It is a real headache to buy the Best Budget Laptops Under 400 these days as there are a lot of laptops available in the market and all of them tend to be the best. We consumers cannot take the risk of buying a laptop by seeing such hype created by laptop manufacturers. So to help you out, our team of laptop professionals has picked top 10 best laptops under 400 dollars which will reduce your work of shortlisting best laptops and ensure that you’ll end up buying the best laptop under $400 for yourself.
To find the best budget laptops, we thoroughly examined the laptop market. We visited stores and also checked all the major e-commerce websites which sell laptops. We found that there are many good laptops available to buy in under $400 price range. We checked the hardware specifications of each laptop to know their capabilities, we saw build quality and also customer reviews and ratings. After considering all these things, we compiled a list of best budget laptops under 400 dollars to reduce your headache of sifting and buying the best laptop for your requirements.
So here are our top 10 recommendations with reviews, hardware specifications, and links to get the best deals on each laptop! Let’s begin…
Table of Contents
1. Asus VivoBook 15 – best laptops under 400
Asus VivoBook 15 is a recently launched laptop which is the best choice for students and frequent travelers who are looking for a good sub-$400 laptops. It is finished in a slate gray color which adds premium looks to it, and it is also a lightweight machine.
It sports a 15.6-inch full HD display which isn’t bright enough to be used in direct sunlight, but it’s a decent panel overall for work and multimedia with good viewing angles. The bezels around the screen are very small, which lends a modern look to this budget notebook.
The backlit keyboard of the ASUS VivoBook 15 is ergonomically designed to provide a comfortable typing experience, and its touchpad is also huge and provides good precision. It comes equipped with all daily required ports and slots, and comes with Wi-Fi 5 for wireless internet connectivity, which isn’t the latest but considering the price of this laptop that’s fine. Powerful 10th Gen Intel Core i3 processor sits beneath its durable outer-body, and it is coupled with 8GB of RAM to deliver the best performance for all your works. The storage department on the laptop is managed by the small yet speedy 128GB of SSD. It has Intel UHD integrated graphics that offers adequate graphics back up to run Adobe Photoshop and other similar software efficiently.
Because of the latest specs and features that ASUS VivoBook 15 offers, it is one of the biggest contenders in the best laptops under $400 segment.
Hardware Specifications of Asus VivoBook 15 (F512JA-AS34) Laptop | |
Processor | Intel Core i3-1005G1 Dual-Core Processor (Turbo up to 3.4GHz) |
RAM | 8GB RAM |
Storage | 128GB SSD (Upgradable) |
Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics |
Display | 15.6-Inch Full HD NanoEdge Display with 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
Battery Life | Up to 7 hours |
Weight | 3.7 lbs |
The ASUS VivoBook Flip is also an excellent option if you’re looking for a convertible laptop in a $400 price range. It comes with a 14-inch full HD display and is powered by an Intel Pentium N5000 processor with 4GB of RAM and 128GB of eMMC storage. It is a nice travel laptop for web browsing, watching movies and everything else in between.
2. HP 17z-ca200 17 Inch Laptop p – best laptops under 400 dollars
HP has been the best laptop brand for many years, and its laptops are always the contending laptops in all categories. Well if we talk about this notebook from HP, then it is one of the best looking and well-built laptops under 400 dollars.
It has massive 17.3 inches of LED-backlit display which produces a decent gamut of colors and it is bright as well. It provides a whole lot of connectivity options to ensure you stay connected with your loved ones from any place. It comes with the latest Windows 10 pre-installed which runs buttery smooth by co-operating with its powerful AMD Athlon dual-core CPU (up to 3.2 GHz) and 8GB of RAM. It offers mammoth 2TB of the hard drive on which you can store all your required files, your collection of movies and games.
Although it isn’t the pro-gaming machine, it does allow to play some of the best all-time favorite games such as Counter-Strike. This laptop can also be used for photo editing because it has got a large display. Though, its bigger size makes it a little bulky device at around 5.2 pounds. Overall, the HP 17z-ca200 is the best laptop under 400 dollars for people who are looking for a budget laptop for photo editing, gaming, and other similar stuff.
