Best budget laptops for 2024

Yes, you can get a good laptop without spending thousands of dollars. Not everyone wants (or needs) to spend a lot of money on their next laptop, and depending on how you plan to use it, you may be better off having a cheap laptop anyway. As with most affordable technology, the key to getting the right machine for you is understanding what you need your laptop to do and the sacrifices you can make to save a little money. Best of all, you'll discover that you don't need to sacrifice as much as you thought to get a good laptop at a great price. We've tested several budget laptops to find our top picks and compile buying tips that can guide you toward the machine that's right for you.

What to look for in a budget laptop

First, at Engadget we consider anything under $1,000 to be “budget” in the laptop space. The reason for this is twofold: Even the most affordable flagship laptops typically start at $1,000 or more, and if you go much lower than that (say, $500 or less), that's where you'll really start to see performance compromises. Typically, you'll find the best balance of power and price in the $500 to $1,000 range. But in this guide, we'll cover the best options at a wide range of prices – there are several great options on the low and high end of the budget spectrum.

Arguably the most important thing to look for in a cheap laptop is a decent spec sheet. You may be able to find configuration options with the latest generation of CPU chipsets, or you may have to opt for one that has a slightly older processor. We recommend trying to find a laptop with the most up-to-date internal components possible, but know that if you choose a machine with a CPU that's a generation behind, it probably won't significantly impact performance.

Along with processors, you should also consider the amount of memory and storage you need in a daily driver. For the former, we recommend laptops with at least 8 GB of RAM; Anything less than that will have a hard time multitasking and managing all those browser tabs. The latter is a bit more personal: How much built-in storage you need really depends on how many apps, files, photos, documents, and more you'll be storing locally. As a general rule, try to choose a laptop that has at least a 256GB SSD (this only applies to macOS and Windows machines, as Chromebooks are a little different). This should give you enough space for programs and files, as well as room for future operating system updates.

After determining the best performance you can get within your budget, it's also worth examining a few different design aspects. We recommend choosing a machine with a mostly metal body, a screen that has at least 1080p resolution, and a keyboard and trackpad area that is relatively spacious. Any affordable laptop worth buying will have a built-in webcam, but most top out at 720p. Some of the latest models have 1080p webcams, but you may want to consider a standalone peripheral if you spend a lot of time in Zoom meetings.

Be sure to check the port situation as well. Many laptops closer to $1,000 will have fewer ports than their more affordable counterparts (as counterintuitive as that may seem). You'll find at least one or two USB-C ports on newer machines, which means you may need a separate dongle if you frequently need to connect to SD cards.

A note on refurbished laptops

Refurbished laptops are another option to consider if you need a new machine and don't want to spend a lot of money. Buying refurbished technology can be complicated if you're not familiar with a brand or retailer's policies around what they classify as “refurbished.” But it's not impossible: in the case of laptops, we recommend going directly to the manufacturer for refurbished devices. Apple, Dell and microsoft They all have official reconditioning processes that they put their devices through before putting them back on the market and that verify that the machines are working properly and are in good condition. Third party retailers such as Amazon and Walmart They also have their own restoration programs for laptops and other devices.

The best cheap laptops of 2024

Photo by Devindra Hardawar/Engadget

Read our full review of the Apple MacBook Air M2

The launch of the MacBook Air M3 marked the retirement of the first Air with an M-series chipset. Apple no longer officially sells the MacBook Air M1 (although you can still find it at other retailers right now), but it brought down the initial price of the M2 air at $999. The MacBook Air M3 is the best thin and light laptop for most people, but the M2 is an unmatched value for those on a budget. In our testing, we didn't notice a huge improvement in real-world usability between the M2 and the new M3 Air, and battery life is similar for both. The biggest differences between them is that the M3 models support Wi-Fi 6E and access up to two external displays when the lid is closed.

So when it comes to buying a new laptop and spending just $1,000 or less, the MacBook Air M2 is the laptop we would recommend to most people. Not only do you get the updated Air design that's slimmer and boxier than before, but you also get a gorgeous 13.6-inch display, a solid quad-speaker array, and most importantly, stellar performance thanks to the M2 chip. For personal and professional tasks, this MacBook Air should have more than enough power and speed for most people (we'd even recommend it over the 13-inch MacBook Pro for many). The fact that it now costs $200 less than before simply because it moved places in Apple's lineup presents a great opportunity for those in need of a new daily driver to get our previous best laptop pick at its new low price.

Advantages

Thin and light design
Magnificent 13.6-inch screen
Excellent four-speaker setup
Excellent M2 performance

Cons

No promotion
Some speed boost for extended tasks

$980 on Amazon

Photo by Daniel Cooper/Engadget

Read our full review of the HP Pavilion Aero 13

If you like the overall aesthetic of machines like Dell's XPS 13 but don't want to pay $1,000 or more, the HP Aero Pavilion It's your best bet. We gave it a score of 87 in our review and compared it to Dell's flagship laptop. It's certainly not as sleek as that machine, but it comes pretty close with its angled profile, 2.2-pound weight, and 13.3-inch anti-glare screen. Even though its keyboard is a little narrow, it's a solid typewriter, and we appreciate all of its connectivity options: a USB-C port, two USB-A ports, an HDMI connector, and a headphone jack. You can currently buy an Aero 13 for as little as $900, but they went on sale for even less. All of the pre-built base models available from HP come directly with Ryzen 5 processors, and you can customize the laptop to have up to a Ryzen 7 CPU, 16GB of RAM, and a 1TB SSD.

Advantages

Attractive design
Many ports
Solid performance for the price.

$880 at HP

Photo by Nathan Ingraham/Engadget

Show: 14 inch FHD | CPU: Intel Core i3 13th Gen | RAM: Up to 8 GB | Storage: 128GB | Weight: 3.52 lbs (1.6 kg)

Our favorite Chromebook is Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5, which Engadget resident and Chrome OS aficionado Nathan Ingraham described as a tremendous value. This laptop hits the basics, with a 14-inch Full HD touchscreen, a great backlit keyboard, and a 13th-gen Core i3 processor. The latest model has an upgraded 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, which when combined with the Core i3 CPU, makes it a fast and capable machine. It's also nice to see one USB-A port and two USB-C ports, six hours of battery life, and a 360-degree hinge that makes it easy to use the Flex 5 as a tablet. This could be the ideal laptop for Chrome OS fans, and it will hit the sweet spot for many other buyers, delivering a level of quality and performance that's pretty rare to find at this price.

Advantages

Great overall performance for the price.
Nice display
Solid keyboard and trackpad

Cons

Mediocre battery life
A little heavy and thick

$499 at Amazon

acer

Acer aspire 5 family is a solid Windows option if you have less than $500 to spend on a new laptop. The latest models hit a good middle ground for most people, as they are powered by 11th Gen Intel CPUs and support up to 16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage. Of course, the more specs you get, the more expensive the machine will be; Not all Aspire 5 laptops are under $500. But you can currently pick up a model with a 15.6-inch 1080p screen, Core i3 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage for about $380 (or less if it's on sale). The design is pretty basic here, but you get a handy number pad and a variety of ports, including a USB-C connector, three USB-A ports, and an Ethernet port. We also appreciate that the latest Aspire 5s support WiFi 6 and that Acer has increased the estimated battery life to 10 hours.

Advantages