The Best Bargain Laptops

September 2021 update. If price is the most important criteria for you when purchasing a new laptop then maybe this list will help you narrow your choices down. The following table contains an overview over the best laptops for less than 600 Euros reviewed by us.

J. Simon Leitner (translated by Finn D. Boerne), 10/07/2021 🇩🇪 🇭🇺 ...

Every month, Notebookcheck reviews various affordable devices that have to undergo the exact same tests and identical review process as their premium siblings. The price bracket of less than 600 Euros is occupied by a number of notebooks made by various manufacturers competing for the price-conscious customer’s attention. Constant marketing emphasizing Gigahertz and Gigabytes carries the risk to lose sight of what is really important in a notebook. The following top lists might be interesting for your purchase decision as well:

The Best Cheap Notebooks For Less Than 600 Euros

Position	Total Rating	Date	Model	Size	Resolution	Screen	Height	Weight
1	84.6 %	10/2020	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5 Intel Core i5-1035G1 Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU) 8 GB Memory, SSD	12.40"	1536x1024	glossy	15.69 mm	1.1 kg
2	81 %	12/2020	Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC Intel Core i3-10110U Intel UHD Graphics 620 8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD	15.60"	1920x1080	matte	18 mm	1.9 kg
3	80 %	05/2021	Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE Intel Core i3-1005G1 Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU) 8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD	17.30"	1920x1080	matte	19.9 mm	2.2 kg
4	79.3 %	08/2021	Samsung Galaxy Book Go Qualcomm Snapdragon 7c Gen 2 Qualcomm Adreno 618 4 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.1	14.00"	1920x1080	matte	15 mm	1.4 kg
5	79 %	07/2021	Chuwi CoreBook X Intel Core i5-8259U Intel Iris Plus Graphics 655 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	14.00"	2160x1440	glossy	20.6 mm	1.5 kg
6	77.5 %	04/2021	Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 AMD Athlon Silver 3050e AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 4 GB Memory, 64 GB eMMC	11.60"	1366x768	matte	19.9 mm	1.2 kg
7	77 %	09/2021 new!	Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro Intel Core i3-1005G1 Intel UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU) 12 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD	15.60"	1920x1080	glossy	20.5 mm	1.9 kg
8	76.9 %	09/2021 new!	HP 14s-fq1357ng AMD Ryzen 5 5500U AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD	14.00"	1920x1080	matte	17.9 mm	1.5 kg
9	76.5 %	03/2021	Lenovo V15-ADA 82C7009SGE AMD Athlon Gold 3150U AMD Radeon RX Vega 3 8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD	15.60"	1920x1080	matte	20 mm	1.9 kg
10	76.9 %	12/2020	Chuwi LarkBook CWI509 Intel Celeron N4120 Intel UHD Graphics 600 8 GB Memory, 256 GB SSD	13.30"	1920x1080	glossy	12.3 mm	1.1 kg

Editors' Comments

This month, we welcome the Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro and HP 14s entering this list on 7th and 8th place, respectively.

1st – Microsoft Surface Laptop Go

The base model of Microsoft's Surface Laptop Go is available for less than 600 Euros already. The compact laptop comes in a particularly premium aluminum case unique for this category of affordable notebooks. The 12.4-inch 3:2 touchscreen offered good color representation. Keep in mind that storage is not upgradable, and the device lacks an SD card slot. The Surface Laptop Go is made primarly for simple tasks such as browsing the web, reading/responding to emails, or educational use.

Great display and premium case paired with meagre storage space.

Prices in the US start at $549 for the base model, and the device can be purchased either directly through Microsoft or the usual retail channels, such as Amazon.

Top 10 Laptops
Multimedia, Budget Multimedia, Gaming, Budget Gaming, Lightweight Gaming, Business, Budget Office, Workstation, Subnotebooks, Ultrabooks, Chromebooks

under 300 USD/Euros, under 500 USD/Euros, 1,000 USD/Euros, for University Students, Best Displays

Top 10 Smartphones
Smartphones, Phablets, ≤6-inch, Camera Smartphones

2nd – Dell Latitude 15 3510

Dell’s Latitude series is built specifically for day-to-day business and educational use. Latitude notebooks feature a robust and sturdy case, are subjected to a variety of torture tests, and tend to come with a matte display. The Latitude 15 3510 features a 15-inch IPS display and offers good battery life of up to 8 hours. The combination of Core i3 CPU and fast SSD should offer enough performance for daily tasks including office applications, mails, and browsing the web.

