Laptops Under £500

Long gone are the times when people used laptops for work only. That’s because laptops have become necessary for school and college work. In fact, many people use them to binge-watch Netflix, scroll social media, and play games. For this reason, they need a reasonably-priced laptop, preferably under £500.

Truth be told, finding a reliable laptop in this range can be challenging. However, we have worked hard and reviewed the five best laptops. They all have excellent displays, solid performance, and reliable battery life. So, let’s check them out!

Dell Latitude 7390 16GB RAM 256GB SSD

Price: £325 | Buy Now From Amazon

This laptop is a go-to choice for people needing a business notebook without compromising portability. It has a 13.3-inch screen, enough to do regular work.

Build

The laptop is matte-black and has wedge tampering on the front. It helps create an elegant design. There are few visual details because you only get the power button and a hinge. There are non-slip and rubberized surfaces all over the back and base, so you don’t have to worry about the laptop slipping.

Remember that base can only be extended to a certain point, making single-handed opening challenging. Overall, it looks sturdy and elegant, so it will do justice to the price. However, adding the keyboard runs low is important, which can make typing challenging.

Display

The laptop has a matte IPS panel with HD resolution, ensuring no pixelation. In addition, it helps keep glare and reflections at bay. The brightness is enough for normal lighting conditions, but it might show some colour bleeding when you have dark images. In particular, it has a brightness of 28 nits.

Performance

The laptop has a Core i5-8350U quad-core processor, which promises a clock speed of around 1.7GHz. In addition, it has 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD, which promises good performance during multitasking. For instance, you can open multiple tabs on Chrome and stream 1080p content without the laptop hanging. Also, it has a battery life of over 10 hours, which is enough for regular use.

Pros

• Sophisticated and lightweight design
• Long battery life
• No glare and reflections
• No pixelation
• It doesn’t hang

Cons

• Keyboard runs low

ASUS VivoBook E510MA 4GB RAM 64GB eMMC

Price: £263 | Buy Now From Amazon

Everyone had high hopes for this budget laptop, which didn’t disappoint. It’s designed with thin chassis and an edge-to-edge screen, perfect for binge-watching and scrolling.

Build

The laptop has a slate-grey chassis, which creates an “expensive” appearance. It has a plastic body, which makes it lightweight, and the overall design is uniform. The keyboard is fitted well, and the trackpad is pretty flush. In addition, you get a fingerprint scanner that helps you secure the laptop. Also, the trackpad is intelligently put, so you can relax your wrist while working. It has an ErgoLift hinge, so you can easily angle the screen for easier typing.

Display

The laptop has a 15.6-inch screen with NanoEdge technology for the widescreen look. However, the display has a dim colour profile. You must angle the screen correctly to ensure the colours don’t bleed. In fact, it’s best to angle the screen at 100 degrees to ensure your pictures aren’t disturbed by the sheen.

Performance

This laptop has a Core i3 processor as well as 4GB RAM and 64GB eMMC, which promises good performance. You can easily open multiple tabs and watch videos or play audio. The battery life is around five hours, which is relatively less, but that’s what you get at this price. The good thing is that the laptop distributes heat evenly, so it won’t overheat.

Pros

• Lightweight
• Well-fitted laptop and trackpad
• Fingerprint scanner
• Edge-to-edge screen
• It can work with multiple tabs without hanging

Cons

• Dim display
• Low battery life

HP 15s-fq2015sa 8GB RAM 256GB SSD

Price: £398 | Buy Now From Amazon

The first impression of this laptop is affordable and pretty, which is a good option if you want something light on the budget.

Build

The laptop’s top, bottom, and edges are metal, but the display and keyboard are plastic. The combination of these materials is pretty even, but the bezels are thick. The screen has an opening angle of 140 degrees, and the hinges don’t wobble. The keys aren’t tight and give a spongy appearance. Also, the keyboard has a rough surface, preventing fingers from skipping. As far as the touchpad is concerned, it has a smooth surface, promising precise cursor movement.

Display

The laptop has a 15-inch display with an IPS panel and 1080p resolution. The display has no PWM, making it perfect for people with sensitive eyes. The colours are appropriately delineated, and the black images are pretty saturated. Also, the colours have a balanced proportion, which improves the viewing experience. The display also has a matte coverage, which prevents reflections and glaring.

