You might be surprised to be told that the top best laptops under $500 can extremely deliver nice performance, have a durable build, and are on the market with a good quantity of choices. In fact, as long as you don’t expect to tackle processor- or graphics-intensive tasks, many of them can even go toe-to-toe in terms of substance and class with variety of the best laptops. They’re even powerful enough to see you through variety of the best laptop computer games.
Lots of laptops price less than $500, however, it’s exhausting to seek out an inexpensive one that doesn’t wholly suck. We’ve researched and tested many low-cost Windows laptops and Chromebooks over the years to seek out good models, and that we even have recommendations to assist you to search smart once costs fluctuate and our picks go out of stock.
- Our list of the best gaming laptops under 1000 will be useful before purchasing your recreation machine.
- Make sure you go through the top 10 laptops for graphic designers for your next project.
So, betting on your daily computing demands, it’d make economic sense for you to purchase one of all the top best laptops under $500 rather than blowing your budget on a pricier rival. costlier machines can be jam-choked with a lot of power and options like the Dell XPS 15, however, if you don’t want a maxed-out transportable or a flagship standing image, it’s not worth that additional money if you’re not planning to use the additional power and options.
What are the top best laptops under $500?
1. Acer Aspire 5 A515-55-378V
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10th Gen intel core i3
SCREEN: 15-inch 1920×1080 non-touch
RAM: 4 GB
STORAGE: 128 GB SSD
BATTERY LIFE: Up to 7 hours
If you need to run Windows apps or games, or if you prefer to work offline, we recommend the Acer Aspire 5 A515-55-378V because it’s one of the top best laptops under $500. (If that version is unavailable, the A515-54-37U3 is identical but has a slightly different processor that feels the same to use.) Its 15-inch 1920×1080 IPS screen offers better viewing angles and is much nicer to look at than that any other cheap Windows laptop we tested. The Aspire 5 has a surprisingly comfortable keyboard and a reliable trackpad, and in our tests, it lasted about an hour longer on a charge than our other Windows picks.
The Aspire 5 is fast enough to handle common tasks, though you won’t be able to use multiple demanding apps and dozens of browser tabs at the same time unless you add more memory.
The Aspire 5 is big and heavy, so it’s not especially convenient to use on the go. And like all inexpensive Windows laptops, it comes with unnecessary bloatware that takes up space and slows down performance. We recommend running Microsoft’s Refresh Windows tool as soon as the laptop arrives; this tool will remove all those unnecessary programs and make the laptop feel faster. The Aspire 5 also comes with Windows 10 in S mode—a version of Windows 10 that allows apps only from the Microsoft store and limits you to Microsoft Edge for web browsing. You can switch it to Windows 10 Home for free, which you’ll need to do if you want to use programs such as Zoom.
2. Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS34
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10th Gen intel core i3
SCREEN: 15-inch 1920×1080 non-touch
RAM: 8 GB
STORAGE: 128 GB SSD
BATTERY LIFE: Up to 6 hours
If our alternative picks are out of stock, we suggest the Asus VivoBook 15 F512JA-AS34. it’s our suggested specs—a Core i3 processor, 8 GB of memory, and a solid-state drive—so it’ll provide you with higher performance than our alternative picks while not requiring you to add memory. however its screen may be a horrible-looking TN panel, and you can’t upgrade that later, not like memory. The VivoBook 15’s keyboard and trackpad are almost nearly as good as those of our alternative picks, and it’s a reliable fingerprint reader that in our tests worked straight off whenever we used it.
The VivoBook 15’s biggest flaw is its awful screen. The display is 1080p, thus it’s crisper than the lower-resolution, 1366×768 displays common in low-cost Windows laptops. however the VivoBook 15’s TN panel looks harsh, and my eyes felt strained once after some minutes. The viewing angles are poor, which implies colors invert at the sides of the display once you view the screen head-on. You’re stuck with the screen for your laptop’s entire life, thus we tend to suggest obtaining a portable computer with a higher display if you have got that possibility.
- Here are the best Asus laptops
3. Lenovo – Ideapad 3 15 15.6″ Touch-Screen Laptop
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10th Gen intel core i3
SCREEN: 15.6 inches Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 8 GB
STORAGE: 256 GB SSD
BATTERY LIFE: 7 hours
If you want a cheap laptop that’s actually enjoyable to use, we recommend the Lenovo – Ideapad 3 15 15.6″ Touch-Screen Laptop over any similarly priced Windows laptop. The Flex 5 is an exceptional Chromebook—it offers fast performance and an excellent keyboard and trackpad, it’s compact and light, and its 1080p touchscreen is vivid and bright. The Ideapad 3 15 is faster than Windows laptops at the tasks most people use laptops for, including browsing the web (even with a ton of tabs open), making video calls, working in documents and spreadsheets, and watching movies. It’s much more portable than cheap Windows options, and it’s free of the bloatware that slows down cheap Windows laptops.
