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MagyarThe Best Budget Multimedia Notebooks
Multimedia laptops are all-rounders and very popular among customers. Whether it is web browsing, office work, or modern games, modern multimedia laptops can handle everything. For this ranking, however, we limit the theoretical budget to 1000 Euros (lowest current price at the time of writing). The minimum requirement for the performance level is a GeForce MX150, which can at least handle modern games in 1366x768 pixels. The other multimedia ranking and more interesting lists are obviously still available:
- The Best Multimedia Notebooks (powerful all-round notebooks)
- The Best Budget Gaming Notebooks (<1500 USD/Euros) (affordable gaming notebooks for less than 1,500 Euros)
- The Best Notebooks for less than 1000 USD/Euros (affordable notebooks regardless of size and category)
The Best Budget Multimedia Laptops
Pos. | Rating | Date | Image | Modell/Testbericht | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Screen | Best Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 85 % | 08/2020 |  | Lenovo Yoga Slim 7-14ARE AMD Ryzen 7 4800U AMD Radeon RX Vega 8 (Ryzen 4000) 16 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 1.4 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 2 | 85 % | 11/2020 |  | Honor MagicBook Pro 4600H AMD Ryzen 5 4600H AMD Radeon RX Vega 6 (Ryzen 4000/5000) 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.7 kg | 16.9 mm | 16.10" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 3 | 84 % | 12/2020 |  | Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ARE05 82A20008GE AMD Ryzen 7 4700U AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 16 GB Memory, 1024 GB SSD | 1.4 kg | 14.9 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 4 | 83 % | 07/2020 |  | Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 Intel Core i5-1035G1 NVIDIA GeForce MX350 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.7 kg | 17.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 5 | 83 % | 08/2020 |  | HP Envy 15-ep0098nr Intel Core i7-10750H NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 2 kg | 19 mm | 15.60" | 3840x2160 | glossy | |
| 6 | 82 % | 04/2020 |  | Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-56XE Intel Core i5-10210U NVIDIA GeForce MX250 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.7 kg | 17.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 7 | 81 % | 07/2020 |  | Asus VivoBook S14 S433FL-EB029T Intel Core i7-10510U NVIDIA GeForce MX250 16 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.4 kg | 16 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 8 | 81 % | 01/2020 |  | Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML Intel Core i5-10210U NVIDIA GeForce MX250 8 GB Memory, 512 GB NVMe | 1.9 kg | 17 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | glossy | |
| 9 | 79 % | 03/2020 |  | Lenovo Ideapad S340-15IIL Intel Core i7-1065G7 Intel Iris Plus Graphics G7 (Ice Lake 64 EU) 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.8 kg | 17.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | matte | |
| 10 | 79 % | 02/2020 |  | Acer Aspire 5 A514-52-58U3 Intel Core i5-10210U Intel UHD Graphics 620 8 GB Memory, 512 GB SSD | 1.7 kg | 17.95 mm | 14.00" | 1920x1080 | matte |
The table above contains an overview over the best budget multimedia notebooks reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Editors' Comments
There are plenty of multimedia laptops for under 1,000 Euros. This category features a good price-performance ratio, because all multimedia-class device are equipped with a discrete graphics card and provide decent gaming performance. Inexpensive entry-level models are often shipped with a powerful processor, but the common GeForce MX150 is not a perfect solution for modern 3D games. Manufacturers also try to save money in terms of storage, which can quickly become the bottleneck due to high storage requirements of multimedia contents like games, picture, or videos. You should favor an SSD/HDD combination.
1st – Lenovo Yoga Slim 7
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 (see review here) offers a brand-new AMD APU with excellent system performance and decent gaming performance. For less than $1,000 you get a device with plenty of performance, a quiet cooler, long battery life, and last but not least a PWM-free display.
We liked its simplistic modern design resulting in a very slim case. Nevertheless, the aluminum chassis offered decent sturdiness, even the display lid. In return, we would have expected more of its external ports as it only offers two USB-A ports, two USB-C ports without support for Thunderbolt 3, and HDMI, which is not necessarily a deciding purchase criterion.
Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 is a modern multimedia notebook with plenty of performance and a usable iGPU.
Its 512 GB NVMe SSD was very fast and acceptably spacious for a multimedia device. If you need more space you will have to either replace the SSD or add a secondary via the M.2-2242 slot.
