The best laptop under £400 in 2023

Until recently, you wouldn't have had much to choose from when looking for the best laptop under £400. Even buying one of the best laptops on the market would cost you more than an equivalent or superior desktop PC. But this year we've had some incredibly brilliant offers on laptops that have blown us away for the money.

You might think that you need to spend around £1,000 on a great laptop. But, from touchscreen tech to fingerprint scanners, ultra-HD screens and brand-new CPUs, there's some very capable kit out there - some of them being considerably lower than our £400 budget. But, with more choice comes a few more things to consider before you buy.

The best laptops under £400 in 2023 at a glance:

• Best overall laptop under £400: ASUS Laptop Vivobook 15 E1504GA 15.6" Full HD Laptop - View at Amazon
• Best budget laptop under £400: LENOVO IdeaPad 1 15.6" Laptop Intel Core i5 - View at Amazon
• Best gaming laptop under £400: Acer Aspire 3 A315-58 15.6 Inch Laptop - View at Amazon
• Best laptop under £400 for students: Acer Swift 1 SF114-34 14 Inch Laptop - View at Amazon

Shop laptop deals on : Amazon | John Lewis | Currys | AO | Laptops Direct

Even with machines at this price point, you'll still need to make sure you get the right balance when it comes to processing power, storage and graphics capability. We've selected a number of great laptop deals from leading brands you can trust. But what kind of user are you? Office workers will need to look after some ergonomics, like a good screen size and a usable keyboard; as well as the CPU for handling multiple office apps at once. Gamers are only going to get light performance from a laptop in this price range, as are any serious creative content producers. But casual users will be well catered for with surfing, watching videos and more.

We've put together a buyer's guide at the end of the article to help you narrow things down. Whether you've found yourself in need of a cheap and effective way to get into computers, are in need of a powerful upgrade, or you're in need of something to take notes on, you've come to the right place. The best laptop under £400 awaits, below.

Best laptops under £400 in 2023

The best laptops under £400 in 2023: Buyer's guide

Choose the right spec and features

While more is always more with laptops, at this budget you'll still have to look after the basics. Making sure the machine's core specifications are a great match for your needs is essential. Here's some of the more typical types of user:

Casual users

The more casual laptop user will need to do a bit of everything. You won't be getting a dedicated graphics card - so only expect to do some very light gaming. For watching YouTube or shopping and so on, you'll really only need 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard drive with a modern mid-range processor.

Office workers

Running several office applications at once requires a good CPU. You'll probably also be taking notes, designing presentations and so on. RAM is important too - but it won't need to be at a level you'd find on gaming laptop. Also, unless you're looking to work and play, a monster of a dedicated graphics card won't be found for this budget. So, a strong CPU and enough RAM (8GB or more if possible) will handle everything admirably. Also, don't forget keyboard comfort and accuracy if you're not going to be using a wireless version.

Gamers

Gamers aren't going to be playing AAA titles at top speed on any of the best laptops under £400. They typically need 16GB of RAM or more and a 1TB internal SSD for loading speed. But, if you are the sort of gamer who enjoys browser-based gaming or simple games that don't feature 3D graphics, you'll be fine.

Creatives

Similarly to gamers, serious or professional video editors or content creators will really need a ton of RAM (16-32GB or more) and a CPU with lots of cores for processing as many operations at the same time as possible. At this level, you're only going to get enough performance for simple graphics creation, on a lightweight app or website - such as Canva.

Pay attention to the CPU and RAM

At this price point, you should definitely pay attention to the processing power and amount of working memory. If a larger part of the manufacturing costs have been piped into the screen or RGB backlighting at the expense of computing power you could come to regret it. The name and number of the component will help you compare like-for-like. Intel's CPUs, for example, have numbers that correspond to the component's power - i3, i5, i7 and so on. These numbers indicate a more powerful component, but of course, this varies between companies and brands.

If all else fails, looking at a CPU's clock speed and the number of cores it has is a great indication of the core's quality, more cores means more tasks that can be executed simultaneously, and greater clock speed means tasks can be completed quicker. When searching for a laptop, you'll want at least a 2-core CPU with around 3.2GHz clock speed.

Protect your new gadget

Even though your new laptop hasn't cost a packet, investing in some laptop protection is still a great idea. Make sure you budget for a laptop backpack or a protective case.

The best laptops under £400 in 2023: FAQs

Do I need a laptop?

Laptops are unbeatable when it comes to power and portability. That's why the vast majority of office workers and students tend to work on laptops rather than standalone PCs. That said, if its raw graphics power you're after you can do better by going for a gaming PC under £1,000. Brilliant gaming laptops are out there though - they're the only solution for quality gaming on the go.

For office work, it isn't just power that's essential - having access to a vast array of programs is also incredibly important if you're studying or working from home, and laptops easily have the best access to software compared to your standard tablet.

So, if you're looking to get some work done effectively, on a device that'll keep running optimally for a considerable amount of time, a laptop's probably your best bet.

Can you game on an under £400 laptop?

Well, yes and no. Even though you are getting one of the best laptops under £400, none of them are specialist gaming laptops. You can potentially play some great games, but they would have to be relatively simplistic games that don't require a ton of RAM and/or VRAM, simply because most laptops at this price cap at 8GB of RAM, and often use integrated graphics cards, which, while great for work and browsing, aren't particularly brilliant for gaming.

Laptop versus tablet - what's the best?

While a laptop is fantastic for getting some work done, a tablet can also be a great option for note-taking, watching your favourite shows, even some fantastic gaming. But remember, if you need access to fully-featured applications like MS Office or Photoshop you're going to need a laptop (or, if you like tablets, a laptop that can convert into a tablet). You'll also probably find yourself buying a wireless keyboard. So, weigh up your needs before you plump for a tablet rather than a more comprehensively-specced laptop.

Ryan is a tech writer and reviewer for What's The Best, specialising in PCs and gaming. He is a keen PC gamer and an avid reader.

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