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The best cheap laptops provide solid performance, long-lasting battery life, and a lightweight, unobtrusive design all at a price that will make your wallet smile. If you’re looking for sub-$1000 options, we’ve compiled a list of the best, including the best business laptops with the mobility needed for working on the go, the best gaming laptops that let you dive into some of the top games of last year, and the best 2-in-1 laptops for jumping between laptop and tablet.
There are plenty of factors to consider depending on what you want out of the laptop. For example, if you’re not looking to run particularly demanding programs, you could buy something with a lesser CPU. And if you have no plans to play any games, that instantly reduces the amount of cash you’ll have to put down.
This list of the best budget laptops will help you find the right device for you, whatever your needs may be.
What is the best cheap laptop?Â
The best cheap laptop of 2022 is the HP Envy 13, making it the best ultrabook on the market today for its price. Starting at $799, the new HP Envy 13 is our favorite thanks to its sleek, portable design, bright 4K and 1080p display options, and fast performance. New to the latest model is a webcam kill switch and fingerprint sensor for those who value security and privacy. And unlike its predecessor, the latest Envy 13 has great speakers. Â
The HP Envy 13 is the best laptop for anyone who wants a premium machine but is trying to save a buck. Its sibling, the HP Envy x360 13, is also on this list for those after the best cheap 2-in-1 laptops. It’s an absolute steal for what it dishes out.Â
In the case of the Asus ZenBook 13 UX325EA ($999 reviewed, $949 starting), the secret sauce is Intel’s new Tiger Lake chips. Under Intel’s new Evo initiative, Intel Tiger Lake chips offer more powerful performance, longer battery life, and the introduction of Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6. Plus, you get the added bonus of the ZenBook’s beautiful yet durable chassis. Alternatively, you can opt in for the OLED version of this laptop; specs won’t be as good, but the display will be far brighter and more vivid.
There’s plenty of great contenders on this list though, so check out the best cheap laptops of 2022 below.Â
The best cheap laptops you can buy todayÂ
- HP Envy x360 13 (2020)
- HP Envy 13
- Asus ZenBook 13 UX325EA
- HP Pavilion Aero 13
- Asus Zenbook 13 (UX325) OLEDÂ
- Acer Chromebook 317
- Dell G5 15 SE
- Asus Chromebook Flip C434
- Acer Swift 3 (2020, AMD Ryzen 7 4700U)
- Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch)
- Lenovo Chromebook Duet
- HP Chromebook 14 (Intel)
The HP Envy x360 13 is the best laptop for under $1,000 and one of the best 2-in-1 laptops on the market. While it doesn’t come with a stylus, the Envy can seamlessly transition  into tent or tablet mode. What makes this such a fantastic value is its entirely aluminum design and Herculian AMD Ryzen processors.Â
In our testing, we found that an Envy x360 13 with a Ryzen 5 4500U CPU can outperform laptops with 10th Gen Intel chips. This specific Envy costs just $800 and can outmuscle laptops that cost well over $1,000, including the exorbitant MacBook Pro. Moreover, the Envy x360 13 has a bright, vivid 13.3-inch display and a comfortable keyboard.Â
There is very little we don’t like about the Envy x360. If you can get over the lack of a Thunderbolt 3 port and IR camera, then it is the ultimate money-saving laptop.
See our HP Envy x360 13 (2020) reviewÂ
Starting at $749, the new HP Envy 13 is one of our favorite sub-$1,000 thanks to its sleek, portable design, bright 4K and 1080p display options, and fast performance. New to the most recent model is a webcam kill switch and fingerprint sensor for those who value security and privacy. And unlike its predecessor, the latest Envy 13 has great speakers that can fill the room with a loud and satisfying sound.
All these perks make the Envy 13 one of the best laptops for anyone who wants a premium machine, especially if you’re trying to save a buck. Our only reservations with the HP Envy 13 are that the 4K model doesn’t last very long on a charge and that the Envy x360 13, its 2-in-1 sibling, is just a little bit better.
See our full HP Envy 13 review.
There’s just something about a ZenBook. They’re beautiful, tend to be incredibly slim and lightweight, and thanks to Asus, have some aces up their digital sleeves. In the case of the Asus ZenBook 13 UX325EA ($999 reviewed, $949 starting), the secret sauce is Intel’s new Tiger Lake chips. Under Intel’s new Evo initiative, Intel Tiger Lake chips offer more powerful performance, 14 hours of battery life, and the introduction of Thunderbolt 4 and Wi-Fi 6. Plus, you get the bonus of the ZenBook’s beautiful, yet durable chassis.Â
You can also expect solid gaming performance with this ZenBook 13, although we don’t necessarily recommend playing demanding AAA titles with it. You could manage around 56 frames per second with something like Hades, but you’ll have trouble jumping into Control without changing the graphic settings to low.
