It can be tricky shopping for a student laptop, as you don't want to spend too much on a premium model, but you also want something that'll last at least a few years. Thankfully, there are pretty good budget options these days, and a few key considerations will help you find the right one. Generally speaking, if you're not in a technical field like engineering or 3D modeling, you likely don't need much processing power, so it's best to stick with an ultraportable. For those who need a lot of power under the hood, a budget gaming laptop would be your best bet since workstations are typically much more expensive. Regardless of what type of laptop you get, the overall user experience is the most important factor, so you'll want to think about portability, battery life, port selection, screen quality (brightness and sharpness), keyboard, and touchpad. If you can access all homework assignments through a web browser, it's also worth considering a Chromebook, as they're usually cheaper.
We've tested over 175 laptops, and below are our recommendations for the best budget and cheap laptops for students. For more options, check out the best laptops for college, the best lightweight laptops, and the best laptops for battery life.
Since 2021, we've tested dozens of laptops every year. We buy our laptops to avoid bias and, following a rigorous methodology, test nearly every part of the laptop so we can deliver results you can rely on. We use a wide range of equipment to perform our tests, including a colorimeter, a Mecmesin MultiTest-i System Test Stand, and various performance benchmarking suites.
Want to know more? Check out our How We Test Laptops article, where we give you a broader overview of our review process, from the moment we purchase the product to the final review.
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Best Budget Laptop For Students
General ProductivityMultimediaWorkstationGamingPortabilityBuild QualitySize13"See all our test resultsOperating SystemmacOSThe best budget laptop for students we've tested is the Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 2026). It delivers an unusually polished experience for its $599 education price, with a sturdy build, a compact and lightweight design, and enough battery life to comfortably get through a typical school day. It handles everyday tasks like writing papers, web browsing, spreadsheets, and presentations without much trouble. You also get a sharp, bright, and highly accurate display, a large responsive touchpad, great speakers, and an excellent 1080p webcam.
If you need Windows, consider the Dell XPS 13 (2026) instead. It has much longer battery life, a smoother 120Hz touchscreen, and a backlit keyboard, but the entry-level 8GB configuration is considerably more limiting in Windows 11 than the Neo's 8GB of memory is in macOS. Heavy browser use and multitasking can cause it to slow down noticeably sooner. The 16GB XPS solves that problem and is the XPS 13 configuration we recommend, but its higher price pushes it beyond what many budget shoppers will want to spend. For students who are comfortable with macOS, the Neo is the better value.
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Best Cheap Laptop For Students
General ProductivityMultimediaWorkstationGamingPortabilityBuild QualitySize14"See all our test resultsOperating SystemWindows 11If you're shopping at the bottom of the price range, the HP OmniBook 3 14 (2025) is the best cheap student laptop we've tested. It covers the basics well enough for web browsing, writing papers, spreadsheets, and video calls, and its roughly 11-hour battery life should get most students through a school day. It's also fairly light, has a comfortable keyboard and responsive touchpad, and offers a useful selection of ports for an inexpensive laptop, including two USB-As, two USB-Cs, HDMI, and a headphone jack.
However, we'd only recommend the OmniBook if your budget has a hard ceiling around $500, or if you specifically need Windows and can't spend more. The Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 2026) above costs only about $100 more with education pricing and is a substantially better laptop. The HP is slower, its 8GB of memory is more restrictive under Windows, and its dim display has a narrow color gamut. The Neo also feels more premium and provides a much better overall multimedia and everyday-use experience. If you can stretch your budget and are comfortable with macOS, it's well worth the extra money.
Our tested 14-hy0017nr configuration has an AMD Ryzen 5 40 processor, 8GB of soldered RAM, and a 256GB SSD. HP sells many other OmniBook 3 14 models with different Intel, AMD, and Snapdragon processors and varying memory, storage, and displays, so check the exact SKU before buying.
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Best Budget 2-In-1 Tablet For Students
BusinessMultimediaWorkstationGamingPortabilityBuild QualitySize13.3"See all our test resultsOperating SystemChrome OSIf you're shopping for a younger student who only needs a device for simple homework assignments and media consumption, consider the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021), a 2-in-1 Chrome OS tablet. Like Microsoft's popular Surface Pro tablets, this form factor lets you detach the keyboard when you're just consuming media, and you can pop it back on when you need to type something out. It fits easily into small bags, and you won't have to worry about bringing a charger, as the battery lasts around 10 hours of light use. If you need to charge it, you can do so over USB-C, so you don't have to deal with a proprietary charger.
This tablet's standout feature is its OLED display. It gets bright enough to combat glare in most indoor settings, and unlike the display on most budget devices, it doesn't look washed out, thanks to its full sRGB and DCI P3 coverage. As with all OLEDs, there's a risk of permanent burn-in, but you don't have to worry about it if you watch varied content. Unfortunately, the keyboard feels rather uncomfortable to type on due to its cramped layout and high operating force, and the touchpad is small and sometimes unresponsive. The upside is that the type cover keyboard comes with the device, so you don't have to spend extra for it.
