Cheap business laptop

Looking for a new laptop under the £500-£600 mark used to be a fools' errand, with many on offer being underperforming and cheaply designed. Now, cheap budget laptops are something everyone should consider when looking for a portable PC. However, value offerings from hardware and component manufacturers with AMD, Chromebooks and speedy SSDs, in particular, leading the way laptops are more attractive than ever to those who don't want to spend close to £1,000 to get something decent.

Whether it's a 15in AMD device on Windows, 14in Intel machine on ChromeOS or a laptop with a 360-hinge for using as a tablet too, you can get stylish cheap laptops that can deal with all your average day-to-day productivity tasks comfortably. You might not get all of the top features in one package, from devices with a great keyboard but a middling webcam and vice versa, and that's why we've tested the best of the best in the budget laptops market to guide you through what's available for less than £500-£600.

What is the best budget laptop to buy in 2021?

With superb performance, leading battery life and a quality keyboard, the 14in Asus VivoBook M413 (from £490) is the best budget laptop you can buy right now. Budget laptops are in high demand and, as such, its worth considering our previous top pick the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 (£429).

View the Asus VivoBook for £490 on Amazon [Low Stock]

The best budget Chromebook is the nifty little Acer Chromebook 314 (£260). We like its clear 14in touchscreen, smart aluminium exterior and intuitive Chrome OS - just make sure you go for the 64GB model.

View the Acer Chromebook 314 for £260 on Amazon

And for the best Windows laptop under £400, we look to Acer with the excellent value Swift 1 (£399). While you get low-end specs, they punch well above their weight. This thin and light laptop will meet the productivity needs of most. The keyboard is comfortable too, alongside a decent display and speakers that offer pleasing sound.

View the Acer Swift 1 for £399 on Amazon [Low Stock]

WIRED Recommends is your definitive guide to the best technology. Every product featured has been properly tested by WIRED reviewers. Read our list of the best gadgets for our favourite picks in every category.

WIRED Recommends: The 14-inch Vivobook hits all the right beats for a budget and student-friendly laptop

Weight: 1.4kg | Size: 19mm thick | Battery life: 12 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: Up to 8GB | Storage: Up to 512GB SSD | CPU: Up to Ryzen 7 4700U | OS: Windows 10 Home

Over the last few years, theres been remarkable progress when it comes to the value-for-money performance you can get out of processors from Intel (Core i3 and i5) and AMD (Ryzen 3 and 5) and this has only improved over 2020 and 2021. Our previous budget laptop top pick, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5, has been the epitome of this value for some time. While Lenovos offering is still great, the Asus VivoBook M413 (from £490) adds a touch of class at a slightly better price.

For performance, youll have little to worry about when it comes to using this for productivity work. Opt for the £469 model and youll get the Ryzen 5 processor along with 8GB RAM plenty for browsing with upwards of 10 tabs open and a bit of multi-tasking. This laptop really shines as a student option with a keyboard that offers decent travel and, even, a good amount of feedback making this a great device for long essay sessions. The trackpad does slightly let the side down, with a small surface area and a bit of a hollow click, but its far from a dealbreaker.

The looks of this machine are a key factor in the Asus pipping the Lenovo to the post. While the Lenovo is trim and has a decent high-quality feel for the price, its looks unsightly bezels and plain colour options does take it down a peg. On the inside, the Asus VivoBook has a couple of accents in key places to give it a pop of colours as well as slim bezels that fade away due to the deep black colour of the plastic.

The colour options are strong too with blue, black and grey to appeal to those looking for a more muted aesthetic as well as a light purple and pink. The design showcases that budget laptops dont have to look boring just because they are functional. Its lightweight and soft-touch plastic lid also make it a pleasure to carry around reinforcing its student chops.

Functionality plays out in port selection as well as the stellar performance. With 3x USB-A ports, a USB-C, HDMI, microSD card reader and headphone jack. USB-C charging wouldve been a great inclusion but its absence is less impactful due to the impressively small charging brick.

Like many budget laptops in this range, the display isnt the highlight. At 1080p, you get a good level of detail but colours dont pop and contrast is muted. However, the VivoBook does stand out amongst budget rivals for its impressive speaker performance getting surprisingly loud and offering a great amount of base.

