Best Budget Laptops for College Students [2023]

It is back to school or college season and you are looking for the best laptop for your study. We got you covered as we bring you the best laptops for college students on a tight budget.

Best Budget Laptops for College Students

Now we are not only talking about the best laptops, not the cheap ones. Because as a student you don’t need something like a predator gaming laptop right? So we are going to discuss with you 3 very well-built laptops at an affordable price.

1. Acer Aspire 5 | Best Affordable Laptop for College Students

Best Budget Laptops for College Students

Specifications:

  • Processor: Core i5-1035
  • Display: 15.6” IPS
  • Ram: 8GB DDR4
  • Storage: 1 TB
  • Windows: Windows 10
  • Battery: 8 Hours

Let us first start off with Acer Aspire 5 which is at the top of our list of best budget laptops for college students. This is a great device for students who want to have a laptop for school but also enjoy some light gaming as well.

Basically, it is an inexpensive and non-touch display laptop that can handle some latest gaming titles pretty easily due to its graphics card Intel. The UHD graphics chip from NVIDIA makes the entire laptop cost around $600.

Now there are only two things that might be an issue for the students. First is the battery life which is limited to 5 hours. If you are a history student, then check out these best laptops to study history.

Therefore students might need to take the laptop charger with them to school or college. So if you have to spend most of the time at school or college then do not forget to bring the charger with you.

Secondly, Acer Aspire 5 is not super thin, unlike other high-end laptops. So it is a little bit thick in size but overall it’s a good choice to go with.

You can also get a free laptop from Amazon, read this guide.

2. Lenovo 320S | Wallet-Friendly Laptops for College Students under $500

cheap laptop for college students

Specifications:

  • Processor: Intel Core i5-7200U
  • Ram: 8GB
  • Display: 14 inches
  • Windows: Windows 10
  • Storage: 256GB SSD

Now if you love a laptop with a sleek and thin design then nothing is better than Lenovo 320S. It has an aluminum body that gives a good feeling. The screen on the laptop is a little bit dim because, in the base model, Lenovo does not allow the 1080p screen to be installed.

However, the keyboard is spacious and good to type. The battery life on the laptop is really good lasting around 7 hours. This device comes with a couple of different configurations but the most basic model starts at $550 which is affordable for students.

Indeed it is one of the best student laptops to have in 2021 with the latest specs but less storage space. However, the students don’t need that much space to carry on with their studies.

3. ASUS UX330 | Most Reliable Laptop for University & College Students

Most preferable laptop for studying in college or university

Specifications:

  • Processor: Core i5-7200U
  • Display: 13.3”
  • Ram: 8 GB Ram
  • Storage: 256GB SSD
  • Windows: Windows 10

ASUS UX330 is the successor to UX 306. It is an incredibly good laptop for the money you spend. Now it might cost you around $700 which is not affordable for most students.

But the good part lies in its build quality and pretty simple design. It has 2 regular USB ports, one USB-C port, and a micro HDMI port. It has a good 1080p bright screen with a matte finish.

It has a nice back-lit keyboard and a decent trackpad as well. The speakers on this thing are really good and they are located at the bottom. For a price of $700, the speaker quality is pretty amazing and crispier.

Does it have a 13-inches screen which is pretty small compared to the other 2 laptops we discussed above? The only thing we don’t like about this laptop is the fan noise. Now the fan noise is there even when you watch stuff on YouTube.

Therefore if you have no concerns with the fan blowing then this is the best thing to go for.

The Bottom Line

Finally, these were the best affordable laptops for college students on a low budget. However, there might be laptops on the market that are way cheaper than the ones we discussed here.

But just keep in mind that the quality matters more than the price, so it is wise spending your money just once instead of doing experiments on cheap rigs.

Also if you are looking for an expensive choice besides just studying then don’t forget to check out our review for HP Spectre 13.