet PC is incredibly compact, making it easy to carry. It has a sharp IPS display with stylus support, an excellent 1080p webcam that puts pricier laptops to shame, and a Windows Hello facial recognition camera for quick logins. You can use it without the keyboard attached to save space and pop it back on when you need to type something out. The keyboard is surprisingly comfortable to type on; the downside is that you have to buy it separately, and the same goes for the stylus.

You can get this tablet with an Intel Pentium Gold or Core i3 CPU. Both are fine for simple tasks like web browsing, emails, and video playback, but don't expect to do anything remotely intensive. We recommend getting a model with 8GB of memory, as you'll get a much smoother experience with fewer slowdowns when multitasking. The battery lasts about seven hours of light use, which isn't great but not bad for such a small device. Unfortunately, the port situation is grim; you only get one USB-C, a proprietary charging port, and a headphone jack.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021) is a better option if you only need a device for media consumption. It sports a gorgeous OLED display with full DCI P3 coverage, and its battery lasts nearly eight hours of video playback. It's a little bigger at 13 inches but still compact and lightweight. The keyboard isn't nearly as good, and Chrome OS is more limited in the type of applications you can install, so you need to ensure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app.

We recommend the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023), a 16-inch all-AMD model for gaming within a budget price range. For around $1,000 USD, you can get this laptop with a Ryzen 7 7735HS CPU, Radeon RX 7600S GPU, 165Hz FHD display, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. This configuration delivers a smooth gaming experience at 1080p or 1440p, even in demanding AAA titles. Its display also boasts an impressive response time for clear image quality with minimal ghosting, and it supports variable refresh rate (VRR) to limit screen tearing. You don't have to worry about thermal throttling, but this laptop does get fairly hot and loud. Thankfully, there aren't hotspots centered on the WASD cluster.

For connectivity, you get Wi-Fi 6 and an Ethernet port. The rest of the port selection is also great, with plenty of USB-A and USB-C ports and a true HDMI 2.1 port. The 512GB storage in this configuration will probably fill up quickly with the size of recent titles, though you can get a 1TB SSD if you're willing to pay more. It's also worth noting that the storage (along with the memory) is user-replaceable, and there are two M.2 storage slots. As for the battery life, you can expect a little over an hour when gaming, which is fairly typical.

The best cheap laptop we've tested is the Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i Chromebook 14 (2023). It's a great option for younger students or anyone needing a simple device for web browsing and video playback. Although there are many configuration options, we recommend the Core i3 model paired with an FHD touch-sensitive display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage, which you can regularly find on sale for $400 to $500 USD on Lenovo's website. The cheaper configurations are fine if you have an extremely light workload; just know they'll stutter or slow down more quickly when multitasking and have a lower-quality screen.

The display of the Core i3 model mentioned above is bright enough for use in well-lit settings and is reasonably color-accurate. The keyboard feels spacious but a tad mushy, and unfortunately, the touchpad is small and not always responsive. Its 1080p webcam is surprisingly good, and its battery life is outstanding at around 13 hours of light use. If you're unfamiliar with Chrome OS, know that this operating system is limited in the type of applications you can install, so you must ensure you can do everything through a Chrome browser or Android app.

If you want to spend as little as possible, we recommend the Lenovo LOQ 15 (2023). This laptop is available from third-party sellers but is most consistently available directly from Lenovo. You can configure it with an AMD Ryzen 5 7640HS or Ryzen 7 7840HS CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050, RTX 4050, or RTX 4060 GPU. Both RTX 3050 and 4050 options deliver high and consistent frame rates for 1080p gaming. For the best 1440p experience, we suggest the higher-end RTX 4060, as it has 8GB of VRAM, which helps to minimize pop-in and stuttering in demanding titles. We also recommend a configuration with 16GB of memory—and if you're comfortable doing so, you can upgrade it on your own. For storage, you can opt for either 512MB or 1TB options. There's also an extra M.2 slot if you want to add more space.

Connectivity-wise, if you play online games, there's Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and an Ethernet port to ensure the best connection possible for competitive play. Lastly, for displays, your choices range from a 60Hz or 144Hz FHD panel to a 165Hz QHD option. The latter two are your best bet for gaming. The response times for these displays aren't great, so you can expect to see some ghosting. However, both the 144Hz and 165Hz displays support VRR, which can help reduce screen tearing.