Engineered for long-lasting performance, the Lenovo™ IdeaPad™ 3 15 delivers power in a laptop that’s perfect for your everyday tasks, with features that you can depend on such as advanced mobile 10th Generation Intel Core processors and an all-day battery.
- Check out the best Lenovo laptops
4. Microsoft Surface Go
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4415Y
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 615
RAM: 4GB – 8GB
Screen: 10.5-inch 1,800 x 1,200 PixelSense touch display
Storage: 64GB eMMC – 128GB SSD
The Microsoft Surface Go may not be the traditional laptop we’re all used to, but it will more than meet your computing needs in its compact and portable package. Not only is this device one of the best Windows tablets out there, but it makes for an excellent laptop alternative if you’re looking for the top best laptops under $500. With a Windows 10 S mode out of the box, you’re getting a properly operating system that lets you use such apps as the mobile versions of Microsoft Office and Adobe Photoshop. If your computer needs to go as far as word processing, sending emails, video conferencing, some light gaming, light photo editing, and streaming Netflix, this device has you covered.
5. HP – 15.6″ Touch-screen Laptop
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel 11th Generation Core i3
Graphics: 15.6 inches Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 8GB
Battery Life: 9 HOURS
Storage: 256GB SSD
The top best laptops under $500 balance a bargain price and capability – and the HP – 15.6″ Touch-screen Laptop is the perfect example of that. Designed to keep you productive and entertained from anywhere, the HP 15-inch laptop combines long-lasting battery life with a sleek and portable, micro-edge bezel design.
We are particularly impressed with how slim and light it is, a great device for anyone who wants a long-lasting laptop that they can comfortably carry around with them. If you want a laptop to work on while lounging on a sofa, this is a great choice as well. Also, unlike some other Chromebooks, it comes with plenty of ports, including HDMI-out, USB 3.0, and a microSD card slot, making it a brilliantly versatile laptop for the price.
6. Dell Inspiron 15 3000
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10th Gen intel core i3
Display: 15.6 inches, 1,366 x 768
RAM: 4GB
GPU: Intel UHD
STORAGE: 128GB NVMe
Despite its name sounding similar to such a description, it’s not the most inspiring of laptops, but the Dell Inspiron 15 3000 is a cheap and practical laptop for a price that starts at $380. For that reasonably small wad of cash, you can get a 10th Gen Core i3-1005G1 CPU, 4GB of RAM, and 128GB of PCIe NVMe storage.
It’s all packed up in a relatively unassuming chassis offering a decent selection of ports and a 15.6-inch display with a resolution of 1366 x 768. We’ve not reviewed the laptop ourselves but user reviews are reasonably positive, with the laptop getting an average score of 3.8 stars out of 5. And as this is a Dell machine it’s likely to be fairly reliable and unlikely to let you down; though it’s not going to amaze you either.
- We’ve listed the best laptops from Dell here
7. Samsung Chromebook 3
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: Intel Celeron N3060
DISPLAY: 11.6 inches; 1,366 x 768
RAM: 4GB
GPU: Intel HD Graphics 400
STORAGE: 32GB
The Samsung Chromebook 3 is a very decent and very affordable laptop. It has a screen brighter than most competitors at 259 nits. It can handle multiple open browser tabs, thanks to 4GB of RAM and an Intel Celeron processor. And its battery lasts up to nearly 10 hours. There’s also a standout webcam, with Instagram-ready live filters for video chats and Multi-Shot mode. Like all Chromebooks, Samsung’s laptop uses the Google Chrome OS operating system (which relies largely on web-based Google services but also supports Android apps) and provides 32GB of flash storage.
If there’s a caveat, it’s that the bottom runs warm after a while, so be sure to keep your long pants on while swapping hot Twitter takes. Despite the heat, this is the coolest Chromebook on the market for budget shoppers.
8. MSI – Modern 14″ Laptop
SPECIFICATIONS
CPU: 10TH Gen intel core i3
SCRREEN: 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) Intel UHD Graphics
RAM: 8GB
STORAGE: 128GB SSD
BATTERY LIFE: 8 HOURS
The sleek aluminum chassis is strong and weighs an incredibly light 2.62 pounds. The Modern series can easily be taken with you wherever your productivity and creative workflow takes you. The stunning 14-inch display features close to 90% screen-to-body ratio with a 180 flip-n-share. The micro SD card reader and HDMI output can simply read and display all the wonderful memories you capture without any hassle.
The 52Whr battery provides up to 10 hours of on-the-go usage, feel unconstrained in working and creating. The optimized 1.5mm key travel and the responsive feedback of each keystroke on the Modern 14 make the typing experience more ergonomic and efficient than ever. The backlit keyboard illuminates the keys brilliantly so you can easily work in dimly lit situations.