Best Laptops Under $500 – 2020 Reviews

Updated on July 31st, 2020 at 04:18 pm

When it comes to laptops, there are a plethora of options ranging from mobile Workstation to gaming machine and ultra-portable machine. But these devices often come with a hefty price tag.

For some people, this salty price can be hard to swallow, especially if you are looking to purchase a laptop, four basic emails, web browsing, and word processing.

Fortunately, there are systems with an affordable price tag, which is why we have done our homework and compiled the list of the best laptops under 500.

Some of these options feature vivid display, decent processors, and impressive battery life. Without further ado, let us consider the top eight Picks for the year.

Best Laptop Under $500

1. Acer Aspire 5

The Acer Aspire 5 comes with a lot of features that make it a likable device. It has a 15.6-inch display with a brilliant brightness of 276 nits. Plus, a full 1080p resolution, which makes it ahead in my list of the best budget laptops. This machine, in terms of performance, allows you to multitask, Spotify listening, and browser tab switching without any lags. Thanks 288 generation Intel Core i3 and 4GB of Ram, Acer Aspire 5 will handle just about anything thrown at it.

Another incredible thing about this machine is its remarkable battery life of nearly 9 hours, allowing you to accomplish your day-to-day tasks without having to charge now and then.

In our opinion, one of the things we find not very satisfactory is the graphics. This system is not ideal for playing many last-generation games, even with the lowest setting. Nevertheless, this model is a decent choice and offers reliable services for people looking to use laptops for basic purposes.

Pros:

• Impressive battery life
• High performance
• Bright skin

Cons:

• Build quality is not up to par
• Poor graphics

2. Asus VivoBook 15

If you are in the market for a classy and comfortable machine, then Asus VivoBook 15 can be the right choice. It comes with an ultra-slim design and a super thin 5.7mm bezel for the optimal screen. It has an elevated ErgoLift hinge, which helps improve heat management by increasing airflow.

For the sake of comfortable typing, Asus VivoBook 15 features a 3.5-degree tilt. The fingerprint sensor and backlit keyboard make this model a decent choice for privacy-concerned users and late-night students.

Also, this model does not lack in performance. Like most machines on this list, it offers the much-need speed to watch youtube and listen to music, complete schoolwork, and light office tasks. However, Asus VivoBook 15 lacks enough juice to handle the latest, GPU-intensive PC games.

More so, it comes with HDMI ports, USB 3.1 Type-A, USB 2.0, and Type-C. Sadly, Asus VivoBook 15 features a tiresome number of pre-installed bloatware and dull display. Aside from this, you can’t really go wrong with the model.

Pros:

• Runs cool
• Lightweight design
• Solid performance
• Backlit keyboard

Cons:

• Annoying bloatware
• Dull display

3. Samsung Chromebook 3

Samsung Chromebook 3 is another affordable laptop and decent choice. It comes with a 259 nits screen to make it brighter than most of its competitors. Thanks to its Intel Celeron processor and 4GB of RAM to handle multiple browser tabs at the same time.

Samsung Chromebook 3 includes a standout webcam for multi-shot mode and video chats with amazing Instagram-ready live filters. Similarly, this machine sports the Google Chrome OS, which supports Android applications and relies mainly on Google services.

In addition, it includes 32GB of flash storage. The main drawback of Samsung Chromebook 3 is that it gets hot. Nevertheless, this model is an excellent choice for budget shoppers.

Pros:

• Bright screen
• Excellent battery life
• Very affordable
• Great performance
• Fun webcam

Cons:

• Runs warm
• Speakers could be better
• Poor button placement

4. Microsoft Surface Go 2

The Microsoft Surface Go 2 is our wild card and nothing like other laptops. This hybrid machine allows you to use it as a tablet and a laptop. This model shares a lot of resemblance with except for a decent upgrade ensuring the bezel fits a 10.5-inch display to deliver punchy colors.

Even better, Microsoft Surface Go 2 sports a longer-lasting battery life and a fantastic webcam to deliver clear teleconferencing. This machine is available in different configurations to match your budget range. However, to keep the price in our range, this option includes Intel Pentium Gold CPU, 64GB of eMMC storage, and 4GB of RAM to offer enough juice for anyone who wants a 2-in-1 device.