Pros: Superb performance; decent speakers; comfortable and responsive keyboard; sleek design and great colour options
Cons: Small trackpad; mediocre display

Price: From £490 | Check price on Amazon [Low Stock]

Undoubtedly, the best value for money cheap laptop you can buy right nowdue to a pleasing discount is the Huawei MateBook D 15 (£500) with £150 off right now. This laptop has looks that mimic the MacBook Pro. And, while it doesnt use the same high quality materials, its a good goal to aim for. It also sports a 10th Gen i5 processor, 8GB RAM and 512GB SSDa strong combination for student or heavy productivity users.

Looking further down the age groups than students, theres Chromebooks for primary age kids. The Asus Chromebook Flip C214 (£170) is one of these laptops and is discounted by £67 this December. Along with the lightweight ChromeOS thats super easy to useand swift for such a low pricethis laptop is a 2-in-1, making it a good pick for watching movies as well as getting some basic school tasks done.

Chromebooks may be cheap and a great option for a first laptop but theyve been around for some time now and have matured. Another Asus pick is the Asus Chromebook Flip C434 (£400). This attractively priced laptop brings a modern look to ChromeOS, with a stylish design, thin bezels, Intel Core i3 chip and great keyboard.

A top ultrabook contender at a newly reduced price

Weight: 1.4kg | Size: 14.9mm thick | Battery life: 13 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: Up to 16GB | Storage: Up to 512GB SSD | CPU: Up to AMD Ryzen 7 4800U | OS: Windows 10 Home

The Yoga Slim 7 (from £652) is one of the stand out laptops of the past year shaking up the ultrabook market with a laptop several hundred pounds cheaper than the Dell XPS 13, HP Spectre x360 and the rest. Its a laptop to make you question if you need a £1,000-plus machine. While its highest spec model is a candidate for the best laptop around, the AMD Ryzen 5 model is now down to under £600, making it a strong budget laptop pick too.

The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 is an attention grabber once you lay your eyes on its design. On the outside, it has a sleek metal build that matches up with rivals above the £1,000 mark and it has a pleasingly low accompanying low weight too. The trimmed down frame makes it all the more remarkable that the Slim 7 has an impressively responsive and travel-rich keyboard great for those long document-writing sessions. The design of the Yoga Slim 7 when opened up is slightly less impressive, despite offering slim bezels with the main eyesore being a notch-like webcam that sticks up slightly from the top of the laptop.

Its the performance of this cut-price ultrabook that really makes it shine, though. With the Ryzen 5 and 8GB RAM model, youll be able to handle several programs at once and upwards of 10-plus tabs on the web. Along with more than 10 hours of battery life, this is a device with immense value for those who want a laptop focused on productivity. Unfortunately, the Yoga Slim 7 is missing a squarer 16:10 or 3:2 aspect ratio display to truly take it over the edge in terms of productivity capabilities. The display also disappoints in terms of brightness but colours are vivid and 1080p is plenty of detail at this size.

Also consider: While AMD certainly provides higher performance for your cash, the Intel version of this laptop Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (£620) is also available for a reasonable price. If you want more power, you can spend a bit extra on the AMD Ryzen 7 model (£850).

Pros: One of the best bang-for-your-buck laptops around; comfortable keyboard; slim design; long battery life; great port selection
Cons: Display doesnt get all that bright; 16:9 display; no Thunderbolt

Price: From £652 | Check price on Amazon | Lenovo

While some iPads and high-end Android tablets can cost upwards of £500, theres plenty of value-for-money options at the lower end of the market. Our favourite budget tablet is the Lenovo Tab P11 (from £220). Amazon has long offered the top budget picks but this Lenovo option raises the price slightly to provide an extremely capable Android tablet. Its got a stylish two-tone design and is more than capable of handling your TikToks and your Netflix binges.

For those who would like to pay under £100, Amazon does remain the brand to go for. The Fire HD 8 (£90) gives you access to all the popular apps youd expect while also accommodating the Kindle-friendly goodness e-reading fans will have gotten used to. Amazon has finally added USB-C with this latest model tooits about time. Speaking of time, you should be able to get up to 12 hours of battery life out of this budget pick.

Amazon might have the under £100 market sewn up but Lenovo has swooped in again, with an idea youd think the former wouldve come up with first. The Lenovo Smart Tab P10 (£242) combines tablet with smart display. You can use this Android device as you would any other tablet but it comes with a handy docking station that uses Alexa to turn it into a smart display. The docking station doubles as a speaker too for boosting your favourite music, podcasts or audiobook.

The best laptop under £400

Weight: 1.3kg | Size: 14.9mm thick | Battery life: 13 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 128GB SSD | CPU: Intel Pentium Silver N6000 | OS: Windows 10 in S mode

The Acer Swift 1 (£399) spec sheet is extremely tame and such specifications often equate to a low chance of multi-tasking and the slow loading of web pages. However, the Intel Pentium Silver N6000 processor paired with 4GB RAM is a surprisingly formidable combo for students on a tight budget or those with basic productivity needs.