If you want something newer and more compact, consider the Lenovo Chromebook Duet Gen 9 11 (2024). Its MediaTek Kompanio 838 SoC is faster than the Duet 5's processor, and at only 2.1 lbs with the keyboard attached, it's even easier to carry around. However, the smaller screen is more cramped for productivity, its IPS panel can't match the Duet 5's OLED for picture quality, and its roughly nine-hour battery life is shorter. If portability matters more than screen size, though, it's a good alternative.
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Best Budget Gaming Laptop For Students
General ProductivityMultimediaWorkstationGamingPortabilityBuild QualitySize15.6"See all our test resultsOperating SystemWindows 11For students on a limited budget who still want a capable gaming laptop, check out the MSI Katana A15 AI (2024), but only if you can find one at a reasonable price. It's becoming difficult to find in stock, and the remaining listings are often far more expensive than we'd recommend paying. Unfortunately, it's a particularly tough time to shop for an affordable gaming laptop, with few good options available at sensible prices.
If you do find one for a good price, the Katana delivers strong gaming performance. It's available with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 8945HS CPU and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Laptop GPU, which provide smooth frame rates in demanding games. There are 144Hz FHD and 165Hz QHD display options; opt for the QHD panel if you can, as it has a faster response time and a much wider color gamut, resulting in clearer motion and more vibrant colors. Naturally, there are a few compromises; in this case, it's the build quality and user experience. The laptop's all-plastic chassis flexes in certain areas, and the hinges feel loose. Another complaint is that the laptop generates significant heat and noise under load. For online gaming, while there isn't an Ethernet port, there's Wi-Fi 6E; just make sure your router also supports Wi-Fi 6E or 7 to benefit from the increased speeds and lower latency. Check out our best router recommendations if you want to upgrade your home wireless network.
If the Katana is unavailable or too expensive, consider the ASUS TUF Gaming A16 Advantage Edition (2023). Its all-AMD configurations aren't as fast as the higher-end Katana models, but it still delivers strong performance in demanding games and is usually available for less. It also has a sturdier build, significantly longer battery life, and a wider port selection, making it the better choice for students who plan to carry their laptop around regularly. Some configurations are also available with a sharp 240Hz QHD+ display, though these tend to cost more.
Notable Mentions
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Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (2025):
If you want a more powerful 2-in-1 than the Lenovo Chromebook Duet 5 (2021), look up the Dell 14 Plus 2-in-1 (2025). It's in a completely different price category, but it's also bigger and sturdier, and it performs far better in most tasks. Still, for students looking for a small 2-in-1, the Lenovo is the much better value.
See our review -
Acer Chromebook Plus 516 GE (2024):
The Acer Chromebook 516 GE (2024) is a 16-inch laptop designed for cloud gaming and a cheaper alternative to the MSI Katana A15 AI (2024). It doesn't have nearly as much processing power and runs Chrome OS, so it's only suitable for students with a lighter workload who can access it via the Chrome browser or Android apps. You can use it purely for productivity, too, but it's a pretty big device to lug around just for your schoolwork.
See our review -
Acer Nitro V 16 (2024):
The Acer Nitro V 16 (2024) is very similar to the MSI Katana A15 AI (2024) and is often cheaper. However, you can only get this laptop with up to an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop GPU, and it's harder to find due to low availability.
See our review -
Dell Alienware 15 (2026):
The Dell Alienware 15 (2026) is a cheaper alternative to the MSI Katana A15 AI (2024) with much better build quality. However, its lower-end configurations aren’t as fast, and it’s very bulky and heavy, making it less convenient for students who need to carry it around.
See our review
Recent Updates
Aug 25, 2026:
Due to availability issues, many of our picks were updated, with the Apple MacBook Neo (A18 Pro, 2026) now the 'Best Budget Laptop For Students' and the HP OmniBook 3 14 (2025) the 'Best Cheap Laptop For Students.' We also refreshed the 2-in-1 and gaming recommendations with newer alternatives and updated the Notable Mentions.
May 09, 2025:
We've removed the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022) and the 'Best Budget MacBook' category because all older MacBook Airs have been discontinued and are no longer available.
Apr 11, 2025:
No change in recommendations. Small text changes to provide information about the M3 Apple MacBook Air 13 (2024).
Mar 18, 2025:
Small text changes to provide information about the new M4 MacBook Airs. No change in recommendations.
Feb 24, 2025:
We've verified all our recommendations are available and represent the best choices. We also made small edits for clarity.
All Reviews
Our recommendations above are what we think are currently the best budget and cheap laptops for students to buy. In addition to the test results, we factor in the price (a more affordable model wins over a pricier one if the difference isn't worth it), feedback from our visitors, and availability (no laptops that are difficult to find or almost out of stock everywhere).
If you prefer to make your own decision, here's the list of all of our laptop reviews, sorted by price from low to high. Most laptops are available in various configurations, and the table only shows the results of the model we tested, so it's best to see the full review for information about other variants.