See our full Asus ZenBook 13 UX325EA review.Â
The Aero 13 is to laptops what Bumblebee is to film. Until that 2018 release, every Transformers movie was awful. Then seemingly out of nowhere, a spin-off arrives and makes you consider whether something could come of the franchise. I’m not saying Bumblebee was the height of cinema, and like that movie, the Aero 13 has its faults. But despite those drawbacks, you won’t find a better laptop for around $700.Â
Highlights of this notebook include fast performance from AMD Ryzen chips, a featherweight magnesium alloy chassis, and a bright and vivid 13.3-inch display. You even get a generous selection of ports and a fingerprint sensor for fast login. It hardly seems worth voicing my gripes, but a larger glass touchpad, an IR camera, and quad speakers top my list of “wants” for the next model.Â
It may not feel as premium as its pricier relatives, but the Pavilion Aero 13 is every bit as capable. Armed with AMD Ryzen chips, the Aero can compete in a performance battle against notebooks costing twice as much. But isn’t just about the raw power Accompanying its capable engine is a bright and vivid 13.3-inch display, strong battery life, and a selection of ports you don’t typically see nowadays. There are compromises, as is the case with any mainstream laptop, but they hardly seem worth mentioning given everything the Aero 13 brings at this price.
See our full HP Pavilion Aero 13 review
The Asus Zenbook 13 (UX325) OLED is similar to the previous entry, but the small differences could make or break what you decide to buy. The Zenbook 13 OLED starts at a far lower price, with it being able to be configured down to $799. However, this means the specs won’t match what you get on the regular Zenbook 13, but the OLED display should more than make up for it.
If you’ve never experienced the glory of an OLED display, you’re in for an absolute treat. This can provide a whole new level of color depth and brightness to images, to the point where looking at a regular display will no longer be satisfactory. When we measured the Zenbook 13’s color gamut, it hit 98.2%, which absolutely blew all of its rivals out of the water. Besides an excellent viewing experience, you can expect solid performance, great battery life and a comfortable keyboard.
See our full Asus Zenbook 13 (UX325) OLED review
The Acer Chromebook 317 is the first 17.3-inch Chrome OS laptop to ever grace the market. Our reviewer was put off by its size at first glance, as it was hard to imagine why Chromebooks, a series of laptops with a focus on mobility, would ever shift to a size this large. After some testing, however, its unwieldly width has grown on us.
The Chromebook 317’s unconventional size is worthwhile for those who’ve always hated the tiny keyboards found in smaller laptops. Although this won’t be easy to bring with you on the good (unless your backpack is huge), it’s an affordable pick for those who need solid hardware to get office work done. The Chromebook 317 is lacking a bright display, powerful processor, and particularly long bettery life, but it’s but it’s adequate for those who’d sacrifice those perks for an intact bank account and a spacious Chromebook with a massive display.
See our full Acer Chromebook 317 review.
The Dell G5 15 SE (2020) offers solid gaming and excellent overall performance packed into a chunky chassis. Thanks to an AMD Radeon RX 5600M GPU and an AMD 4th Gen Ryzen 5 4600H CPU, the Dell G5 15 SE is the best cheap gaming laptop out there, and does a good job of keeping its competitors at bay. While the design is a bit heavy and uninviting, its powerful specs make up for it.
The laptop’s discrete Ryzen graphics serve up a surprising amount of power, with above-average results. And when you’re not gaming, the laptop’s 4th Gen AMD processor is more than capable of allowing you to create spreadsheets, do some light video-editing and, of course, watch some movies on the beautiful 1080p display. And despite its price, the laptop also delivers a comfortable keyboard and excellent battery life. In short, if you’re in need of a good gaming laptop that won’t break the bank, look no further.
See our full Dell G5 15 SE review.
The best overall Chromebook, the Flip C434 is an excellent successor to the Flip C302CA, our previous top pick. Not only does its super-small bezels allow Asus to fit the laptop’s large, 14-inch screen into a smaller chassis than you’d expect, but that screen is both bright and colorful. On top of that, its aluminum design provides a more premium feel than most Chromebooks. Oh, and I almost forgot: it lasts about 10 hours on a single charge, which blows its competition out of the water.
However, it is plagued by a few issues, like a finicky touchpad. And for a Chromebook, the Flip C434 is admittedly quite pricey ($569) in comparison to a competitor like the Samsung Chromebook 3 ($179). Even then, the price difference is worth it if you have a bit of extra cash to dish out, as the Flip C434 is powerful.
See our full Asus Chromebook Flip C434 review.Â
The Acer Swift 3, the one with the AMD Ryzen 7 4700U CPU, blew us away with its overall performance on our Geekbench 5.0 benchmark. Not only did the Acer Swift 3 outdo the laptops within its price range, but it also outperformed some top-tier, premium laptops such as the Dell XPS 13.