Microsoft Surface Go 2 is an excellent machine to handle basic productivity tasks such as loading up videos and movies or any less-intensive programs.

Pros:

• Excellent webcam
• Much-improved battery life
• Bigger, colorful and brighter screen

Cons:

• Performance could impress a lot better

5. Acer Swift 1

Another laptop by Acer with a lightweight design and offers excellent value for your money. It offers a solid aluminum chassis, a sharp webcam, and a plethora of ports (Type-C, USB 3.0, USB 2.0, and HDMI).

Acer Swift 1 comes with an outstanding battery life offering up to 10 hours of runtime to handle your day-to-day task. It offers impressive performance but can’t handle Borderlands 3 or other demanding games.

Nonetheless, its dim displays tend to fade the color. With its sweet webcam, terrific battery life, and decent performance, Acer Swift 1 is a long-lasting budget laptop under 500.

Pros:

• Terrific battery life
• Lightweight design
• Plenty of port options
• Good webcam

Cons:

• Dim display

6. HP Pavilion x360

On this list, we’ve another 2-in-1 model from HP. The Pavilion x360 can function as a regular laptop and touchscreen tablet without skipping a beat. The windows 10 layout is very responsive regardless of how many times you poke or prod. It also allows you to switch to typing with its smooth and satisfying keyboard when the need arises.

On top of that, it features a brilliant pair of Bang & Olufsen speakers to ensure this machine doubles as a personal stereo. What a nice solid sound to have without having to break the bank. The HP Pavilion x360 provides decent performance for handling multiple browser tables and playing even the latest games.

Sadly, this machine can only work for about a 6-hour battery life and features a washed-out display making it difficult to browse in the sunlight. But if you prefer to study or work for short bursts or have your friends entertained with a fantastic sound performance.

Pros:

• Comfy keyboard
• 2-in-1 design, so it works as a tablet and regular laptop
• Decent performance

Cons:

• Dull display
• Battery life is not impressive

7. Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-in-1 Convertible Laptop

This model sports a Google Chrome operating system, 4GB of RAM, and MediaTek processor to allow you to do a lot of heavy browsing with a plethora of tabs but won’t handle last-gen hardware-crunching games. However, it’ll help you watch Youtube videos and accomplish light work faster.

Sadly, this low-resolution display causes the color to appear washed out. But, the most exciting thing about Lenovo Chromebook C330 2-in-1 offers up to 10 hours of battery time, which is one of the best out there.

Also, the keyboard is clicky and comfortable and helps you get your work done quickly for college students and kids who are less concerned about the accuracy of the color and just want to get things done without wasting time. The Lenovo Chromebook C330 is another decent choice for people looking for an excellent option.

Pros:

• Comfy keyboard
• Long battery life
• 2-in-1, to offer the best of both worlds

Cons:

• Sluggish performance
• Dull display

8. HP 15t Laptop

Coming with a 15.6-inch HD touchscreen display, this model is an excellent choice for people looking for an all-rounder laptop. HP 15t Laptop runs on AMD Ryzen 7-3700U processor and 4.0GHz clock frequency.

Its latest AMD processor helps consume less power and equipped with a CPU featuring a decent number of benchmark scores. This laptop, including 12GB of RAM to offer smooth multitasking and 512GB of SSD for storing movies, images, documents, etc.

Another thing about HP 15t Laptop is its lag-free performance and incredible job of handling apps and multitasking. In terms of battery life, the machine sports lot of energy-efficient components to ensure it offers 5 hours of use on a single charge.

All in all, this device is a go-to for anyone looking to purchase a brilliant touchscreen laptop without breaking the bank.

Pros:

•  Touchscreen WLED-backlit
•  Ideal for School Students
• Incredible sound

Cons:

• Issue with Wifi

Conclusion

We’ve reviewed the top 8 best laptops under 500. However, it’s important to consider their strength and weakness before making a choice to ensure you make the right call. Nevertheless, we’re confident that you can’t really go wrong purchasing any of the models on our list.