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MagyarThe Best Budget Office Notebooks
Office notebooks, cheap bargains and computers for everyday tasks: They require decent input devices, ergonomic displays and connectivity that should allow the user to easily connect to the home or workplace environment, but it does not have to be very generous. Also compare the following Top 10 lists for your purchase decision.
The following table shows an overview of the Top 10 budget office laptops (under 800 USD/Euros) reviewed by Notebookcheck in the previous 12 months. If ratings are equal, the latest review is listed first. The table can be sorted by clicking its headers and filtered by entering text in the text field above it (e.g. "matte").
- The Best Premium Business Notebooks (particularly premium office notebooks)
- The Best Portable Workstations (powerful laptops for professionals)
- The Best Ultra-Portable Notebooks (compact and portable notebooks)
- The Best Windows Convertibles (notebooks that can be converted into a tablet)
The Best Budget Office Laptops
The table above contains an overview over the best budget office notebooks for less than 800 Euros 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.
Link: all devices in this class reviewed
Editors' Comments
There are many acceptable and good office devices for under 800 Euros (~$896). The best models stem from Lenovo, HP, Fujitsu, and Acer and they cost between 450 and 800 Euros (~$504 and ~$896). All cheap models have some disadvantages, for example, poor input devices or a more flexible case. IPS panels have become increasingly common in the Budget Office Top 10.
1st – Lenovo ThinkPad E14 Gen3
The affordable Lenovo ThinkPad E14 features an AMD APU with a Ryzen 5 5500U CPU for great CPU-performance and an AMD Radeon RX Vega 7 for solid 3D performance. A 512 GB M.2 SSD is built-in as well, and secondary slot for another M.2 drive is also available. Keep in mind though that the entire bottom panel needs to be removed since the ThinkPad E14 lacks a maintenance opening.
Other benefits include good input devices and a quiet mode of operation.
Lenovo’s ThinkPad E14 is a good office notebook for home use. It comes with a decent IPS panel, excellent input devices, and long battery life.
We also liked the ThinkPad E14’s upgradability as well as its decent speakers.
This third generation of Lenovo’s ThinkPad E14 is currently not yet available in North America, and the device was not even listed on Lenovo’s website yet at the time of writing.
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2nd – Lenovo Yoga Slim 7
The Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 features a new case with slim bezels, which gives it a modern and sleek appearance. Its Intel Core i5-1135G7 is an up-to-date processor, and its 8 GB of RAM are enough for a business laptop. Other benefits include low emissions, a good display, a long battery life, and last but not least modern connectivity.
Lenovo’s Yoga Slim 7 is a well-balanced office notebook without any major flaws.
Yoga Slim 7 devices are marketed as IdeaPad Slim 7 in the US. However, they are currently only available with Intel’s 10th generation processors and no dedicated GPU through Lenovo’s own webstore.
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3rd – Huawei MateBook D 16
The MateBook D 16 is a very attractive device at a low price with plenty of power. Its AMD Ryzen 5 4600H is based on the Zen 2 architecture and offers solid performance for everyday use. Its matte display offers wide viewing angles but could be a bit brighter. The good-looking case is made of high-quality materials, and the Huawei MateBook D 16 looks modern and clean. It is very quiet overall and offers four USB ports.
The Huawei MateBook D 16 offers solid performance thanks to its AMD Ryzen 5 4600H. Unfortunately, battery life suffers accordingly.
Huawei notebooks are not available in North America.
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4th – Acer TravelMate P4
The Acer TravelMate P4 is a modern office notebook with Thunderbolt 4, which makes this device particularly interesting and expandable. It features an Intel Core i5-1135G7 paired with an Intel Iris Xe iGPU as well as 8 GB of RAM, which should be sufficient for everyday office tasks. As is the 256 GB SSD.
The Acer TravelMate P4 is a compact business notebook with very good battery life and modern connectivity.
The Acer TravelMate P4 is not available in North America.
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5th - Honor MagicBook 14
Honor’s MagicBook 14 (see review here) is an affordable Office notebook with plenty of oomph. Its AMD Ryzen 5 4500U offers 6 cores and 12 threads, and performed very well even under load. In addition, AMD’s Renoir APU comes with an AMD Radeon RX Vega 6, a fast integrated GPU that leaves Intel’s offerings in the dust. Most customers will be particularly excited about the device’s price. All in all, the notebook left a solid impression and scored accordingly. Nevertheless, we found a few things we did not particularly like, such as for example the display’s low color-space coverage as well as an overall relatively poor maintainability.
The Honor MagicBook 14 offers an excellent price-performance ratio.
In return, the Honor MagicBook 14 scored in regard to stamina and lasted a very good 14.5 hours in our Wi-Fi test. Despite its low price the case turned out to be very good, and overall system performance was excellent thanks to AMD power and a fast NVMe SSD.
