5 Best Laptops Under $400: Affordable and Powerful

A budget laptop that fits all of your needs is difficult to find. We have made a list of the best laptops under $400 for you to make things easier.

You need your laptop to be fast and reliable. However, every laptop is not that reliable. There are plenty of excellent laptops in the market, but a few are affordable. Moreover, it is harder to find a laptop that fits your specific needs. To save you the trouble of searching countless online shopping websites, we have made a list of the best laptops under 400. These laptops are efficient and durable, making them ideal for everyday tasks.

If you are a student with college expenses or a person who doesn’t need to perform high-end software tasks, then a budget laptop is ideal for you. Being a low-budget laptop doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the quality of your laptop. The laptops included in this list have all that you might require from your laptop and maybe even more. We have included the best budget laptops under 400 in our list. Whether you are a writer or need an office laptop, there is something for everyone on this list so try to read it till the end.

Top 7 Best Laptops Under $400

Acer Chromebook R11

Best outstanding Laptop under 400

This Chromebook is a convertible laptop and is available for under 400. This device has a chrome OS (a google operating system) and is a complete fit for today’s modern world. The Acer Chromebook R11 does not need protection from viruses as it already has a built-in virus protection system.

I have an Acer Chromebook R11, which I occasionally take to my office. I love using this Chromebook as I have always feared viruses and loved using google apps.

This is extremely helpful for me as it allows me to use google docs to quickly edit and create my text files. Now let me tell you its most liked feature: an 11.6 inches long touch screen.

By looking at all the features, including its affordable rates, high speed, high storage, and the fact that it is very lightweight, I am forced to say that you must have such a device at your home. This laptop is one of my favorite from our list of best laptops under $400.

---

Dell Inspiron 14 – The Best Laptop Under 400

Best outstanding Laptop of the category

The Dell Inspiron 14 tries to stay within the high-end laptop specs while keeping the budget low. We were surprised to see the laptop’s performance, which outmatched its price.

We had to include this laptop in our top best laptops under 400 list. Like the other laptops on this list, Dell Inspiron 14 is also equipped with a touch screen feature. You can also use it as a tablet. The computer has a 10^th Gen core i3 processor.

The design is simple but also relatively clean. This laptop has a 14-inch High definition screen. It has excellent features like the fingerprint reader and some good quality speakers. The only downside we found was that its display is a bit dim, which might make it harder to focus in brightly lit environments. Its 8 GB ram,128 GB SSD, and 10^th gen processor make it a good purchase.

---

Lenovo Chromebook Flex 3

Best touch screen laptops under 400

This Chrome book is both efficient as well as stylish. We chose this device because of its 11.6 inches HD display and 64 GB storage. The Lenovo Chrome book has a chrome OS and presents a modern and sleek design.

This device got my attention on amazon while I searched for a high-performance and long battery life laptop for my friend. I instantly chose this for her as this device fulfills all her requirements, such as a touch screen, less weight, and smaller size.

What she likes most is that this device can flip into a tablet without stuttering (she loves watching her favorite shows on a tablet mode). Moreover, Lenovo chrome book flex 3 has several USB ports, making it easy for her to connect USBs and transfer her data.

The device also has a built-in virus protection system, and it doesn’t need a setup that makes it easier to use. It is one of the best touch screen laptops under 400.

---

Asus VivoBook 15

Best budget laptop under 400

Asus Vivobook 15 provides a 15.6 inch (full HD) screen and 128 GB storage. We have added this device to our list as we are amazed by its light and thin design.

Moreover, we found this device a fit for students and teachers because of its compatibility with google classroom. Plus, due to its slate grey appearance, it will never go out of style, making it one of the best budget laptops under $400.

The laptops support Windows 10 S mode, which is a plus point. The screen display is not too fancy, but you can get a clear HD display. In addition, two other essential features caught our attention, i.e., it has a fingerprint reader and a backlit keyboard. We found this laptop suitable for writers due to the Engro Lift hinges style that allows you to tilt up the keyboard for comfortable typing. Besides, its screen-to-body ratio is 88 percent, making it a perfect fit for your work and play.

---

Asus VivoBook Flip

Best gaming laptop under 400$

Asus Vivo book flip is a 2 in 1 laptop with decent GPU performance. This laptop easily beats its rival laptops in GPU performance, but it also has some downsides. The battery timing isn’t perfect, but it still does the job by giving you 6 hours of usage.

We tested this laptop to see how it held against its competitors and got great results. The laptop is far better than other intel integrated systems since AMD’s Ryzen CPU.

The design of the laptop is neat, and it is lightweight, which makes it easier to carry. It has a standard 14 inches screen with a touch feature. The main attracting point of this laptop is that you can flip it to use it as a tablet. The touch screen comes with a stylus which makes it more convenient. The good GPU performance allows you to play medium-end games on this laptop, so you can also call it a 400$ gaming laptop.

---

Lenovo IdeaPad 3

Best laptop for zoom teaching

Lenovo’s Ideapad 3 offers an affordable option with ample processing and storage power for common productivity apps while providing enough entertainment for home usage on a Full HD display. Its multitasking capacity, quicker boot-ups, and seamless data accessibility are enhanced by the powerful combination of an 8GB DDR4-SDRAM and a 256GB SSD.