The Acer Swift 3 also has good battery life. You’ll get more than 11 hours from the Acer Swift 3, which will last you a whole day. Equipped with a powerful CPU and great battery life, the Acer Swift 3 will only set you back $649, which is totally unheard of nowadays. However, for the price, you’ll have to sacrifice having a brilliant screen because the Acer Swift 3 has a dim display.
Still, the Acer Swift 3 will give you a lot of bang for your buck. We highly recommend it.
See our full Acer Swift 3 review.
The Lenovo Yoga 7i (14-inch) is not only affordable, but it’s powerful. For $649, you can expect stellar performance, long lasting battery life, and a colorful 14-inch display wrapped up in a gorgeous aluminum exterior. However, the 266-nit display isn’t as bright as we would hope, putting it quite a bit below it’s category average.
You’ll also want to prepare for an unsatisfying keyboard and inaccurate touchpad. We also weren’t impressed with its limited number of ports. There’s a USB Type-A Port and headphone jack on the right side, while two Thunderbolt 3 ports sit on the left side.
However, if you can look past these issues, you can expect a pair of powerful speakers that emit a full and satisfying sound, incredible performance that holds up against competitors, and nearly 13 hours of battery life.
See our full Lenovo Yoga 7i review.
At first glance, The Lenovo Chromebook Duet (reviewed at $279) looks like an innocuous journal, but open that bad boy up, and it’s a small laptop with a colorful 10.1-inch display.Â
But this device’s transformative capability isn’t its only alluring feature — the Lenovo Chromebook Duet lasted almost 13 hours on our battery test, which beats the 10-hour average runtime for Chromebooks. The price is another big selling point of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. For under $300, you can own a lightweight machine that can endure all your intensive web multitasking.
The Lenovo Chromebook Duet sports a 10.1-inch, 1920 x 1200 display that’s impressively colorful. However, the tablet’s screen has chunky bezels that might turn you off if you’re seeking a more modern look. But the Duet is a budget-friendly Chromebook, so we can concede the lack of slim bezels as a reasonable trade off.
See our full Lenovo Chromebook Duet review.
The Intel version of the HP Chromebook 14 is a solid improvement over its AMD counterpart, making it one of the best laptops under $300. For just under $300, you get an attractive laptop with a 14-inch, 1920 x 1080 display, which is an incredibly rare combination at this price point. To top it all off, HP’s Chromebook 14 features a comfortable keyboard and a battery that will stay powered up for an entire workday. The laptop endured for a very good 9 hours and 18 minutes on our battery test.Â
Armed with an Intel Celeron N3350 CPU and 4GB of RAM, the Chromebook 14 has enough power for simple day-to-day tasks, but don’t try running demanding apps on this budget machine. If you’re looking for a Chromebook that doesn’t scream elementary school, then the HP Chromebook 14 is the one to get.
See our full HP Chromebook 14 (Intel) review.
How we test the best cheap laptopsÂ
To evaluate whether a laptop is worth your hard-earned money, we run industry-standard performance benchmarks such as Geekbench and 3DMark as well as a variety of real-world tests that we’ve developed in our labs. This includes the Laptop Mag Battery Test, which surfs the web at 150 nits of brightness until a laptop runs out of juice, as well as a custom spreadsheet test that measures a laptop’s processing power. For more on our process, see this page on how we test laptops.
How to find the best cheap laptopÂ
When shopping for the best affordable laptops there’s a lot to consider. Here’s a good breakdown on how to find the best laptop for you.
What’s your budget?
Sure you can find some diamond-in-the-rough, decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500, but you may have to deal with a low-performing CPU or a poor multitasker. If you’re a light laptop user, those will be OK, but if you need something more powerful, you may aint to aim higher — the best mainstream laptops typically cost more than $700. If you can, we suggest aiming for the $700 to $900 range.
Do you want a 2-in-1 or a clamshell?
If you enjoy the awesomeness of converting your laptop into a tablet, then the 2-in-1 laptops are a good choice. But keep in mind that most times, you’ll be able to get a lower price and stronger-performing features with a traditional laptop.
How much battery life do you need?
If you’re on the go, you’re going to need to make sure you snag a laptop that lasts more than 10 hours.  But if you’re a homebody or you’re tied to your desk all day, perhaps you can sacrifice some battery life and save some money in the process. Check out our longest-lasting laptops list.
What specs do you need?Â
Aim for a Core i5 CPU if you want decent performance. Memory and storage, you should aim for 8GB of RAM and a 256GB SSD. As far as display, don’t get anything less than 1080p screen — your eyes will thank you later.
You can spend a lot of time delving into specs, but here are the key components to think about. If you just want really good mainstream performance, go for a Core i5 CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 256GB SSD and a 1080p screen.
Gamers and content creators should be on the market for a laptop with discreet graphics, but finding a high-performing GPU under $1,000 might not be an easy task.Â
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