While the Swift 1 comes sporting Windows 10 in S Mode, our testing outside of this mode found the restriction to be wholly unnecessary so dont be scared to venture out of it. The Acer Swift 1 can comfortably run three low-demand programs like Netflix, Spotify and a browser of your choosing with little slowdown. Or, for the tab-hungry, youll be able to manage about 7-9 tabs in Chrome before noticing any disruption to a smooth experience. With such low specs, these results are a solid achievement and demonstrate a step up for the Pentium range. If you're someone writing essays regularly or just need a laptop for simple tasks, theres no reason to be afraid of this processor line and the low 4GB RAM beyond futureproofing.

The student-friendly setup continues with the keyboard. Unfortunately, the design and texture of the keyboard look rather cheap but this betrays its solid performance even if larger keys would also be welcome. There isnt much feedback to speak of either but a good amount of travel still prevents fatigue. In contrast to the keyboard design, this is a delightfully thin and light laptop that is ideal for slinging in a bag before and after class. The Silver colour option we tested is extremely unexciting but Safari Gold, Black and Pink are all there too. The bezels around the display are suitably thin too, if not as razor-thin as many higher-priced rivals.

The main drawback of the Swift 1 is an underwhelming display. In an office or classroom, youll have no trouble seeing the display but it isnt a laptop for using outside. And, while it is perfectly fine for productivity tasks and your average Netflix show, you wont want to be watching cinematic movies on this or looking at your carefully composed holiday snaps. Theres a lack of colour and, despite being 1080p, detail isnt in abundance either.

Pros: A portable dream; student-friendly productivity performance; handy fingerprint sensor; comfortable keyboard; surprisingly decent speakers
Cons: Display doesnt get very bright and lacks vibrancy

Price: £399 | Check price on Amazon | Currys [Low Stock]

The IdeaPad 5 has all the performance, ergonomics and battery life you need

Weight: 1.4kg | Size: 19mm thick | Battery life: 10 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 128GB SSD | CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 4300U | OS: Windows 10 Home

Lenovos latest affordable laptop combines smart design with great components to become one of the best budget notebooks on the market despite it having some expected, inevitable compromises.

The IdeaPad 5 (from £429) looks the part, with a smart exterior made from aluminium and plastic and a body thats a modest 19mm thick, weighing 1.4kg. Build quality is robust, which means this machine can be slung in a backpack without concerns. Around the edges, its got two USB 3 ports, an HDMI output, an SD card slot and a USB-C connector that can also provide power and output to DisplayPort. The power button has a fingerprint reader.

Lenovos reputation for high-class keyboards continues. The IdeaPads typing unit doesnt have a huge amount of travel, but the buttons on this machine are consistent, quiet and soft. Some people may prefer something snappier, but this keyboard is easily good enough for working. The trackpad is fine if a little rattly.

On the inside, this most affordable IdeaPad deploys an AMD Ryzen 3 4300U processor. Its a quad-core chip without multi-threading but it uses AMDs latest architecture, which is excellent. The CPU uses AMDs Vega 5 graphics, and theres 8GB of memory, a 128GB SSD and future-proof Wi-Fi 6.

When it comes to performance, expect the Lenovo to handle day-to-day computing: Office multi-tasking and web-browsing will be batted aside. This AMD chip is twice as quick as equivalent Intel Core i3 CPUs in productivity applications, and its integrated graphics core has enough power to handle casual gaming and esports titles (like Fortnite, Minecraft and League of Legends) as long as the graphics settings are dialled back. The speakers are not bad either. They lack bass but they have the snap and clarity to handle casual gaming, media and box-set viewing.

The IdeaPad 5's 57Wh battery delivers around eight hours of life when working and around ten hours when playing video, so it wont be too difficult to get this machine through a full day.

This machines biggest weakness is the 14in screen: while its a Full HD panel with narrow bezels, a webcam and a privacy shutter, quality is slightly inconsistent. Its bright and has decent contrast, but the colours are muted. There are minor issues elsewhere, too. The Lenovo is quiet, but the exterior can become a little warm. Theres no Gigabit Ethernet socket, and no faster USB 3.2 Gen 2 ports.

For most people, though, this Ryzen 3 machine will be amply powerful, and a far better option than Intel-powered rivals - unless you really need a more vibrant display. Couple this with the impressive battery life, ergonomics and design, and youve got a machine that will serve anyone on a budget.

