Best laptops under $500: Best overall, best battery life, and more

Finding a good laptop under $500 is no easy task. Just type “laptops under $500” into any search bar and you’ll be inundated with loads of results. Although you’ll see many options, most aren’t worth the price. That’s why you need to shop smart here.

Personally, I’d recommend getting a laptop with a 1080p display and at least 8GB of RAM. You want a machine that’s powerful enough to handle day-to-day tasks and a display that’s sharp enough for watching YouTube. You may encounter a few trade-offs, sure, but that’s common for a laptop in this price range.

Below you’ll find a meticulously curated list of our top picks for laptops under $500, each and every one tested by our experts.

Why you should trust us: It’s in our name! PCWorld prides itself on laptop experience and expertise. We’ve been covering PCs since 1983, and we now review more than 70 laptops every year. All of the picks below have been personally tested and vetted by our experts, who’ve applied not only performance benchmarks but rigorous usability standards. We’re also committed to reviewing PC laptops at every price point to help you find a machine that matches your budget.

The best laptops under $500

Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus – Best Chromebook under $500

Pros

• Snappy day-to-day performance
• Versatile 2-in-1 design
• Good typing experience

Cons

• Stylus not included
• Heavier than expected

What we like about the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus

The Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus packs in a lot of features for the low price. The 2-in-1 form factor allows you to flip the screen around and use it like a tablet or you can prop it up like a tent for watching movies or sharing information. You can also expect peppy everyday performance and blazing fast boot-up times.

Who should buy the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus

If you need the versatility of a convertible laptop but want to stick to a more modest budget, then the Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus is the one to pick. It stands apart from the rest of the pack with its durable construction, affordable pricing, and versatile convertible design.

Alternative option: If you’re on a very tight budget, the Acer Chromebook Plus 514 ($249.99) is worth checking out. It’s about $100 less than our current pick and it comes with loads of connectivity options as well as an enjoyable keyboard and an attractive design. It’s not a 2-in-1 laptop like Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus, but I wouldn’t consider that a deal-breaker, especially if you prefer traditional clamshells.

Read our full

Lenovo Flex 5i Chromebook Plus review

HP Laptop 14-ep0865no – Best battery life

Pros

• Compact form factor
• Good everyday performance
• Long battery life
• Great keyboard and mouse

Cons

• Screen quality is mediocre
• Noisy fans

Why we like the HP Laptop 14

Although we love the HP Laptop 14’s compact form factor and comfortable keyboard, it’s the battery life that’s the real star of the show. It lasted about 15 hours on a single charge with light use, which is an incredible result for a sub-$500 Windows machine. This laptop also weighs just over three pounds, so it’s light enough to take with you from class to class or meeting to meeting. There’s even a 1080p webcam and, thanks to the Intel Core i3-1315U CPU, performance is zippy enough for browsing the web and whatnot. The subdued midnight blue color scheme is gorgeous, too.

Who should buy the HP Laptop 14

Anyone that needs a long-lasting, sub-$500 laptop! The 15 hours of battery life is more than a full work day (or school day), which means you don’t have to go hunting for an outlet. It’s also lightweight and slim, so you can easily stick it in a backpack or messenger bag and be on your merry way. While general use performance is fine, it’s not the best machine for multimedia tasks and the fan noise is a bit annoying to deal with. That said, those are reasonable compromises given the price.

Read our full

HP Laptop 14 review

Recent laptop reviews

We’ve reviewed several new laptops recently, though many cost more than $500.

• Asus Zenbook Duo: The second-generation Asus Zenbook Duo offers unparalleled multitasking prowess with its dual-screen configuration, but it’s hefty and expensive.
• Acer Chromebook Spin 312: The Acer Chromebook Spin 315 delivers reliable day-to-day performance as well as a comfortable typing experience, but there are a few things holding it back.
• Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro: The Samsung Galaxy Book5 Pro delivers incredible battery life, a beautiful display, and solid desktop performance. But for an extra $50, you could have this as a 2-in-1 machine with a bundled S Pen.
• Acer Swift 16 AI: The Acer Swift 16 AI is a capable machine with a big, beautiful screen, but its AI chops are still unproven.
• Lenovo Legion 5i: The Lenovo Legion 5i is a great value — a 16-inch gaming laptop with a screaming-fast CPU that also squeezes a surprising amount of performance from its GPU.

How we tested

The PCWorld team puts each and every Windows laptop through a series of benchmarks that test GPU and CPU performance, battery life, and so on. The idea is to push the laptop to its limits and then compare it against others we’ve tested.

Chromebooks, on the other hand, go through a series of web-based tests. It wouldn’t be fair or possible to run the same kinds of tests on a Chromebook, as they’re Chrome OS-based machines. Below, you’ll find a breakdown of each test and the reasons why we run them. For a much deeper look at our review methodology, check out how PCWorld tests laptops.

