Best budget laptops under £200, £300 and £500

We run you through the best budget laptops we've found and explain where you can compromise with affordable laptops. False economy is rife when you're looking at cheap laptops, so use our advice and recommendations to avoid wasting your money.

The truth about budget laptops is that if you're paying less then £500, you'll have to make some compromises. We've seen sub-£500 Best Buy models, but they're few and far between, so you need to be careful which cheap option you buy if you want a good budget laptop.

We’ll take you through our top picks of the best budget models for less than £500 and give our expert tips on where you can make compromises – and where you shouldn't. We'll also outline what to look for in a cheap laptop if you're buying for a child.

Whatever your budget, our laptop reviews reveal which models are worth your money and which aren't. You can also see our expert pick of the best laptops

Best budget laptops under £500, £300 and £200

We've gathered the very best laptops for less than £500, ranked by Which? test score. We've been sure to pick out the best models for less than £300 and less than £200, too, if you really don't want to spend a lot. 

Due to the fluctuating nature of prices, some prices might rise above £500 occasionally. However, we'd expect these affordable laptops to be priced below £500 most of the time. 

Only logged-in Which? members can view our recommendations below. If you’re not yet a member, you can get instant access if you join Which? plus unlock all our independent, expert product reviews and service reviews. This includes which budget laptop we recommend if you don't have time to shop around.

Laptop reviews under £500 by type

• Windows laptop reviews
• MacBook reviews (second hand only; under £800)
• Chromebook reviews
• Large laptop reviews
• Thin and light laptop reviews

Laptop reviews by price

• Laptops under £200
  
• Laptops under £300
• Laptops under £500

Cheap laptops to avoid

Shopping at the budget end of the market isn't easy. We've named the worst as Don't Buys because of poor performance, battery life, display quality or often all three in our independent tests. The laptops below are definitely models to avoid.

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From our laptops expert: What to expect when you spend less

Oliver Trebilcock, Which? laptops expert and senior researcher, says:

The quality of cheap laptops is always a mixed bag, which is why it's well worth checking our reviews of cheap laptops before you buy. Below, I've summarised the three laptop price points featured on this page and what you should expect.

• Laptops for less than £200 If you’re looking for a decent laptop that costs less than £200, you won't get many extra features, but there are a few options available that have scored reasonably well in our tests. Ultra-cheap laptops are often best suited to simple computing tasks such as writing documents and sending a few emails. They're also ideal for children who only have basic homework to do.
• Laptops for less than £300 Up the budget and you’ll start to find higher-scoring models with faster processors and better screens, including reasonable Pentium processors.
• Laptops for less than £500 If you can go up to this price, you'll find a lot more to choose from. Models often have faster Intel Core i3 – and, at a stretch, i5 – processors, as well as speedy solid-state drives (SSDs) and vibrant Full HD screens.

Why you can trust our laptop reviews

Our expert lab tests more than 100 laptops a year, and we buy every laptop we test – meaning we're completely independent, don't accept freebie samples, and are able to test base specification laptops that can be much more affordable than the souped-up models brands often want you to focus on.

We test the whole market, not just the big brands. So you can be sure we're not jumping on the hype train and miss out on more affordable gems. We're just as interested in value for money as performance: that's where our Great Value recommendations come in. These complement our Best Buy recommendations, making it easy for you to know which models not only perfom well, but offer superior value for money for what they offer.

Our tests are also exceptionally comprehensive. Our dedicated technicians handle laptops on a daily basis, so are dab hands at knowing what makes a great laptop, and what will really undermine the experience months and years after buying - whether that's a laggy touchpad or battery life that doesn't live up to manufacturer claims. You can use our laptop reviews to get a laptop that won't break the bank, and won't be a purchase you regret in the long run.

The pros and cons of budget laptops

If you’re thinking of buying a cheap laptop, you should know what you can and can’t do with your new machine.

Pros of budget laptops

• Portability Very cheap laptops for less than £250 tend to be small, which means they often weigh around 1kg or less. They’re also typically very thin, so should fit in even the smallest of bags.
• Battery life Because these laptops have low-power processors, they often have long battery life. Some of the best we’ve tested easily last more than 10 hours, so you shouldn't get caught out if you’re away from a power source for longer than expected.