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6th – Asus ExpertBook B1 B1500
The ExpertBook B1 series is Asus’s series of affordable business notebooks, and the Asus ExpertBook B1 starts at just 800 Euros, it offers a good price-performance ratio, and it managed to make our top 10 list right away. Connectivity offers everything you might desire, from the latest Thunderbolt 4 ports to legacy ports such as VGA. This 15-inch device is lightweight and robust, which is beneficial in everyday office use.
The Asus ExpertBook B1 B1500 is a lightweight and affordable business notebook well suited for everyday office use.
The Asus ExpertBook B1 B1500 is currently not available in North America.
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7th – HP Pavilion 14
The HP Pavilion 14 comes with an Intel Core i5-1135G7 processor – a perfect match – as well as a display surrounded by modern thin bezels and a high build quality. It offers plenty of storage, a bright display, and a good keyboard befitting its intended use case. It also supports Power Delivery via USB-C.
Visually intriguing with minor flaws in regard to performance and connectivity.
At the time of writing, the Core i5 SKU was not yet available in the United States. The Core i3-1125G4 SKU sold through retailers such as Amazon with prices starting at $499.
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8th – Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G2
In contrast to more Lenovo’s more expensive ThinkPad-series the Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G2 is aimed primarily at freelancers and small to medium sized businesses. Nevertheless, the ThinkBook 14 G2 offers a fast Intel Core i5-1135G7 CPU that performed well under load, a good keyboard for a pleasant typing experience, and a wide variety of ports.
Lenovo’s ThinkBook 14 G2 is a solid workhorse for home use.
The device is listed on Lenovo’s website as currently unavailable in North America.
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9th – Dell Inspiron 15
The Dell Inspiron 15 is an affordable office all-rounder and comes with a dedicated Nvidia GeForce MX450 GPU, an Intel Core i5-11300H Tiger Lake SoC, and 8 GB of RAM. Its list of pros includes a matte IPS panel, good connectivity, and a backlit keyboard. Dell also manages to package everything within a nice-looking aluminum case.
The Dell Inspiron 15 offers good connectivity. Unfortunately, Thunderbolt 4 is only available on Core i7 SKUs.
The Intel-based Dell Inspiron 15 5000-series is currently not yet available in North America.
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10th – Samsung Galaxy Book
The Samsung Galaxy Book offers decent performance without breaking the bank. Its Intel Core i5-1135G7 and Intel Iris Xe GPU are more than powerful enough for home office use. RAM is somewhat limited at just 8 GB but should nevertheless suffice for most users, as should 512 GB of storage. For significantly less than $1,000 the device is well worth a closer look despite various alternative more affordable SKUs. Among its highlights are its robust case, its low weight, its bright display, and its long battery life.
The Samsung Galaxy Book (2021) is a powerful and compelling office notebook.
The only currently available SKU in the US is listed on Amazon for $1,200.
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Test Results
| Lenovo ThinkPad E14 G3-20Y7003SGE | Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 14ITL05 82A300CNGE | Huawei MateBook D 16-53011VFJ | Acer TravelMate P4 TMP414-51-59MR | Honor Magicbook 14 i7-1165G7 | Asus ExpertBook B1 B1500CEAE, i5-1135G7 | HP Pavilion 14-dv0357ng | Lenovo ThinkBook 14 G2 ITL 20VD008WGE | Dell Inspiron 15 5518-2X3JR | Samsung Galaxy Book NP750XDA | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Display | ||||||||||
