Best Ultra Budget Gaming Laptops (Under $600)
Laptops are typically known to have lower spec-to-price ratios as a single working machine. This is why gaming laptops are often more significantly expensive than their desktop counterparts. The novelty of being a significantly smaller, more portable machine is often touted as the justification for its exorbitant price tag.
However, this does not always have to be the case. Surreal as it may sound, there are indeed laptops out there with the better bang-for-the-buck, in a way that they can effectively function as cheaper gaming laptops.
Here in this article, we shall list our recommendations and introduce some of these laptops to you. We hope that at least one of these would be an excellent investment for your portable, low-profile gaming setup.
Top 5 Best Ultra Budget Gaming Laptops
- Acer Aspire 5 (A515-43-R19L)
- Lenovo Ideapad 3 (81W0003QUS) – Best for Value
- Asus Vivobook 15 (F512DA-EB51) – Best for Battery Life
- Lenovo V14-ARE (82DQ000PUS) – Best for 4000 series APU
- Acer Nitro 5 (AN515-54-5812) – Best for Discrete Graphics
Now, let’s take a closer look.
1. Acer Aspire 5 15.6-inch Laptop ($360)
CPU | AMD Ryzen 3 3200U |
GPU | Radeon Vega 3 Graphics |
Memory | 4GB DDR4 2666Mhz RAM |
Storage | 128GB M.2 SATA SSD |
Screen | 15.6-inch 1920×1080 60fps |
Battery | 6 hours (casual) 1.5 hours (gaming) |
Kicking off the list is the cheapest one that we can find. The specs, at a glance, really seem very inferior. Especially the 4GB RAM and 128GB M.2 SATA SSD, which isn’t exactly going to be as efficient beyond standard office-level usage. However, it still gains enough points to be included in this list because its price point competes toe-to-toe with its very equivalent Athlon 3000G desktop counterpart.
You would, of course, have to spend a bit more to plug an equivalent frequency/CAS latency memory module on its extra DIMM slot (dual-channel is a must for APUs!), and you also need to install an additional SSD in its drive bay to store more games. But hey, it already comes “pre-packaged” with a 15.6-inch full HD monitor, a keyboard, and a very slim, portable form factor, so the overall price still evens out.
As for its actual gaming potential, much like the Athlon 3000G, it can perform at its best with low-settings at 720p resolution for a good number of modern titles, and is adequate enough for stable eSports gaming.
2. Lenovo Ideapad 3 14-inch Laptop ($425) – Best for Value
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3500U |
GPU | Radeon Vega 8 Graphics |
Memory | 8GB DDR4 2400Mhz RAM |
Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
Screen | 14-inch 1920×1080 60fps |
Battery | 8 hours (casual) 2 hours (gaming) |
If you are willing to spend a bit more to upgrade though, then perhaps this one will be the better option. The Lenovo Ideapad 3 rocks the Ryzen 5 3500U APU, which is a significant upgrade from the baseline Ryzen 3 3200U of the Acer Aspire 5. Matching this CPU is two sticks (one soldered, one expandable) of 4GB RAM at dual-channel, albeit they are set by default at 2400Mhz. 256GB may still be a bit on the small side when it comes to storing modern games. But it still provides ample enough space for a good number of titles before you start filling up your additional 2.5-inch drive.
Whereas the Ryzen 3 3200U is pretty much locked at 720p, the Ryzen 5 3500U eases up a bit to allow full HD 1080p gaming, albeit still at low settings. The additional cores also allow better graphics management in either CPU-intensive games or MMOs. Though do note, that this laptop will still suffer from really demanding titles such as Rise of the Tomb Raider.
As a bonus, the Lenovo Ideapad 3 can also serve as a productivity machine, with the availability of more cores and even more threads for the CPU.
(IMPORTANT NOTE: There is a newer, 10th gen Intel-based version of the Lenovo Ideapad 3. Even though it is almost the same price, that one uses a dual-core Core i3-1005G1 CPU, which is arguably worse, even if its iGPU is quite decent)
3. ASUS VivoBook 15 Thin and Light 15.6-inch Laptop ($479) – Best for Battery Life
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 3500U |
GPU | Radeon Vega 8 Graphics |
Memory | 8GB DDR4 2400Mhz RAM |
Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
Screen | 15.6-inch 1920×1080 60fps |
Battery | 9 hours (casual) 2.3 hours (gaming)* |
*Backlight is completely disabled.