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2nd – Honor MagicBook Pro
The MagicBook Pro (see review here) is a true price-performance hit and a great all-round notebook with gaming ambitions. Thanks to AMD’s latest Renoir SoC the multimedia device not only offers improved multi-core capabilities but also a Vega-based iGPU. Other benefits include a modern design and a robust base, and the Honor MagicBook Pro scored very well overall and thus deserves its spot on our top 10 list.
At around 900 Euros the Honor MagicBook Pro receives our full endorsement if you are looking for a multimedia laptop.
Nevertheless, it is not entirely free of drawbacks. Its speakers are average at best, and the device turned out to be fairly load. It also lacked an SD card reader.
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3rd – Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 (see review here) is a powerful long-running all-rounder based on Intel’s Core i5-1035G1 (Ice Lake). Its 8 GB of RAM are running at 3,200 MHz and are adequate for most applications. Unfortunately, this might be a sticking point with this device as RAM cannot be upgraded retroactively.
The Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 is a powerful all-rounder with the potential for gaming.
However, its benefits outweigh the drawbacks, and the device easily made our top 10 list. The slim case is fairly modern but not particularly rigid. Its dedicated GeForce MX350 GPU ensures a certain degree of gaming compatibility, and the device also offered a high level of system performance and very long battery life.
Connectivity was plentiful as well.
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4th – HP Envy 15
The HP Envy 15 (see review here) is not just a simple multimedia device but one that is also targeted at creators. Its GeForce RTX 2060 Max-Q should offer more than enough performance for 3D applications, which is furthermore supported by a very fast Comet Lake-H CPU, 16 GB of RAM, and a fast SSD combination. The icing on the cake is without a doubt the 15-inch 4K display. Keep in mind that this particular SKU will be priced around $250 above the $1,000 price tag that defines a budget multimedia device, and that other, lesser equipped and more affordable SKUs offering most of what our review unit offered are also available. For example, its sleek design, its high-quality materials, and its powerful cooling system capable of maintaining CPU boost at a high level.
Thanks to its good feature set the HP Envy 15 will be appealing to a wide variety of users. The multimedia device is even a halfway decent gaming machine.
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5th - Acer Aspire 5 A515
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 (see review here) has been a viable budget notebook for a long time. The latest model, equipped with Intel’s latest Core i5-10210U, continues its long line of ancestors. The GPU of choice is Nvidia’s GeForce MX250, which should be fast enough for casual gaming, and both SSD and IPS panel are available on this sub-$1000 laptop as well.
The Acer Aspire 5 A515 is an affordable all-rounder with gaming capabilities and Wi-Fi 6.
Our biggest gripe was the display due to its low maximum brightness and its inaccurate colors. In addition, the Comet Lake SoC remained far behind its theoretical capabilities, and the device lacks a card reader.
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6th – Asus VivoBook S14
The Asus VivoBook S14 (see review here) is a modern multimedia notebook with a surdy case and good battery life. It is particularly interesting due to its versatility, and its Core i7-10510U paired with 16 GB of RAM make for plenty of oomph resulting in an overall very smooth system performance. Its fast NVMe SSD is a factor in this as well and with 512 GB offer an adequate amount of storage space. The device even supports a secondary M.2 SSD.
3D applications benefit from the GeForce MX250, which is also somewhat gaming capable.
The Asus VivoBook S14 is a decent allrounder. It's fair price-performance ratio is particularly striking.
Downsides include the somewhat slow card reader and the dim display. If you don’t mind these the Asus VivoBook S14 is going to reward you with decent everyday performance.
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7th – Lenovo Ideapad S540
Lenovo’s Ideapad S540 (see review here) is an affordable multimedia notebook based on Intel’s Core i5-10210U paired with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX250 GPU. In addition, it offers a large and fast 512 GB SSD.
We were positively surprised by its high-quality material and its very long battery life. In our Wi-Fi test, the Ideadpad S540 ran for more a respectable more than 12 hours. The case is modern and good-looking, and all that will only set you back around $800.
Lenovo’s Ideapad S540 is an affordable multimedia notebook with very long battery life.
Unfortunately, not all that glitters is gold, and there are a few flaws worth noting. First and foremost of which would be its comparatively poor Wi-Fi performance. In addition, its display was very reflective, and its connectivity comparatively poor.
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8th - Lenovo Ideapad S340 15
If you’re looking for a capable device with multimedia genes for home use, you may want to take a closer look at Lenovo’s IdeaPad S340-15 (see review here). It is based on Intel’s latest Ice Lake SoC, including its integrated GPU. Unfortunately, dedicated GPUs are not available basically stripping the device of its gaming capabilities.
