{"id":5615,"date":"2026-08-17T12:37:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:37:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5615"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:37:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T12:37:23","slug":"best-cheap-laptops","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/silvybrand.com\/?p=5615","title":{"rendered":"7 Best Cheap Laptops to Buy in 2026 (and Some to Avoid)"},"content":{"rendered":"


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Compare Top 7 Budget Laptops<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n\n

Other Budget Laptops to Consider<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n

Here at WIRED, we never recommend products we haven’t tested ourselves\u2014and I\u2019ve tried hundreds of laptops over the years. I left many laptops off this list due to price, quality, or both. While I stand by my top-pick recommendations above, there are a few additional laptops I’ve tested that are still worth buying for a particular use case.<\/p>\n

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Photograph: Luke Larsen<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n

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Lenovo LOQ 15 for $1,400<\/a>:<\/strong> This fantastic gaming laptop used to sell for $900, despite coming with an RTX 5060. And unlike so many other affordable gaming laptops, this one comes with a solid IPS panel that has not only a fast refresh rate but also great image quality. So no, it’s not extremely cheap, but it’s worth considering because it remains the best value in gaming laptops right now.<\/p>\n

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Acer Chromebook Plus 516 for $479<\/a>:<\/strong> Chromebooks are really at their best when they cost less than $500. They thrive as cheap laptops that don’t feel<\/em> cheap. The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 has one primary advantage over other laptops around this price: its touchpad. I care a lot about touchpad quality, as it’s an area where budget laptops tend to make compromises despite being a component that can impact day-to-day laptop use. Poor touchpad quality can make simple things like drag-and-drop or text selection frustrating. The Acer Chromebook Plus 516 has a really nice touchpad with a smooth surface for your finger to swipe or drag across. It makes a huge difference.<\/p>\n

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Acer Nitro V 16 for $900<\/a>:<\/strong> No gaming laptop selling for this price is going to be perfect. Far from it. The Acer Nitro V 16<\/a> (7\/10, WIRED Recommends) has a big compromise that I need to warn you about up front: its 135-watt power adapter. It’s just not enough to keep the Nitro V 16 fully powered during many of the GPU-heavy games I tested, such as Cyberpunk 2077<\/em> and Black Myth: Wukong<\/em>. That means even if the laptop is plugged in, it’ll start to drain the battery when you tax the GPU hard enough. That sounds awful, and it is. Acer could have easily sold the Nitro V 16 with a larger adapter. But the battery only drains in certain games and only when playing in Turbo or Performance modes. Stick to Balanced mode, and you’ll be fine, as it only drops performance by around 5 percent. All said, I still think the MSI Cyborg A15 is the better laptop for this reason.<\/p>\n

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Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 for $379<\/strong><\/a>: Lenovo\u2019s Chromebook Duet Gen 9<\/a> (8\/10, WIRED Recommends) quickly became one of my favorite gadgets of 2024, despite its small size. That\u2019s the whole point of this 11-inch detachable laptop, which is incredibly fun to use around the house and throw in a bag when it\u2019s time to go. The keyboard detaches from the screen, so it makes for a nice tablet when paired with ChromeOS’s Android apps. With the keyboard attached, you can get some work done. At nearly 10 hours on average, its battery life will easily get you through the day, too.<\/p>\n\n

Cheap Laptops to Avoid<\/h2>\n
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Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1.<\/p>\n

<\/span>Photograph: Luke Larsen<\/span><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1<\/strong><\/a>: 16-inch laptops tend to be more expensive than smaller options, making them hard to find at a cheap price. The Lenovo IdeaPad 5i 2-in-1<\/a> (6\/10, WIRED Recommends) is a 16-inch laptop that tried to squeeze out just enough quality to make it worth the price. While the display has typical deficiencies (such as poor color coverage), I do appreciate that it doesn’t have a matte finish, which brings out more clarity in the panel. I also found the keyboard tiresome to type on, and ultimately feel the OmniBook 3 is the better laptop for the price.<\/p>\n

Asus Vivobook 14<\/a>:<\/strong> As one of the first cheap laptops to use the Snapdragon X, I praised this laptop through 2025 for its excellent battery life. But once the OmniBook 5 and OmniBook 3 came along, I stopped recommending the Vivobook 14. That’s primarily because of how much better the OLED screens are on the OmniBook devices compared to the washed-out display that comes on the Vivobook 14. But if you ever see this drop to below the price of the OmniBook 3 and want the cheapest Windows laptop possible, it might be worth considering.<\/p>\n

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What Are Important Specs in a Cheap Laptop?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n