It’s always a good laptop that helps you grow and achieve big things in this digital world of technology. Most importantly, the budget matters a lot if you’re a person who can’t afford a high-end laptop, I have compiled a list of the best laptops under 500 dollars for you.
The vast majority of budget laptops are useless and picking the best ones out of them is pretty much hard. Especially the overwhelming market would never let you pick the exact needed one.
But today we have made the process easy by researching exactly what you need for buying a laptop for under 500 dollars. These machines are well known in the market and obviously, they’re from the best brands popular out there on the market.
I am pointing toward DELL, HP, ACER, and a few others that are into the hardware or laptops business. You have a range of laptops available for them. Some are no more manufactured and some are the newest models this year fall I would love to mention the names of those best laptops under $500.
Our Top Picks For The Best Laptops Under $500
Microsoft Surface Go 2
Editor’s Choice
CPU speed: 3.4GHz
Memory: 4GB
Chromebook Flex 5
Levono Laptop
CPU speed: 2.1GHz
Memory: 4GB
Acer Aspire 5 Slim Laptop
FHD IPS Display
CPU speed: 2.1GHz
Memory: 4GB
Also, read the best laptops for under $800.
Why You Should Buy the Best Laptop Under $500
There are several reasons that the best laptop under $500 is preferable to the low-end and high-end laptops and we have broken down these reasons for you.
You Don’t Have High-end Budget
It’s obvious that if you have searched for the best $500 laptop, you don’t want to go high than that and the $500 budget isn’t bad at all. You’ll get a medium-level laptop in this budget that can satisfy all your needs and most importantly, these machines are powerful enough for entertainment like gaming. Whereas, going lower than this budget can end you up somehow with a laptop that isn’t going to like either they’re powerful enough to help you out better with your tasks.
You Need Fast Performance
Are you looking for a laptop that can perform faster and much smoother, the best laptop under $500 is what you need when short on budget. They come along with powerful hardware components like SSD, AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor, fast RAM, built-in graphics card, and a few other things and they might be different in different $500 laptops but these were just the examples for you to have a rough idea of what you’re actually getting.
You Need a Good Display
Luckily, the laptop mentioned above comes along with the best FHD displays that won’t compromise your eyesight. Most importantly, these screens are wider enough to be used for entertainment and also for a better work experience. Let’s say you’re a gaming enthusiast who can’t afford the best gaming PC or laptop, some of the units on the best $500 laptops are good enough to fulfill your cravings for fewer graphics and complex games. Whereas, working with different heavy software like Adobe Photoshop, Android Studio, and others is smooth and convenient.
You Are Looking For a Long Lasting Battery Life
Let me expose this in the beginning, some of these budget laptops on the list come along with a battery life of 10-12 hours and that is what you want right? A laptop with such a battery can survive all day long without even plugging in the charger. Moreover, yes there are some laptops on the list that offers an average battery life but that’s completely fine as long as the battery can survive for 7 hours.
Also read: Best Laptops Under 1000 and the best laptops under 2000
Best Laptops Under $500
1. New Microsoft Surface Go 3
| CPU speed: | 3.4GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 64GB eMMC |
| Battery Life: | 10 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 Home |
The first pick that we have is pretty much the lightest and best 2-in-1 laptop under 500 dollars having a 10.5-inch screen and above that, the most powerful laptop Microsoft Surface Go 2 is the most powerful laptop available to us these days.
Of course, it can’t compete with some other laptops on the list but I’ll shortly proceed to what the New Microsoft Surface Go 2 is offering.
The Surface Go 2 offers an Intel Pentium processor that has a decent speed for crushing the processes. Whereas, it’s standing at 4GB RAM which is somehow a good option for running lighter computer programs.
However, the storage here is pretty much not according to our expectations which is 64GB eMMC storage. It’s acceptable but for programs that weigh less.
In spite of the fact that the screen size is too small(10.5″), the resolutions here are good and that is 1920 x 1280 pixels.
Whereas, it’s much lighter, carrying the weight of 1.2 pounds which is much better for long travels or carrying it anywhere without getting exhausted.
Ultra portable laptop.
FHD display.
Long-lasting battery.
Decently designed.
Can be used as a tablet.
The 10-inch screen isn’t that big for entertainment.
Also, read Best gaming pc under 500 and Best budget gaming laptops.
2. Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5
| CPU speed: | 2.1GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 64GB eMMC |
| Battery Life: | 10 hours |
| Operating System: | Chrome OS |
Moving on to one of the outrageous Chromebooks on the list, the Levono Chromebook Flex 5 is pretty much a great deal for those who want a laptop at a cheap price and more specifically the 500 dollars.
The Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 is a decently also more beautifully designed laptop that is probably going to grab anyone’s attention. The screen is 13-inch, a little bigger than the Surface Go 2, and offers 1920 x 1080P resolutions.
On top of that, you got an Intel Core i3-10110U CPU which ultimately takes the processing speed to 2.1GHz and it’s better than most of the cheaper laptops available out there on the market.
However, here we’re low on storage which means you’re offered the 64GB eMMC hardware component and it’s definitely fast but doesn’t offer that much space to store more data.
Moreover, you got the 4GB RAM here on this best laptop under 500, and without beating around the bush, let me tell you this, It can run small programs easily but hesitate in running large programs.
The amazing part comes now is the battery life the Lenovo Chromebook Flex 5 can survive for 10 hours max and there might be ups and downs in the figure depending upon the tasks you perform on the laptop.
Eye-catching from the outside.
FHD resolutions.
Long battery.
Performs butter smooth.
Decent RAM for this price.
Low storage.
Also, read the Best Gaming PC under $700.
3. Acer Aspire 5 Slim
| CPU speed: | 3.52GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 128GB SSD |
| Battery Life: | 7.5 hours |
| Operating System: | Windows 10 S |
Now comes a complete beast on the entry level which is the Acer Aspire 5 Slim and this one is also our editor’s choice I’ll highly recommend having this best laptop for $500 without giving it a second thought.
Sporting a 128GB SSD, the Aspire 5 is super fast. It’s only a matter of seconds to start the windows and open up the files.
Moreover, the CPU speed achieved is calculated at 3.52GHz with the AMD Ryzen 3 3200U processor, and to be very honest, AMD processors are rare in the $500 budget laptops.
In addition to that, the Acer company also added the Vega 3 Graphics for a better user experience on different entertainment platforms like gaming and watching movies.
However, the memory here is compromised a little with the 4GB RAM, and generally speaking, this laptop under $500 deserves that in this low budget.
Furthermore, the 15.6-inch display on the Acer Aspire 5 is offering IPS technology. Which means you’re going to experience better picture quality.
Performance isn’t compromised.
The design is slim.
The keyboard is backlit.
More storage.
Widescreen.
Acceptable battery life.
Memory need improvements.
Also, read the best laptops under $600.
4. Lenovo Chromebook Duet
| CPU speed: | 2.0GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 64GB eMCP SSD |
| Battery Life: | 10 hours |
| Operating System: | Chrome OS |
Hoping over to the best 2-in-1 laptop under 500 and again it’s from Lenovo on top of that, it’s a Chromebook that offers some satisfactory specs and features.
With the detachable keyboard, the Chromebook Duet comes along with a stand that helps you out in tablet mode.
Moreover, you have the 2GHz processor housed inside named the MediaTek Helio P60T, and the latest 4GB RAM for multitasking.
Whereas the 64GB eMCP SSD is without any doubt a faster component at the same time, it has a downside which is not offering more storage capacity.
The ARM G72 MP3 Graphics are what you’ll be dealing with on the display side when you get the Lenovo Chromebook Duet And…
What satisfies me the most is after hearing that it offers a long battery life of 10 hours and that is what everyone needs in the best laptop under $500.
Unbeatable battery life.
Performs the way expect.
Compact and lightweight.
Can be used as a tablet.
Good quality display.
Small storage.
Also read: best laptops under 1300.
5. Dell Inspiron 3585
| CPU speed: | 3.2GHz |
| Memory: | 8GB |
| Storage: | 512GB SSD |
| Battery Life: | Windows 10 S |
| Operating System: | 7 hours |
After all, how can we forget about the Dell Inspiron 3583, a perfect laptop under $500 that even beats the Acer Aspire 5?
There is a 128GB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD and 628 GB HDD packed inside this extraordinary budget laptop which is not only fast but has more storage and gives you the option of storing more data without even thinking about the external hard drive.
Luckily, again the processor here is from Intel and it’s the Celeron N4020 that crushes the hell out of the processes with the 3.2GHz speed.
