Best budget laptops: 5 cheap laptops under $500

The best laptops under $500 are a tough find because when we talk about budget laptops, we're not talking about cheap. These are the laptops that can give you all that it can for the price. We're looking for 1080p displays, decent performance, and considerable battery life.

We don't want you to regret your purchase immediately after opening the box, which is why we're pretty picky about our choices. Whether you're in the market for a regular clamshell or a 2-in-1 that can fold into a tablet, we've got some options. Keep in mind that some laptops on this list might be a few years older than we'd usually recommend, but newer budget laptops like the Asus Chromebook CM30 are launching in the coming months.

We are so confident in these picks at our top choice is even on our best laptops page. That's not to say all of these laptops will meet your expectations, so be sure to check out some of the best tablets or best kids tablets for your needs as well. And if you're interested in Chromebooks, check out the best Chromebooks.

The Quick List

Best overall

If you're looking for a modern laptop that won't break the bank, we cannot recommend the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus enough. Yeah, that's a mouthful, which is why recommending it is a lot of work. But here it is, in all of its Intel Core i3 glory. Slap on 8GB of RAM and a 1080p display, you have yourself quite the decent laptop for just under $500.

To make that performance even more valuable, this is a Chromebook. That means you won't run into intensive tasks as often as would with a Windows laptop. On top of that great AI-backed performance, it also offers close to 10 hours of battery life. That'll take you into overtime (paid, or else call me). Yeah, it's display isn't colorful, but it works for the price.

See our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review.

Best alt overall

The Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook has been at the top of this list for years, and that's only recently changed because we want to make room for more up-to-date products. However, that doesn't change that the Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook is an absolute champion.

This baby is packing 13.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, OLED display that can run on over 13 hours of battery life. That alone is an excellent package for under $500. But there's more! This is a detachable 2-in-1, which means it can go from being a tablet to being a fully laptop. And unlike some pricier detachables out there, this machine includes the keyboard and cover (I wish that wasn't boast-worthy, but it is). The only downsides to this machine are its relatively weak performance and that it doesn't include a stylus. But for the price, it's pretty damn good.

See our full Lenovo Duet 5 Chromebook review.

Best Windows laptop

It's a challenge to find a Windows laptop for under $500 that won't be DOA when it gets to your doorstep. That's where the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (Intel) comes in. Another chunky name for another star on this list. It's got everything you need to make a laptop work at this price — strong performance, over 14 hours of battery life, and a comfortable keyboard. The battery life alone is enough to sell me on this machine, as we've seen plenty of budget laptops die before they could get across the 8-hour mark.

When we first reviewed the IdeaPad Flex 5 it hovered around $500-$650 depending on the configuration, but you can now find it for under $500 or even $400 for the base model, making it an even better value and easily the best Windows laptop under $500.

See our full Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (Intel) review.

Best 17-inch laptop

Finding yourself a big screen in a laptop that's under $500 is pretty rare, but you don't have to look far because we have the Acer Chromebook 317 right here. Its massive 17.3-inch, 1080p display isn't the only thing it has going for it. Top that off with 9 hours and 30 minutes of battery life and you have a machine that'll last you beyond your average workday. And thanks to its size, you've got a large keyboard with a full num-pad to play around with.

Unfortunately, this machine is using an Intel Pentium processor, which is going to make it a bit slow. However, since its a Chromebook, it won't be as slow as it would be in a Windows laptop. I do hope you need a big display for workspace and not something to enjoy entertainment because this isn't very bright or colorful. If you're doing a lot of browser-based work and need the screen space to manage that, the Acer Chromebook 317 is right for you.

See our full Acer Chromebook 317 review.

Best keyboard

If you're looking for your modern typewriter, the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook might fit the bill. It has one of the most exceptional keyboards we've ever tested in a laptop, and it just so happens to be on a budget machine. That's not the only thing going for it, either.