Also consider: The Ideapad 5 14 is extremely popular and, as such, it can often be tough to find it in stock. If you fancy broadening your net and don't mind the larger model, the Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15 (£630) is a suitable, if pricier, alternative.

Pros: Superb performance for the price; solid keyboard; robust, versatile exterior design
Cons: Display a little pallid; no Gigabit Ethernet; can get a little warm

Price: From £429 | Check price on Lenovo

A flashy laptop for just under £500

Weight 1.11kg | Size: 15.69mm thick | Battery life: Up to 8 hours | Screen: 12.4-inch 1536 x 1024 | RAM: Up to 8GB | Storage: Up to 256GB | CPU: 11th Gen Core i5 | OS: Windows 10 Home S Mode

Weve ventured slightly above £500 for a device that is fittingly flashy to justify such an exception. The Microsoft Surface Laptop Go (£485) is a device made for those whove looked longingly at a quality piece of student laptop kit like a MacBook Air but have never wanted to spend £1,000 on a certified homework machine. At under £600, this is a remarkably good value device, if a little shy on performance for your cash.

The Surface Laptop 3 (£1,269) is one of the best-looking laptops around and the Laptop Go brings the brushed aluminium slab of metal vibe to this lower price. It feels like you're holding a quality piece of hardware. The underside may be plastic but, if anything, it feels like a sensible move for a device that will mostly be lugged about by studying teens. And, thats really who this device is for in particular, our Ice Blue review model is sure to be a hit, with a subtle, frosty hue.

Youll boot the Surface Laptop Go in Microsofts pared-back Windows 10 in S Mode. This restricts you to Windows apps and, therefore, from downloading any old app from the internet and binding you to the Windows Store. You can venture out of S Mode but, for a device with just 4GB RAM, you should only really consider this if youre looking for a single to dual-tasking laptop for essay-writing, browsing the web with about 4-8 tabs open and media consumption. On those tasks, it does a decent job of being able to move between two of each and performs fine when tackling one at a time.

The display does a great job of providing an added boost to those productivity tasks too offering a refreshing 3:2 aspect ratio that gives you that extra bit of content on the screen when scrolling. While the screen is disappointingly below Full HD, it isnt by much and you wont notice it in the day-to-day.

As with the build, the keyboard, trackpad and speakers are all slightly reduced takes on the Surface Laptop 3. That said, on the laptop Go, they do all surpass many rivals at this price range, making it one of the best budget laptops for essay-writing and for audio.

The keys are pleasing to type on, with a decent amount of travel and some feedback, if a little spongy while the trackpad is accurate if a tad small. The speakers are phenomenal at this price point. Rarely is audio a department in which cheaper laptops thrive but this little wonder performs better than many devices that push closer to £1,000. Like its more expensive cousin, the sound is detailed at high and low volumes while theres a surprising amount of bass for such a dinky laptop.

If youre a shrewd buyer looking for more function over form then this laptop may not be for you but, as a laptop made to appeal to teens, the Surface Laptop Go offers capable schoolwork performance, impressive audio and a sleek design.

Pros: Premium look and stylish colour choices; stunning audio at this price; powerful enough for basic productivity
Cons: Not a multitasker; no fingerprint scanner on base model

Price: From £485 | Check price on Amazon | John Lewis | Microsoft

A huge SSD and ideal for long workdays

Weight: 1.2kg | Size: 22mm thick | Battery life: 12 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 1TB SSD | CPU: Ryzen 5 4500U | OS: Windows 10 Home

Laptops like the Acer Swift 3 (£600) are proof you dont have to spend close to £1000 to get a high-performing productivity device. The Swift 3 provides a strong counterpoint to the Surface Laptop Go, a similarly priced device that offers up a bit more style. In contrast, Acers sub-£600 device is all about value for money and convenience.

The main appeal of the Acer Swift 3 is perfectly encapsulated on the spec sheet. With this laptop, you get a few top-notch features that other laptops on this list cant keep up with. Firstly, theres the AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor and 8GB RAM combination. This team-up eats up productivity tasks with ease think upwards of 15 tabs while running Netflix, Office or Spotify in the background, no trouble. The jewel in this laptops crown is its storage. A close second is battery life, with up to 12 hours here, and this was confirmed in our testing meaning this laptop can go one work day and then some.