Dell’s Latitude 3510 remains quiet and offers good battery life despite its large 15-inch display.

Prices start at just around $600 for the base model, which is available among others at Best Buy. In comparison, Amazon carries a selection of better equipped yet also more expensive SKUs.

3rd – Lenovo V17-IIL

In Lenovo’s laptop line-up the letter V tends to signify particularly affordable laptops designed for simple business and personal expectations and applications. Accordingly, their primary intended use cases include browsing the web and office applications. Due to its large 17-inch display the Lenovo V17 IIL is most likely going to be used as more or less stationary desktop device at home. Its matte display performed adequately overall in regard to brightness, contrast ratio, and color representation. A Core i3 processor paired with a fast NVMe SSD ensures sufficient performance for simple applications.

Thanks to its large display Lenovo’s V17-IIL is intended primarily for stationary desktop use.

The device is currently not sold in North America.

Pricecompare

5th – Chuwi CoreBook X

Unlike the Galaxy Book Go the Chuwi CoreBook X is an affordable solution if you are looking at maximum display and color quality for the lowest possible price. Its downsides include build quality and potentially longevity as we found both coil whine and comparatively poor hinges.

Its specs and its display make this a great catch for its price. However, don't be surprised if you encounter quality issues after a few months of use.

The CoreBook X is available among others am Amazon with prices starting at $549.

Pricecompare

6th – Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05

Finding a notebook for less than $300 can be challenging since devices in this price range require a large number of compromises. The IdeaPad 1 11ADA is a small 11.6-inch notebook with AMD dual-core CPU and a meagre 64 GB of storage. We liked its mostly silent mode of operation as well as its matte display. Portability is limited due to its battery life of no more than 6 hours.

Small and cheap: The IdeaPad 1 11 offers an 11-inch display and Windows S at a price point of less than 300 Euros.

The device can be purchased directly through Lenovo’s own web store and is currently available for under $240.

7th – Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro

The F15 Pro bei Chinese manufacturer Teclast is a 15-inch laptop with aluminum case and an Intel Core i3 processor. It features plenty of connectivity as well as an IPS display. In our review, it failed to exhibit any major flaws and impressed us in particular with its colorful IPS display with full sRGB coverage. However, when compared to the Huawei MateBook D 15 it cannot keep up.

The Teclast F15 Pro is great for basic demands and features a good IPS display. With that said we should also note that similarly priced competitors offer more.

The Teclast F15 Pro is available on Amazon for $500.

Pricecompare

8th – HP 14s

The thin HP 14s is a simple laptop, and it can come with both cheap as well as expensive internal hardware. Its decent case suffers from below average sturdiness, and it can feature both AMD and Intel CPUs.

Considering the weak case, its poor input devices, its poor display, its complicated maintenance, its slow Wi-Fi, and its lack of connectivity there isn’t really much we liked about the HP 14s, save for its Ryzen 5 5500U of course.

In North America, the HP 14s is marketed as the HP 14 and available on Amazon with prices starting at around $500.

Pricecompare

9th – Lenovo V15

What is often the first corner cut on inexpensive laptops? That’s right, the display. The Lenovo V15 is another prime example. Low contrast ratio, low brightness, and to add insult to injury the panel is based on TN technology with massive color deviations and loss of brightness when looked at from the sides. Battery life is rather poor and makes it very hard to recommend the Lenovo V15 to anyone.

It’s a shame, really, because Lenovo’s inexpensive laptop offers decent and consistent performance under load, a robust and sturdy case, and good maintenance options. However, long-term use is rendered all but impossible due to the poor display.

If you are still interested in this laptop it can be purchased through the usual retail channels, such as for example Amazon.

Pricecompare

10th – Chuwi LarkBook

The Chuwi LarkBook looks great on the outside but leaves a lot to be desired on the inside. The device can be imported for around $500 if risky bets and experiments are your thing. Previous Chuwi devices often suffered from keyboard and hinge problems, and its performance is too low for its price range.