Performance

The performance is reasonable for daily tasks. For instance, you can browse online and write tasks. In addition, you can process the images and use Microsoft Office applications. It has a Core i5 processor and an Ice Lake architecture, which promises a clock speed of over 3.6GHz. However, the laptop might take more time to ensure fans run consistently, which can sometimes lead to overheating.

Pros

• 1080p resolution
• No wobbling
• No skipping on fingers
• Balanced colour proportion
• Clock speed of around 3.6GHz
• Precise cursor movement
• No glaring and reflections

Cons

• Occasional overheating

Jumper 16-Inch 4GB DDR4 128GB SSD

Price: £249 | Buy Now From Amazon

Jumper isn’t a famous company, but it’s become a go-to option for people on a budget. Loaded with Windows 11, this laptop has a reasonable number of advanced features to help with daily tasks and streaming.

Build

Many people think it’s a clone of a MacBook because the appearance is quite similar. It has a slate-grey colour with a huge touchpad, promising smooth cursor movement. In addition, the keyboard’s keys are evenly distributed, promising a seamless typing experience. Four stereo speakers are installed, which promise a good sound experience if you like listening to music.

Display

The laptop has an HD display with a screen resolution of 1920 x 1200p, which promises crisp and sharp images. In addition, it has a widescreen display with an aspect ratio of 16:10, so you can have more streaming space. Also, the widescreen is perfect for people who write or do editing work.

Performance

The laptop has a quad-core processor, which promises a frequency of 2.5GHz, promising seamless performance without hanging. In addition, it has UHD 600 graphics, which helps ensure the smooth loading of applications and doesn’t cause any stability issues. Also, it comes with preinstalled Office 365 and Windows 11, so it’s enough for home use.

It has a 128GB SSD, but you can extend it to over 1TB, enough to store your essential files. Also, the battery time ranges from seven to eight hours, so it’s alright for the price. However, you cannot use it for gaming or other intensive tasks.

Pros

• Huge touchpad
• Stereo speakers
• HD display
• Widescreen display
• No hanging
• Preinstalled Windows and Office 365

Cons

• Not suitable for intensive tasks, such as gaming

Acer Aspire 3 A315-24P 8GB 512GB SSD

Price: £498 | Buy Now From Amazon

If you need an entry-level laptop for your regular work, this one by Acer will suffice. This laptop promises efficient functionality and comes with Windows 11 installed, so you can work immediately.

Build

The laptop has a plastic base, while the lid is metal. It weighs only 1.6kg, so you can carry it around easily. The good thing is that the plastic doesn’t feel cheap, and you can open the lid with one hand – there won’t be any wobbling. The laptop has medium bezels, so you get a good screen area. However, the keyboard might feel shallow, but the touchpad covers it with a vast surface area and smooth cursor movement. Also, there are ventilation grills to prevent overheating.

Display

The laptop is integrated with an HD IPS panel, which is enough to stream TV shows and movies without worrying about reflections. In addition, it has a refresh rate of 60Hz, so it’s responsive. The viewing angles are good, and the videos have a lot of exposure and focus. As far as the brightness is concerned, it’s 258 nits, so the contrast will be good. Also, it has an aspect ratio of 16:9, which is suitable for watching video content.

Performance

The laptop has Ryzen 5 7520U processor, which gives a good performance. That’s because this processor has four cores and eight threads. You can open and use multiple tabs; mid-level games are also supported. Regarding the battery, you get around twelve hours, which is exceptional at this price. The laptop gives you 8GB RAM, which prevents slowing down, and 512GB SSD provides sufficient storage.

Pros

• Preinstalled Windows 11
• No wobbling
• Portable
• Huge touchpad
• Responsive display
• Reasonable contrast

Cons

• Shallow keyboard

The Bottom Line

£500 is a limited price bracket, but finding an inexpensive laptop in this range is challenging. However, the laptops from this article are pretty good and promise a good user experience. All of them have good displays, battery life, and performance. There are a few cons, but the excellent price covers the issues. So, choose wisely!