The best laptops under $500 in 2022

The best laptops under $500 won’t leave you unsettled because yous didn’t pay a premium price. There are value-priced notebooks that include full-HD displays, solid performance and long battery life, plus all the ports y’all need. Yous can even get a laptop with a touch screen in this price range, though it will exist on the smaller side. Some of these even made it on our best laptops page.

• Check out the best Chromebooks and best cheap laptops
• See the best 2-in-1 laptops and the all-time virtual tabletop software
• And here are the best cheap laptop deals today
• How is the Asus ROG Zephyrus G15 then inexpensive!? Get upwards to $300 off

After reviewing dozens of value-priced systems, the best laptops nether $500 with a Windows 10 operating system are the 15-inch Acer Aspire E 15 and the Acer Aspire 5. We even wrote a face-off comparing the Acer Aspire E15 vs. Acer Aspire 5 to help yous choose between the two. Meanwhile, the best Chromebooks nether $500 that y’all’ll find are the HP Chromebook 15 and HP Chromebook x2. We recently reviewed the new Acer Swift 3, which starts at $499, but information technology didn’t perform well enough to brand this listing due to its mediocre battery life. We too reviewed the HP Pavilion xiv (2020), which is just nether $500. Check out our all-time inexpensive laptop deals. Too, bank check out our Apple tree iPad mini vi review (2021), which starts at $499. If y’all’re looking for a new due east-reader, check out our Kindle Paperwhite (2021, 11th Gen) review.

Proceed in mind that y’all’re withal going to accept to make some compromises when yous’re looking for a laptop at this price. If you’re looking for something for your child, cheque our best kids tablets folio.

What are the best laptops under $500?

If yous’re looking at the summit of the best laptops under $500 list, you’ll find the Acer Aspire E fifteen and the Acer Aspire five. Why? Well, Acer is pretty proficient at making affordable laptops and giving yous the most blindside for your cadet, which is why you lot’ll run across Intel Core i3 CPUs in its laptops even at nether $500. The Aspire 5 even sports a premium aesthetic, with a silver, aluminum hood. And both laptops characteristic a wide diversity of ports.

However, if you prefer working on a Chromebook, the all-time ones around correct now are the HP Chromebook 15, HP Chromebook x2 and Samsung Chromebook 4. The HP Chromebook fifteen is the best all-rounder. Most Chromebooks look tragically boring, merely the HP Chromebook 15’due south 2-toned design (Ceramic White and Cloud Blue) defenseless my centre. If y’all desire something more versatile, the HP Chromebook x2 offers a detachable ii-in-1 design. And if you desire to prioritize bombardment life, get with the Samsung Chromebook four, which lasted 10 hours and 36 minutes on our tests.

Some of the other all-time laptops nether $500 include the HP Stream 11 and Acer Swift 1. The former is by far the cheapest Windows ten laptop that you’ll detect, so y’all should expect some major compromises in performance. Meanwhile, if yous’re looking for something that’s a skillful size and lightweight, so the Acer Swift one would be the best laptop for you.

The best laptops under $500 y’all can buy today

The Acer Aspire 5 earns its place at the top spot of the best laptops under $500 page due to its strong 8th Gen Core i3 performance, bright 1080p display and long battery life, all for an affordable toll. Although the Aspire 5 is much thinner than its sibling, the Aspire E fifteen, the Aspire 5 boasts enough room for a battery that lasts nearly 9 hours on a accuse.

It doesn’t characteristic a DVD writer, simply information technology still has a decent number of ports. The brandish emits an impressive 276 nits of brightness, which gives the screen some decent contrast. It even has an aluminum hood. To top it off, the bezels on the display are surprisingly narrow for a laptop this inexpensive. The Aspire 5 is ane of the best cheapest laptops currently available.

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Acer Aspire five review
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The Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3 cloaks itself in the guise of a tweed-bound journal. Nonetheless, lift the cover and you’ve unlocked a versatile 2-in-1 laptop that happens to include a stylus in case you did desire to do some journaling.

While the Detachable CM3 isn’t the most powerful of Chromebooks, its vibrant display and user-friendly form cistron make it an first-class content consumption and spider web browsing device that can hands slip into any bag. While it’due south pricey for having a MediaTek processor inside, the CM3 makes up for it with nearly 12 hours of battery life and a durable chassis. It’due south easily one of the all-time laptops under $500.

