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The Microsoft Surface Laptop on a wooden table Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

The Best Laptops Under $1,000 of 2024

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The Microsoft Surface Laptop on a wooden table Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

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Editor's Choice Product image of HP Pavilion Plus 16 (2023)
Best Laptop Under $1,000

HP Pavilion Plus 16 (2023)

Check Price at HP

The HP Pavilion Plus 16 is well-rounded and a viable alternative to the larger MacBook Pro 16, MacBook Air 15, or LG Gram 17. Read More

Pros

  • Great performance and battery life
  • Bright and clear display
  • Slim design

Cons

  • So-so keyboard
  • No simple GPU toggle
2
Editor's Choice Product image of Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (2023)
Best 2-in-1 Under $1,000

Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (2023)

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Pros

  • Phenomenal touchscreen display
  • Dynamic audio
  • Included stylus and case

Cons

  • Slightly underpowered
  • Short battery life
3
Editor's Choice Product image of Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA402NU-G14.R74050)
Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000

Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA402NU-G14.R74050)

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Pros

  • Sleek chassis
  • Excellent display
  • Great performance

Cons

  • Middling battery life
  • Gets hot after a while
4
Editor's Choice Product image of Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 (2022)
Best MacBook Under $1,000

Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 (2022)

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Pros

  • Large, bright display
  • Gorgeous design
  • Great performance

Cons

  • No upgrade path
  • No Gold model
  • Worse SSD performance
5
Product image of Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (2023)

Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (2023)

Check Price at Best Buy

The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED sports a 13th-gen Intel processor and follows in the Acer Aspire Vero’s tracks with the use of recycled materials. Read More

Pros

  • Stays cool on your lap
  • Touchpad with built-in Numpad
  • Pleasing sound

Cons

  • Middling performance
  • All ports are on the right side
  • Lacks a built-in card reader
  • Best Laptop Under $1,000 HP Pavilion Plus 16 (2023)
  • Best 2-in-1 Under $1,000 Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (2023)
  • Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA402NU-G14.R74050)
  • Best MacBook Under $1,000 Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 (2022)
  • Other Laptops Under $1,000 We Tested
  • Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (2023)
  • Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024)
  • Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14 (2023)
  • What You Should Know About Budget Laptops Under $1,000
  • How We Test Budget Laptops
  • More Articles You Might Enjoy

The best laptop under $1,000 may not be able to do everything that more expensive laptops can. That’s why it’s important to know what features matter the most to you so you can get the best deal on a laptop possible.

After testing top-rated affordable laptops, the HP Pavilion Plus 16 (available at HP) rose to the top thanks to its discrete graphics power and its versatile 13th gen Intel Core i5 processor. It’s not technically a gaming laptop, but it can stand tall among the best gaming laptops under $1,000 with ease.

There are plenty of other great laptops for under $1,000 on the market, and we're here to help you find the best one for you in your price range.

An open laptop on a dark desk.
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The HP Pavilion Plus 16 has it all, and it won't give you sticker shock.

Best Laptop Under $1,000
HP Pavilion Plus 16 (2023)
  • Processor: Intel Core i5-13500H
  • Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (integrated), Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 6GB (discrete)
  • Memory: 16GB LPDDR5x 5200MHz
  • Storage: 512GB M.2 PCIe 4.0 with TLC
  • Display: 16-inch, 2560 x 1600, 400 nits max (rated); 458.1 nits max (measured), variable refresh rate enabled (48-120Hz), IPS anti-glare
  • Battery life: 13+ hours

The HP Pavilion Plus 16 has everything you could want from the best laptop under $1,000. With a 13-hour battery life on par with the MacBook Air 15 M2, discrete graphics that can handle most modern games, a bright, 16-inch 2K display, and a sizable amount of memory and storage, there’s little left to criticize.

Its MSRP is about $1,100, but the Pavilion Plus 16 is often on sale for $800 or less. Compared to rivals like the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus and the Lenovo Legion Slim Pro 7, you get better value for the money. The laptop’s Intel Core i5-13500H processor and its Nvidia RTX 3050 graphics card provide more than enough performance for productivity, and they’re even great for gaming and content creation.

Sadly, the laptop does cut some corners to pack so much performance and features into the chassis. The keyboard, while serviceable, has squishy keys and odd arrow key placement. The variable refresh rate (VRR) is great in theory, but in practice the VRR panel is too slow to keep up with changing refresh rates, leading to a choppy experience. It can also be a pain to switch between using discrete graphics and integrated graphics with HP’s lack of command software—you have to choose which graphics processor to use every time you open a new app.

For most people, the flaws will feel more like nitpicks than dealbreakers. The HP Pavilion Plus 16 is still a mighty powerful, elegantly designed, and relatively light laptop with a great screen and phenomenal battery life for an unbeatable price. It is easily the best laptop under $1,000 available right now.

