Best budget laptops
Although we review many mid-range and high-end laptops, there are plenty of cheaper options. Here we review and rank them with the same care and attention, so you can find the best budget laptop for your needs under £500.
If your needs are basic, then any of the laptops below will be perfectly good. They’ll all handle web browsing, office work, casual games and a bit of photo editing. Chances are you’re looking for a budget laptop for a specific task, whether that’s video editing, music production or even playing Minecraft and other games.
There’s also a chance you’re looking for the best budget laptop with an SSD or with good battery life.
Typically, it’s hard to get something which is capable of demanding tasks such as these examples (particularly games) within a tight budget though, so if games are a particular priority, you should opt for a gaming laptop instead. However, if you’re willing to sacrifice certain aspects, such as screen quality – usually the first corner cut on a cheap laptop – then you might just find what you’re after.
What to look for
Which specifications are important depends on what you want to do with your laptop. You may want lots of storage or you might need as much power for the money as possible.
Display
Starting with the screen, you need to decide on a size. Most laptops will be 13- or 15in, but you can also go smaller or larger if you want something even more portable or if it rarely needs to move.
Remember that the size of the screen will have an impact on things like the weight of the laptop and other things such as the keyboard and even how many ports and connections it can have.
It’s typical to find a budget laptop with an unexciting resolution of 1,366x768 (HD), but if you can find higher, probably 1,920x1,080 (or Full HD) then you’ll be much better off. Look for a matte finish, which is preferable to a glossy screen that reflects like a mirror when it’s bright and sunny.
Processor
The processor is the heart of the computer and has a large impact on how fast it runs. You might well find many with an Intel Celeron or similar and these are to be avoided unless you will be simply browsing the web and sending emails.
Look for either an Intel Core processor or AMD A-series if you can – and some of the laptops in this chart do offer these. The most powerful and efficient chips are currently Intel generations codenamed Broadwell (5th) and Skylake (6th), and can be found in some budget laptops. You won’t see the latest Kaby Lake (7th gen) for a while yet in cheap models.
Ideally go for a Core i5 processor, but an i3 is a good compromise if everything else in the laptop is to your liking and you’re only doing basic tasks. We run various benchmarks on every laptop, so be sure to read the full review to see the results and what they mean for daily use.
Storage and memory
Don’t confuse storage and memory. The latter – also called RAM – is for temporarily storing information when you open an app or file, while storage is the space to store files and programs.
In both cases it’s better to have as much as possible. A lot of budget laptops will come with a 500GB or 1TB hard drive but only 4GB of RAM. You’re unlikely to find an SSD (solid-state drive) or more than 8GB of RAM at under £300, but these are things you might be able to upgrade yourself – the latter being easier to DIY if there is a spare slot.
Remember that you can also always use cloud storage if you need additional space.
CD drive
Many modern laptops ditch the CD drive to save money and weight. So if you need one, be sure to check your chosen laptop has an optical drive. Also make sure it has enough USB ports and even a network port. Also ensure that the speakers are decent unless you’re happy to use headphones.
Software
These days virtually all laptops come with Windows 10. Don’t assume they
