THE BEST LAPTOPS UNDER $1,000 OF 2022. It’s easy to find a laptop to match any budget – from an inexpensive Chromebook for light web browsing to a high-powered machine for video editing or gaming.
Many people feel that the sweet spot is around $1,000 or less, as this price range gives you the option of an entry-level premium notebook or a fully-loaded mid-range device. If you’re looking for the best performance and portability, though, it’s worth spending a little extra. Some of our favorite laptops that cost less than $1,000 include…
These are the best laptops under $1,000:
- Apple MacBook Air M1 (2020)
- HP Envy x360 15z
- Microsoft Surface Laptop 4
- HP Spectre 13
- Dell Inspiron 3501
The new MacBook Air M1 is a powerful machine that easily surpasses its predecessor in battery life, processing speed, and design. If you’re in the market for a new laptop, the MacBook Air M1 is the clear winner.
We’re currently evaluating the latest version of this laptop as the model we reviewed here appears to be no longer available. If you need a laptop now, we recommend checking out one of our other top picks, like the HP Envy x360. The Envy x360 is a great laptop for those who need a larger screen without breaking the bank. We’re usually wary of $500 laptops, but the Envy x360 is a great exception.
Microsoft’s Surface Laptop 4 is a slim, portable machine that’s packed with features. It has a beautiful high-resolution display with a 3:2 aspect ratio, which is perfect for web browsing. Plus, the trackpad is smooth and accurate, and the keyboard is quiet and backlit with 1.3mm of key travel. Plus, the battery life is eight hours, so you can get through the workday on a single charge.
The best features of this laptop include the face recognition for quick login, the touchscreen, and the USB-C and USB-A ports. Windows comes installed without all the extra bloatware from the manufacturer, which is great.
The only downside is that it comes with the usual pre-installed games like Candy Crush and Farm Heroes. But at least you’re not getting bothered with notifications all the time from those (like you do from the antivirus trials that come on so many laptops these days).
Although the Surface Laptop 4 has a few small issues, Microsoft’s proprietary charger comes with an extra USB port in the power brick which is useful for charging your phone at the same time. Additionally, I only worry about the fabric keyboard discoloring over time – but this is a minor nitpick.
Although there are a few things we would change about the Surface Laptop 4, they are very minor. For example, the keyboard has just a slight amount of flex to it and Microsoft’s charger is not as easy to use as a standard USB-C charger would be. However, the charger does come with an extra USB port so that you can charge your phone at the same time. All in all, we think the Surface Laptop 4 is still a great choice for anyone in the market for a new laptop.
The Intel Core i7 model we tested was one of the fastest laptops we’ve reviewed. The AMD Ryzen model is available with even better performance and battery life.
We only managed to squeeze eight hours of battery life from our unit, but many users claim they can get north of ten hours or more. This inconsistency holds it back from being the best Windows laptop we’ve tested, but it’s still a good laptop.