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Asus Chromebook Detachable CM3 review
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Depending on which model yous become for, for under $200, you won’t find a better Windows laptop than the HP Stream xi. The Stream boasts a portable, eleven-inch chassis, weighing in at two.5 pounds and measuring merely 0.vii inches thick. While our particular model sports a dull, blackness paint job, the HP Stream eleven is however adorable given its petite size.

For the price, yous shouldn’t look much out of the Stream 11, but its Intel Celeron N4000 processor with 4GB of RAM was able to handle 10 Microsoft Edge tabs as well as a 1080p YouTube video. The system too lasted a solid 9 hours and xix minutes on our battery examination. While its keyboard can exist a little cramped, it offers decent cardinal travel. If you’re on a tight budget, the HP Stream 11 is i of the best cheapest laptops to go with.

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HP Stream 11 (2018) review
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The Acer Chromebook 317 is the world’s kickoff-ever 17.three-inch Chrome OS laptop. When I first heard this, I idea, “Why?” Is there a target audition of Chromebook lovers who’ve been beseeching the gods for an unwieldy, clunky laptop? Don’t most Chromebook owners desire a mobile, easy-to-carry, travel-friendly device? However, later on spending some time with this laptop, there is a method to Acer’s madness.

There is an audience for the Chromebook 317, and information technology’s targeted at large-handed folks who are tired of feeling equally if they’re typing with thick, meaty sausage links. This laptop is for consumers who alive past the “get big or go dwelling house” saying. Nonetheless, in this example, you’ll have to do both: go big and go home. The Chromebook 317 isn’t particularly travel friendly, so you lot’d be amend off leaving the laptop stationed in your dwelling part.

No, the Chromebook 317 doesn’t take the brightest display, the most powerful processor, nor the longest bombardment life, but it’s adequate for those who’d sacrifice those perks for an intact bank account and a spacious Chromebook with a massive display.

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Acer Chromebook 317 review
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At commencement glance, The Lenovo Chromebook Duet (reviewed at $279) looks like an innocuous journal, merely open that bad boy up, and it’s a pocket-sized laptop with a colorful 10.one-inch display.

Merely this device’s transformative capability isn’t its only alluring feature — the Lenovo Chromebook Duet lasted almost 13 hours on our battery examination, which beats the 10-hour boilerplate runtime for Chromebooks. The price is another big selling point of the Lenovo Chromebook Duet. For under $300, you can own a lightweight car that tin can suffer all your intensive web multitasking.

The Lenovo Chromebook Duet sports a ten.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 mod expect. Just the Duet is a budget-friendly Chromebook, so we can concede the lack of slim bezels as a reasonable trade off.

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Lenovo Chromebook Duet review
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Previously, the HP Chromebook x2 wouldn’t be anywhere almost this folio, but the detachable Chromebook has since landed below the $500 toll range. The HP Chromebook x2 offers quite a few things that other budget laptops don’t, such as a colorful 2400 x 1600 brandish and a solid pair of speakers. As I watched the Captain Marvel trailer on the HP Chromebook x2, I admired its 2400 ten 1600-pixel console. Colors looked bang-up on the x2’s display, from the jade of Captain Marvel’s compatible to the rich, inky blackness of a dark corridor she walked through.

Additionally, the Chromebook x2 offers a comfortable keyboard and a battery that lasts virtually 9 hours on a single charge. Merely the ruby-red on top is that it comes included with HP’south Active Pen, which kept upwards with even our fastest drawings. The HP Chromebook x2 is i of the best Chromebooks around for the price.

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HP Chromebook x2 review
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The Lenovo Duet five Chromebook is a significant departure from last twelvemonth’s affordable Chromebook Duet. Although the higher cost tag may drive some abroad, the considerable hardware upgrades make this 2-in-i just as compelling.

The Duet 5 notwithstanding features a fabric rear case and keyboard encompass similar the previous model, only open up it up and the 13.iii-inch OLED display volition brand you cheque that sub-$500 price again. The changes run deeper than that with a dramatically improved Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 processor, while also delivering over thirteen hours on a single accuse.

While it may not exist the scrappy budget gnaw that the original Chromebook Duet was, the Duet v has bulked up and is ready to have on some heavyweight competition among the best laptops under $500 today.