Read our full HP Pavilion Plus 16 review.

Pros

  • Great performance and battery life

  • Bright and clear display

  • Slim design

Cons

  • So-so keyboard

  • No simple GPU toggle

Buy now at HP
A picture of a laptop on a table.
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The Lenovo Yoga 9i is a stellar 2-in-1 that feels good to use in every form factor.

Best 2-in-1 Under $1,000
Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 (2023)
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-1360P
  • Graphics: Intel Iris Xe
  • Memory: 16GB DDR5 4800MHz
  • Storage: 1TB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch, 3840 x 2400, OLED
  • Battery life: 8.5+ hours

As an everyday, all-purpose laptop, the Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 is a dream. It’s not just one of the best laptops under $1,000; it’s one of the best laptops of any price bracket. It originally retailed for $1,400, but since it’s been out over a year, its sale price is under $1,000.

Its touchscreen display is a smooth canvas for the included pressure-sensitive stylus, with full P3 color gamut coverage and 400 nits of brightness that’s sure to please digital artists. When you factor in its incredibly dynamic audio and snappy performance, the Lenovo Yoga 9i provides a phenomenal multimedia experience for typists and artists.

At eight hours and 46 minutes, the Yoga 9i’s battery life should be sufficient for a workday but feels slim compared to some laptops’ 15-plus hours of battery life. Intel’s Core i7-1360P uses up to 64W, which makes it decently efficient, but because it can’t use as much power as the Intel Core i7-12700H, its processing performance is weaker. Less power consumption means longer battery life, though, so that means this laptop never gets too hot, so feel free to rest it on your lap while using it.

Among laptops under $1,000, it’s hard to find a machine with great performance, a good battery life, a high-end display, and great ergonomics. The Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 may be from last generation, but it’s still heads above most budget laptops rolling out this year.

Read our full Lenovo Yoga 9i Gen 8 review.

Pros

  • Phenomenal touchscreen display

  • Dynamic audio

  • Included stylus and case

Cons

  • Slightly underpowered

  • Short battery life

$388.99 from Best Buy
A picture of a laptop on a grey pad.
Credit: Reviewed / Adrien Ramirez

The Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 2023 still keeps up with 2024's gaming laptops.

Best Gaming Laptop Under $1,000
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 (GA402NU-G14.R74050)
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
  • Graphics: Nvidia RTX 4050
  • Memory: 16GB DDR5
  • Storage: 512GB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch, 2560 x 1600, 165Hz LED
  • Battery life: ~6 hours

We were amazed by the 2023 and 2024 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14’s performance output. We’re still waiting for discounts on the 2024 model, but the 2023 model with an Nvidia RTX 4050 has been on sale for around $1,000 several times. The base model is one of the best gaming laptops under $1,000 you could buy, even over a year after its release.

If you’re after a laptop that can both game and travel with ease, the ROG Zephyrus G14’s stellar performance across the board and the 14-inch form factor are a powerful combination. Add on an all-metal body, a fantastic display, detailed audio, and a great keyboard and you get a fantastic laptop for daily use too.

The one caveat is the battery life. The 2023 model has a scant 6-hour battery life, which may not be enough for someone who’s constantly moving from meeting to meeting with no charging breaks in between. Even so, you won’t find a better 14-inch laptop under $1,000 than this if you can snag it on sale.

Read our full review of the 2023 Asus ROG Zephyrus G14.

Pros

  • Sleek chassis

  • Excellent display

  • Great performance

Cons

  • Middling battery life

  • Gets hot after a while

Buy now at Amazon
A powered-on laptop on a blue table.
Credit: Reviewed / Tim Renzi

The MacBook Air 13 and Air 15 are excellent laptops for those that prefer MacOS's clean interface.

Best MacBook Under $1,000
Apple MacBook Air 13 M2 (2022)
  • Processor: Apple M2
  • Graphics: Integrated 10-core processor
  • Memory: 8GB DDR5 soldered
  • Storage: 256GB SSD
  • Display: 13-inch 2560 x 1664p, 120Hz display
  • Battery: 17+ hours

Now that Apple’s released the MacBook Air 13 M3, the MacBook Air 13 M2 got a price cut. The laptop is under $1,000 at suggested retail price, and it’s already been on sale for $850. You won’t feel like you’re missing out on the M3 either, since the M3 laptop’s strengths were already nailed in the M2 laptop.

The MacBook Air 13 M2 improves on the MacBook Air 13 M1 in almost every area. The Air 13 M2’s slick trackpad, responsive keyboard, vibrant 2K liquid retina display, and beautiful all-metal chassis make it a standout among laptops under $1,000.