The Swift 3 has a whopping 1TB SSD compare that to the £549 version of the Surface Laptop Go which features just 64GB eMMC storage. Outside of its flashier rival, other competitors tend to offer a maximum of 512GB at this price. If you require a budget laptop with plenty of storage, this is the one to get. One caveat is that we found that it wasnt a particularly fast SSD but it doesnt noticeable impede performance and also lines up with much of the competition around this price. The size is whats worth shouting about here.

Moving away from the internal components, things are a tad less rosy. The overall design is fairly bland but is redeemed a good amount by being thin and lightweight but it wont turn heads like the Surface Laptop Go. While the keyboard and trackpad wont knock your socks off either. The keyboard is particular feels a bit sluggish, with little feedback or clickiness to speak of. There is enough travel that you shouldnt get typing fatigue after any long writing sessions. The port selection is a bit odd, if best described as behind the times, with one USB-C, a USB-A 3.1 and USB-A 2.0 flanked by an HDMI port, DisplayPort and headphone jack. And theres no USB-C charging here either.

The display of the Swift 3 certainly doesnt fall under the category of huge selling point but its also not half bad either. The 1080p resolution helps keep things detailed and the colours are fairly vibrant. However, it doesnt get all that bright and theres certainly room for more contrast.

Pros: Great for storage; ideal for intensive productivity; decent display
Cons: Outdated port selection; no USB-C charging; slow SSD; average keyboard

Price: £600 | Check price on Amazon | Currys

Coming in a few hundred pounds over £500, the Asus TUF Dash F15 (£999) doesnt quite grace this budget laptops guide. But, if youve been looking to get into portable PC gaming, youll know it doesnt come cheap. At under £1,000, the TUF Dash F15 is our top affordable gaming laptop offering great value for money, including some high-end features like Thunderbolt 4, a terrific gaming keyboard and a high refresh rate display.

Lenovo has a great offer on its nicely specced and stealthily designed Legion 5 (£699). The Legion 5 comes with a 15.6in 144Hz display alongside a stellar AMD Ryzen 5 4600H CPU, decent Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 GPU and 8GB RAM. You won't be able to load a ton of games on this, at just 256GB SSD, but it remains strong value for the price.

The best budget Chromebook

Weight: 1.7kg | Size: 20mm thick | Battery life: 13 hours | Screen: 14-inch 1080p | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 32/64GB SSD | CPU: Intel Celeron N4000 | OS: Chrome OS

The Chromebook 314 (£260) is an updated version of Acers CB3-431, which has one of the best Chromebooks around for some time a super affordable Google-based machine. As usual, ChromeOS operating system is the ideal companion if you need a laptop for browsing the web, or if you do most of your work within Googles tools. Its certainly easier than ever to ditch Windows.

On the outside, Acer maintains the older machines smart aluminium exterior it looks great and didnt really need any work. The keyboard is crisp and quiet, and the touchpad is accurate. The 314 has pairs of USB 3 and USB Type-C ports. The 1.7kg weight isnt bad, and the 314 is a reasonable 20mm thick.

On the inside, theres a 14in Full HD touchscreen that offers enough clarity and contrast for browsing and media. As before, the Chromebook is powered by an Intel Celeron N4000 processor and 4GB of memory, and in this model theres a 64GB SSD half that amount and the price of the 32GB Chromebook 314 drops to £229.

The internal hardware is powerful enough to navigate several different Chrome tabs at once, which makes this machine ideal for everyday working and browsing. The battery will support thirteen hours of video playback and offers a twelve-hour lifespan when working, so this machine will easily last a day.

The Acer Chromebook is rounded off by speakers that are good enough for YouTube and streaming, and on the inside theres dual-band wireless. Theres no sign of Wi-Fi 6, though, and youll have to spend more to get more powerful internals that can handle tougher tasks.

Nevertheless, the affordable Acer is the best option for Google-based computing on a budget its well-designed, easy to use and powerful enough to function as a daily driver.

Pros: Intuitive ChromeOS software; smart, well-designed exterior; crisp keyboard and a good screen
Cons: Not particularly light; limited CPU power; no next-gen wireless

Price: £260 | Check price on Amazon | John Lewis | Currys

The best budget device for portability

Weight: 450g (920g w/ cover and keyboard) | Size: 7.35mm thick (18.2mm w/ cover and keyboard) | Battery life: Up to 10 hours | Screen: 10.1-inch FHD | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 64GB eMCP | CPU: MediaTek P60T | OS: Chrome OS

For those who have been tempted by a Microsoft Surface or nabbing an iPad and slapping on an expensive keyboard accessory, the Lenovo IdeaPad Duet Chromebook (£237) offers a much more affordable solution. This tablet-laptop hybrid may not have the premium design of a Surface or iPad and it does have to navigate the shortcomings that using Chrome OS brings, but as a complete package, it's a great value-for-money offering.