We've got a sturdy 2-in-1 design, so you can easily use this machine as a tablet when you're not typing. Thanks to its 13.3-inch, 1080p display, it's rather thin and light, coming in at 0.7 inches and 2.9 pounds. However, there are a few downsides to this machine, mainly its battery life, cutting short at 7 hours and 20 minutes. The performance and display have issues, but that's to be expected in a Chromebook. As long as you can get over the battery life, the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook is a great choice on a budget.

See our full Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook review.

How to choose one of the best laptops under $500

Do your intensive daily workloads require more RAM than the average Joe? Are you a video editor who needs extra storage? Are you a gamer who wants a powerful GPU? Sorting through the best laptops to fit your lifestyle is a tricky business.

To make your shopping process a little easier, our Editor-in-Chief Sherri L. Smith has put together some tried-and-true guidelines to help you choose the best laptop.

Budget: What you get for the money.

You can find decent Windows laptops and high-quality Chromebooks for under $500. However, better mainstream laptops usually cost more than $700 and premium Ultrabooks can run over $1,000. The best gaming laptops can cost $2.000 and up, but you can play the latest titles at decent frame rates on gaming laptops under $1,000.

Screen Size: 12 to 14 inches for Portability

Knowing a laptop's screen size tells you a lot about its portability overall. If you want to use your computer on your lap or carry it around a lot, go for one with a 12, 13 or 14-inch display. If you want to use the computer on tables and desks and won't carry it around much, a 15-inch model may give you more value. Some gaming rigs, media machines and workstations even have 17 or 18-inch screens, but those are hardest to carry.

2-in-1 or Clamshell?

More and more of today's laptops are 2-in-1s with screens that either bend back 360 degrees or detach so you can use them as tablets. If you like the idea of using your laptop in slate mode for drawing, media consumption or just using it standing up, a 2-in-1 could be for you. However, you can often get better features or a lower price by going with a traditional clamshell-style laptop.

Battery Life: 8+ Hours for Portability

Unless you only plan to use your laptop on your desk, battery life matters. Even within the home or office, having plenty of juice enables you to work on the couch or at the conference table, without being chained to the nearest outlet. For the best portability, we recommend getting a laptop that lasted over 8 hours on the Laptop Mag Battery Test. The longest-lasting laptops endure for over 10 hours.

Specs: 1080p / Core i5 / 8GB Are Best Bets

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.

How we test the best laptops under $500

We put each laptop through extensive benchmark testing — both synthetic and real-world — before they end up in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each aspect of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we use a Klein K10 colorimeter to detect the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop's display. For performance testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench 4.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional graphics tests. 

To determine real-world performance, we task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a 4.97GB multimedia file. Our real-world graphics test is the Dirt 3 benchmark with medium settings at 1080p resolution.

We also run heat tests by playing a 15-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in different areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our battery test consists of continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of brightness. For MacBooks and premium Windows 10 laptops, a runtime of over 9 hours is considered a good result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that can stay powered for longer than 5 hours deserve praise. 

These tests are complemented with extensive hands-on testing from our reviewers who critique everything from the laptop's materials to the feel of its touchpad.

See this page on How We Test Laptops for more details on our benchmarking procedures.

Why trust Laptop Mag

Laptop Mag reviews over one hundred different laptops every year, from paperweight ultralights to everyday workhorses to lumbering gaming notebooks that scorch the frame rates of even the hottest AAA games. We're not just experts in the laptop field, as we go one step further by meticulously testing smartphones, tablets, headphones, PC accessories, software, and even the latest in gaming. 

We are 100% independent and have decades of experience to help you buy with confidence. In fact, Laptop Mag has been testing and reviewing products for three decades, and we continue to deliver trustworthy reviews you can rely on. 

Our experienced team of writers and editors scour the available information about the laptop and put it through its paces to determine which is best for you. But before they start, the testing team subjects each system to a rigorous regimen of synthetic and real-world tests to see how a system handles the type of work and games you’re most likely to throw at it. 

Our editorial trustworthiness is enforced by one of the world's largest technology publishers, Future Publishing. As a company, we have unrivaled experience across every tech sector — and we're the group's specialist for all things mobile tech.