Moreover, the Inspiron 15 3000 is a ruthless beast in multi-tasking with 8GB RAM. This means that you can do anything at it and this $500 laptop will never complain about it.
In addition, the screen size of 15.6-inch is a good deal here for people who love large displays. Whereas, the resolutions are 1366 x 768P. What else do you want if you have such a quality display?
Beasty performance.
Decent exterior.
More storage capacity.
Your desired display.
Smooth Keys.
Good resolutions cam.
The resolutions could have been better.
6. Acer Chromebook Spin 11
| CPU speed: | 1.1GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 32GB eMMC |
| Battery Life: | 10 hours |
| Operating System: | Chrome OS |
This time we have a Chromebook from Acer, the Spin 11 and it’s a flipping laptop under 500. This means that you can flip it 360 degrees to also use it as a tablet.
Other than that, the design is decent and classy. Most importantly, it’s slim with the dimensions calculated at 11.7 x 8.1 x 0.8 inches.
As for the inside, the Acer Chromebook Spin 11 packs in a Celeron N3350 processor, which ultimately provides much speed for all the processes.
However, the storage is a little upsetting with the 32GB eMMC component. This is most probably the lowest mark on this list of best $500 laptops.
Despite that, the DDR4 RAM of 4GB covers that by providing more room for different tasks. But somehow, this laptop can’t compete with some other units in this part too.
But the exciting part is the 10 hours of battery life. Thankfully, at least, this one part is on the good side that won’t let you get worried about it.
Decent performance on entry-level.
Slim design.
Good display.
Long battery life.
Smooth jeyboard keys.
Low internal storage capacity.
Also, read the Best Gaming PC under $800.
7. HP Chromebook 11 (Cheapest Laptop In The Class)
| CPU speed: | 2.48GHz |
| Memory: | 4GB |
| Storage: | 32GB eMMC |
| Battery Life: | 13 hours |
| Operating System: | Chrome OS |
For most of the most part, you have seen the Chromebooks on the list but it doesn’t stop here as we have another one from HP, the Chromebook 11 that lies under the best $500 laptops category. Of course, you can’t use it for gaming as the best gaming laptops under $500 have a completely different nature the Chromebooks.
It’s small, compact, and most importantly it comes with acceptable hardware. However, one more thing is that it’s one of the laptops under $300.
The real talk is that it comes along with the Intel Celeron processor having 2.48GHz speed. Whereas, for graphics-related tasks, the laptop packs in the Intel HD Graphics built-in GPU.
However, same as most laptops under $500, the HP Chromebook 11 is offering 16GB storage which is more like a budget phone and you don’t need that. I would recommend looking for other options if you’re fine with this storage.
As for the memory, this laptop is still standing at 4GB even if it’s a price tag of $300. But you know what actually changed the game here? It’s 13 hours of battery life.
More CPU speed.
Fast RAM.
A better display.
Higher mark of ideal battery life.
Compact.
Portable.
Worst storage capacity.
8. Acer Chromebook 715
| CPU speed: | 2.3GHz |
| Memory: | 8GB |
| Storage: | 32GB eMMC |
| Battery Life: | 10 hours |
| Operating System: | Chrome OS |
Here comes our last laptop on the list of best budget laptops under 500. The Acer Chromebook 715 is no joke and at least it’s much better than the HP Chromebook 11.
But here the main difference is the price. The Chromebook 715 is having a price tag a little above $500 bucks but in return, it does miracles.
With the 2.3 GHz processing speed, this laptop goes beyond our expectations while crushing the processes like cutting butter with a knife.
Whereas, an 8GB makes it a multi-tasking beast on most of the parts. This means that the Acer Chromebook 715 is one of the few $500 laptops that offers this much memory.
However, the storage here is that great. I would recommend using the cloud system to store all of your important files as here the storage can’t bear it.
Fast performance.
Attractive.
Full HD.
Long battery time.
Good keyboard.
Storage compromised for the budget.
Also, read Best Gaming PC. and Best Gaming Laptops.
Conclusion
I hope you like the best laptops under 500 that we selected for you. We have hunted down the best ones available out there on the market although there are very few laptops that can match the desired budget requirements. Some of them are really cheap that don’t match our criteria.
Please let us know what you think about these best budget laptops under $500 as your feedback matters to us a lot. Also if you have anything to share with us, you’re more than welcome to contact us. We’re always here to reply back.
Also read: Best Laptops for AutoCAD and the best laptops for photo editing