The Lenovo Ideapad 3 is a great value gaming machine with Ryzen 5 APU. If you have a little bit more money to spend, check out the Asus Vivobook 15. It has a similar specification with a little extra hot sauce. It is also powered by a Ryzen 5 3500U, and even has the same 256GB NVMe SSD and x2 4GB DDR4 2400Mhz memory module configuration. So yeah, you can pretty much expect the same 1080p low, 720p medium settings gameplay on this very machine.
That being said, there are a few additional perks that slightly justify the additional $50 price tag. First, the keyboard is backlit, making it easier to use in darker areas. Second, its 15.6-inch LED screen is quite an upgrade from the Ideapad 3’s 14-inch one. Other features such as a fingerprint sensor and USB 3.0 Type-C port availability also make it just a bit more unique than our previous entry.
Do take note though, that airflow can be a bit tight for this particular Asus Vivobook 15. A slightly elevated surface may be necessary to prevent your APU from automatically throttling down due to heat build up during extended gaming sessions.
4. Lenovo V14-ARE 14-inch Laptop ($590) – Best for 4000 series APU
CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 4500U |
GPU | Radeon Graphics* |
Memory | 8GB DDR4 2666Mhz RAM |
Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
Screen | 14-inch 1920×1080 60fps |
Battery | 8 hours (casual) 1.6 hours (gaming) |
*Known currently as the updated (2.0 ver) Radeon RX Vega 6, though specs are not disclosed officially at the moment
But when it comes to current generation Ryzen APUs, perhaps nothing is comparably cheaper at the moment than the Lenovo V14. The Ryzen 5 4500U is officially the direct Zen 2-version successor to the Ryzen 5 3500U, and indeed, it has the chops to absolutely beat it down in raw number-crunching performance. In fact, in standard benchmark tests, the 4500U averaged to be 30 to 40 percent better than the 3500U.
In gaming, however, it is usually very hard to benchmark raw CPU performance on mobile units. We can’t realistically use a discrete GPU to prevent our measurements from also including iGPU performance. Nonetheless, the Lenovo V14 still performs significantly better, with lesser demanding modern titles like Valorant and Fortnite tweakable to medium or even high settings at full HD 1080p. Hardware-demanding triple-A titles like Assassin Creed Oddysey will still run, though you’d have to settle for 8th gen console-level 30fps frame rates (and lower settings, of course).
On the convenience side of things, the higher base clock rate of 2666Mhz for your dual-channel memory should also provide notable improvements to the APU’s overall performance output on the Lenovo V14.
5. Acer Nitro 5 Gaming Laptop ($599) – Best for Discrete Graphics
CPU | Intel Core i5-9300H |
GPU | Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650 |
Memory | 8GB DDR4 2666Mhz RAM |
Storage | 256GB PCIe NVMe SSD |
Screen | 15.6-inch 1920×1080 60fps |
Battery | 7 hours (casual) 2 hours (gaming) |
Now we finally come to the laptop that we can truly consider as a gaming laptop. Usually, if you want nice 60+ fps on modern triple-A titles without sacrificing graphic fidelity, you’d have to pay at the very least $700 or more. With the Acer Nitro 5, not anymore. Forget the Coffee Lake Intel Core i5-9300H. It may seem unremarkable and ordinary now compared to the Zen 2 mobile processors. Our attention should be focused on its partner: the Nvidia Geforce GTX 1650.
Sure, the GTX 1650 is technically a joke when it comes to desktop setups. But on a laptop, the GTX 1650 is an incredible power-efficient beast of a GPU. Want to play popular FPS titles like Apex Legends and CS:GO? Crank it up to 100+ FPS! How about an eSports session? Go max settings, no problem! Even titles like Red Dead Redemption 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider can play on it easily without suffering too much, though of course still at relatively lower settings.
For expandability, the Acer Nitro 5 also has an additional M.2 slot apart from the usual drive bay expansion, allowing your to plug more SSDs for that sweet, sweet, loading time performance. Two hours max during gaming may seem inadequate. But that’s actually quite impressive, considering the fact that it has a dedicated GPU installed.
Honorable Mention: HP Pavillion Gaming 15.6-inch Micro Edge Laptop ($676)
Almost having the same specs as the Acer Nitro 5 (Core i5-9300H + Geforce GTX 1650), the HP Pavillion Gaming Laptop (B08FCQ86F7) is poised to provide the same awesome gaming performance. But alas, the laptop’s price is above $600 at the moment, so it does not technically qualify for this list. Nonetheless, the laptop provides a very good price-to-performance ratio among budget gaming laptops available today. This particular model could certainly be an excellent alternative, just in case you’re unable to find and purchase an Acer Nitro 5 (or if you prefer green accents better instead of red).