The 4 Best Laptops Under $700 - Black Friday 2024

The best laptop under $700 we've tested is the Acer Swift Go 14 (2024). This 14-inch ultraportable is great for general productivity tasks like text processing and web browsing, and it can even handle more demanding workloads like programming and simulations. Although the price fluctuates at times, you can usually find this Core Ultra 5 model equipped with a gorgeous 2.8k OLED panel, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage for just a little under $700. It has a relatively sturdy build, a spacious albeit slightly mushy keyboard, a large touchpad, and a good 1080p webcam. The battery lasts around 11 hours of light use. You get Wi-Fi 6E wireless connectivity as well as a wide port selection, including two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s and an HDMI.

If you can stretch your budget slightly, check out the Apple MacBook Air 13 (2022). With the announcement of the M4 MacBook Pro, Apple has discontinued the 8GB RAM model, making the 16GB model the new base configuration. As a result, many retailers are slashing the price of the 8GB model to $750 USD. Needless to say, that's an amazing deal. Its 60Hz Retina display isn't quite as eye-popping as the Acer's 90Hz OLED panel, but it is still very good for the price. You get a larger, easier-to-use haptic touchpad, a superior webcam, and better-sounding speakers. Port selection is where it falls short, as it only has two USB-Cs with support for a single external display.

If you have a lighter workload that you can access through a Chrome browser or Android app, check out the Acer Chromebook Plus Spin 714 (2024). This 2-in-1 convertible feels surprisingly well-built for the price, and it's easy to carry around, thanks to its compact and lightweight design. It has a nice FHD+ display, a comfortable keyboard, a smallish but responsive touchpad, and an excellent 1440p webcam. The display reaches 390 cd/m² of brightness, a rarity among Chromebooks, so you get good visibility in well-lit settings. Plus, you can flip the screen around and use it as a tablet since this is a 2-in-1 convertible. Its port selection is decent; it has two USB-C/Thunderbolt 4s, a USB-A, an HDMI, and a headphone jack.

For under $700, you can get a model equipped with an Intel Core Ultra 5 115U CPU, 8GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. There are more powerful configurations if you're willing to pay more, but they may be hard to find due to low availability. Besides, the Core Ultra 5 model is more than adequate for everything you'd need to do on a Chromebook. Its battery life is excellent at around 10 hours, and the laptop charges over USB-C, eliminating the need for a separate charger. Unfortunately, there are no biometrics like a fingerprint sensor or facial recognition camera, though that is fairly typical for a Chromebook in this price range.

The HP Victus 15 (2022) is our best gaming pick. For under $700 USD, you can get a model with an Intel Core i5-12500H CPU, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 GPU, 8GB of RAM, 512GB of storage, and a 60Hz FHD display. This CPU/GPU combo provides a relatively solid 60 fps gaming experience at 1080p, though you'll have to tweak the graphical settings a bit to get there. Its 8GB RAM amount isn't ideal for gaming, as it'll significantly impact performance, but thankfully, you can upgrade the memory yourself. Doing so might end up being cheaper, anyway. You'll also want to upgrade the storage drive, as 512GB isn't much these days. The biggest downside is the 60Hz display—you're better off plugging it into an external monitor.

As for the overall build, this laptop feels sturdy despite its all-plastic construction. The keyboard feels spacious and reasonably tactile, and the port selection is varied, including a true HDMI and Ethernet port. There are no biometrics like a fingerprint sensor or facial recognition camera, though we don't really expect it at this price range. Unfortunately, this laptop isn't very portable, as it's rather bulky and heavy, and like most laptops with a discreet GPU, the battery lasts only an hour or so when gaming.

The best 2-in-1 tablet we've tested is the Microsoft Surface Pro 8 (2021). Since this is an older model, you can often find the base Core i5 model on sale for around $700. The catch is that the $700 price tag doesn't include the keyboard, so if you want the whole package, you'll have to spend more. Still, the versatile tablet form factor makes the Surface Pro one of the best laptops for everyday use at its price point. You can detach the keyboard to make it easier to hold or save space, like on a kitchen counter, and pop it back on when you need to type something out. Its 3:2 display looks sharp, gets bright enough to combat glare, and has a 120Hz refresh rate to make touch input feel more responsive.

Above the display sits an excellent 1080p webcam and a Windows Hello IR camera for quick logins. The keyboard feels good to type on; there's also a stylus that you can buy as an accessory. The battery lasts only around seven hours of light use, but luckily, the power adapter is fairly compact, and you can also charge via its USB-C/Thunderbolt 4 ports.