The IdeaPad Duet Chromebook gives you an attachable keyboard, which is included in the price unlike many rivals, and this allows for an adaptable form-factor that accommodates productivity tasks with the ability to quickly switch to getting comfortable with your fave Netflix show. The case, keyboard and tablet may be a tad bulky for some when all combined together but, for those who may want something more robust e.g. as a device for a child, youll be less worried about the odd scuff and scratch with a design more akin to an Amazon Fire tablet.

Any concerns about using a device with a 10.1 display for productivity are forgotten once you get to use this device. As long as your work doesnt require much multitasking, writing out an essay in Google Docs, creating a presentation in Google Slides or browsing with several tabs open in Chrome are all more than satisfactory aided by a decent FHD resolution and a screen that gets plenty bright.

Once youre done working, its nice to have a device that can also do the job of a tablet for social media and watching videos. This 2-in-1 lets you download apps from the Google Play Store and use them just like you would on an Android tablet, with benefits like being able to download Netflix movies for offline viewing. From productivity to media consumption, Chrome OS is all about simplicity and Lenovo has nailed this.

The IdeaPad Duet Chromebook isnt perfect though. First off, there are the limits of Chrome OS and the specs of this device. You are more limited by what you can do compared to some sub-£500 Windows 10 laptops creatives and heavy multi-taskers should really look elsewhere. If you like tinkering with in-depth settings, Chrome OS really isnt for you - it's still a very Google Chrome-heavy experience. Still, for the cases weve outlined above, this streamlined approach is no bag thing squeezing the most out of its modest specs.

Chrome OS aside, the speakers are fine for watching movies but fairly lacklustre for music. The trackpad also lets down an otherwise stellar keyboard cover something that many rivals have found hard to get right. The rather small trackpad isnt all that responsive and we found ourselves reaching the short distance forwards to use the touchscreen for scrolling on many occasions.

Despite its limits, the IdeaPad Duet Chromebook remains a remarkable machine for its price offering a decent tablet experience, flexible design and the option to use for basic productivity tasks at a level well beyond its specs.

Pros: Easy-to-use Chrome OS; robust and adaptable design; remarkable value for money
Cons: Limited app selection; sub-par trackpad; basic audio capabilities

Price: £237 | Check price on Amazon | Argos | Currys

The best budget 2-in-1 laptop

Weight: 1.65kg | Size: 18mm thick | Battery life: 8-16 hours | Screen: 14/15.6-inch 1080p | RAM: 4GB/8GB | Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB SSD | CPU: Intel Core i3-i7, AMD Ryzen 3-7 | OS: Windows 10 Home

The IdeaPad Flex 5i (from £499) has a 360-degree hinge, which makes it ideal for plenty of scenarios from tapping away at work and browsing the web to making notes, playing casual touchscreen games, and delving down YouTube rabbit holes.

The hinge is smooth, theres only a little give in some of the panels, and this machine will easily withstand a commute. The 18mm-thick body and 1.65kg weight make the Flex 5i slightly heftier than many 2-in-1s, but its not a big hindrance. The Lenovo looks slick, and the keyboard and trackpad are good, consistent, comfortable, and fast unsurprising, considering Lenovos pedigree.

The Flex 5i has a USB Type-C connector, two full-size USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports and an SD card reader plus a fingerprint sensor and a webcam shutter. This machine has been improved with dual-band 802.11ac wireless, but the webcam doesnt have Windows Hello integration and theres no Gigabit Ethernet without an adapter. Still, thats not surprising in this portion of the market.

The 14in Full HD touchscreen produces solid colours. If we're being picky, it could be brighter, but its easily good enough for indoor use. An optional 4,096-level stylus can turn the Lenovo into a note-taking, picture-drawing machine, and 15.6in versions of the Flex are available. The displays are easily good enough for everyday work, and the speakers provide crisp, clear audio for music and media.

The £499 version of the Flex includes an Intel Core i3-1005G1 processor. Its a capable mainstream CPU that will handle web browsing, media playback, Office applications and casual multitasking its a great everyday option. Its paired with 4GB of RAM and a 128GB SSD, which is fine at this price.

More interesting hardware comes if you spend more. The £599 version deploys an AMD Ryzen 5 4500U processor alongside 8GB of memory, which makes it a productivity machine that punches above its weight. Intel Core i5 and i7 options cost £649 and £749, and an AMD Ryzen 7 4700U machine delivers brilliant productivity power for £699. When it comes to longevity, youll easily get a full day from this machine possibly even two workdays if youre careful.

