Best laptop under $400 in January 2024

We take a look at the best laptops under $400 that you can buy right now

Table of Contents Table of Contents

If you want to know what the best laptop under $400 is for your needs, and indeed, whether such a budget is even sufficient for buying a general-purpose laptop (it can be), then read on, and we’ll illuminate the situation for you as thoroughly as possible. This guide will be targeted at cheap laptop models for basic office/home use, web browsing and will all come with integrated graphics, rather than a dedicated graphics card. If you’re after something that will do a bit more than Microsoft Office and Google, then do have a read of our best gaming laptop under $500 and best laptop for video editing guides as well.

This page will be updated regularly with the latest picks every month to make sure you get the best choices for your money, so do keep checking back. If you need to buy a product now and don’t have the money, we’d suggest the Lenovo IdeaPad 3 for a standard clamshell option, and the IdeaPad Flex 5 14 for a 2-in-1 variant. Read the Things to consider if you’re buying a laptop under 400 section near the bottom of this page for more detailed advice on what to look for when shopping this price range.

Is a laptop under $400 worth buying?

A laptop under $400 is definitely worth buying as long as you’re prepared for a true budget experience. The vibrancy of the display, processing power, typing experience, and build quality are never going to match those of higher price points, and the device is unlikely to look that great either.

However, if you want a basic laptop that’s capable of browsing the web, writing and viewing documents on, and answering emails, then $400 can still get you something that’s worth your time.

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Best laptop under $400 2024: reviews

The best Windows laptop for the money

01

Editor’s Pick

Lenovo IdeaPad 3 (Ryzen 5 5500U, 2021)

CPU

AMD Ryzen 5 5500U

Graphics

AMD Radeon 7 Graphics (iGPU)

RAM

8GB RAM

Storage

256GB SSD

Screen Size

14″

Max Refresh Rate

60Hz

How We Review

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Pros

• solid battery life
• good build quality for the price
• full-size keyboard
• good webcam & mic for the price
• SD card reader

Cons

• smallish touchpad & keys maybe a bit stiff for some
• no USB-C charging
• narrow color gamut

The 14-inch Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is the best all round laptop you can get for under $400. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500U CPU is the most powerful processor you’re likely to see at this price point, and gives it a reasonable amount of battery life (expect around 9 hours of general usage – enough for the working day).

Despite being a budget offering, build quality is pretty good – the hinges feel solid, though there’s a fair degree of flex on the screen. This quality extends to both the keyboard and the trackpad which both feel sturdy, though the keyboard is a bit too sturdy in some ways – the keys requiring a fair bit of actuation and so resulting in finger fatigue after a while. The keyboard is full-size, including a numpad, which is nice to see, though the trackpad is a bit on the small side, particularly if you’ve got bigger paws.

The webcam is only 720p, but that’s to be expected at this price point. The quality of the image is above what you’d expect really as is the audio quality of the microphone, even if the audio is a bit on the quiet side. The display is a bit lacking in terms of contrast and color replication – it’s a bit washed out looking compared to more expensive machines, but not much more so than the other selections on this list. Peak brightness is reasonable for indoor use at just over 300 cd/m².

Port selection is solid with two USB-A ports, one USB-C port, and a SD UHS card reader, and though you don’t get charging or display output through the USB-C port, this is okay on this budget. 

The IdeaPad 3 is thin and at 4.40 lbs is very light and portable. The RAM is somewhat upgradable, which isn’t typical for a device of this size: you can add an additional 8GB to the soldered-on 4GB, to cap out at a maximum 12GB. All-in-all, a great little budget laptop.

The best 2-in-1 laptop under $400

02

2-in-1 Pick

Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 (2020)

CPU

AMD Ryzen 3 4300U / Ryzen 5 5500U

Graphics

AMD Radeon 7 Graphics (iGPU)

RAM

8GB / 16GB RAM

Storage

128GB / 256GB SSD

Screen Size

14″

Max Refresh Rate

60Hz

How We Review

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Pros

• solid battery life
• good build quality for the price
• good webcam & mic for the price
• light and portable
• SD card reader

Cons

• keys maybe a bit stiff for some
• smallish touchpad
• RAM isn’t expandable
• no USB-C charging
• narrow color gamut

The Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 is a very similar laptop to the IdeaPad 3 listed above, also from Lenovo. It comes with the same port coverage, and a very similar keyboard and trackpad and equally good build quality.

The main difference, besides the obvious change in form factor from the conventional clamshell laptop to the 2-in-1 design, is that the Flex 5 has lest powerful CPU options for the price, which is generally par for the course: you pay for the extra functionality that the 2-in-1 design brings, which means you need to splash out more if you want the same processing power.

Battery life is more or less similar between both the models, in fact you might get 30mins or so more on this 2-in-1 variant – up to a max of around 10 hours. Besides this the other difference to note is that you cannot upgrade the RAM at all on this version after the point of purchase.

The best Chromebook laptop under $400

03

Chromebook Pick

Lenovo Chromebook C340 15 (2020)

CPU

Intel Core Core i3 8130U

Graphics

Intel UHD Graphics 620 (iGPU)

RAM

4GB RAM

Storage

64GB SSD

Screen Size

14″

Max Refresh Rate

60Hz

How We Review

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Pros

• superb battery life
• USB-C with video output & charging
• very light for a 15-inch machine
• comfortable keyboard

Cons

• no stylus support
• limited to 4GB RAM

If you’re not wedded to buying a Windows laptop then the Lenovo Chromebook C340 15 is a great option for under $400. For those looking for a larger 15-inch display, then this Chromebook has the screen real estate for you, however it remains very lightweight at 4.37 lbs, which is more or less the same weight as some of the smaller 14-inch selections on this page.