Windows laptops

• PCMark 10: PCMark 10 is how we determine how well the laptop handles lighter tasks like web browsing, word processing, spreadsheets, and so on.
• HandBrake: HandBrake is more intensive than PCMark 10. It basically measures how long a laptop’s CPU takes to encode a beefy 30GB file.
• Cinebench: Cinebench is a brief stress test of the CPU cores. It does this by rendering a 2D scene over a short period of time.
• 3DMark: 3DMark checks if 3D performance remains consistent over time by running graphic-intensive clips.
• Video rundown test: To gauge battery life, we loop a 4K video using Windows 10’s Movies & TV app until the laptop dies.

Chromebooks

• CrXPRT 2: The CrXPRT 2 benchmark tests a Chromebook’s battery life.
• Speedometer 2.0: This test determines a Chromebook’s web browser performance. It simulates this by adding, completing, and removing a to-do list.
• Basemark Web 3.0: This benchmark gauges how well a Chromebook can handle web-based applications.
• Kraken 1.1: Kraken 1.1 is a JavaScript performance benchmark.
• Jetstream 2: Jetstream 2 is a combination of WebAssembly and JavaScript benchmarks. This is a way to gauge how well a Chromebook runs advanced workloads.

What kind of laptop should you get?

Ah, here we are at the billion dollar question. Do you spring for a basic Chromebook or go for a Windows laptop with more features? Well, it really depends on your lifestyle and your expectations of a sub-$500 machine. At this price point, you’re not going to find a powerful workhorse. However, there are plenty of affordable laptops out there for those who need the basics.

Chromebooks, for example, are a great low-cost option and offer phenomenal battery life. I use a Chromebook as my primary work laptop, as it has everything I need for both editing and writing. If you travel for work, it’s probably a good idea to invest in a laptop that weighs less than three pounds. If you’re still unsure, don’t sweat it. I’ve put together a list of quick buying tips below.

• Laptop type: There are many different laptop types that fall in the sub-$500 category: clamshells, 2-in-1’s, Chromebooks, and much more. The displays on convertible laptops (aka 2-in-1’s), for example, can swing around 360 degrees. This allows you to use the laptop like a tablet. They can also be propped up like a tent for viewing movies or participating in video calls. Chromebooks come in various shapes and sizes, and exclusively run Google’s web-focused Chrome OS. With a Chromebook, all you need is a Gmail account and, boom, you’re in.
• CPU: When it comes to the sub-$500 Windows laptops, you can expect to find Intel Core i3 or i5 processors. An i5 processor obviously provides a little more oomph. That said, basic office and web work does just fine on a Core i3. As for AMD options, the Ryzen 3 is good for basic productivity and web browsing, while Ryzen 5 chips rival Intel’s Core i5 as solid all-arounders. For Chromebooks, Snapdragon and Pentium processors are more powerful than MediaTek chips.
• Graphics: At this price range, you probably won’t find a laptop with a powerful discrete graphics card. Instead, you’ll encounter laptops with integrated graphics, which are integrated with the CPU and use less power as a result. This is perfectly fine for everyday tasks, especially if you’re not doing anything that’s graphics-intensive—like 3D gaming.
• RAM: Always go for 8GB of RAM. That’s plenty enough for firing up applications and loading web pages. Most Chromebooks are equipped with 4GB of RAM, which is the bare minimum. You need a decent amount of memory on these machines, as they’re primarily web-based. If there’s an 8GB RAM option, I’d recommend springing for that.
• Display size: If you’re a video editor or someone who does a lot of multimedia work, you’ll want a display that’s anywhere from 15- to 17-inches (but these machines usually cost far more than $500). The sweet spot for budget laptops is really anywhere from 13- to 14-inches. The bigger the display, the heavier your laptop is going to be. A 13- or 14-inch display is the best in terms of portability and value.
• Resolution: I wouldn’t go for anything less than 1080p, as there’s nothing more annoying than a slightly fuzzy image. 1080p produces a picture that’s sharp enough for watching Netflix or working in Excel. At this price range, you won’t really find many (if any) laptops with 1440p resolution or higher.
• Battery life: If you plan on taking your laptop anywhere with you, aim for something that can last 10 to 12 hours on a single charge. That’s more than a full work day, so it should theoretically get you through long flights or a day of classes. Obviously, more is always better. Just know that the bigger the battery, the heavier the laptop.
• Price: The price really depends on your budget. If you’re strapped for cash (been there, trust me), go for a Chromebook or an entry-level business laptop. These laptops are a good choice for students or young professionals. If you shop smart, you can even find 2-in-1’s in the $500 range.
• Ports: A wide array of ports is always a plus, as it eliminates the need for an adapter. I’d recommend a laptop that has both USB-C and USB-A. An HDMI port is good, too. This is especially useful for hooking up to an external monitor.