Hardware Specifications of HP 17z-ca200 Laptop | |
Processor | AMD Athlon Silver 3050U Dual-Core Processor (Turbo up to 3.2 GHz) |
RAM | 8GB DDR4 RAM |
Storage | 2TB 5400RPM Hard Drive |
Graphics | AMD Radeon Graphics |
Display | 17.3-Inch Diagonal HD+ Anti-Glare WLED Display with 1600 x 900 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
Battery Life | Up to 8 hours |
Weight | 5.2 lbs |
3. Lenovo IdeaPad S340 15.6″ Laptop – best laptops under $400
The Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is a comparatively old model, but inside it packs pretty powerful hardware which makes it still a great buy for under $400. The heart of the matter, an Intel Core i3 processor with the maximum clock speed of 3.5GHz powers it, which makes this laptop a well-capable machine in the $400 price segment.
Apart from the powerful processor, this laptop has 8GB of RAM for smoother and efficient multitasking, and it also comes with 128GB of the solid-state drive for storage. Performance-wise this laptop is ideal for all types of power users, plus it has an integrated UHD 620 graphics, so it can handle moderate gaming and photo-video editing as well. The display on this laptop isn’t the best we can find in the sub-400 dollars laptop segment, but it looks good. The 15.6″ LED-backlit panel with the standard 1366 x 768 HD resolution produces good colors, but it isn’t bright enough to use in direct sunlight. However, it has an anti-glare coating, which slightly helps to use the laptop in well-lit areas.
Apart from that, this laptop comes with all the standard required ports and fast WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity. So, if you don’t mind a slightly older model, then Lenovo IdeaPad S340 is a pretty good budget laptop with some negligible drawbacks.
Hardware Specifications of Lenovo IdeaPad S340 (High-Performance Laptop under $400) | |
Processor | Intel Core i3-8145U dual-core 2.1GHz Processor (Turbo up to 3.9GHz) |
RAM | 8GB DDR4 RAM |
Storage | 128GB SSD |
Graphics | Intel UHD 620 Graphics |
Display | 15.6-inch HD LED-backlit Anti-Glare Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
Battery Life | Up to 8 hours |
Weight | 4.0 lbs |
4. Dell Inspiron 5593 15-inch Laptop – best laptops for under 400
Dell’s Inspiron series of laptops are designed to suit the requirements of the wide array of users. They are good looking and come with adequate power inside to do all everyday tasks efficiently. This is the newest model from Dell Inspiron lineup, and it is also no exception. It is finished in silver color and follows a similar design language as the other Inspiron series of laptops by Dell. There’s nothing exceptional about the design, but it looks good and feels sturdy in hands.
It has 15.6 inches of full HD display with narrow bezels, and the panel has an anti-glare coating which helps in reducing eye strains. It has stereo speakers with MaxxAudio technology and also a built-in HD webcam. The keyboard of this laptop has a full layout, and its touchpad is also big with enough palm rest area. It provides all required ports and slots; however, it doesn’t come with an optical drive, so if you are a CD/DVD person, this is not the laptop for you. The newest 10th Gen Intel Core i3 Ice Lake processor on the laptop produces enough power to do all the basic to medium demanding tasks efficiently on this laptop, and its 4GB of RAM helps to multitask on this laptop efficiently.
Surprisingly, it has 128GB of the solid-state drive for storage of your files, and it also features integrated Intel UHD graphics which helps to boost its overall performance. This laptop has a 42WHr battery which juices this laptop for about 5 hours. So, overall this Dell laptop offers a pretty sweet deal for people finding the best budget business laptop for themselves and hence it is on our this month’s top 10 laptops under $400 list.