Thanks to its low weight the Lenovo IdeaPad S340-15 is a very handy device for home use and occasional travel.
Visually, it feels very modern and elegant thanks to its narrow display bezels and its thin base. Despite its compact built we did not encounter any thermal issues worth mentioning in our tests. Unfortunately, the overall good impression is tainted by poor battery life and spongy input devices.
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9th – Acer Aspire 5 A514
The Acer Aspire 5 A514 (see review here) is an affordable mid-range laptop. Our review unit lacked a dedicated GPU, which means that all things graphics were handled by the Core i5-10210U’s integrated GPU instead. In other words, it was only fast enough for simple multimedia tasks, and gaming was certainly not one of them.
In return, the Acer Aspire 5 A514 offers a well-calibrated display, long battery life, easy and straightforward maintenance, low noise emissions, and a low price to boot.
A good display is not enough to remain competitive in the 14-inch laptop market segment.
Unfortunately, the Core i5-10210U was incapable of fully utilizing its performance potential and disappointed. Visually, the device did not look particularly modern, and its weight was fairly high for a 14-inch device.
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10th – HP Envy 17
The HP Envy 17’s (see review here) good performance took us by surprise. Its Core i7-10510U CPU offers a good multi-thread performance and is a great fit for a multimedia laptop.
The case is modern and of a very high build quality, which is furthermore substantiated by HP’s good choice of materials. Its Nvidia GeForce MX250 is even somewhat gaming-capable and should thus be well suited for occasional gaming.
Thanks to its sheer size the HP Envy 17 can be considered a decent desktop replacement. Unfortunately, its maintenance options are fairly poor.
Benefits include its good input devices as well as its overall GPU performance. The device even supports Wi-Fi 6 and thus substantially faster Wi-Fi transfer speeds. On the flip side its battery life was comparatively poor as the device powered off four hours into our Wi-Fi battery test already.
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Top 10 in Comparison
Test Results
| Lenovo Yoga Slim 7-14ARE | Honor MagicBook Pro 4600H | Lenovo IdeaPad 5 15IIL05 | HP Envy 15-ep0098nr | Acer Aspire 5 A515-54G-56XE | Asus VivoBook S14 S433FL-EB029T | Lenovo Ideapad S540-15IML | Lenovo Ideapad S340-15IIL | Acer Aspire 5 A514-52-58U3 | HP Envy 17-ce1004ng | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 71.73 66.35 | 67.5 | 37.63 | 88.48 | 33.78 | 41.55 | 66.8 | 40.43 | 41.39 | 63.34 |
| sRGB Coverage | 99.32 98.65 | 69.74 | 56.51 | 99.99 | 50.83 | 62.02 | 86.47 | 58.8 | 62.2 | 91.47 |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 72.9 68.22 | 69.74 | 38.88 | 99.92 | 34.9 | 42.99 | 63.18 | 41.77 | 42.78 | 64.61 |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 45.6 (23.6, 22) | 37.6 (18.8, 18.8) | 42 (20, 22) | 0.8 (0.4, 0.4) | 36 (19, 17) | 34 (16, 18) | 49.6 (22.4, 27.2) | 46.4 (26, 20.4) | 55.6 (24.4, 31.2) | 30 (15, 15) |
| Response Time Black / White * | 29.6 (14.8, 14.8) | 25.6 (14, 11.6) | 27 (16, 11) | 2.7 (1.3, 1.4) | 25 (16, 9) | 24 (14, 10) | 34.8 (18.8, 16) | 35.2 (20.4, 14.8) | 27.6 (17.2, 10.4) | 18 (10, 8) |
