The best cheap laptops for 2024, tested and reviewed

When it comes to shopping for the best cheap laptops, you can do a lot with $1,000. (Heck, even $500 cuts some mustard nowadays.) But you'll probably have to make some compromises along the way to stay below that price point.

That doesn't mean you have to settle for a total clunker that doesn't tick any of the boxes on your must-have specs list. It just means you have to shop a little smarter than someone with unlimited funds.

That's where we come in. The Mashable team is constantly reviewing new laptops, and we can recommend several affordable machines for different budgets, operating system loyalties, and use cases based on our hands-on testing.

What is the best cheap laptop?

As of mid-2024, we believe the best cheap MacBook is the 13-inch Apple MacBook Air powered by the previous-generation M2 chip. It's speedy enough for most people, it's got a great keyboard, and it starts at $999 (though it's often on sale for less than $900).

Among Windows laptops, the Lenovo Yoga 7i 14 (Gen 9) is currently the best cheap laptop we've tested. It has a newer processor and a good battery life, it doubles as a tablet, and it comes in at a starting price of $899.99.

Read on to learn more about these picks and some other solid options. FYI: We've listed the pricing and specs of our testing units, which may not apply to each laptop's base model.