Hardware Specifications of Dell Inspiron 5593 15-inch Laptop | |
Processor | Intel Core i3-1005G1 1.2 GHz Dual Core Processor (Turbo up to 3.4 GHz) |
RAM | 4 GB DDR4 RAM |
Storage | 128GB SSD |
Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics |
Display | 15.6-Inch Full HD Anti-Glare (LED-backlit) Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home S mode 64-bit |
Battery Life | Up to 5 hours |
Weight | 4.03 lbs |
5. Lenovo IdeaPad 3 14″ Laptop – top laptops under 400
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 is known for its decent performing hardware packed inside a thin and light chassis. It is one of the best gaming laptop under $400 for all the budget gamers right now. Although the design of this laptop suggests otherwise, its high-performance hardware can let users play some of the popular gaming titles and do demanding tasks such as photo or video editing. It isn’t a pro-gaming laptop or anything, but it does get the job done for budget gaming laptop buyers.
The laptop is finished in abyss blue color as you can see in an image above and it is also durable to resist everyday wears and tears. It has 14-inch full HD display with narrow bezels, which is fairly color accurate and bright as well.
Lenovo IdeaPad 3 boasts a powerful AMD Ryzen 5 processor and 8GB of RAM which makes it the most powerful laptop in this segment! It has integrated AMD Radeon Vega 8 graphics which handles gaming and other works on this laptop pretty easily. With all standard ports and slots and decent battery life, this Lenovo laptop stands best for the people looking for a mixture of work and play in their new laptop.
Hardware Specifications of Lenovo IdeaPad 3 – Best Gaming Laptop Under $400 | |
Processor | AMD Ryzen 5 3500U Quad-Core 2.1 GHz Processor (Turbo up to 3.7GHz) |
RAM | 8 GB DDR4 RAM (Expandable up to 16GB) |
Storage | 256GB SSD |
Graphics | AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics |
Display | 14-Inch Full HD Anti-Glare LED-backlit Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit |
Battery Life | 5 hours |
Weight | 3.3 lbs |
6.Dell Inspiron 14 5000 2-in-1 Laptop – good laptops under 400
All the Inspiron series of 2-in-1 laptops from Dell are best-sellers across the globe and Inspiron 5000 is one of the most versatile budget laptops that Dell makes right now. It sports a 14-inch anti-glare touchscreen HD display which is perfect for playing touch-based games, watching movies and of-course working on-the-go. It comes with 2 x USB 3.2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Type-C, and HDMI ports, and it also has a microSD card slot. It also has fast Wi-Fi 802.11ac and Bluetooth to ensure you stay connected with fast internet everywhere.
It is powered by the newest Intel 10th Gen i3 processor which produces a reliable amount of power for everyday computing. It has 4GB of RAM and 128GB of SSD storage which is decent for everyday productivity tasks. It runs Windows 10 Home out of the box which runs pretty smooth by cooperating with the hardware of this laptop.
This laptop does not have a Numpad on the keyboard which might discourage few business people from buying this laptop, but you cannot ignore the fact that this laptop weighs just three and a half pounds which makes it the best budget convertible laptop in 400 dollars price range.
Hardware Specifications of Dell Inspiron 5400 2-in-1 Laptop | |
Processor | Intel Core i3-1005G1 Dual Core 1.2 GHz Processor (Turbo up to 3.4GHz) |
RAM | 4GB DDR4 RAM |
Storage | 128GB SSD |
Graphics | Intel UHD Graphics |
Display | 14-inch HD LED-backlit Touchscreen Display with 1366×768 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit OS |
Battery Life | Up to 8 hours |
Weight | 3.42 lbs |
7.HP 14-df0020nr Laptop – cheap gaming laptop under 400
If you are looking for a laptop under $400 that has a full HD display, then you should look at nowhere than this 14-inch notebook from HP. There are very few laptops that come with full HD display in this price range, and this is one of them. So, this is an excellent all-around performing laptop that can even handle gaming up to an extent.
The laptop can handle multitasking with ease as it has 8GB of RAM and it comes with fast 256GB of SSD storage for faster read/write speeds. Apart from performance, the build quality of this laptop is also good. It is finished in silver color and it has shiny HP logo on its textured lid which looks beautiful and also adds up as the grip to hold this laptop firmly with one hand. The keyboard on this laptop is also perfect. Although it isn’t backlit, the keys feel good and offer mushy feedback while typing.