| PWM Frequency | 25250 (30) | 242.7 (44) | 250 (20) | 202 (99) | 24510 (19) | |||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 399.6 | 337 | 340 | 374.3 | 248 | 220 | 299 | 320.8 | 237.8 | 293 |
| Brightness | 385 | 312 | 325 | 379 | 238 | 204 | 278 | 309 | 231 | 280 |
| Brightness Distribution | 89 | 89 | 88 | 91 | 86 | 68 | 87 | 87 | 82 | 83 |
| Black Level * | 0.37 | 0.2 | 0.27 | 0.23 | 0.155 | 0.25 | 0.27 | 0.32 | 0.335 | |
| Contrast | 1080 | 1685 | 1259 | 1078 | 1419 | 1196 | 1188 | 743 | 875 | |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 3.2 | 0.8 | 6.62 | 5.47 | 5.05 | 5.23 | 4.32 | 7.68 | 3.41 | 4.79 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 6.44 | 1.1 | 21.05 | 8.22 | 14.34 | 21.51 | 9.3 | 21.97 | 15.73 | 11.42 |
| Colorchecker DeltaE2000 calibrated * | 1.73 | 0.7 | 4.71 | 4.61 | 4.76 | 4.4 | 2.58 | 4.65 | 3.12 | 1.76 |
| Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 4.7 | 1 | 4.61 | 2.3 | 1.37 | 3.77 | 4.21 | 7.3 | 1.2 | 6.32 |
| Gamma | 2.21 100% | 2.2 100% | 2.74 80% | 2.09 105% | 2.4 92% | 2.35 94% | 2.39 92% | 2.12 104% | 2.05 107% | 2.49 88% |
| CCT | 7184 90% | 6538 99% | 6262 104% | 6340 103% | 6592 99% | 6666 98% | 6799 96% | 6213 105% | 6395 102% | 8002 81% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 66.3 | 63.8 | 36 | 87.8 | 32 | 40 | 57 | 37.8 | 39.5 | 59 |
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99.5 | 99.5 | 56 | 100 | 51 | 62 | 86 | 58.3 | 62.2 | 91 |
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 26.3 | 29.7 | 30.7 | 26.4 | 29.8 | 30.7 | 30 | 28.5 | 29.1 | 30 |
| Idle Minimum * | 26.5 | 29.7 | 30.7 | 32.2 | 29.8 | 31 | 30 | 28.5 | 29.1 | 30 |
| Idle Average * | 26.5 | 29.7 | 30.7 | 32.2 | 29.8 | 31 | 32 | 28.5 | 29.1 | 30 |
| Idle Maximum * | 26.5 | 30.5 | 30.7 | 32.2 | 29.8 | 31.3 | 37 | 28.5 | 29.1 | 30 |
| Load Average * | 31.8 | 31 | 43.4 | 48.3 | 37.3 | 43.4 | 41 | 30.3 | 33.5 | 36.4 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 35.9 | 31.3 | 43.2 | 53.7 | 42.8 | 39 | ||||
| Load Maximum * | 35.9 | 36.7 | 43.7 | 58.8 | 40.1 | 41.5 | 42 | 35.5 | 36.1 | 36.5 |
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 43.8 | 45.9 | 43.1 | 47.6 | 41.3 | 43 | 42 | 35 | 39.2 | 42.6 |
| Maximum Bottom * | 43 | 49.2 | 50.9 | 52 | 40 | 44.8 | 45 | 44 | 46 | 39.3 |
| Idle Upper Side * | 24.8 | 26 | 29 | 28.6 | 27.4 | 26.2 | 25 | 28.6 | 22.4 | 27.4 |
| Idle Bottom * | 28.6 | 26.5 | 31 | 31 | 28.6 | 27 | 26 | 36 | 26.2 | 26.8 |
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| Reader / Idle | 1623 | 1391 | 900 | 1810 | 599 | 1360 | 1020 | |||
| WiFi v1.3 | 619 | 619 | 684 | 361 | 534 | 514 | 724 | 258 | 564 | 241 |
| Load | 79 | 74 | 139 | 97 | 81 | 66 | 121 | 111 | ||
| Power Consumption | ||||||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 4 | 4.2 | 4.9 | 9.2 | 3.4 | 2.4 | 5 | 3.8 | 2.7 | 3.6 |
| Idle Average * | 6.3 | 8.4 | 9.1 | 14.5 | 6.4 | 4.2 | 7 | 6.9 | 3 | 8.5 |
| Idle Maximum * | 7.7 | 9.7 | 11.6 | 18 | 9.2 | 7.8 | 10 | 7.7 | 4.6 | 10.4 |
| Load Average * | 48.3 | 39.5 | 65 | 110.9 | 38 | 57 | 64 | 43.3 | 29.3 | 52.6 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 49 | 39.1 | 59 | 125.5 | 52 | 44 | 40.4 | |||
| Load Maximum * | 57.6 | 67.1 | 65.3 | 194.6 | 59 | 64 | 67 | 47.5 | 45.4 | 61 |
* ... smaller is better