Lenovos updated 2-in-1 provides ample power for everyday computing inside a slick, sturdy chassis that has great ergonomics and battery life and if you can stretch your budget, the AMD options are superb for productivity. Its a great, well-balanced, capable machine.

Pros: Smart, slick design with ample versatility; impressive Intel and AMD options; good battery life
Cons: Display is a little dim; no wired internet; no discrete graphics card

Price: From £499 | Check price on Amazon | Currys | Lenovo

The best budget device for good design

Weight: 544g | Size: 8.3mm thick | Battery life: Up to 10 hours | Screen: 10.5-inch FHD | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 64GB eMMC | CPU: Intel Pentium Gold 4425Y | OS: Windows 10 Home in S mode

If youre familiar with the Surface Go then its quite easy to boil the sequel down to the fact it has a bigger screen which, in many ways, isnt too far from the truth. However, the larger screen of the Surface Go 2 (£349) adds plenty more value than youd expect and theres also a couple more subtle tweaks to enhance this convertible.

The base version of the Surface Go 2, which is the version youll be looking at if you want to keep it under £500 along with the (essential) Surface Go Type Cover (£100). This does mean that youll get a basic spec combo of an Intel Pentium 4425Y, 4GB RAM and 64GB storage. The specs are low on the face of it but if youre coming to this machine for a more tablet-like experience, with the ability to whip up an essay or espouse lengthy online messages, itll do the job. The stellar keyboard plays a big part in that, with a surprisingly clicky experience despite its super-thin design. It might be a tad cramped but youll get used to it.

These capabilities make the Surface Go 2 a great option for a second device, a device for kids or just a handy tablet for having around when needed by any member of the family. Watching Netflix and YouTube in any setting is nice and easy on this hybrid, with an updated 1080p display and impressive speakers for such a compact form factor. The Microsoft Store version of the Netflix app is able to download movies for on-the-go too.

In fact, its the Microsoft Store apps that make this a decent device to use in tablet mode, even if it isnt as user-friendly or as swift as an iPad. For browsing the web, you can expect this devices 4GB RAM to enable around 4-7 tabs without it feeling like theres some slow down going on. For multitasking, say Spotify and Chrome at the same time, youll have to pair back your tab usage to just one or two.

If youre thinking £400 plus the price of the keyboard sounds like a bit much for this basic performance, its hard to argue that youre wrong. You can get cheaper Chromebooks, like the Acer Chromebook 314, that can offer similar capabilities or even similarly priced laptops with AMD Ryzen processors, like the Lenovo IdeaPad 5, that far outstrip the Surface Go 2 performance. However, this isnt necessarily a knock on this device, as its quite evident you are paying quite a bit for a stylish design. Like the whole Surface line, this device is sturdy and, with newly-reduced bezels, it looks nice and refined.

The Surface Go 2 can be bested by rivals that have a more clear vision of their use-case. However, for those who want premium design and the flexibility of media consumption and productivity capabilities, this convertible tablet hits the nail on the head.

Pros: Stylish design; surprisingly effective 3:2 display; great for watching Netflix
Cons: Type Cover not included; not great for multitasking

Price: £349 | Check price on Amazon | John Lewis | Microsoft

Should you get a Windows laptop or Chromebook?

Whether youre shopping online or in-store, over recent years, youll have increasingly come across Chromebooks. These are laptops powered by Googles Chrome OS and they work slightly differently from your typical Windows laptop.

Put simply, using a Chromebook is similar to using a laptop that only runs the Google Chrome web browser there are some additional features like task and notification bars, similar to what you get on Windows but this is the basic gist of it. This simplicity enables Chromebooks to require lower amounts of power but still run speedily. These factors can lead to cut prices and thin designs even some innovative ones like the Lenovo IdeaPad Chromebook Duet (£220). However, ChromeOS does limit the types of programs you can use so, if you often work outside of a browser (e.g. creative work, gaming or bespoke software) then it may not be for you.

So, when it comes to choosing between a Chromebook and Windows laptops, you need to consider how you intend to use the device. Windows laptops may be something you are used to and you like the flexibility of being able to use a full suite of programs. But, if youre looking for something new, cheap and simple, dont overlook a Chromebook.

Which brand is best for budget laptops?

Like any decision when buying a tech product, it comes down to your individual needs. Our best budget laptops list is chockful of products from Lenovo making it a great brand to consider for your purchase.