| Display P3 Coverage | 40.3 | 66.3 | 66.8 | 39.6 | 64.8 | 41.6 | 62 | 37.23 | 39.92 | |
| sRGB Coverage | 59.5 | 97.4 | 99 | 59.4 | 96.3 | 62.3 | 92 | 55.9 | 58.8 | |
| AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 41.7 | 68.1 | 69 | 40.9 | 66.1 | 43 | 63 | 38.47 | 41.24 | |
| Response Times | ||||||||||
| Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 35.2 ? | 52 ? | 25 ? | 40 ? | 31.2 ? | 44.8 ? | 37 ? | 51.6 ? | 41 ? | 29 ? |
| Response Time Black / White * | 21.6 ? | 33 ? | 22 ? | 29 ? | 19.2 ? | 32 ? | 17 ? | 31.6 ? | 31 ? | 22 ? |
| PWM Frequency | 143 ? | 2500 ? | 1000 ? | |||||||
| Screen | ||||||||||
| Brightness middle | 341 | 344 | 352 | 273 | 341 | 304 | 387 | 240 | 286 | 325 |
| Brightness | 327 | 340 | 330 | 264 | 313 | 285 | 359 | 226 | 268 | 297 |
| Brightness Distribution | 90 | 88 | 89 | 88 | 87 | 89 | 84 | 69 | 87 | 86 |
| Black Level * | 0.26 | 0.13 | 0.28 | 0.22 | 0.27 | 0.19 | 0.55 | 0.23 | 0.275 | 0.445 |
| Contrast | 1312 | 2646 | 1257 | 1241 | 1263 | 1600 | 704 | 1043 | 1040 | 730 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 5.1 | 3.29 | 1.35 | 4.27 | 1.76 | 5.2 | 4.04 | 5.4 | 4.74 | 3.48 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 17.6 | 7.48 | 2.58 | 7.76 | 4.85 | 18.5 | 8.28 | 21.9 | 8.27 | 8.07 |
| Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 4.4 | 1.79 | 1.01 | 4.5 | 1 | 4.8 | ||||
| Greyscale dE 2000 * | 2.1 | 3.25 | 2.02 | 2.5 | 3.3 | 2.9 | 5 | 2.3 | 1.57 | 5.27 |
| Gamma | 2.11 104% | 2.29 96% | 2.49 88% | 2.43 91% | 2.26 97% | 2.14 103% | 2.62 84% | 2.37 93% | 2.24 98% | 2.41 91% |
| CCT | 6755 96% | 6358 102% | 6445 101% | 6463 101% | 7233 90% | 6639 98% | 7123 91% | 6706 97% | 6348 102% | 7769 84% |
| Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 63 | 66 | 35.4 | 44 | ||||||
| Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99 | 89 | 55.8 | 70 | ||||||
| Noise | ||||||||||
| off / environment * | 23.8 | 26 | 25.5 | 25.4 | 24 | 23.8 | 25.4 | 28.7 | 26 | 26 |
| Idle Minimum * | 23.8 | 26 | 25.5 | 25.4 | 24 | 23.8 | 25.4 | 28.7 | 26 | 26 |
| Idle Average * | 23.8 | 26 | 25.5 | 25.4 | 25 | 23.8 | 25.4 | 28.7 | 26 | 26 |
| Idle Maximum * | 25 | 26 | 25.5 | 25.4 | 28 | 25 | 25.4 | 28.7 | 26 | 26 |
| Load Average * | 32 | 30.2 | 33 | 34.6 | 36 | 32.2 | 35.4 | 35.5 | 47.4 | 43.3 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 32 | 32.2 | 41.6 | |||||||
| Load Maximum * | 34.5 | 29 | 42.1 | 37.4 | 46 | 32.2 | 35.5 | 41.6 | 48.4 | 45.7 |
| Heat | ||||||||||
| Maximum Upper Side * | 45.1 | 40 | 42.6 | 38.7 | 43 | 41.9 | 40.5 | 40.6 | 55.1 | 46.5 |
| Maximum Bottom * | 49.3 | 43.3 | 41.7 | 38.7 | 47 | 48.6 | 39.9 | 46.4 | 62.4 | 44.8 |
| Idle Upper Side * | 24.7 | 28.4 | 27.8 | 26.9 | 27 | 25.1 | 31.3 | 25.2 | 29.8 | 27.8 |
| Idle Bottom * | 25.6 | 30.4 | 27.6 | 27.8 | 27 | 26.4 | 31.1 | 26.8 | 32.5 | 28.3 |
| Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
| Reader / Idle | 710 | 1365 | ||||||||
| H.264 | 827 | 510 | 356 | |||||||
| WiFi v1.3 | 680 | 703 | 538 | 593 | 580 | 432 | 360 | 347 | 564 | 607 |
| Load | 71 | 68 | 107 | 54 | 97 | |||||
| Witcher 3 ultra | 59 | 121 | ||||||||
| Power Consumption | ||||||||||
| Idle Minimum * | 3.5 | 3.3 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 4 | 3.1 | 4.8 | 4.8 | 4 | 3.5 |
| Idle Average * | 7.5 | 5 | 8.2 | 5.6 | 6 | 6.1 | 8.5 | 7.6 | 7.6 | 8 |
| Idle Maximum * | 8.7 | 7.5 | 9.4 | 7.2 | 10 | 6.9 | 12.4 | 10.7 | 10.2 | 9.4 |
| Load Average * | 43.6 | 28 | 40 | 29.6 | 34 | 23.6 | 37.7 | 35 | 49.4 | 37.8 |
| Witcher 3 ultra * | 42.2 | 28.8 | 40.5 | 29.3 | 26.7 | 35.4 | 46 | 49.4 | 36.7 | |
| Load Maximum * | 55 | 56 | 67 | 62 | 68 | 63 | 45.3 | 67.6 | 63.4 | 45 |
* ... smaller is better
Benchmarks
| PCMark 8 | |
| Work Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 16-53011VFJ | |
| Home Score Accelerated v2 (sort by value) | |
| Huawei MateBook D 16-53011VFJ | |
