3 reasons why cheap laptops are better than you think

If you're on a tight budget, you can make smart compromises to get the best laptop for your money.

As with many appliances and gadgets, spending more on a laptop will typically get you a better device. Our review scores reflect this – laptops costing over £800 score 79% on average, while those that cost under £400 manage an average score of 61% (although the best gets 71%).

What lies behind these scores are a myriad of tests that provide an overall picture of how good a laptop is. This is helpful as it puts all laptops on exactly the same scale so you can see how much better one is than another, regardless of cost.

But that doesn’t mean you should only aspire for the very best computer out there: 'compromise' shouldn’t be a dirty word. With this in mind, let’s take a look at the compromises you could make when buying your next laptop – it will help you get the best value for money. Plus, see which model we think you should consider.

See our pick of the best budget laptops for the top models that won't break the bank

1. They're faster than you might think

The good news is that there are very few laptops out there that are so slow as to be unusable. They do exist (and we’ve tested them), but they can easily be avoided by following a few simple rules.

To avoid a laptop that’s terribly slow, double check what year the processor was made. If you’re buying a laptop that costs less than £200, find the processor on the specification sheet and pop it into your favourite search engine. 

If the processor is Intel or AMD, the first link you’ll get back is probably to the relevant manufacturer's website. Click through and you’ll find information about the year it was released. 

• Don’t buy a cheap laptop that has an Intel Atom, Celeron or AMD Athlon from more than four years ago. At this point you’re buying a product that was hardly fast when it was launched, and will feel positively ancient in 2024. 
• If you buy a sub-£300 laptop from a major retailer, you should be prepared for a laptop that won’t provide the utmost in speed. However, if you’re upgrading from an old, creaking laptop that’s more dust than plastic, then this will still feel like an upgrade. 
• If you buy a super-cheap laptop, a good model should be capable of doing a couple of things at a time. You’ll be able to have a few open web browser tabs at the same time along with a document or perhaps a video. While it might take a few seconds for everything to load and settle down, things shouldn’t feel terribly slow. 

If you want something sprightlier, you’ll need to spend more. 

Use our expert laptop reviews to find the best model for your budget, and to find out which reputable retailers have the best prices

2. You can find some with Full HD screens

Which? tests have high standards when it comes to screen quality, and rightly so. Laptops that cost hundreds of pounds should have screens that are bright, vibrant and clear. 

Cheaper laptops rarely manage to get over this hurdle, but we’ll always say in our laptop reviews what compromises to expect. Typically, these will be things like drab colours, poor viewing angles and fuzzy text.

To ensure you at least have a usable experience, always pick a laptop with a Full HD screen resolution (1,920 x 1,080 or x 1,200). This ensures that even if colours are drab, it stands a chance of displaying clear text at reasonable font sizes. It's also worth reading our advice on quick and easy ways to reduce digital eye strain.

If you’re looking to edit photos on your laptop, pay particular attention to our screen ratings as the resolution on the manufacturer's spec sheet tells you very little about how well a laptop will display vibrant photos and graphics. 

News, deals and stuff the manuals don't tell you. Sign up for our Tech newsletter, it's free monthly

3. You don't have to compromise on sound quality

We know from our expert tests that the vast majority of laptops, whether cheap or even those that are more pricey, have underwhelming speakers. 

While some are so bad as to be practically unusable, most are workable if you’re going to be listening to things in short bursts, such as online video clips. If you spend a lot of time watching TV and films on your laptop with the volume turned up fairly loud, you’ll want to pick a model that is at least usable, if not brilliant.

The alternative is you use a decent pair of headphones – you don't have to spend hundreds of pounds, either. Our recommended Great Value headphones start from less than £20 for wireless.

Getting ready for school, college or university? We reveal the best laptops for students

The perks of cheap laptops

Michael Passingham, Which? laptops expert:

'We’re always told you can’t both have your cake and eat it. When it comes to laptops, there are some ways in which bargain devices perform better than their pricier alternatives. We’ve often found very cheap laptops with low-power processors have phenomenally good battery life.

What’s more, because many cheap laptops are also dinky (with 11 and 12-inch screens), they end up being fantastically portable in a way that few pricier laptops can match. While you’ll find sub-1kg laptops at the very high end (think £1,000 plus), you’ll also find the same among sub-£300 laptops. This can make all the difference if you regularly take your laptop out with you, or if the laptop you’re buying will be used by a child. 

And, of course, because cheap laptops either run on ChromeOS or Windows 11, the price you pay for the laptop makes no difference to how long you'll get security updates for. Windows 11 will likely get updates until at least 2031. And, if a new Windows version is announced in the meantime, many Windows 11 users will be able to upgrade to that and get even longer support.

I’m off to enjoy my cake.'

A decent option: Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 14-inch Chromebook Plus

We like: Great battery life

We don't like: Poor webcam in our tests

Considering the price, this 14-inch Chromebook punches well above its weight in terms of specs and performance. The screen has a matt finish, and the keyboard is pleasantly backlit.

The specs are better than most Chromebooks in this price range offer. There’s 8GB of Ram, an Intel Core i3 processor, eight performance cores and 256GB eMMC storage.

Which? members can access our full Lenovo IdeaPad Slim 3i 14-inch Chromebook Plus review, as well as all of our laptop reviews.

Not yet a member? You can join Which? today.

Buy used, get better performance

Buying a higher-end laptop that’s been refurbished means you can get more for your money. 

A laptop from a few years ago with a decent processor, such as an Intel Core i5 or AMD Ryzen 5, will still feel super quick and you could save a couple of hundred quid by opting to buy it refurbished rather than a similar laptop new.

 See our advice on how to buy a refurbished laptop.

Which? Tech Support

Get Which? Tech Support for £49 a year or £4.99 a month

Contact our experts for unlimited 1-to-1 support by phone, email or remote fix.

Find out more

Which? Tech Support can help you keep on top of your home tech. Our experts explain things clearly so that you can resolve issues and feel more confident using your devices.

Get unlimited 1-2-1 expert support:

• By phone – clear guidance in choosing, setting up, using and resolving issues with your home tech devices.
• By email – outline the issue and we’ll email you our answer.
• By remote fix – we connect securely from our office to your home computer and resolve issues while you watch.
• In print – Which? Tech magazine, six issues a year delivered to your door.

You can join Which? Tech Support for £49 a year or £4.99 a month. You can also buy a Which? Tech Support subscription as a gift.