In return you get an accurate display, a thin case, and decent speakers all housed in a lightweight case. Charging and Wi-Fi are comparatively slow, and the device will remain a niche object for curious and courageous users.

The Chuwi LarkBook can be purchased through Chuwi’s official web shop with prices starting at around $400.

Pricecompare

Top 10 in Comparison

Test Results

	Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5	Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC	Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE	Samsung Galaxy Book Go	Chuwi CoreBook X	Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05	Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro	HP 14s-fq1357ng	Lenovo V15-ADA 82C7009SGE	Chuwi LarkBook CWI509
Display
Display P3 Coverage	64.4	40.78	68.5		67.2	42.53	65.6	38.11	37.13	69.89
sRGB Coverage	94.64	61.35	97.08		98	63.6	98.1	57.05	55.78	92.7
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage	65.72	42.15	70.07		68.8	43.97	67.8	39.37	38.36	67.84
Response Times
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% *	34.8 ?(19.6, 15.2)	38 ?(19, 19)	39 ?(19, 20)	40 ?(21, 19)	36.4 ?(18.4, 18)	39 ?(20, 19)	39.6 ?(20.4, 19.2)	41 ?(19, 22)	26 ?(8, 18)	32 ?(14.8, 17.2)
Response Time Black / White *	29.2 ?(17.2, 12)	28 ?(17, 11)	28 ?(15, 13)	11 ?(7, 4)	26.4 ?(13.2, 13.2)	17 ?(12, 5)	26.8 ?(16, 10.8)	27 ?(15, 12)	14 ?(4, 3)	34.4 ?(19.6, 14.8)
PWM Frequency	21930 ?(51)	250		200 ?(20)	10000 ?(99)	24000 ?(60)				1000 ?(99)
Screen
Brightness middle	354.3	262	330	230	355.3	263	293	220	232	235.3
Brightness	353	236	309	201	344	254	266	223	211	223
Brightness Distribution	95	86	88	80	94	88	84	85	82	79
Black Level *	0.29	0.31	0.33	0.36	0.34	0.48	0.21	0.225	0.41	0.24
Contrast	1222	845	1000	639	1045	548	1395	978	566	980
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 *	1.41	4.92	2.82	12.23	6.2	11.59	2.1	4.16	6.83	8.37
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. *	2.96	15.83	6.27	23.26	10.96	18.73	5	7.43	18.77	15.79
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated *	1.44	4.34			1.23		0.7			2.64
Greyscale DeltaE2000 *	1.2	3.47	3.58	15.28	7.9	13.03	3.5	2.35	8.52	9.8
Gamma	2.26 ^97%	2.4 ^92%	2.42 ^91%	2.55 ^86%	2.02 ^109%	2.34 ^94%	2.21 ^100%	2.62 ^84%	2.45 ^90%	2.16 ^102%
CCT	6600 ^98%	6680 ^97%	6994 ^93%	18403 ^35%	7450 ^87%	15442 ^42%	6681 ^97%	6389 ^102%	9753 ^67%	7557 ^86%
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998)	60.2	39	63			41			35	60.1
Color Space (Percent of sRGB)	94.4	61	97			64			56	92.4
Noise
off / environment *	26.4	25	25.5		24.9		24.2	26	25
Idle Minimum *	26.4	25	25.5		25.5		24.2	26	25
Idle Average *	26.4	25	29		25.5		24.2	26	25
Idle Maximum *	26.4	27.8	29		29.1		24.2	31.6	26.3
Load Average *	36.9	35.1	30.1		36.8		24.2	41	31.5
Load Maximum *	44.2	34.8	33.4		37.1		25.3	41	38
Witcher 3 ultra *					37.2
Heat
Maximum Upper Side *	42	39	37.7	35.4	44.4	38.3	43.1	37.7	32.1	41
Maximum Bottom *	51	40.6	35.1	41.6	47.6	41.6	51.8	45.6	31	46.8
Idle Upper Side *	30	26	29.2	25.6	30.2	25	29.9	30.6	27.3	25
Idle Bottom *	34.6	27.8	32.4	27.6	35.2	25.6	31.4	29.8	29	27
Battery Runtime
Reader / Idle	2102							675
WiFi v1.3	481	465	369	778	400	371	353	507	241	266
Load	118			359
Witcher 3 ultra								89
Power Consumption
Idle Minimum *	2.8	3.6	4.4	1.9	6.2	3.7	7.3	4.2	4.9	5.2
Idle Average *	6.8	6.6	10	4.2	10.7	7.1	9.9	6.3	7.5	7.3
Idle Maximum *	8	9.7	11.7	4.8	12.5	8.8	10.9	7	8.4	8.9
Load Average *	37.2	38		8.2	40.5	15.6	22	27.7	33	18.1
Load Maximum *	51.6	45	42	11.4	39.2	17.4	38	42	41.3	27.8
Witcher 3 ultra *			26.8		39.4		23.3	27.7