The Ideapad 3 comes with Windows 10 Home, a user-friendly operating system. With a greater quality of 1920 x 1080 pixels, the 15.6-inch FHD screen makes your viewing experience rich and lifelike.

Lenovo provides enough space on the keyboard to accommodate. The touchpad has a smooth texture and effortlessly performs all multi-finger actions making it the best laptop for zoom teaching. It has two USB 3.0 connections and a 3.5mm audio connector. WiFi-5 provides speedier internet access, while Bluetooth 5.0 allows users to share data quickly.

We found that Lenovo has put together a budget-friendly option for online coaches and teachers looking for an entry-level laptop to handle their everyday tasks.

---

Microsoft Surface 3

Best 2 in1 Hybrid Tablet/Laptop

The Microsoft Surface Pro is a line of 2-in-1 detachable hybrid tablet/laptop computers and was introduced as the successor to the Surface Pro 4. This device priced under 30000 dollars makes it extremely notable among new engineers. The high-resolution IPS displays make the screen more attractive and foreshows each color more clearly. Another good thing about this laptop is the

The Surface Pro 7 comes with an 8th generation i7 processor. It has 16GB RAM, and 1TB of memory space. The battery lasts up to 14 hours on one charge (continuous video playback), and it uses cloud storage. The screen size is 13.5 inches, and its display resolution is 3000×2000 pixels (267 PPI).

When comparing this laptop to other laptops, you can see that it’s pretty similar in performance to most laptops with the same specs. But its battery life exceeds most others and lasts up to 14 hours on one charge. While it doesn’t have any significant flaws, it doesn’t make any significant improvements over the previous generation either.

After using my Surface Pro 7 for half a year now, I have discovered many pros and cons about this product. The best thing about it by far is its design and aesthetics: I love how thin and sleek it looks. Another pro is the Surface Pen: it feels like a real pen and allows you to write and draw as if you were using actual paper and a pencil. The battery life is also pretty great. I can use the device for several hours before needing to recharge it again.

---

Buyer Guide for the Best laptops under $400

RAM , GPU, and SSD

As a teacher, student, office worker, you need the best laptop under $400 to use applications like MS Office. A 4GB RAM is an ideal choice for this purpose. It is also paired with a 256GB SSD. It is still enough to store a large project file. Moreover, the 512GB SSD that it comes with is ideal for quick OS loading. The laptop has an excellent backlit keyboard, but its sound quality is not so great.

For professionals, you should consider getting a higher-end laptop with a dedicated GPU and high-end hardware. A laptop with a dedicated GPU is likely to have a full HD display.

Operating System

While there are some other laptops available on the market that are perfect for this application, it is recommended to pick a machine with a 64-bit Windows 10 operating system.

High-Resolution Screen

It’s not a good idea to get a 4K display as this is not optimized for CAD applications. However, a full HD display is more than enough for professional users. And a dedicated 512GB NVMe solid-state drive will give you the performance you need.

Processor

A laptop with powerful software and a good graphics card is the key to success. If you plan to use both AutoCAD and a 3D application, then an i5 or i7 is the ideal option. Depending on your needs, it’s advisable to spend more than you’re budget.

Screen Size

In addition to the RAM, the best laptop for data science should have a high-resolution screen of at least 17 inches. It should be able to run multiple applications at the same time and be able to run the latest version of the software. If you’re looking for a laptop that’s compatible with your software, you’re probably looking for a high-end machine. For the most part, a mid-range model with a ten-inch screen will also be enough.

Faqs

Q: What features should you look for in a $400 laptop?

Ans: A decent chunk of RAM, long-lasting battery, portability, decent display, and a generous array of ports.

Q: Is a $400 laptop good enough for professional tasks?

Ans: A $400 laptop can handle video calls, spreadsheet processing, and basic productivity tasks, using web-based apps, that require minimal levels of professional assignments. However, if you are looking for a device that can handle more demanding tasks like photo or video editing, and more, the one with a decent chunk of RAM needs to be considered.

Final Verdict

To sum it up, you don’t need a high-end laptop for your basic everyday tasks. Even if you want to buy a laptop to do light office work, the laptops mentioned in this article will be more than enough for you. It isn’t easy to find good laptops under 400.

Since many students can’t afford expensive laptops, this list will help them find a laptop within their budget. These are 2 of my favorite laptops from this list:

• Acer Chromebook R11
• Asus VivoBook flip

All of these laptops provide the best value for their price. If you are looking to buy a good laptop for basic everyday tasks, this list is where you stop searching. Take your time and figure out your needs. If you wish to have high processing power, then a laptop like Dell Inspiron 14 might be the ideal choice for you, but if you prefer a stylish laptop that is easy to carry, you should go for the Lenovo Chrome book flex 3. It all depends on what you desire. We tried keeping the list of laptops diverse to allow more choices. So, which laptop did you like the most? Make sure to tell us down below!