However, it might not be quite right for everyone. If you are wanting to spend less but care about high-quality design then Microsoft products like the Surface Go (£359) and Surface Laptop Go (£509) are ideal. While some may only care for super-fast browsing and compact design and, if so, Chromebooks like the Acer Chromebook 314 (£270) should be at the top of your list.

How much RAM does my laptop need?

For the majority of people, 8GB RAM is the sweet spot. Four to six years ago, you could probably get away with 4GB RAM for a productivity laptop, but browsers have become increasingly power-hungry requiring more RAM to run without a hitch. Even if you dont take full advantage of the 8GB, it offers some room to manoeuvre futureproofing your device.

Some cases do warrant a different amount of RAM, though. 4GB RAM remains capable for light use think running one program at a time or three to six tabs in a browser. While many gamers will baulk at the thought of just 8GB RAM. For the majority of laptop gaming, 16GB RAM is closer to the sweet spot. But, if youre looking for a larger, more powerful gaming laptop for high-end gaming rather than something to carry around then 32GB RAM isnt out of the question.

Are budget gaming laptops worth it?

Budget gaming laptops are absolutely worth it, and things only look to get better in this department. AMDs Ryzen 5 5000 and Intels 11th Gen Core i5 processors enable decent gaming performance at below £800 or £900. This is aided by Nvidias entry-level mobile graphics cards with more inbound in the form of RTX 3050 and 3050 Ti options.

Many may still see £800 to £900 as too pricey, but the performance you get is impressive in a world when many gaming laptops can cost upwards of £1,500. If you really want to game on a laptop under £500 to £600, youll have to resort to streaming services like Google Stadia, Nvidia GeForce Now and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Cloud Streaming.

Do budget laptops have Thunderbolt 3?

For the most part, budget laptops do not offer Thunderbolt 3 (or, the new iteration, Thunderbolt 4) with the port technology seen as a premium tier feature. Another reason most top budget laptops don't feature Thunderbolt is that many are powered by an AMD processor and, with Thunderbolt being an Intel innovation, are lacking such ports. Furthermore, the Surface Laptop Go one of the more high-quality budget laptops does have an Intel option but lacks Thunderbolt as Microsoft has cited security concerns as a reason for its exclusion.

A lack of Thunderbolt on budget laptops isn't ubiquitous, though, and exceptions can come around on occasion, even if none are currently featured in our recommended list. Particularly, you can find Thunderbolt support when taking into account slightly older devices that may now be discounted.

What are some features that typically come with budget laptops?

For the most part, you should expect the bare minimum for special features when it comes to budget laptops. Typically, they offer a basic productivity experience and a basic design. However, budget laptops are getting cheapermeaning stylish devices like the Surface Laptop Go (£485) exist as well as devices with fancy OLED displays like the Asus VivoBook OLED (£499).

Dont go into your budget laptop purchase expecting anything too special, however. If you have a particular traditional high-end feature in mind, it is now worth shopping around to try and find it at a more reasonable price.

What are the most important features to look for in a budget laptop?

Performance is the key feature for budget laptops. If you are wanting to spend less than £500 then getting something that satisfies your needs is likely a key priorityover style and superfluous features.

With that in mind, you should look for laptops with, at least, an Intel Core i3 or AMD Ryzen 3 processorif you use one program at a time. Or, if youre a student or require having several tabs open in Chrome at once, look for Core i5/Ryzen 5 and 8GB RAM. However, if you are looking at ChromeOS devices, then specs dont reflect performance in the same way. You can likely get away with an i3 or Ryzen 3 processor for most Chromebooks, if your main goal is web browsing and essay writing with minimal multitasking.

What type of processor do budget laptops have?

Processors for budget laptops can range from the latest Intel Core i5 and AMD Ryzen 5 chips at the high end to Intels Celeron and Pentium, and AMDs Athlon line at the low end. (You won't find any Apple M1 chips at this low price, we're afraid.) Intel i5 chips will usually be found on laptops around £500 aimed at students and multi-taskers while the latter, and many inbetween, will feature on Chromebooks or lower powered devices made for doing one thing at a time.

Lately, you may also find processors from chipmakers who, more traditionally, contribute to mobile phones. MediaTek and Qualcomm Snapdragon are these such brands, and they continue to rise in popularity but still typically lack the power of AMD and Intel chips. Nevertheless, they are more frequent proponents of connectivity, sporting 4G and 5G support.

Read our WIRED Recommends guide to the best laptops for more fully featured, pricier options.