* ... smaller is better

Benchmarks

PCMark 8 | 3DMark 11 | 3DMark

PCMark 8
Home Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5 UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i5-1035G1, SK hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG	3469 Points ∼55%
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC UHD Graphics 620, i3-10110U, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	2898 Points ∼46%
Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD	3200 Points ∼51%
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 Vega 3, Athlon 3050e, 64 GB eMMC Flash	2494 Points ∼40%
Chuwi LarkBook CWI509 UHD Graphics 600, Celeron N4120, Kingston RBUSNS8180DS3256GJ	1884 Points ∼30%
Work Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5 UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i5-1035G1, SK hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG	2647 Points ∼37%
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC UHD Graphics 620, i3-10110U, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	4314 Points ∼61%
Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD	2618 Points ∼37%
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 Vega 3, Athlon 3050e, 64 GB eMMC Flash	4057 Points ∼57%

3DMark 11 - 1280x720 Performance (sort by value)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5 UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i5-1035G1, SK hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG	2458 Points ∼6%
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC UHD Graphics 620, i3-10110U, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	1690 Points ∼4%
Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD	2174 Points ∼5%
Samsung Galaxy Book Go Adreno 618, SD 7c Gen 2, 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash	645 Points ∼2%
Chuwi CoreBook X Iris Plus Graphics 655, i5-8259U, Kingston RBUSNS8154P3512GJ	2836 Points ∼7%
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 Vega 3, Athlon 3050e, 64 GB eMMC Flash	1190 Points ∼3%
Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Teclast BD256GB	2290 Points ∼5%
HP 14s-fq1357ng Vega 7, R5 5500U, Micron 2210 MTFDHBA512QFD	5982 Points ∼14%
Lenovo V15-ADA 82C7009SGE Vega 3, Athlon 3150U, WDC PC SN530 SDBPMPZ-265G	1947 Points ∼5%
Chuwi LarkBook CWI509 UHD Graphics 600, Celeron N4120, Kingston RBUSNS8180DS3256GJ	685 Points ∼2%

3DMark
1280x720 Cloud Gate Standard Score (sort by value)
Microsoft Surface Laptop Go Core i5 UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i5-1035G1, SK hynix BC501 HFM256GDGTNG	10013 Points ∼13%
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC UHD Graphics 620, i3-10110U, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	5883 Points ∼8%
Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD	7703 Points ∼10%
Chuwi CoreBook X Iris Plus Graphics 655, i5-8259U, Kingston RBUSNS8154P3512GJ	10632 Points ∼14%
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 Vega 3, Athlon 3050e, 64 GB eMMC Flash	4256 Points ∼6%
Teclast TBOLT F15 Pro UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Teclast BD256GB	8278 Points ∼11%
Lenovo V15-ADA 82C7009SGE Vega 3, Athlon 3150U, WDC PC SN530 SDBPMPZ-265G	7417 Points ∼10%
Chuwi LarkBook CWI509 UHD Graphics 600, Celeron N4120, Kingston RBUSNS8180DS3256GJ	3372 Points ∼4%
1280x720 Ice Storm Standard Score (sort by value)
Dell Latitude 15 3510 NK2MC UHD Graphics 620, i3-10110U, Toshiba KBG40ZNS256G NVMe	51185 Points ∼5%
Lenovo V17-IIL 82GX008TGE UHD Graphics G1 (Ice Lake 32 EU), i3-1005G1, Samsung PM991 MZALQ256HAJD	57993 Points ∼5%
Lenovo IdeaPad 1 11ADA05 Vega 3, Athlon 3050e, 64 GB eMMC Flash	41613 Points ∼4%