Cons of budget laptops

• Speed While laptops costing around £500 will be fast enough for almost everyone, if you cut the budget much more than this then speed will suffer. The very latest models are fine when web browsing, but they will slow down significantly if you try to have several programs running at once. Very cheap models can have lower-end Intel processors (now known simply as 'Intel Processor', or older Celeron and Pentium) – it's often wise to focus on a faster processor with your limited budget, such as an Intel Core i3. Read more about processor brands in our guide to AMD, Intel and Nvidia. 
• Screen quality Some cheaper options have screens that are lower resolution and significantly duller than their more expensive counterparts (the current laptop standard is Full HD resolution). This isn’t a universal truth, however, and some ultra-cheap laptops have impressive screens. Our laptop reviews reveal all.
• Low storage Small and cheap laptops, especially Chromebooks, have little storage. These laptops are best for working on documents stored in cloud services such as Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive – but that is an added cost. If you have a large collection of photos and videos, you might need to keep them on a good external hard drive. Don't buy a Chromebook with less than 64GB storage and avoid Windows laptops with less than 256GB. The Windows 11 operating system will often eat up well over half a 256GB hard drive just by itself.

Buying a budget laptop for a student

If you are a student or are buying for a student, see our expert pick of the best laptops for students at school, college or university.

If you're buying for a younger child who only needs a laptop to do their homework, you can spend as little as £150 on a new budget model that should be up to the job. That’s not to say that you should completely ignore our reviews, as few budget options excel in our tests and the last thing you need is for a slow model to put them off doing their homework. But it does mean you can be a little more flexible.

Whatever you're spending, you should aim to buy one that’s not too old. Cheap laptops from a few years ago were slow when they launched and might feel even slower today, as programs and the web have become more demanding for older computers. 

Our tough tests reveal the best external hard drives.

Buying a budget laptop for a child

Here are the minimum specs to look for if you’re buying for a younger child and have a budget of less than £200:

• Operating system Windows 11 in S mode or ChromeOS (Windows S mode limits functionality of basic-spec models to minimise slowdown) 
• Processor 'Intel Processor' (preferably the higher-spec Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3)
• Memory 4GB Ram (preferably 8GB)
• Storage 256GB of storage (Windows 11) or 64GB of storage (ChromeOS).

We'd recommend a smaller, 11-inch screen (to make the laptop easy and safe to carry around). Avoid big, heavy laptops that a child will struggle to carry. 

You should also check it's going to be compatible with Windows 11 – use our free Windows 11 requirements checker tool. If the laptop's not compatible, support for Windows 10 will end in October 2025 and you'll stop getting important updates.

If you opt for Windows 11 in S Mode, your computer will only be able to install apps from the Microsoft Store. This means there's much less chance of your child accidentally downloading an app that’s actually malware. You can also set up their Microsoft account to be a 'child' account linked to your own account, so you can limit what they're allowed to do with the laptop and further restrict what apps can be downloaded from the Microsoft Store.

Protect your data - our tests reveal the best antivirus

Chromebooks are also worth a look. In fact, your child might already use one at school, as these are popular among educational institutions. Read our guide to the best Chromebooks for what to expect.

Steer clear of: 

• Processor Intel Atom and older Intel Celeron/Pentium processors (look out for model numbers starting with N3 and N40, such as N3060 or N4020, as these are old and slow)
• Memory 2GB Ram (it's just not enough – minimum spec for Windows 11 is 4GB)
• Storage 32GB storage (this will probably get full very fast, even on a Chromebook).

We’d recommend sticking to models from well-known brands, sold by trusted retailers, as you can more easily guarantee that they’re new and have a valid warranty. You'll also have access to a dedicated customer support service via the manufacturer’s website.

Buying a no-name brand from an online marketplace, such as Amazon Marketplace or eBay, for example, means that you might get little or no support. Some brands don’t even have websites, making them impossible to contact.

We survey thousands of laptop owners so we can reveal the most reliable laptop brands.

Where to buy a budget laptop

There are several online retailers that you can buy laptops from without spending lots of money. To help you narrow down the options, we've picked a few of the most searched-for retailers that offer laptops at £500, £300, and £200.

• Currys has loads of laptops available at most price points, including many of our top budget-friendly picks. Standard delivery is free on most orders, with faster delivery available from £7. You can click and collect laptops, too.
• John Lewis offers several laptops under £500, including some of our recommended models. Most models that fall under £500 are Chromebooks, and there are several laptops available that meet our recommended specs. You'll get free standard delivery on all laptops.
• Laptops Direct stocks laptops and Chromebooks that fall under £200, £300, and £500. Standard delivery costs £6, with next-day options from £10.

Not sure whether to opt for a Chromebook or Windows laptop? Our guide on Chromebooks vs laptops can help you make the right choice

How to find a good deal on a budget laptop

Just because a deal exists, it doesn’t mean that it’s special. Indeed, sometimes the 'sale' price is simply the usual price, but with a big red label on it. 

We've put together a full guide on laptop deals, including our latest five top picks, and a full suite of advice on how to get the best out of the UK's biggest retailers. The products featured on the page are hand-picked by experts and available to Which? members and non-members alike. 

Head over to our best laptop deals to find out more.

The cheapest monitors we've tested are less than £100. To find out how they perform, see our computer monitor reviews