It comes with all the necessary ports lined on either side of the laptop, and it also offers pretty good battery backup. On a final note, HP 14-df0020nr offers a lot more than you would expect at this price and with latest hardware specifications and full HD display, it is one of the best budget laptop under 400 dollars to buy right now.
Hardware Specifications of HP 14-df0020nr Laptop | |
Processor | 10th Generation Intel Core i3-1005G1 1.2 GHz Processor (Turbo up to 3.4 GHz) |
RAM | 8GB DDR4 2666MHz SDRAM |
Storage | 256GB SSD |
Graphics | Intel UHD Integrated Graphics |
Display | 14 Inch Full HD IPS Anti-Glare Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit OS |
Battery Life | 5 hours |
Weight | 3.2 lbs |
8.Dell Inspiron 15 3593 Laptop – best budget laptops under 400
Another laptop from Dell in this budget laptop buying guide and it totally deserves to be on this list of best laptops under 400 dollars because of its unique features. It has matte black chassis and durable build quality as you would expect from the brand like Dell.
It has 15.6-inch HD LED display which provides great visuals and is also bright panel. Its keyboard is ergonomically designed to provide a more convenient typing experience, and its plastic touchpad is also smooth and accurate. It has powerful 10th Generation Intel Core i3 processor sitting inside, and it has 8GB of RAM which can be extended up to 16GB! It has the speedy 128GB solid state drive for storage and Intel UHD integrated graphics which maintains robust performance on the laptop. It comes with all ports, slots and it also has loudspeakers for enjoying movies and your favorite music albums.
By looking at its features, we can conclude that this laptop provides everything which one will need from their day to day working computer and its hardware is also powerful enough to carry out all types of intensive tasks. So whether you are a student who likes to play games or businessmen looking for a productivity machine, this Dell Inspiron laptop is the best bet for your money.
Hardware Specifications of Dell Inspiron 3593 Series Laptop | |
Processor | Intel Core i3-1005G1 1.2 GHz Processor (Turbo up to ) |
RAM | 8 GB DDR4 RAM |
Storage | 128GB SSD |
Graphics | Intel HD 620 Graphics |
Display | 15.6 Inch Full HD Anti Glare LED Display with 1920 x 1080 resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home S 64-bit OS |
Battery Life | Up to 6 hours |
Weight | 4.8 lbs |
9.HP 15-ef0021nr Professional Laptop – best laptops for students under 400
If you’re looking for a thin and light looking laptop under $400, then this HP laptop would be perfect choice for you. It is powered by an AMD Ryzen 3 processor which outputs almost similar performance as an Intel Core i3 powered laptops, and it has 8GB of RAM which lets you multitask without any limits. For storage it offers 256GB of SSD, and it has integrated AMD Radeon Vega 3 graphics which can support some low-end games.
Design and build quality of this laptop is great with thin profile and polycarbonate chassis which helps to reduce weight. Although it doesn’t have a built-in CD/DVD drive, but it provides all the required ports & slots. It comes with a 15-inch HD display, and it is a WLED panel which gets enough bright to use this laptop in well lit spaces. However, colors on the display look slightly inaccurate, but it can be fixed by calibrating it correctly.
Overall, this is an excellent laptop if you prefer AMD hardware, and it would be perfect choice for those who don’t like carrying their laptop’s bulk around.
Hardware Specifications of HP 15-ef0021nr Thin and Light Laptop | |
Processor | AMD Ryzen 3 3200U Dual Core 2.6 GHz APU (Turbo up to 3.5GHz) |
RAM | 8GB DDR4 SDRAM |
Storage | 256GB SSD |
Graphics | AMD Radeon Vega 3 Graphics |
Display | 15.6 Inch HD Anti-Glare WLED Display with 1366 x 768 Resolution |
Operating System | Windows 10 Home 64-bit OS |
Battery Life | Up to 9 hours |
Weight | 3.7 lbs |
These are the top 10 laptops to buy under your $400 budget. Read reviews, check hardware specifications and buy the laptop which suits best for your daily requirements. Feel free to comment below, if you have any questions about the laptops listed above.
I hope this budget laptop buying guide help you to buy best laptop under 400 dollars for yourself.