The MacBook Air 13 M2’s gorgeous display makes HDR content pop, and its processor is between 10 and 20 percent faster than the M1 before it. But by far, the Air 13 M2’s most impressive achievement is its battery life—at 17 hours, you can use the MacBook Air 13 M2 for two full workdays and still have an hour left over.

Compared to most of its Windows rivals, the MacBook Air 13 M2 brings a fantastic user experience without sacrificing portability or performance. With an HDR-capable display and a 17-hour battery life, it’s undoubtedly one of the best laptops under $1,000.

Read our full MacBook Air 13 M2 review.

Pros

  • Large, bright display

  • Gorgeous design

  • Great performance

Cons

  • No upgrade path

  • No Gold model

  • Worse SSD performance

$799.00 from Best Buy

$969.00 from Amazon

Other Laptops Under $1,000 We Tested

Product image of Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (2023)
Asus Zenbook 14X OLED (2023)
  • Processor: Intel Core i7-13700H
  • Graphics: Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
  • Memory: 16GB LPDDR5 6400MHz
  • Storage: 512GB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch, 2880 x 1800, 120Hz, OLED
  • Battery life: 7.5+ hours

The Asus Zenbook 14X OLED isn’t as powerful as the other OLED laptops in our various guides, but when you factor in the number of upgrades this laptop provides beyond the basics, it feels like a steal for a laptop under $1,000—and it’s not rare to find it on sale for cheaper than that.

It’s more common to find just-okay IPS displays with 300 nits of brightness in sub-$1,000 laptops, so the fact that this Zenbook 14 has an OLED display (with a 550-nit peak brightness) at this price is awesome. It’s also stylishly designed and constructed with sturdy materials. The keyboard is wonderfully tactile and the trackpad is both large and responsive. Even the port selection is well-rounded, with USB Type-A, USB 4, and HDMI 2.1 connectors.

With 16GB of memory and 512GB of storage, the Zenbook 14X OLED also has enough overhead to handle a lot of multitasking or more demanding productivity apps like Adobe Premiere. The 7.5-hour battery life feels a bit short compared to other 14-inch laptops, but it’s enough for most people and the performance, audio, and display earn it a spot among the best laptops under $1,000 you can get.

Read our full review of the Asus Zenbook 14X OLED.

Pros

  • Stays cool on your lap

  • Touchpad with built-in Numpad

  • Pleasing sound

Cons

  • Middling performance

  • All ports are on the right side

  • Lacks a built-in card reader

$949.99 from Best Buy

Buy now at Amazon
Product image of Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024)
Dell Inspiron 14 Plus (2024)
  • Processor: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
  • Graphics: Intel Arc integrated graphics
  • Memory: 16GB DDR5 6400MHz
  • Storage: 512GB SSD
  • Display: 14-inch, 2560 x 1644, 60Hz
  • Battery life: 9.5 hours

The Dell Inspiron 14 Plus focuses on the essentials: performance, battery life, display, and durability. Its Intel Core Ultra 7 processor is a huge improvement over Intel’s last generation processors—the integrated graphics are powerful enough to handle casual 3D modeling and the AI-powered chips do an excellent job of cutting the processor’s power consumption for a better battery life.

However, the Dell Inspiron 14 Plus’s stiff keyboard won’t be everyone’s cup of tea. If you spend a lot of time typing on your PC, you may find that you’ll get cramped fingers and miss a lot of letters the longer you write. When it comes to Windows laptops, there’s simply so many more that get close to the Inspiron 14 Plus in performance without forgoing a good keyboard. Thankfully the trackpad is much easier to use. Hopefully next generation brings a keyboard closer to the Dell XPS keyboard or even the 2022 Inspiron 14 Plus.

The 2K display is good but not great. With 400 nits of brightness and full sRGB color gamut coverage, it’s usable in most lighting conditions and its image is clean and precise. However, the panel’s dated TN lighting tech gives it a dullness and white bleed that’s absent in the newer OLED panels.

If the display and keyboard aren’t dealbreakers for you, the Inspiron 14 Plus offers a stellar value for its $900 price tag. Few laptops in this price range can match its performance and battery life.

Pros

  • Great battery life

  • Lots of ports

  • Responsive trackpad

Cons

  • Stiff keyboard

  • Heavy

Buy now at Dell
Product image of Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14 (2023)
Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14 (2023)
  • Processor: AMD Ryzen 7 7735HS
  • Graphics: Nvidia RTX 3050
  • Memory: 16GB DDR5 6400MHz
  • Storage size: 512GB SSD
  • Display: 14.5-inch, 2560 x 1600, 90Hz IPS touchscreen
  • Battery life: 9.5+ hours

The Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14 went on sale recently for under $1,000, so we’re pleased we can finally include this great jack-of-all-trades laptop on this list.

It has the right specs to do more than simple web browsing thanks to its CPU with enough multicore power for light creative tasks like editing photos, videos, and audio, and the entry-level discrete GPU will render images much faster than AMD’s integrated graphics chip.