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Lenovo Duet v Chromebook review
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If you’re itching for a Chromebook with a bigger, sharper display for an affordable toll, so your best best is the HP Chromebook 15. For but $469, you get a Chromebook with Core i3 performance and a comfortable keyboard packed into a refreshing design. The white, metal hood bears a glossy, silver HP logo and a blacked-out Chrome logo in the pinnacle left corner. The HP Chromebook 15 likewise has a round, round hinge that curves inward on each stop, giving the motorcar a more elegant, softer look.

On summit of that, you get a bombardment life that’ll terminal you lot for 9 hours and 51 minutes. It too packs a decent number of ports as well, including two USB Type-C ports, a USB Type-A port and a microSD card slot. While the display isn’t that colorful, information technology offers swell real-estate, it’s sharp and relatively bright as well. Information technology’s hands ane of the best cheapest laptops around.

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HP Chromebook xv review
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The Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook (reviewed at $409) is like shooting fish in a barrel on the pockets, merely allow us tell you lot, it doesn’t feel, look or deed inexpensive. This Chromebook may have “Flex ” in its name, only ironically, its solid metallic chassis is stalwart with a premium-feeling, part-aluminum body. At beginning glance, you may dismiss the Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook as some other gray, clamshell laptop, merely this shape-shifting device can also transform into a tablet thanks to its sturdy 360-degree swivel.

You’re going to love the Flex 5 Chromebook’s keyboard; information technology’s the laptop’south most standout feature next to its build quality. This backlit, isle-fashion keyboard has ane of the clickiest, bounciest keys nosotros’ve ever had the pleasance of reviewing to date. The Flex 5 Chromebook is perfect for productivity work because the keyboard volition have you flying through any word-processing tasks with rhythmic speediness.

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Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook review
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If you lot’re looking for a ridiculously cheap Chromebook, you won’t find anything better than the Samsung Chromebook iv ($229). It survived a whole x hours and 36 minutes against our battery exam, making it the best laptop under $500 with the longest bombardment life. With curved edges and a silverish hue, the Samsung Chromebook 4 looks a lot like the many MacBook copycats we’ve seen over the years. Its aluminum top feels a piddling nicer than I expected, simply the laptop’s cost shows in the plastic trunk.

The Intel Celeron 3000N processor and 4GB of RAM driving the Samsung Chromebook four provides decent power for multitasking, peculiarly at this price. This machine is all-time for people who really only demand to apply a laptop to type, especially because it has a good keyboard, but also, the screen and sound aren’t upwards to par. But thanks to how light it is, and its decent functioning, it’due south a solid ultraportable laptop.

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Samsung Chromebook 4 review
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How to choose the best laptops under $500 for you

Choosing the best laptop under $500 for you really depends on where you are at with your budget. Our top performers, the Acer Aspire E 15 and the Acer Aspire 5, typically range around $300 to $400, so you won’t even need to expand your budget to $500. Even if these laptops are slightly out of budget correct now, you should consider saving if you can, as they avowal Intel Core i3 processors, which you lot won’t find in most laptops nether $500.

However, if you lot don’t mind using the ChromeOS, it might be best for you to use a Chromebook. Here me out. It’s cheap, and since the operating system is stripped down, information technology volition perform better than your average Windows ten laptop for the same price. Laptops like the HP Chromebook fifteen, HP Chromebook x2 and Samsung Chromebook iv are examples of great chromebooks you tin buy under $500.

How nosotros test the best laptops under $500

Nosotros put each laptop through all-encompassing criterion testing — both constructed and real-globe — before they end upward in the hands of our reviewers. We evaluate each attribute of the laptop, including its performance, battery life, display, speakers and heat management.

In our benchmark testing, we apply a Klein K10 colorimeter to observe the brightness and sRGB color gamut of the laptop’s brandish. For operation testing, we run the laptop through a gauntlet of benchmarks, including Geekbench four.3 and 5.0 and 3DMark professional person graphics tests.

To determine real-world performance, nosotros task the laptop to convert a 4K video to 1080p resolution and to duplicate a iv.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 xv-minute full-screen video and measuring temperatures in unlike areas of the laptop. Last but not least, our bombardment 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 proficient result whereas gaming laptops and workstations that tin can stay powered for longer than five 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 experience of its touchpad.