Being a Chromebook, the processor options are obviously less powerful, though less power is ultimately needed for the same level of performance: either the Intel Pentium Gold or Core i3 processor options are definitely powerful enough to provide a smooth experience on Chrome OS. RAM maxes out at 4GB, which isn’t exactly ideal – we would have rather have seen 8GB – however on the more efficient Chrome OS it does go further on a Windows machine.

The battery life for this machine though is exceptional, with the lower powered components extending the battery duration to around 12 hours, which is more than enough for most users.

You don’t get a SD card reader on this machine unfortunately, but you do get charging support and video output on the USB-C socket, as well as a Kensington lock.

Of disappointment is the lack of stylus support on this machine (which you’d expect given it is a touch screen), however the keyboard is the nicest of any of the picks on this page – being both responsive and comfortable to use.

An alternative 2-in-1 laptop for the price

04

Also consider

ASUS VivoBook Flip 14

CPU

Intel Core i3-1115G4 / i5-1135G7 / AMD Ryzen 5 4500U

Graphics

Intel Iris Xe Max / AMD Radeon (iGPU)

RAM

4GB/8GB RAM

Storage

128GB / 256GB SSD

Screen Size

14″

Max Refresh Rate

60Hz

How We Review

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Pros

• touchscreen with stylus support
• good build quality for the price

Cons

• poor peak brightness
• battery life could be better

The ASUS VivoBook Flip 14 can’t match the processing power of the Lenovo IdeaPad 3, however it does have the additional functionality that being a 2-in-1 laptop brings plus equally good build quality.

In most cases if you’re looking for a 2-in-1 device we’d opt for the Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14 instead, which is superior in most ways, though the VivoBook Flip is arguably the nicer looking device, plus the lighter laptop, weighing in at 3.31 lbs.

Unfortunately the battery life is shorter than ideal at just over 7 hours. Though this isn’t terrible there are better out there. The peak display brightness tops out around 210 cd/m2 and colore replication and contrast ratio aren’t great either. Still, if you can pick this up on offer for very cheap, it might be worth your consideration.

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Things to consider if you’re buying a laptop under $400

Best Windows Laptop under $400 vs best Chromebook under $400

A lot of the laptops you will see for this price on the sites of online retailers will actually be Chromebooks, and you’ll want to make sure you read the details properly to make sure you don’t pick the wrong one up by mistake. 

Chromebooks differ from Windows laptops in that they are based around the Chrome Operating System (Chrome OS), which relies heavily on the Chrome web browser and access to the internet to function. Because they utilize ‘The Cloud’ a lot more they tend to have less powerful CPUs etc., so can be substantially cheaper than Windows laptops. You can get Chromebooks with OLED displays a lot cheaper than an OLED laptop running Windows for instance. 

However, Chromebooks are more limited in what they can do than laptops are, and require that constant internet connection to be fully functional. Still, if you have access to good internet and don’t mind working in the cloud, they could be right for you. Check out our best Chromebook guide for more info.

RAM & SSD size

If you’re buying a brand new, full-priced product, the maximum RAM and SSD size you will get on a laptop for $400 or less will be 8GB and 256GB respectively. This represents the upper end – most laptops under 400 dollars will have 4GB RAM and 128GB of storage, or even 64GB SSD space in some cases.

For hard drive storage you can always buy an external hard drive to keep larger files on and plug it into your laptop when necessary, which will allow you to get a larger GB SSD or HDD than if you upgraded the internal specs, or alternatively you can make use of cloud storage. Low RAM can be a bit more of a problem though, as web browsers are very RAM intensive. At 4GB you will notice a substantial slowdown if you have more than a few tabs open, or are running any background processes while browsing the web. We’d therefore recommend trying to stick to 8GB of RAM or more where possible.

Maximum refresh rate

At this budget, there is absolutely no chance of getting anything above a 60Hz refresh rate display, though this will be absolutely fine for general use. You only really need a higher refresh rate if you’re planning on playing games on your laptop, in which case you should instead have a read of our best gaming laptop under 500 USD guide, but even these will most likely be capped at 60Hz. It’s only really when you get to gaming laptops under 700 USD that you start to see a couple of models with higher max refresh rates.

Which is the best budget laptop brand?

HP, ASUS, Samsung, Lenovo, and Dell all offer laptops in the price range of $400 or less. You may also find the occasional Microsoft Surface Laptop that has been reduced in price.

Best laptop under $400 FAQs

How much should you spend on a basic laptop?

This is a bit of a difficult question to answer, as ‘basic laptop’ is a subjective term. You will be certainly be able to buy a reasonable laptop for $400 that will function for general productivity (i.e. word processing, browsing the web etc.). You will have to make sacrifices however in terms of overall build quality, the standard of the keyboard and trackpad, battery life, screen brightness, and general design and functionality.

If you’re planning on using the device for creative use or gaming, you’ll definitely need to spend a bit more money.

Which is the best laptop for under 400?

The HP Pavilion, Samsung Galaxy Book, Lenovo ThinkPad, and ASUS Vivobook are all contenders for the best laptop under $400. You may also want to consider buying a Chromebook if you’re operating on a budget: these are more cost-friendly but have disadvantages compared to regular laptops, chief among them being the need for a constant internet connection.

Final Word

This has been our guide to the best laptop under $400. Do be sure to check out some of our myriad other laptop guides whilst you’re here, in case you’ve not found what you’re looking for, like our best laptop for working from home page, touch screen laptop, best OLED laptop, and best gaming laptop pages.