Additionally, it comes with a flight of varied ports that are useful for any computing situation, work or personal. It’s under an inch thick and weighs roughly 3.5 pounds—and to top it off, the battery lasts close to 10 hours. It just has everything you’d expect a laptop to have, and does everything you’d expect a laptop to do.

Read our full Lenovo Slim Pro 7 14 review.

Pros

  • Solid performance

  • Sturdy, tactile keyboard feel

  • Minimalist, professional look

Cons

  • Just okay screen brightness

  • Loaded with bloatware

What You Should Know About Budget Laptops Under $1,000

Whether you need a Chromebook for web browsing or a high-powered machine for gaming, you should be able to find a great laptop under $1,000. Still, you’ll likely have to make some choices about what’s most important to you. Here are some things to consider:

Price

Laptops under $1,000 are usually mid-range models with powerful hardware and good design. At this price point, you’re getting good performance for most everyday tasks that won’t feel sluggish after a year or two of use, plus solid build quality and a few nice bells and whistles like facial recognition. The best laptops under $1,000 also have 8+ hours of battery life and excellent HDR-ready displays, but it’s harder to find a laptop under $1,000 with discrete graphics processors or all-metal bodies.

Performance

How well your computer can multitask, handle intensive tasks like gaming, and store all your files is determined by the CPU, graphics chip, RAM, and storage inside your PC. The better the specs, the snappier the laptop will feel as you work.

For a laptop under $1,000, you should expect a midrange or better processor like the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H or the AMD Ryzen 7 8840U with a base frequency of 3 GHz, boost speeds above 4.5 GHz, and 8 fully-powered cores (Intel calls them performance cores). Usually, the processors also have power-efficient cores that handle less demanding tasks and conserve a laptop’s battery life battery than the full-powered cores would.

Graphics power is hit-or-miss among laptops under $1,000. While some gaming laptops under $1,000 have midrange discrete graphics processors like the Nvidia RTX 4050, it’s more common for laptops at this price point to forgo a discrete graphics card and use the core processor’s integrated graphics instead. That said, Intel’s latest Arc graphics processors and AMD’s latest Radeon graphics processors can easily handle lighter 3D games like Shadow of the Tomb Raider. More intense modern games, like Elden Ring, can usually run at playable frame rates (think 30 frames per second at 1080p resolution), but getting to 60 FPS is more of a struggle.

Laptops under $1,000 may also skimp on memory and storage. If you can, you should look for laptops that have 16GB of DDR5 memory and 512GB of solid state drive storage or better. A laptop with 8GB of memory, like a base MacBook Air 13, will be fine for web browsing and light to medium productivity, but it will struggle to keep up with massive files (like a 200-page Word document).

Display Size

The size of a laptop display is measured by its diagonal length. You’ll usually find laptops in one of three main sizes—13 inches and under, 15 inches, or 17 inches. Sometimes, you will see 14-inch laptops and 16-inch laptops, as well.

The smallest laptops under $1,000 are very portable and more suitable for lighter work and browsing the web. You lose some portability with laptops with 15-inch displays, but they are more useful for photo editing and watching videos. While 17-inch displays can be a pain to lug around, the bigger screen is worth it for video editing and other creative work.

When looking for the best laptops under $1,000, you’ll want to keep an eye out for resolution and display type. A laptop with a 1080p screen will be enough for many, but it’s becoming commonplace to see laptops in this price range include a 1440p or higher resolution display.

Most laptops under $1,000 use IPS LCD displays, but if you’re able to find a laptop with OLED you’ll get better black levels and contrast. Usually, OLED displays also have better color accuracy and recreation, as well.

How We Test Budget Laptops

Top view of Microsoft Surface laptop
Credit: Reviewed / Jackson Ruckar

We test laptops for their processing capability, graphics, battery life, and screen brightness.

We put laptops under $1,000 through the same tests as the best laptops you can buy. Every computer we test is evaluated on processing capability, graphics, battery life, and screen brightness.

Additionally, we also use each laptop for an extended time, looking at factors like price, build quality, design, and portability.

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  • The Best Chromebooks
  • The Best Gaming Laptops

Meet the testers

Adrien Ramirez

Adrien Ramirez

Staff Writer

@itsaramkat

Adrien is the PC staff writer for Reviewed with over 4 years of experience covering laptops, desktops, software, games, and more.

See all of Adrien Ramirez's reviews
Joanna Nelius

Joanna Nelius

Former Senior Editor, Tech

@

Joanna specializes in anything and everything gaming-related and loves nerding out over graphics cards, processors, and chip architecture. Previously she was a staff writer for Gizmodo, PC Gamer, and Maximum PC.

See all of Joanna Nelius's reviews

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